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.
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:
 |
| 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!
