American Flowers Week

American Flowers Week

#OriginMatters American Flowers Week AmericanGrown CAGrown Debra Prinzing Domestic Flowers local flowers Mayesh Slow Flowers Wholesale

For the second year in a row, American Flowers Week is taking off! This week-long celebration of domestically grown flowers was created by Slowflowers.com's Debra Prinzing, a writer, speaker, and leading advocate for American flowers and the farmers who grow them.

 Why Dedicate a Week to American Flowers? 

American Flowers Week was organized to unite America's flower farmers with the US floral industry, while also engaging consumers in the conversation about the origin of their flowers.  This is a much-needed conversation, as 80% of flowers purchased in the US are imports, a move that has pushed 58% of US flower farms out of business since 1992.

American Flowers Week wants to change that.  After all, while 74% of consumers do not know the origins of their flowers, 58% prefer American Grown, if given the choice.

Prinzing points out that, "Consumers are more conscious than ever about the origins of the goods they purchase, especially when it comes to food — and flowers."  This is why it is important to celebrate the U.S. flower farmers who grow a diverse selection of florals year-round, as well as salute the floral designers whose values inspire them to source domestically.

  

American Flowers Week is buttressed by the support of the program, American Grown Flowers; a certification program, brand, and coalition of flower farmers--large and small--across the United States.  Through its iconic branding, advocacy, sponsorship, and wildly successful Field to Vase Dinner Tour, American Grown Flowers has been a giant in the domestic flower conversation.  

Kasey Cronquist, administrator of the Certified American Grown program and CEO/Ambassador of the California Cut Flower Commission, adds, “Origin matters, and we believe a week like this helps drive public awareness about hard-working American flower farmers that they can support all year long. Buying American Grown Flowers makes a difference.”

They aren't the only ones for the cause; one large Los Angeles-based wholesaler, Mayesh Wholesale Florist, is another American Flowers Week Sponsor this year, signaling a positive shift in the floral industry.  Their example is important, as the majority of wholesalers do not source domestically grown flowers (a move which then affects the flowers sourced by Grocers, E-Commerce, and Florists).  As one of our floral buyers, Mayesh has been a longtime supporter of U.S. Flower Farmers.  According to their CEO, Patrick Dahlson, "Mayesh is excited to promote American Flowers Week to highlight our American grown flowers and continue our support of the growing community.”

 What Can You Do To Support American Grown Flowers? 

If you are a florist, retailer, wholesaler, or floral designer this campaign is timed to coincide with America’s Independence Day on July 4th, allowing a perfect patriotic opportunity to promote American grown flowers.  See the wealth of promotional resources here: American Flowers Week Free Downloads.

 If you are a flower lover, check out the Why and How below:

We, and many other U.S. farmers, florists, and wholesalers, will be all over Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook with our American Grown blooms over the next week; follow along and add your own photos with the hashtag #americanflowersweek.  

Join the movement and Take Pride In Your Flowers! 

 

 

American Grown Mother's Day

American Grown Mother's Day

AmericanGrown CAGrown local flowers Mother's Day teamwork

As you well know, this Sunday is Mother’s Day--the Holy Grail of holidays for flower farmers.  The past three weeks (nay, months!) have been a highly focused team effort to make sure our flowers are picked, bunched, sleeved, and shipped on time for the big day.

Royal Lily picking and bunching

All team members are on-deck, clocking long hours and even working outside of their "home" departments in order to help bunch tulips, sleeve lilies, and pack boxes.  Teamwork is a fundamental part of a working flower farm, and it is especially poignant as this year marks the second Mother's Day for Certified American Grown—a movement which embodies teamwork on a larger scale, as it binds American flower farms (large and small) together under one, overarching brand.  

American flower farms face steep competition from flowers grown offshore (over 80% of blooms purchased in the US are from South America); however, studies show that the majority of consumers want to support local businesses and prefer to buy domestically grown flowers--they just need the opportunity.  That's exactly what the Certified American Grown Label (placed or printed on all our flower sleeves) is meant to do--help consumers who care easily identify domestic flora.

 
By buying American Grown flowers you help our environment (less freight mileage), support the US agricultural economy, and provide yourself with the freshest, longest-lasting flowers available.  Not to mention, you are also supporting fair wages and better working environments for the people who plant, pick, and process the flowers, too (something that goes unregulated in many South American Flower Farms).

A peek at this year’s American Grown Mother’s Day Rush at Sun Valley:    

Bunching and sleeving Roselilies

Fresh-picked Royal lilies

A sea of flowers

Tulips ready to go

 The Mother's Day Flowers:

CAgrown Iris

American Grown Color

American Grown Royal Lilies

American Grown Viburnum

This Mother’s Day, take the time to celebrate with flowers grown domestically.  Look for the Certified American Grown label or ask your favorite retailer where their flowers coming from. You CAN make a difference!

 

Field to Table Flowers

Field to Table Flowers

Debra Prinzing fall arrangements field to fork Field to table field to vase local flowers

"Know your food, know your farmers, and know your kitchen"
                                                                                        -Joel Salatin

Do you know where your vegetables came from? Do you know who brewed your beer or made your wine? These days the answer is typically “yes.”  In a world where it often seems we are racing to mediocrity, I am thrilled to watch the “farm to table” and “field to fork” food movements continue to grow.

Field to Fork, with flowers!

According to the USDA, there are currently 8,268 Framers Markets in the United States, up from 3,706 in 2004. People are demanding access to fresh, seasonal and local foods; and retailers, farmers and all sorts of individuals are responding.

Right next to the produce section in the grocery store, and the most colorful booth at the farmers market is the flower section.  The same trend effecting fruits and vegetables is finally coming to flowers. It might surprise you to learn that 80% of the flowers sold in the United States are grown in far flung places like Columbia and Ecuador. The top three biggest sellers; roses, carnations and alstroemeria, are grown almost exclusively in South America.

Fall Flower Bouquets

This trend is changing as flower lovers “think outside the rose box” and explore the vast array of flowers grown domestically.  Just like with your food; once you start to look for flowers grown closer to home, you find a deeply rooted subculture of flower connoisseurs. These folks know where to find sunflowers from a farm stand on the edge of town or lilies from an artisanal greenhouse grower a few exits up the freeway. They know soil grown tulips are better than hydroponic, they know the heirloom varieties, as well as, the flashy new hybrids.

Classic iris and mason jar arrangement

Whether you live in the city or in the country, fresh flowers grown in America are becoming “a thing.” Author Debra Prinzing found that many people want to buy local flowers, but didn’t know where to find the blooms.  So she started a website called, Slow Flowers, which is basically a vast data base of small, regional and national flower farms. Just put in your zip code and learn about a flower farm near you. This is sort of like the secret hand shake to get in the local flower club.

Hold onto summer, with this early fall arrangement.

The movement has been dubbed “field to vase” and one of the most vibrant and beautiful blogs about finding local flowers goes by the same name.  CAUTION: this blog will make you want to quit your day job, and become a flower farmer!

Even though Sun Valley is a pretty big operation, we are proud to be a part of the field to table movement.