Floral Art Pop Up Shop beautifies downtown Vancouver, B.C.

A busy street corner was home to a one-week floral design popup store in downtown Vancouver, B.C.

I stumbled across the NEOflora badge on Facebook when I noticed that the very talented Arthur Williams, a Denver floral designer and owner of Babylon Floral who is profiled in The 50 Mile Bouquet, posted a comment that he was going to attend and contribute one-of-a-kind designs at the event. A little digging led me along a trail of links, where I discovered the news that NEOflora was taking place over a seven-day period at the end of October. And as it turned out, I was heading north to Vancouver for a few days last week.

The idea of a group of floral artists coming together to create a pop up flower shop on one of the city’s busiest shopping streets sparked my imagination. What a refreshing way to promote flowers as MORE than a commodity you find at the mass-market retailer or supermarket. According to NEOflora co founder Hitomi Gilliam, “NEOflora is a collaborative association of forward-thinking florists who want to appeal to the new consumer who may not be accustomed to buying flowers.”

When I arrived last Monday, there was no chance of missing the storefront. NEOflora’s location on a very busy street corner allowed the creators to hang huge floor-to-ceiling photographs in the windows depicting models wearing gorgeous floral headdresses. The energy spilled out of the store onto the street, drawing curious shoppers inside where they were blown away by the color palette, the incredible variety of botanical ingredients, and the verve of the designs. Everywhere there was a floral artist creating a new piece. The windows and walls were adorned with sculptural installations of flowers, branches and other natural ingredients. Down the center of the space was a traditional black-skirted fashion runway filled with huge vases of flowers. Three floral fashion shows were staged during the week-long event, featuring events for the trade, the public, and the bridal audience. Check out NEOflora’s Facebook page for video clips and photos of these events.

Along with Hitomi, I met several inspiring floral artists that day – and I hope to follow up with them in the future to write more about their work.

Here are their names, studios and links:

Alexis MacLeod, Simply Perfect Flowers (Abbotsford, BC)

Aniko Kovacs, Garlands Florist (Vancouver, BC)

Wendy Andrade, Wendy Andrade Designs (Kent, England)

Hitomi graciously answered my questions for a little video, which you can watch here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vDQskd63ik

Here are some highlights from our conversation:

• The pop-up store draws attention and helps to elevate flowers and the artists who work with them from a commodity-based product to a highly-valued work of art.
• One hundred floral designers from Canada and around the world have come together to help fund the one-week pop-up store; donations, fashion show ticket sales and floral sales also helped to pay for the short-term shop lease, which cost $25,000 (CAN) for two weeks.
• Most of the flowers used in the store, and those featured on the runway, were donated by several members of the United Flower Growers Cooperative, the major wholesale flower auction house based in Vancouver.
• When I asked Hitomi about the emphasis on locally-grown flowers, she said about 90-percent of the flowers used in NEOflora’s pop-up up project were BC-grown.

“that’s what the consumer is looking for – local & organic” — Hitomi Gilliam, NEOflora co-founder

More photos:

Succulent bowls, featured inside the NEOflora shop. The consumer interest in living arrangements is on the rise.

Hip signage and pre-made arrangements drew pedestrians into the store.

 Alexis MacLeod, owner and designer at Simply Perfect Flowers in Abbotsford, BC, created this gorgeous, green wired bouquet.

A beautiful array of locally-grown BC floral ingredients – on hand as raw materials for the designers

Even small bud vases went high-style, with roses and cockscomb in a hot color combo

An assortment of hand-tied bouquets on display for shoppers and promotional giveaways

A stunning detail shot of an autumn bouquet

Here’s the takeaway for all my LOCAL FLORA friends – growers and designers alike. Let’s take a page from the talent in Vancouver and bring flowers to the streets of America’s cities. This is a great model for promoting American-grown flowers and elevating the art of floral design to its rightful place in the fashion world!

Flower farmers receive important funding

USDA AWARDS COALITION OF NORTHWEST CUT-FLOWER PRODUCERS $138,000 in SPECIALTY CROP BLOCK GRANT FUNDING

Seattle, WA (October 2012) – On Oct. 1, 2012, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced $101 million in grants to support America’s specialty crops producers, including $138,000 awarded to the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market, a farm-to-florist cooperative of flower growers in Washington, Oregon and Alaska.

The goal of USDA’s 2012 Specialty Crop Block Grant Program is to promote and increase opportunities for specialty crops producers and to stimulate agriculturally-based community economic development.

Administered in partnership with the Washington State Department of Agriculture and the Oregon Department of Agriculture, the multi-state grant will fund several new SWGMC programs. A major initiative will train key industry stakeholders in methods for achieving high quality cut flower production with emphasis on season extension, marketing techniques and sustainable growing practices. Funding will also assist the cooperative in providing Washington and Oregon floricultural producers with reliable volume sales opportunities to Puget Sound area supermarkets and chain stores, aiding the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market Cooperative in building a self-sustaining marketing program for large scale buyers.

According to SWGMC President Diane Szukovathy, the Federal and State support provides critical resources to expand and improve the domestic cut flower industry in the Pacific Northwest.

“Washington is the second-largest cut-flower growing state in the nation and Oregon is the fourth-largest,” she said. “In February 2011, the independent flower producers and small family flower farms of the Pacific Northwest created a central marketplace for the floral community, strategically located in the heart of Seattle’s Georgetown neighborhood. We provide wholesale customers with regular access to high quality, locally grown cut flowers. The farmers have self-funded the cooperative to date, without government support. Now, the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program grants will provide much-needed seed money to help improve our distribution and marketing efficiencies and meet the growing demand for locally and sustainably-grown floral products.”

Rianne Perry, WSDA’s Specialty Crop Block Grant Program administrator, noted: “This project supports Northwest flower growers’ sustainability and provides consumers with opportunities to buy local, high quality cut flowers. We are pleased to include this as one of the 25 projects we were able to fund to support Washington’s diverse agriculture, including floriculture.”

About the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market:

Overview: Washington is the 2^nd largest cut flower growing state in the nation. From 1998 – 2009, cut flower producers increased from 52 to 88 and bulb growers  from 15 to 56 according to the USDA Floriculture Crop Survey. Critical to the ongoing success of the cut flower growers is the creation of a central market for the floral community in the Puget Sound region.  The central location provides customers with regular availability to locally grown cut flowers. Plus growers gain distribution efficiencies by combining delivery of plant material to shared customers. 

In February, 2011, growers from Washington, Oregon and Alaska formed the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market Cooperative.  Shortly after forming the co-op, the Georgetown space was leased to house the market year around. The grand opening of the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market was May 18, 2011. 

Vision: To cultivate a northwest floral industry that values and supports local growers.

Market Profile: 

Founded: February, 2011

Grower Members: 18 (10 from Washington, 6 from Oregon and 2 from Alaska)

Wholesale Hours of Operation:  Mondays 6-12, Wednesdays 6-2, Fridays 6-2

Customer Profile: retail and studio florists, event planners, restaurants, and grocery stores.

The market is open to the public from 10-2 on Fridays only.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:

Why did you form the Growers Co-op?

The Seattle Wholesale Growers Market Cooperative was formed to create a central marketplace for local flower farmers to sell directly to the floral trade in the greater Seattle area throughout the year. Over time, the SWGMC is committed to providing production resources, promotion and distribution solutions to its members.

80% of cut flowers sold in the U.S. are now imported. The importation of foreign plant material from Columbia, Ecuador and throughout the world has created an increasingly competitive marketplace that has significantly reduced overall farmer profitability, and homogenized the flower varieties offered. Over the past five years, consumer demand for high quality, local and seasonally diverse floral products has steadily climbed, yet until SWGMC opened for business last year, such products were not available in the Seattle area on any consistent basis.

Is the market wholesale only?

The market is set up mainly to serve wholesale buyers with high quality floral products. Our customer base includes studio florists, shop owners, stores, caterers, restaurants, event planners, venues, designers and other professionals. Professional buyers pay a $35 annual buyer’s card fee. 

Beginning June 1, 2012, the market opened to the public from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Fridays, with retail pricing and a $5 entry fee. The market’s board of directors recently made this decision to answer a strong level of interest from the public, and to help growers sell surplus product. 

Where is the market located?

In the Georgetown neighborhood located just south of downtown Seattle. We are 15 minutes from downtown Seattle and easily accessible from I-5 via the Michigan/Corson Street exit. Our address is 5840 Airport Way South, Suite 201, Seattle, WA  98108

What kind of flowers and plants do you offer at the market?

The market offers a wide variety of professional quality cut flowers, foliage and potted plants year round, including peonies, roses, calla lilies, Asiatic and oriental lilies, orchids, blooming branches, and specialty bulb and perennial crops. With a few seasonal exceptions, all of the flowers/plants offered for sale are locally grown, ensuring the freshest possible product for our customers. 

 

They play well together in a vase, don’t they?

When you think about a succulent plant as a floral design ingredient, it’s important to use both its “leaves” and its “flowers.”

Robin Stockwell, succulent grower extraordinaire and owner of Succulent Gardens Nursery in Castroville, Calif., shared this lesson last Friday as part of our joint workshop, “All in Good Time,” a program of the Garden Conservancy and the Ruth Bancroft Garden in Walnut Creek, Calif.

Thanks to the expert planning of Jenny Andrews, Garden Conservancy’s new Education Director, Robin (above) and I teamed up to talk about the Slow Flower movement. We especially focused on the idea of using wonderful, versatile, irresistible succulents from our gardens and pots.

In working on The 50 Mile Bouquet, I was introduced to the succulents-as-cut-ingredients technique. Several of the designers we featured use echeverias, aeoniums, graptopetalums, kalanchoes and other succulent cuttings as deftly as they use dahlias and roses. Susie Nadler and Flora Grubb, of The Cutting Garden at Flora Grubb Nursery, and Baylor Chapman of Lila B. Flowers, are rock stars when it comes to pairing succulents from the garden with flowers from the farm. Together these women inspired Sunset’s senior garden editor Julie Chai to use her succulent cuttings for the bridal party bouquets and centerpieces at her July 2011 wedding, also featured in our book.

Robin, though, was way ahead of all of us! A true pioneer, he was making bouquets of succulent flowers back in the 1980s. He shared a photo from a 1981 (black-and-white photographed) Sunset magazine article in which his then-young son was pictured with a vase of tall echeveria blooms. Let’s just call Robin an early-early-adopter to the succulent craze. He was so far ahead of his time that it has taken the rest of us 30 years to catch up!

“Succulents are the conservationists of the plant world” — Robin Stockwell

At the Garden Conservancy workshop, I started out the day with an illustrated talk called “10 Lessons I learned from the Slow Flower Movement.” Robin then wowed the audience with insights about how to harvest and what to do with each type of succulent. He explained that the rosette-looking succulents are actually leaves; many of the plants do produce long, slender stems bearing tiny pink flowers that dangle from them — also quite enticing.

I came prepared to carefully wire the rosettes and wrap their “faux stems” with green florist tape, but Robin demonstrated how you can cut the stem long enough to practically eliminate the wire. Play around with it and you’ll see what I mean. If the stem of the echeveria is 3-4 inches long, that might be enough to anchor it into a flower arrangement – cuz it certainly doesn’t need water to look dazzling (in fact, it will last far longer than any of the perennials or annuals in that vase). Kathleen Williford of the California Cut Flower Commission helped tremendously by gathering floral ingredients from local Monterey Bay area growers who supported the workshop with their donations. We couldn’t have done this without them!

BOUQUET 1

My go-to vase for stunning arrangements is a 7-inch tall white ceramic pedestal dish. It’s square and probably originally intended for serving some kind of yummy dessert. It’s also the type of vessel that a conventional florist would fill with Oasis by shoving a cube of the toxic green foam into the base and then poking in stems to create a “full” arrangement. But instead, I used a mound of chicken wire, anchored with a reusable floral clay. Here are the steps:

1. Level one of the arrangement is to fill the entire surface of chicken wire with foliage, allowing it to drape over the edge of the vase and also create a soft dome of texture. I had brought some foliage along with me on the plane from Seattle to Oakland ~ Jello Mold Farm’s Physocarpus, called ‘Coppertina’ – which has a tawny hue that plays off the brighter dahlias and succulents.

2. Level two: Add dahlias in a grid of one at the center and five surrounding flowers. I cut the dahlia stems relatively short so that the flowers nestled low into the foliage. Thank you to Kevin Larkin of Corralitos Dahlias for supplying the gorgeous blooms!

3. Next, add 4-5 medium-sized aeoniums or echeverias between the dahlia blooms. The ones Robin gave me had 6-inch stems, but I still inserted a short piece of 12-gauge wire into the base of each to “extend” it for anchoring into the chicken wire. Susie Nadler cuts her succulent stems pretty short – about 1/2-inch – and then inserts wire and wraps the entire “stem” with floral tape, but I skipped this step here.

4. Final step: We needed some height! Imagine my reaction when Robin showed up with dozens of cut flowering stems from his hybrid echeverias. Dusky pink, dark coral, pale turquoise. . . the palette was dreamy! Robin’s hybrid echeverias produce mega-rosettes measuring up to 12-inches across, so no surprise that their flowers are also overly robust. The ones he brought me were 10-12 inches long. I inserted several into the bouquet, through the top and down between the other ingredients to be supported by the hidden chicken wire. The hover above the rest of the flowers to finish off the design with a wow-factor!

BOUQUET 2

Carol Maerzke, my host for the visit, let me borrow her creamy-white vase for this arrangement. When your vase has upright or slightly fluted sides and a relatively narrow opening (6-7 inches), you don’t need to use a flower frog or chicken wire to stabilize stems. The ingredients behave nicely in this sort of vase. Here are the steps:

1. Fill the vase with varying heights of Asparagus fern, approximately one dozen. These are super-long-lasting and came from California Floral Greens (thanks, Jennifer Everett for the donation!)

2. Add shorter lengths of variegated pittosporum to offset the green and blend with the vase. Carol donated these from her lovely garden in Walnut Creek. I arranged most of these around the rim of the vase, covering the lip.

3. Insert several stems of beautiful white Lisianthus, to add a soft floral component. These were donated by Robert Kitayama of Kitayama Brothers Farms in Watsonville, Calif. Thanks, Robert!

4. Add two variegated succulent echeverias in the front of the arrangement, also draped over the rim of the vase. Thanks, Robin!

5. Add more upright elements for contrast in color, form and texture. Here, I inserted rose-streaked New Zealand flax (Phormium) from California Floral Greens and drumstick alliums grown by Jan Roozen of Choice Bulb Co., in Mount Vernon, Wash.

We had a great day, all around. What struck me later was a note Robin sent by email:

I’ve not thought a lot about the floral side of what I do over the past few years and even when I have, it was in bits and pieces. the presentation with you brought back a much more comprehensive memory of my past experiences and gave me quite a few new insights as well.

It was a great combination of two Slow Flowers points of view, and we were especially energized by the very engaged and supportive audience, as well as the great staff at the Garden Conservancy and the Ruth Bancroft Garden, especially Sophie Damerel, the education director there. A special thanks goes to Jenny Andrews, the Garden Conservancy’s new director of education and a longtime friend and former editor of mine from Garden Design magazine. She made this all work on her end and we couldn’t be happier with the results!

Robin Stockwell’s Succulent Tips for Floral Designers

1. Cut the “heads” off of plants using a clean, sharp florist’s knife or clippers. Robin sterilizes his tools in Lysol.

2. While succulents do not need much water, the aeoniums benefit from being in a little water when cut. Other succulent rosettes will be okay on a wire stem out of water. Obviously, after seven days or so in a vase, the succulent will be the last attractive element left. You’ll be able to re-use it in the next arrangement or let it produce some roots and replant it in a pot or the garden.

3. Soil mix. When replanting your succulent, use a soil mix formulated for cactus and succulent plants. Succulents appreciate soil that is well aerated and drains well. Coarse bark or crushed lava work well for this, sand does not. When I first started writing about succulent bowls, I interviewed Erin Keosian Taylor of botanik in Summerland, Calif., near Santa Barbara. Erin recommends planting rooted succulents in a mix of one-half organic potting soil and one-half cactus mix. I’ve had pretty good success with that recipe.

Repurposed Succulents

As a footnote, here’s what Carol did after we returned to her home Friday afternoon. The arrangements sat in her car for a little too long, so Carol took my bouquet apart and re-used the ingredients in a centerpiece with locally-grown sunflowers. I think the green aeonium rosettes look stunning with her sunflowers, don’t you?

“Learn how you can find local, sustainable flowers for aromatic and beautiful bouquets.”

It’s great to see the message that we set out to share spread far and wide. Romantic Homes magazine, in the current July issue, features our book in a two-page spread as part of its regular “Pages” book feature.

Thanks to editor Jacqueline deMontravel and her team for featuring The 50 Mile Bouquet in the July 2012 issue of Romantic Homes! Here’s a peek, or you can pick up a copy at the newsstand:

A late-June bouquet with a vintage patina

The copper container highlights the rich colors of the foliage and flowers.

An amber-apricot-peach floral palette.

The entire palette looks like it’s been tea-stained. One woman suggested it was more “Downton Abbey” than modern-day. I think she’s right. It was the ‘Coppertina’ ninebark foliage (Physocarpus opulifolius ‘Coppertina’) that got me started. Grown by Diane Szukovathy and Dennis Westphall of Jello Mold Farm  in Skagit Valley, Washington, this foliage color is truly sublime. I love ninebark in all its forms — the deep plum and the classic green included. But the relatively new cultivar with copper-tones is quite alluring.

Once I chose the foliage, I took my regular circuit through the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market to find companionable blooms. I couldn’t resist the stunning, pale peach spires of Jan Roozen’s foxtail lilies (Eremurus sp.) from Choice Bulb Co. Those are the tallest elements of the arrangement above. Vivian Larson’s Everyday Flowers didn’t disappoint, either – I snatched up bunches of pale apricot stock (Matthiola incana), which are super fragrant, and peachy snapdragons with lots of buds. Then – surprise – peachy-pink yarrow from Charles Little & Co. in Eugene, Oregon. It all came together beautifully in the copper flower pot that Bruce gave me as a birthday gift years ago. Because I’ve had this vessel for six or seven years, it has started to mellow nicely.

The arrangement above was my “practice” bouquet, photographed in my living room. I used all of the same ingredients at the Garden Club demonstration – and one lucky member won the raffle to bring it home with her. The flowers and foliage should last up to a week if the water is refreshed every day or two – and if I see a single stem starting to “wilt” a little, I pull it out, re-cut it and return it to the vase. It often helps to revive the stem.

Hooray for LOCAL Flower Farmers!

Sunset invited me to share eco-floral design techniques and showcase LOCAL FLOWERS!

A special thank you to the California Cut Flower Commission and the Flower Growers of Monterey Bay, California. Many of them shared ingredients for my two demonstrations at the recent SUNSET Celebration Weekend.

Eddy Lehrer, a member of the audience, was kind enough to share photos of some of the individual arrangements. Which is great, because we were so rushed to get on and off the stage that no one else had the time to snap photos.

My big, showy arrangement. Thank you to Baylor Chapman of Lila B. Flowers for the loan of the amazing opaque white footed vase. Ingredients include lilies and sunflowers from Kitayama Brothers; Equisetum (horsetail) from California Floral Greens; and Citrus foliage and Cut lemon Branches, from Four Winds Growers.

Pretty in deep pink. a favorite of the weekend. The clear glass vase was on loan from Sunset's prop closet (thanks, Julie!). I submerged several "loops" of curly willow from California Floral Greens to create a nest-like structure for the stems. Then, I added pink-streaked Phormium blades, also from California Floral Greens. And for the blooms: A bounty of luscious 'Cherry Brandy' roses from California Pajarosa and deep pink dahlias from Kitayama Brothers.

I started by filling this low, wide glass container with blueberry-laden branches from Four Winds Growers. Then I inserted stems of purple Opal basil from Jacobs Farms (how fun to use herbs!). Add a beautiful Aeonium from Succulent Gardens and some plum-throated callas from Kitayama Brothers - what a cool combination of ingredients, all with a touch or more of purple.

This arrangement illustrates how to NOT use green florist's foam (aka Oasis), which is a toxic ingredient that does not break down in landfills. I started by inserting a mushoom cap-shaped ball of chicken wire into the white compote-style container. Then I added very interesting foliage - Pineapple Guava (with blooms) from Four Winds Growers. The mound of foliage needed something pretty to emerge above it, and we selected several stems of gorgeous purple Lisanthus, from Kitayama Brothers.

Here’s what we used and who grew each and every vibrant ingredient:

If there’s any chance you’ll find yourself in Monterey Bay on Saturday, June 16th, schedule a visit for a FREE, self-guided tour of the fields, farms and greenhouses where local flowers are grown! It’s the once-a-year chance for the public to meet the farmers and their flowers! For details, visit Monterey Bay Farm Tours or call 831-247-4008.

Taking the so-called expert to task

Narcissus 'Ehrlicheer' from Choice Bulb Co. in Mt. Vernon, with hostas from my garden.

Earlier this week, Freakonomics co-author Stephen Dubner was a guest on public radio’s Marketplace with Kai Ryssdal. Many of us listened in horror as this economics “expert” suggested that because imported flowers have such a huge carbon footprint, listeners should give their mothers PLASTIC FLOWERS for Mother’s Day. Here is a link to the entire interview, but I’ll just single out one of the stupidest things Dubner said:

They’re plastic flowers. And they’re beautiful, right? They do wonderful things with plastic these days. So here’s the thing, we may associate flowers with nature and plastic with the opposite, but is in fact a very simplistic view of how the world actually works.

WHAT?!

I just had to respond to that crazy-making radio conversation in which Dubner almost got it right, but then went way, way wrong. I sent an email to Ryssdal’s producer yesterday. Here’s part of what I wrote:

I want to offer my friendly rebuttal to yesterday’s “Freakonomics” segment in which guest Stephen Dubner told Marketplace host Kai Ryssdal that listeners should not buy flowers for Mother’s Day but instead give their moms PLASTIC FLOWERS.

When I heard the opening lines of the segment, in which Stephen noted that 80 percent of cut flowers sold in the US are imported, my first thought was: “Oh, this is great…Stephen is going to advocate for consumers to support locally-grown, domestic cut flowers.”

Instead, my jaw dropped when I listened to him offer the ill-informed suggestion that listeners give their mothers plastic (petroleum-based and certainly NOT sustainable) flowers.

. . . there is a healthy, sustainable alternative to imported blooms; options that support the US cut flower industry (including the state of California, which accounts for 75 percent of all domestically-grown flowers – in your own backyard!)

I think it’s doing a disservice to your listeners to let someone like Stephen Dubner give them only half of the story. He did not provide your listeners with a realistic, intelligent alternative to imported flowers.

Thanks Judy!

A visual treat - from our friends at Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers!

Mark your calendar and please join us at these April events:

A garden bouquet picked and held by photographer David Perry contains vermilion-red Photinia sp. with contrasting greens - hellebore flowers and carex blades.

TODAY: Saturday, April 14 (1-2 p.m.)

“The 50 Mile Bouquet,” a lecture by Debra, followed by a book-signing at The Bloedel Reserve on Bainbridge Island, $20 for members of Bloedel ($25, nonmembers), includes light refreshments. Please call 206-842-7631 to pre-register.

SOLD OUT: Monday, April 23, David will teach an intensive garden photography workshop at The Bloedel Reserve. We regret to say the class has filled. Please contact David directly to be notified of his future workshops.

Saturday, April 28 (11 a.m.-3 p.m.)

Dunn Gardens in North Seattle will host a lecture and hands-on floral design workshop with Debra. The workshop is limited to 20 and there are a few spaces left. Class includes floral ingredients and lunch. You bring the vase! Fee: $65 for members of Dunn ($75 for nonmembers). Register here or call 206-362-0933.

Contact us for an upcoming event and read our speaker reviews on GreatGardenSpeakers.com:

About David Perry

About Debra Prinzing

Photos (c) David E. Perry, from The 50 Mile Bouquet

Do you enjoy flowers in your life?

The following is the illustrated introduction from our new book, The 50 Mile Bouquet: Seasonal, Local and Sustainable Flowers (St. Lynn’s Press, 2012). Our official release date was April 1. Mother Earth News fully excerpted the introduction for its readers last week, and we wanted to share it here, as well. Enjoy!, Debra and David

Are you drawn to a voluptuous heirloom rose like a bee to honey? Is burying your head in a just-picked garden bouquet and inhaling its perfume a joy-inducing experience? You are not alone. Our love affair with flowers is ancient and visceral.

But lately something has been missing from everyday flowers – you’ve probably noticed. That clutch of gerbera daisies or tulips from the supermarket may appear picture-perfect, yet it feels disconnected from the less-than-perfect (but incredibly romantic) flowers growing in your own backyard. The mixed bouquet delivered in a happy-face vase by a floral service is pretty enough, but somehow looks unnatural, as if it were produced in a laboratory and not in real garden soil, nurtured by sun and rain. These blooms feel far removed from the fields in which they grew. And they are, in more ways than one. To the many of us who seek that visceral joy of just-picked bouquets to bring into our homes or use for special celebrations — or give as gifts to others — the flower has lost its soul. What happened?  

These are “factory flowers,” grown by a $40 billion worldwide floriculture industry whose goal is uniformity and durability – so as to withstand long shipping distances. They are altogether different from the carefree zinnias,  romantic peonies and wispy cosmos you clip from the garden for a home-styled arrangement. The $100 box of long-stemmed roses may look close to perfect, but its contents have been off the farm for up to two weeks. Those scentless creations were likely grown a continent or two away and shipped on a dose of preservatives to travel to you – poor substitutes for heady, abundant armloads of blooms gathered from grandmother’s cutting garden. They have lost the fleeting, ephemeral quality of an old-fashioned, just-picked bouquet.  

A Greener Way  

“Green” floral design is only recently appearing in the sustainable living lexicon, but the term suggests using flowers that have been grown with eco-friendly methods. To us, it feels authentic, echoing the voices of those in the slow food movement. Why can’t we have flowers that come from local fields? Or ones that express the cycle of seasons? Isn’t that a more natural, and sustainable, way to bring flowers into our lives? 

Faced with concerns about our food supply, the materials with which our homes are built and furnished, and the energy sources we consume, more people than ever are asking questions about the environmental impact of everything they use, drive, eat and even wear. 

And yet, until recently, conscious consumers were largely unaware of the decidedly non-green attributes of their floral purchases. They bought bouquets without questioning the source, or  the manner in which those flowers were grown (not to mention the environmental costs of shipping a perishable, luxury commodity around the globe). When presented with the real back story of their bouquets, some have initially said, “I don’t eat my flowers, so why should I care if they are organic or not?” or “How damaging to the earth is a $10 bunch of cellophane-wrapped mums anyway?” For others, it’s been a revelation.  

Take the idea of buying local: In the world of foods, the concept of “eating local” has become accepted in our culture. Many of us already embrace the premise that “local” is desirable, over non-local. According to a statewide study by the California Cut Flower Commission, 85 percent of consumers did not know where the flowers they purchase are from; however, more than half (55 percent) indicated they would purchase flowers grown locally, in California, if they were given the choice. 

It’s our belief that many consumers want to bring home blooms that are fresh, local and safe. Even though hard data on the harmful effects of pesticides and other chemicals used in the commercial floral trade have been slow in coming, anecdotal evidence from our interviews with organic flower farmers, green floral designers, and retailers who market sustainably-grown flowers supports our belief. 

Whether or not they consider themselves environmentalists, consumers are beginning to exercise their choices at the flower stand, asking whether the beautiful roses, lilies or tulips they purchase at the local supermarket were grown domestically or were imported. They are looking for labeling that guarantees flowers have been produced in an environmentally and socially responsible manner – finding it in an increasing number of outlets as diverse as Sam’s Club, Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods and the neighborhood grocery store. 

More flower shops and wedding designers are marketing themselves as “organic, local and sustainable,” seeking healthy, artful ingredients grown in their own communities by small family farms. As demand for green flowers increases, the sources of chemical-free crops will also expand, allowing the local flower farmer to earn a living wage supplying designers, florists and consumers in his or her own community. Seasons change, and so do the varieties, offering us the pleasure of celebrating the full cycle of a calendar year in the garden. But seasonality does not mean giving up our floral traditions. There are lovely, domestically-grown roses available to buy and give on Valentine’s Day – but only for those who are intentional, insisting that the florist source Oregon- or California-grown roses for holiday giving. And of course, you can embrace the moment differently, such as giving your beloved a pot of hyacinth blooms that have been forced indoors. 

As more flower consumers pose the questions: “Is this local? … Is this seasonal? … Is this sustainable?” – we’ve heard them. We’ve collected the answers to those questions and more in the pages of The 50 Mile Bouquet. Here you’ll find inspiring and creative resources and how-to ideas, techniques and information to enjoy flowers in your daily life, even if you aren’t a gardener. 

Planning a wedding? We’ll introduce you to floral designers who work with local farmers to create unforgettable, one-of-a-kind bouquets for your day of days. Planning a special event that cries out for fresh flowers, but you live in an area with limited access to fresh, locally-grown blooms? We’ll put you in touch with domestic flower farmers and florists from other areas who can ship your orders overnight.  

Our book aspires to be the essential resource for savvy, eco-conscious consumers who may be aware that the flowers they buy at the corner market or order from a local florist or wire service are not organic, but who need a road map to guide them to better – and more beautiful – alternatives. Rather than pointing to the perceived lack of choice or limitations of the floral industry, The 50 Mile Bouquet will empower and equip gardeners, flower enthusiasts, floral designers, event planners and their customers to take a proactive, informed approach to the flowers in their lives and work. Consider this the “slow flower” guide to organic flower growing, gathering and design. 

A sustainable rose by any other name

Recently, a reader of our blog asked: “I have always bought local. What I don’t understand is the term ‘sustainable.’ Can you expand?” Before we even had a chance to post an answer or define the term, another reader shared her point of view as an urban flower farmer and designer.  Jennie Love owns Philadelphia-based Love ‘n Fresh Flowers. She wrote:

“I am a small flower farmer in Pennsylvania who grows organically, but is not certified as ‘organic’ due to the debilitating high costs of going through the (USDA) certification process. So I use the words ‘sustainably grown’ to describe my flowers (due to government regulations, if you’re not a Certified Organic operation, you cannot use the word ‘organic’ in promoting what you produce). What ‘sustainably grown’ means to me is this in a nutshell: being careful to not take more from the land and the community than I am putting back into them.  

“In my daily farming practices, I am using cover crops, compost, all-natural fertilizers, good watering practices, limited tilling of the land, lots of native plants so the local insect population has food sources, nurturing old antique/heirloom flowers that might not necessarily be money makers but are going to disappear from our world if growers like me don’t keep using them, and generally being very thoughtful about how everything I do in the field is going to impact not just that field but the forest that surrounds the field, the underwater streams that run from the field to the rivers, and the flora and fauna in that field and elsewhere in 5–10 years. And I never use synthetic chemicals to fight bugs or weeds. 

“In my business practices, I work hard at engaging and educating my immediate community – literally my neighbors – and the city in which I live. I try to always be transparent about what I am doing and what my goals are when people ask about my business. I have recently hired my first employee and I am paying well above minimum wage (more than I can afford, really) and providing flexible work hours that fit into his schedule so his quality of life improves because he is working for me. I make a point to donate lots of flowers to different non-profits and to nursing homes. . . . 

“Most importantly, to me at least, is that I have a rule: my flowers never go further than 75 miles from where they grew. I want my flowers and my business to enrich the lives of those who live around me in as many ways as possible. To me, that’s giving back more than I take from this world.”  

We were so impressed with Jennie’s eloquent and respectful response. She highlighted some of the challenges small flower farmers face when it comes to the nuances with definitions and labeling of organic products definitions. The myriad terminology is helpful to learn, and you’ll see that in the pages of this book, we sometimes use “organic” with a lower-case “o” to differentiate from Organic, as defined by the United States Department of Agriculture. To learn more, please check out the useful section on Sustainability Terms.  

Change Your Relationship with Flowers  

In the pages of The 50 Mile Bouquet, you will meet flower farmers, supermarket flower buyers, floral designers, wedding planners, farmers’ market vendors and creative DIYers who are committed to growing, selling and designing with a “green” approach. This is a book that will engage your senses. Let your eyes feast on the evocative photo portrayals of these “slow flower” pioneers. Get lost in the images of both the uncommon and the everyday – buds, blooms, branches, leaves and berries – as they grow and are ultimately used by floral artists. We invite you to read the intimate narratives of every person we’ve met on our floral journey, including the growers who are passionately committed to sustainable practices and the designers who use ingenuity and innovation to source their ingredients locally and seasonally – and eliminate conventional and often harmful industry practices. Follow with us as we tell the story of The 50 Mile Bouquet, as it travels from field to vase. 

We hope that this book connects you with a healthier, flower-filled lifestyle, one that helps you engage with nature, with the environment, and with the very blooms you desire. Enjoy safe and sustainable flowers, the ones you grow yourself in a cutting garden or the ones in pots on your balcony. Gather bouquets with your children, not worrying that they’ll come in contact with pesticides. Share those bunches with a neighbor who doesn’t have a garden. Source fresh blooms from flower growers in your own community, whether you live in the town or country. And finally, learn how to design with confidence, as you create personal, evocative bouquets of your own. It’s a better way to beautiful.

Debra and David