The above bouquet arrives to you from your local florist, but have you ever thought about where the flowers grow? There are many floral distributors in the Massachusetts area, but they are only a destination in the delivery chain. Many of the major flower growers are found in the Netherlands, Columbia, Ecuador and Kenya. The United States has many flower farms in California and Florida, but 80% of the flowers we see in our local bouquets are still imported.
The Floral Industry
The Floral Industry is a big business. In the US it has a combined yearly revenue of over 5 billion dollars. In the last few years it has taken a hit due to COVID related supply chain disruptions, labor shortages, poor weather in major flower growing areas, and global flower shortages. In 2020 many of the growers didn’t know what to expect so they didn’t grow new crops. We are now seeing the results of those actions. Trying to plan for a wedding is very difficult as you can’t promise that you will be able to get white flowers or even the requested containers due to delivery issues.
Despite all the restrictions, your local florists are very resilient and have still been creating beautiful arrangements during the pandemic.
State of the Art Flower Growing
Your local florists purchase the flowers through many venues. Regional Flower markets and floral distributors are where you can find the largest varieties of flowers. Local growers might specialize in a certain plant or rare flower color. All of these growing techniques are state of the art these days. The growers plan for the busy seasons such as Christmas, Valentine’s, and Mother’s Day. Then, they make sure the plants are ready to be harvested and sent to the distributors at the proper times. The flowers need to be cut significantly before blooming time while the petals are still tight. They are kept in a cool, temperature controlled area awaiting shipment. When the florist receives the flowers they are usually out of water and need to be hydrated. Flowers can stay without water for 5-10 days, so florists need to act fast. Once hydrated the flowers will start to bloom.
Follow how to care for your flowers in a previous blog post.
Sustainable growing Practices
Many of the International floral farms are now using sustainable flower growing practices. The floral industry has gone through many job and agricultural transformations due to organizations like Fair Trade International and the Rainforest Alliance. When you are buying pre-cut flowers from your local florist like the Floral Gallery, know that you are supporting jobs both locally and globally.
Tags: floral industry, sustainable flowers, Fair trade International, Rainforest Alliance
