In the blog last week I explained some of the reasons why buying locally grown flowers can help your environment. These benefits are relevant to all types of customers whether you are looking for a retail or wholesale supplier. Here are some other great reasons to buy locally grown flowers, and how you can find your nearest grower.
by Liz Rawlings, Pipley Flowers
Use of chemicals
Many of the flowers available from large growers in this country and abroad, have been chemically treated with pesticides and/or fungicides to help control bugs and lengthen vase life. This can be damaging for the health of workers, the environment, and in some cases where flowers have come from countries with different regulations to ours, they are still using chemicals that are banned here for safety reasons. Some florists are so concerned about this that they wear gloves when handling the flowers to protect their health. At Pipley we don’t ever use pesticides or fungicides and you will find that many small local growers adopt the same policy.
Supporting local wildlife
Since starting the flower farm at Upton Cheyney we have seen a huge surge of wildlife activity in and around the growing area. We have a greater population of birds, bugs and reptiles inside our fenced off area than you will find in the fields and hedgerows nearby. At this time we need to do as much as we can to help our bees and other wildlife, and what better way to do that than by supporting your local grower who will be planting and tending a diverse range of flowers and foliages throughout the year, which will greatly benefit the local wildlife.
Tree Planting at Pipley
I know this isn’t relevant for all local growers but at Pipley we plant lots of trees to do our bit to help the environment - so far we are up to nearly 9000. You can read more about this here. We will continue to plant trees every year and by buying our flowers you are supporting us to be able to continue doing this. We also offer the option for you to buy additional trees which we plant on your behalf or if you buy 10 or more you can also come and get involved with the planting if you want to.
Reflecting the seasons
One of the things my customers often comment on is that they love the seasonality of my flowers. Seasonal flowers enable us to really connect with nature and embrace the changing seasons. Many of my florists say they feel excited to receive my deliveries and see what is looking beautiful that week. Some of my retail customers have commented that they don’t want roses in spring - they want things like tulips and daffodils which reflect the seasons. By choosing local flowers you’ll never get bored of the same old flowers week in and week out - you’ll always get something different.
If you don’t already then I hope this blog might encourage you to consider buying locally grown flowers. I grow in Upton Cheyney which is located between Bristol and Bath but if you are not local to me then you can find your local grower through the Flowers from the Farm website where they have an interactive map and details of the services offered by each business.
Source: Pipley Flowers