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Avoid same-day wilt: how to order the freshest Mother’s Day flowers

Melbourne florist Jane Marx, founder of same-day delivery service The Beautiful Bunch, is preparing to send more than 1,000 bouquets this Mother’s Day. Each artfully wrapped arrangement – pastel-toned sweet pea, peachy tulips – will come from farms in Victoria. “Because the best flowers are the ones grown closest to you,” she says.

“We’re lucky enough to have a lot of variety in Victoria,” Marx says. “Our customers trust that whatever we’re putting into our arrangements is the best of the season, but unfortunately that’s not reflected more broadly in the flower consumer market.”

It’s estimated only 50% of flowers bought in Australia are grown here, according to Flower Industry Australia. Chief executive Anna Jabour says that percentage shifts again during peak times. “There’s an influx of imported flowers, mainly because major supermarkets purchase a significant amount of imported flowers for periods such as Mother’s Day,” she says.

While not all flowers sold at supermarkets are imported, Jabour says there is no mandatory country of origin labelling for cut flowers in Australia. This makes it difficult for customers to make an informed choice. “We think that if the community realises not all flowers are grown here, they will choose Australian grown,” she says.

Although flowers are an expensive purchase – with bunches often retailing for more than $100 – florists say they’re frequently an impulse buy. This means shoppers don’t always make informed decisions about quality.

Flowers are imported to meet year-round demand for popular varieties such as roses, which are usually brought in from Colombia and Ecuador.

Imports aren’t necessarily cheaper, and carry additional costs. There is a quality cost, as they’ve undergone fumigation and other chemical treatments, says Jabour. “Flowers that are imported into Australia are fumigated with methyl bromide and they’re dipped in glyphosate,” she says. Flowers grown overseas also carry an environmental cost, as they’ve travelled by plane or ship, and a social cost, due to poorer labour conditions of workers.

Sydney florist Sarah Regan, who runs same-day delivery service Little Flowers, is committed to selling 95% Australian grown flowers for those reasons. “With local flowers, you get better quality, better freshness, no transit times and less environmental impact,” she says.

“We consider imports to be an absolute last resort. I think customers don’t necessarily think about it proactively, but they do care once they know,” she says. “It’s part of our responsibility as business owners to help educate people – in a nice way.”

The Beautiful Bunch, which employs women from refugee backgrounds, has a commitment to selling 95% Australian grown flowers too. “We have social impact embedded into the work we do, so buying imported is not a good fit,” Marx says.

Janae Paquin-Bowden, who runs a micro flower farm, Fleurs de Lyonville, in Victoria’s Macedon Ranges region with her husband, Chris, has noticed this shift. “At the Melbourne farmers market, we have florists now coming to us to say they only [buy] Australian grown flowers. We didn’t have that 10 years ago.”

Hydrangeas, tulips, poppies and sunflowers are some of the Australian-grown flowers in season this Mother’s Day, says Jabour. “They’re really beautiful flowers with a lot of character.”

“Visit your local florists and specifically ask for Australian grown flowers,” she says. “And avoid the supermarkets.”

For an affordable alternative, seek out local growers at farmers markets and ask for what’s in season.

Chrysanthemums naturally bloom before Mother’s Day, which is why they’re closely associated with the date. That and they contain the word “mum”. “April-May is their natural flowering period, so it’s easy to grow them at this time of year,” says third-generation grower Aldo Vumbaca, who only grows chrysanthemums.

Vumbaca says white is their most popular colour, followed by pinks and pastels. Recently, florists have also been asking for “autumn colours – oranges and browns and sunset colours,” he says.

At Little Flowers, Regan sells mix bouquets of stems bought that morning from her network of growers at Sydney flower market. “I’m buying from people who’ve worked on flower farms for generations. There’s mud in the bucket. Weathered hands. I think there’s just a magic to it.”

She also sells abundant seasonal flowers en masse – such as elegant tulips from Victoria, bushels of bright sunflowers grown in NSW’s Southern Highlands, and ruffly stock from Sydney, known for its distinctive mustardy scent.

“The first thing you do is bury your nose in them once you’ve received flowers,” says Marx, who is also selling sweet peas, local roses, marigolds and orange banksia this Mother’s Day.

“Often flowers that have been imported and treated don’t have a scent,” says Chris Paquin-Bowden.

Vumbaca says he’s not totally against imported flowers, but notes they have longevity issues. “You’re battling to get three days out of an imported one,” he says. Based 35 minutes from Sydney flower markets, his company, Commercial Flowers, can cut and sell flowers within a day. “We virtually guarantee anything up to three weeks’ vase life on our crissies.”

If you’re buying in season, local cut flowers will typically last around a week, says Marx. “It’s going to be a superior product; the vase life from tulips, for example, are significant, because they’re in season. We’re selling tulips en masse, not roses en masse, because that’s what we can get a lot of at the moment.”

The best thing customers can do, she says, is support florists that buy locally. Second to that: “Look at the most delicate flowers – such as sweet pea, stock, violet – as they’re almost impossible to import,” she says.

“Look at what you can’t imagine would survive on a plane,” Marx suggests. “Also, if it’s not growing on your street, it’s probably been imported.”

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