When it comes to buying cut flowers, the same principle we use with any other consumer product applies: buy local. Keeping a “buy local” mindset helps to reduce transportation emissions, support small businesses, and promote the seasonality of cut flowers. 

Buying local cut flowers requires a bit of homework for the consumer though, as you’ll need to determine where local growers and florists are located. A good place to start is at the slow flowers directory. You can also inquire with florists to find out where they buy their stems from. Molly Oliver of Molly Oliver Flowers, located in Brooklyn, sources her flowers from growers just outside New York City. By subscribing to programs like her Seasonal Flower Project, you can ensure you’re receiving a steady supply of fresh, local flowers.

You can also consider growing your own cut flowers. And if you have a small space, don’t fear; you can get started with just a pot. As Teri Speight mentioned in our latest horticulture webinar, start with putting some bulbs at the bottom of your pot on a bed of soil. Then add another layer of soil, select a perennial that will rebloom each year, and finally add some seeds.

Every year you can try a different cut flower seed and see which blooms are the most interesting or the most reliable. Using this method, you can have blooms as early as April that continue to the end of the summer. Additionally, by growing your own flowers even here in NYC, you’re providing floral resources for pollinators.

(Photo Credit: Mark Gallucci)