When deciding what to investigate & document for part five of Bryonia’s Sustainability Series, I took the question out to the wider community with a poll of options. Which sustainable flower topic did you want to hear more about?

There was a resounding consensus, Local Flowers… supply vs. demand, and how this really isn’t a straightforward journey.

Both customers and fellow florists seemed interested in learning more about this topic so within this post, I plan to discuss my own experiences on the road towards using seasonal flowers, advice on where to get them from, how to find your local growers and/or florists, plus some of the biggest challenges that I know myself, other florists and customers face when considering this as opposed to imported alternative. Since sharing plans to review this topic, my inbox has since been filled with thoughts and feelings, and I would like to share some of these through this entry.

Typically in this series, I use plenty of industry research, including quotes, sources and links where applicable in these posts. However, for this topic, I have found it quite hard to find enough credible data about personal experience of using & sourcing local flowers. So instead, I have written this as a self reflective entry, with some input from other florists who may or may not be heading down a similar pathway and why this is the case.

I wanted to make a note that I am always open to continuing this conversation further, so please do reach out with any questions, thoughts or contrasting opinions if you feel inspired to chat with me.

*A handful of Icelandic poppies, grown in Cheshire by* @*carolsiddorn*

This Journal entry is here to help with education, and support in choosing what flowers (or none) might be right for you. To others in the flower industry, this entry is purely to aid conscious consumption, and I do not wish to place disrespect on your choices to either stock, or not stock any of these mentioned products.

At this critical point, whether a supplier or customer, we need to question the environmental impact we’re making and it's science we need to go to make these choices.

Why does Bryonia use seasonal & Local flowers?

When I first began my journey as a florist, did I understand the differences and related impacts of imported vs. local flowers?
Of course not, because until we know and question alternatives to the norm, we are likely to stick with the common habit that only ***14% of cut flowers sold in the UK are grown in Britain*** (DEFRA/The Guardian, 2022)
But as I have understood and learnt more about the impacts of this industry, do I feel I can continue to use imported flowers? No, I don’t.
These are quite extreme views in terms of the floristry industry as a whole and as far as I am aware, Bryonia is one of the only florists in Manchester who doesn’t have a traditional wholesaler and avoids importing any stems (which definitely comes with it’s own difficulties, I’ll get into this shortly)
But it’s taken years of exploration to personally get to this point. **Plenty of lessons, research, experiences and mistakes to understand what suits Bryonia best**. And in full transparency, yes of course I have imported flowers in the earlier days of my business when I was unsure what this meant and didn’t have the knowledge to choose something else.
This whole Sustainable Series goes into detail on the reasons why I have chosen this locally grown ethos and pathway, so I won’t rehash all of the same details here. Just take a look through these earlier entries if you wish to find out more.
In essence, **I wish to treat all of our floral collections with the very best care by support the environment that first gave them life.**

The difficulties

So that’s why I do what I do, but to be transparent, local flowers can be very challenging to source and supply as many are:
**Collection only** so personal transport methods are required, and sometime van hire is necessary. This also adds your own personal **time and cost** onto the flowers. Much more complicated than the typical wholesaler approach which can deliver directly.
Unable to be **ordered online** and by **specified & exact stem count**s, varieties etc.
Some flowers and foliage are only available in **smaller quantities,** which is hard for larger scale pieces and installations.
**Unpredictable** when placing orders, can mean it’s difficult to decipher & design fully British arrangements in advance.
Flowers are at the hands of **nature’s impacts**, particularly if organic and pesticide free. **Bad weather, rain, pests…** these can all impact on our cut flowers. Unlike many imported stems, which are grown in forced environments with chemical treatments.
**Personal relationships with growers** are very helpful, and this can be difficult especially when starting out & building knowledge.
Typically local flowers need to be sourced from multiple places **for variety & large quantities** (at the last Bryonia wedding, we used 6 different growers).
And finally, the title of this post, the in-equilibrium of **Supply vs. Demand.**

There has been a huge rise in the demand for locally grown & more seasonal cut flowers, which is set to continue to increase. This is all down to multiple factors… the increased cost of importing flowers, Brexit, rising fuel costs, a consideration of more sustainable products from consumers, and many others.

But is the locally grown industry ready to meet this rising demand?

On many occasions, I can struggle to source the local flowers Bryonia needs, and it can feel like you’re fighting an uphill battle unless you’re willing to sacrifice your time, petrol and sanity to pull everything together using multiple local growers. It’s definitely not the easiest pathway, but I am hopeful, set to believe that things will continue to improve and grow.

The seasonal flower community shares so much knowledge with one another, so this can only improve things as we all learn and grow to navigate this more sustainable alternative to importing.

Plus the major factor of consideration, so many of the local growers I have interacted with care. They care about their flowers, their customers, the environment and developing their knowledge to support the growth of the local cut flower industry. You can feel their personality radiating from every single stem.

However, I have personally found that the local growing industry still needs to catch up in terms of how it operates, and it needs to work for the grower, florist & customer, so multiple requirements are at play.

I feel that the simplicity of the ordering system needs to be developed. Grower hubs or collectives can save florists time, energy & money. And online ordering and delivery are essential in this modern world, otherwise many florists give up taking the local route and stick to using imported alternatives.

Flower friends

A couple of my fellow florists & growers had some insights into locally grown flowers that I wished to share too:
“Buying locally grown flowers isn’t just about the ethical movement towards low air miles, seasonal blooms, and the energy saved in not using hothouses. Purchasing locally grown flowers means your flowers are the freshest they can possibly be, have a better scent than imports and often a longer vase life too. Buying flowers while they’re in season means they are at an abundance, which is why you can purchase high quality seasonal blooms at generally lower prices. It’s a savvy choice that supports local businesses and your local biodiversity, because beautiful flowers shouldn’t cost the earth.” - Becky Fraser, RJF Flowers, FFTF, 2022
“I do think farming can make up a part of a positive solution to the future of a changing climate as well as creating meaningful work for people. Farming on a smaller, human scale and working with nature rather than against it seems such an obvious option but it is more complex than just getting on with it.
People need access to land which is affordable; they need to be able to put houses on this land or be able to afford a house locally; [it] needs to be priced fairly for producers and customers without being caught in the supermarket price war; seasonality needs to be valued by customers; there needs to be training available for farming regeneratively; there needs to be statutory investment in the small-scale farming sector; and I could go on but these are just a few issues to name.” - Liv James, SSAW, 2022
**And a European perspective:**
*“I’m honestly struggling here in Belgium as the floristry culture and system is more broken than what I expected and it has opened my eyes to how the whole system doesn’t work.*
There are very few growers locally and they are mainly very small so struggle to supply florists to the demand required, also they are not regularly asked to supply florists so are always very confused and wary as to why I would want their product.
I have been here for 6 months and I am having to look at the Netherlands/France for growers as they are just next door so the milage isn't huge, but still not ideal. In the meantime I use the biggest market here and select flowers which are in season and not shipped in (so grown in France or Netherlands) and/ or have certified organic or c02 neutral stickers, but its not how I want to continue as I grow business as I would like to have complete visibility on the compelte supply chain.” - Iciar, Atelier Maud, Belgium, 2022

So how can I find & Buy Local, Seasonal flowers?

Take a look at the communities around you, and speak to those already interested & actively participating in using or growing seasonal local flowers. Google is a web of knowledge, as are many Facebook groups such as Sustainable Florists & Flower Growers.

Then Flowers from the Farm, a non-profit organisation that was established in 2011, has doubled its membership over the past three years, and now works with more than 1,000 independent British growers. Bryonia is a member and lots of our favourite growers are too. You can use their map to locate the ones that are closest to you.

From here onwards, it’s your decision if you do choose to buy any cut flowers (either as a customer or as a florist). But if you do, you should always look to:

Ask questions about the origin of your flowers, and consider locally grown alternatives
Research certification schemes, and what they mean for how flowers were grown & transported (such as environmental, human rights or fair pay etc)
Look to understand the chemical & pesticide treatment of any flowers
Build connections with local flower farmers & florists to help further your understanding of what buying or selling flowers truly means

Sustainability Series 05: Local Flowers, Supply Vs. Demand

Why does Bryonia use seasonal & Local flowers?

The difficulties

Flower friends

So how can I find & Buy Local, Seasonal flowers?

And you could also look to…

Further reading & sources

Sustainability Series 05: Local Flowers, Supply Vs. Demand

Why does Bryonia use seasonal & Local flowers?

The difficulties

Flower friends

So how can I find & Buy Local, Seasonal flowers?

And you could also look to…

Further reading & sources

Bryonia’s Spring Favourites

RHS Harlow Carr