Why Shop at a Local Florist: #2

2.  We take better care of our flowers.

Most people who buy flowers don’t have any idea how to tell whether or not they’re fresh.  So it’s up to you to teach them.  If you’re taking better care of your flowers than anybody else in town, let people know!

"Your flowers should last a week if you care for them properly.   But that’s only possible if they were handled right from the farm to the store.  We handle flowers and plants all day long, and we know how to keep them fresh."

"Most flowers need to be refrigerated at around 34°.  If you see flowers sitting out at room temperature, they’re losing vase life. We rotate flowers in and out of our coolers all day, so that they stay chilled and last longer."

"Ever notice how grocery store flowers are often next to the produce section?  Fruits and vegetables naturally give off ethylene, a gas that speeds up ripening and causes flowers to wilt.  So does car exhaust coming in from the parking lot. We work hard to make sure our flowers aren’t exposed to ethylene. "

"How to we keep our flowers fresh?  We keep them refrigerated, we  sterilize our buckets and vases, we change the water, we recut the stems, and we pull out wilted blossoms every day. Ever seen nasty, slimy leaves in a bucket of flowers?  They’re releasing bacteria and spoiling the whole bunch.  We never let that happen."

"We make sure our suppliers keep the flowers chilled from the minute they leave the farm until they get to our coolers."

"You’ll never see our flowers sitting out in buckets on a hot sidewalk.  In the winter, flowers never leave our store without a special wrapping to protect them from freezing temperatures. Even the walk from the store to the car can wilt a bouquet on extremely cold days."