Most of our red roses are sourced from Colombia and Ecuador. Rose production for Valentine’s Day begins as early as October, with growers cutting back their plants to maximize their yield for Valentine’s Day. According to Virgin Farms’ interview with Rafael Santillán, an Ecuadorian flower farmer, “Throughout the year, about 1 to 1.1 roses are produced per plant, per month. For Valentine’s Day, three red roses per plant are produced for the Valentine’s Day harvest…”

After the roses are harvested, they’re transported to the airport in vehicles with controlled temperatures of between 35-39 F. Since the flowers are out of water, this helps prevent them from wilting.  According to the Miami International Airport, MIA receives 91% of the flowers flown into the US. From January 1st through February 14th, 1.4 billion floral stems will travel through the Miami International Airport, with over 30 cargo planes arriving daily. Once the flowers arrive, they’re inspected by border control for disease and parasites, then sent off to florists and wholesalers in all corners of the nation.

Because so many more red roses are needed for Valentine’s Day compared to other times of the year, the farmers have to start harvesting them early. Red roses start arriving in the US in the beginning of January for Valentine’s Day. This means they could be out of water for 2-4 weeks. During the year, we carefully source our roses to ensure they are long-lasting. We just can’t make that guarantee for red roses during Valentine’s Day because of how far ahead they need to be harvested. 

If you’re looking for something romantic and want to try something different than traditional Valentine’s Day Red Roses, maybe choose roses in another beautiful color such as lavender or pink. Of course you can never go wrong with our ever popular Valentine’s Designer’s Choice! Our designers are incredibly skilled at creating unique and beautiful arrangements using a variety of flowers that are both in season and locally sourced, even during the winter. We can, of course, still include beautiful red roses with other flowers for a very romantic design! Here are just a few examples of what our designers can do!

Photo credits: CBS News, Fantasy Floral

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We continue to explore ways to implement sustainable practices at our shop. One of the most damaging things to the planet in the US floral industry is flying in 80% of our flowers from other countries. That’s why we are so excited to source some of our flowers from local regenerative family farms. I follow many flower farmers on Instagram, but one of my favorites is @BlossomAndBranchFarm. Last fall she posted this reel about creating arrangements out of dried elements during the winter when fresh flowers aren’t growing.

For me it’s the floral equivalent of canning. Homesteaders living off the land grow an abundance of vegetables so they have enough fresh produce to eat during the summer and enough to can and store to eat in the winter. I know a chef who is dedicated to only selling food that is locally sourced. A customer was complaining that his hamburger didn’t have a tomato on it. The chef patiently explained that tomatoes don’t grow in Virginia in January.

Obviously using only dried elements during the winter isn’t practical for us, but the idea has really stayed with me. This year we are experimenting with adding more dried elements to our arrangements as we find a balance between practicality and sustainability. Here are some of the dried elements we have in the shop!

Grasses

One thing we love to utilize in arrangements is texture, and grasses are an excellent way to add some! Most plants get brittle and crisp when they’re dried, but pampas grass and miscanthus grass stay soft and fluffy! Zebra grass’s unique markings make any arrangement stand out, and we also love to use bunny tails for little pops of texture.

Greens

Greenery isn’t just green! When dried, some of the foliage we use in our arrangements take on completely new colors. For instance, grevillea, which can be tinted orange or red, fades when it’s dried, bringing a muted color to the arrangement. And while most people think of the green, shiny side of magnolia leaves, we love to use the brown, suede-like underside as well! 

Grains

Grains are another dried element we love to use in arrangements! While the main use of wheat, millet, and sorghum is food, they also have a place in the floral world. These grains give arrangements a rustic look and can even be dyed to take on unusual colors!

Seeds

Seeds come in all shapes and sizes, and we love to use them all! The unique shapes of seedbox and lotus pods lend themselves to artistic arrangements. Pinecones are a symbol of fall and winter, and we especially love to use them in holiday centerpieces! 

As you can see, dried elements come in a variety of colors and textures. They will be a fun addition to our winter and holiday arrangements this year!

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Dead Dirt

Years ago I read a book by chef, Dan Barber, called The Third Plate. It was shortly after my two sons were diagnosed with celiac disease. Managing the disease is super simple–just don’t ingest gluten! Discovering why celiac disease and other autoimmune disorders are on the rise was a little more complicated, but I felt a lot of clues were in Dan Barber’s book. Barber writes about living soil (as opposed to dead dirt) and thriving heritage crops (as opposed to genetically modified crops sustained by chemicals).

Living Soil

The more research I do, the more I am convinced that creating and sustaining healthy living soil through regenerative farming practices is the key to so much of what ails us and our planet. If you want some inspiration on how transformative healthy soil and regenerative farming can be, just watch Kiss the Ground and The Biggest Little Farm!

This blog post from Heirloom Soul Florals outlines these practices and the benefits that they bring: 

“Very literally, ‘Regenerative’ Farming means we are rebuilding and rejuvenating life on earth. The ‘re-’ is critical for our understanding, because our land, at one time, was full of incredible life. We humans have spent millennia, and most notably the past few decades, effectively destroying life on earth. Through Regenerative farming and gardening, we can restore that lost life. We won’t be able to fully restore it to what it once was, but we can make it 100-fold better than it is now and guarantee a habitable planet for our future generations.”

Local Flower Farmers

The local flower farms we purchase from through Old Dominion Flower Cooperative are all organic and many incorporate regenerative practices such as no-tilling and cover-cropping. This short but illuminating video by Grateful Gardners, one of our local flower farmers, does a great job of explaining how and why farms like theirs make a difference. 

By supporting our local family-owned flower farmers, we are supporting the bigger initiatives of regenerative farming and moving away from a dependence on flowers flown in from other countries. Local flowers are not inexpensive, but we feel the uniqueness and quality of the flowers as well as the monumental benefits of regenerative farming practices are worth every penny we invest. 

Stay tuned for part three!

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pixabay on stockvault

As winter melts into spring, the flower growing season is upon us! Here at Fantasy Floral, that means we start receiving shipments from Old Dominion Flower Cooperative, a group of local women-owned flower farms that practice organic sustainable farming. With most of our cut flowers coming from overseas, the US floral industry is in dire need of more sustainable practices. This is the first of three articles in our series on Sustainability.  

Buying Local

“Locally-grown” doesn’t just apply to the veggies you get from the farmer’s market! Supporting local flower growers is a big step towards sustainability in the flower industry. For a couple of years, Margie and Trevor imagined ways to work with local flower farmers as a source for cut flowers. None of the options seemed feasible, but it continued to be on our wish list.

At the same time, local flower farmers imagined ways to work with local florists, but none of the options seemed  feasible. This is one of the silver-linings of the pandemic! It inspired creative solutions and thinking-outside-of-the-box. In this case, a local flower farmer cooperative was born. By combining their farms, knowledge, and resources, flower farmers overcame the two biggest hurdles–reaching enough florists and offering enough variety.

According to Modern Farmer, in 2015, “80 percent of all flowers sold in the U.S. [were] imported, primarily from South American industrial flower farms that have a history of using harsh chemical fertilizers, toxic pesticides and unfair labor practices.” 

From a sustainability aspect, buying local eliminates the need for airplanes and the chemicals needed to preserve the flowers during transport. From an economic aspect, buying local strengthens the local economy by keeping our dollars here instead of sending them overseas. From a humanitarian aspect, buying local means supporting families, not large corporations with questionable labor practices.

Buying local also increases a sense of community. We are meeting our neighbors who supply the flowers and learning what goes in (or more importantly what doesn’t go in) the flowers we are purchasing. We learn about other florists in the area who are also embracing more sustainable practices. Through social media, we are connecting with the larger flower farmer and florist community–one farmer and florist at a time–throughout the country. It’s a larger community than we imagined and totally dedicated to sustainability. We’re proud to be part of it!

Douglas Perkins on Wikimedia Commons

Higher Quality

Imported flowers are sometimes harvested weeks before florists receive them. This leads to a decreased quality and vase life according to Farm Bureau Financial Services. You can especially witness this decline in quality during Valentine’s Day. Because of the high demand for red roses, farmers start cutting their red roses weeks earlier than normal in order to meet the demand during Valentine’s Day week. The result is red roses that often do not meet our normal standard for longevity. This year we actually steered our customers to other arrangements for that reason. 

A recent arrangement by Kristi!

In contrast, flowers coming from local farms are harvested just days before we receive them. Partnering with local farmers through Old Dominion Flower Cooperative allows us to use the freshest possible flowers in our arrangements. When we do have to purchase from overseas farms, we carefully select the farm for flowers with the highest quality and longevity. When cared for properly, our flowers last much longer than those purchased at the grocery store!

In the same article, FBFS outlines some other benefits to buying local. One in particular is access to seasonal flowers that thrive in your climate! This is super important to us at Fantasy Floral, as we love the variety we get from ODFC. You can read more about what we do with flowers from the co-op in Margie’s blog post! 

Hussein Twabi on Wikimedia Commons

Protect our Pollinators

Local flowers also help sustain pollinator populations. Many species of insects, especially bees and butterflies, are going extinct at an alarming rate. According to Brightly, habitat loss, pesticides, climate change, and disease all contribute to declining pollinator populations. Local flower farms help ensure that bees and butterflies have flowers to pollinate, and they also ensure that those flowers aren’t sprayed with harmful chemicals! 

Buying local is just one step! Stay tuned for the next two blog posts in our sustainability series!

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Length

When I was in college, my Creative Writing teacher told me that “the quality of the words you use is more important than their quantity”. A card message doesn’t have to be long to be meaningful! One of my favorite examples of this is a recent message for Valentine’s Day: “A flower for my lady, a bouquet for my queen; let us always set time aside to dream.” 

While short messages always work, it’s important to consider more than just the standard “I love you” or “Happy Birthday/Anniversary/Holiday.” A message that means something to the recipient, even if it’s long, will be remembered long after the vase is empty. For example, there’s a pair of sisters who frequently order flowers for each other. Their card messages are always lyrics to a rock song. The messages can get lengthy, but it’s their sister thing!

Tone

The tone of the message is also important to consider, and that depends on the occasion for sending flowers. A sympathy message will have a very different tone than a birthday message. Being specific about the tone you’d like to use–for example, letting us know whether to include exclamation points or not. This ensures your message contains the intended enthusiasm or serenity as needed. 

Content

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, honesty and sincerity make the best card messages. There’s a time and a place for stock-standard well-wishes, but in my experience, the messages that stick are the personal ones. Perhaps there’s an inside joke you could include, or a phrase that has special meaning for you and the recipient. Here are some of our favorites:

“I love you today, more than the day I met you, and tomorrow I will love you even more. Happy Valentine’s Day, my beautiful wife! I love you!” It reminds me of one of my favorite quotes from Lemony Snicket, author of A Series of Unfortunate Events: “I will love you if I never see you again, and I will love you if I see you every Tuesday.”

Surprisingly, something few people consider using is humor in their message! One recent sender referenced The Simpson’s scene, “To a whale of a wife.” (He promised us his wife would laugh!)

Anything that shows that you put thought and care into the card message you send will make the recipient smile!

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