As a gardener who loves heirloom plants, and in particular heirloom roses, an innate appreciate for fresh flowers is part of the air I breathe. Yet, in city and urban spaces the love of flowers is still seen in the existence of little florist shops amid a city-scape of towering office buildings and strips of exclusive shopping.
My own memories of working in the busy city of Sydney includes the sight of road-side carts overflowing with bunches of flowers .. and city workers happily paying for one of those bunches on their way to or from work in a skycraper office building.
Yet, we are largely ignorant of the business of flowers; where they are grown, what chemicals are used in the growing process; where the flowers are transported from and to, and a further use of harsh chemicals to prolong the life of the flowers. Imported flowers are sprayed and dipped in an array of anti-fungals, pesticides and herbicides (yes, to prevent regrowth from the cut stem). And what is the first thing we do when we buy a bunch of flowers? Our first impulse is to bring the bunch up close to our face and smell the flowers, unaware that we are usually breathing in toxic chemicals.
Fortunately there is a groundswell across the United Kingdom and now in America of small holding flower growers and artisan florists who are generating a demand for organically and locally grown flowers. And the flowers are no longer stiff, lifeless, fragrant-less stems of colour that are prized for lasting for weeks in a vase.
There is an increasing demand for floral arrangements that resemble 'just picked from the garden bunches' of fragrant, fragile and lovely flowers. And these flowers might also include those that might once have been considered weeds. I've been known to use 'weeds' in my bunches along with lots of foraged greenery and self-sown flowers that pop up between the roses in our gardens. I've even taught how to use weeds in my workshops, and how to safely forage for greenery to add life and depth to home-grown arrangements.
And although the famous English florist of early 20th Century England, Constance Spry, used weeds in her floral arrangements, their use is still frowned upon. And we see this in the still common use in Australia of glyphosate sold by garden centres to blitz 'weeds' that dare to grow in our gardens. There is still a long way to go in educating consumers about the joys of crooked-stemmed, ephemerally beautiful floral arrangements that scent a room with their lovely 'full of life' flowers and foliage.
In Australia, I still despair when I hear about the economic 'value' of a vase of life-less flowers purchased from a florist that last for 3 weeks. And even more so when I see florists spruiking the delights of Colombian grown roses; life-less, chemically laden roses that have an enormous environmental footprint in terms of transport and toxins. In addition, we know little about the working conditions of the roses' country of origin for those growing, picking, packing and spraying these flowers that we consume with little thought.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/20/t-magazine/traditional-floral-bouquets.html?_r=1
There, the desire to grow flowers locally on small plots of land near busy towns and cities is generating an appreciation for flowers that more closely resemble garden flowers. Images of natural arrangements of nature's loveliness are filling social media and transforming the floral industry.
And in Australia there is hope too for a growing appreciation among consumers of the ephemeral beauty of naturally grown flowers and foliage. A worthy nod towards the beauty of nature that we all innately appreciate.
