By Bev Johnson

Master Gardener

Almost 80 percent of the flowers sold in the U.S. are imported, although some of them are grown in California and Pennsylvania. Those 2 states can’t grow enough to meet the demand especially since that demand skyrocketed during the coronavirus pandemic.

Since the beginning of the year more than one billion cut flowers have crossed into the U.S. We got roses from Colombia, tulips from the Netherlands and carnations from Ecuador. The U.S. is the world’s largest importer of cut flowers. This year Americans spent $27 billion dollars on Valentine’s Day alone – a record-breaking sum. The United States imports $150 million dollars worth of flowers every year.

Columbia, with its perfect combination of high altitude and generous sunlight and its low production costs, is uniquely suited to growing flowers. Roses are the most popular flower they grow, but the country boasts an impressive variety of more than 1,000 types of flowers, including chrysanthemums, carnations, lilies, and orchids.

Meanwhile, American growers grapple with labor shortages, rising fertilizer costs, and soaring land costs. Importing flowers is simply cheaper than growing them at home.

The flood of Colombian flowers into the U.S. has been decades in the making. In 1991, congress passed the Andean Trade Preference act. This law eliminated tariffs on several goods from Columbia, Ecuador, Bolivia and Peru. The aim was to shift these nations away from the illicit drug trade toward legitimate industries. The impact was almost instant. In the next 2 years, rose imports from Columbia grew over 30%.

In the years since, the U.S. flower market shows no sign of slowing down and neither do South American flower exporters. Last year nearly 1,700 cargo flights carrying 50,000 tons of flowers left Bogota before last Valentine’s Day. This is the equivalent of 150 million standard bouquets.

Flowers harvested in the morning in Columbia can be on sale in Florida that afternoon. After the flower is cut it’s a race against time. Immediately after harvesting, the flowers undergo a hydration process then are sent to a warehouse. There they are assembled into bouquets. To extend their lifespan, the workers treat the blooms and package them for shipment. Most of them come through Miami International Airport where they are transferred to cold storage before they are inspected by customs and Border Protection. They look for diseases or pests that may have come with the flowers. They are then transferred to refrigerated trucks that take them to flower shops all over the U.S.

After their long flight, truck ride, and a stint in the flower shop’s cooler, you can take home a bit of South America to brighten up your home. To lengthen their life, be sure your car is toasty warm, or have a cooler with a jar of hot water in it to bring your babies home. Just a taste of our frigid air will shorten their life. Run a sink full of warm water and emerge the bouquet up to the bloom for a few minutes. Now, trim the stems off and put your bouquet in a vase with some of the flower extender that come with your flowers. Recut the stems every time you change the water to prolong the blooms’ lives. Remember, the longer the stem the more effort it takes to keep the flower hydrated and alive. Try three short bouquets instead of one tall one. Miss Manners says that is O.K. too.

Much of the information for this article is from an article in the Washington Post, by authors Julia Ledur and Fabiola Ferrero