“If you consider the materials those florists were working with, it’s analogous to chefs cooking only with canned fruit and out of season tomatoes. In the current floral industrial complex, everything we admire about a fresh flower — the fragrance, the delicate structure, the fleeting beauty and connection to season and place — is bred out so that the flower can be inexpensive, long lasting and easily shippable. Most of our cut flowers are imported from Latin America, where labor is cheap, working conditions harsh, regulations lax and chemicals prevalent — and that’s just the growing part. Then, after being jacked up on fungicide, dunked in vats of preservatives and jostled and manhandled for about a week, these odorless, uniform, sturdy flowers with their enormous carbon footprint come to rest in our florist’s hands or in our homes. Nice.”
This segment of Needleman’s article describing the changing tides of floral design has been a wellspring of validation and inspiration for us over at Coy & Co. In the beginning, aside from knowing buying local was better for many reasons, we couldn’t quite put our finger on why we felt so much sadness looking at the roses in the grocery store in December. Why.. why did this feel so wrong?
Because it was.
As a florist in the City of Roses, it’s not hard to know that roses do not bloom in December, in fact this is a time essential to their growth cycle. Local rose grower, Peterkort Roses turns off the heat in their greenhouses starting in November and we don’t start seeing roses from them again until April!
To our delight, however, Portland, and Oregon at large, have proven to be a florist’s dream. Paperwhites, cyclamen, dried flowers, an incredible array of evergreens, and more are all available locally and sustainably.
We’re proud to be a Farm-to-Table Florist and we hope you can join us in appreciating the seasons, every month of the year. One of the ways to do that is to schedule a monthly Portland flower delivery for your home, office, or to a loved one (makes a great Valentine’s Day or Birthday gift!) with Coy & Co. or stop by during our Open Studio Hours Saturdays & Sundays 10am - 6pm. See you soon!