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The Flower Trade

How the industry actually works, from the auction floor and the import chain to what a florist really makes on a bouquet.

Buckets of cut flowers lined up on the floor of a flower wholesaler at dawn
Close-up view of fresh flower stems being cut at a sharp angle with professional florist shears, showing the diagonal cut surface and exposed stem tissue, water droplets visible, bright natural light,

Why Florists Recut Stems at an Angle Before They Go in Water

3 November 2026

The angled cut on flower stems isn't about surface area. It's about keeping the cut end off the bottom of the vase where it would seal shut.

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Wide horizontal photograph of multiple silver metal florist buckets with flared tops arranged in rows on a concrete floor, filled with fresh flower stems including roses and lilies, shot from a slight

Why Flower Buckets Have Those Wide Flared Tops

13 October 2026

The shape of a florist's bucket is not arbitrary. The flared top, the height, and the narrow base all solve specific problems with how cut flowers stay alive.

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Tight bunches of mixed fresh flowers wrapped in clear plastic sleeves standing upright in white buckets in a supermarket floral display, bright overhead lighting, vivid pinks and yellows, condensation

Why Most Grocery Store Flowers Come in Already Wrapped

22 September 2026

Grocery store flowers arrive in plastic sleeves for reasons that have nothing to do with display. The wrapping protects the product through a supply chain not

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Close-up view of fresh rose stems on a clean florist work table, some stems fully leafed, others with leaves stripped away showing bare green stems, scattered rose leaves on the white surface, profess

Why Florists Strip the Leaves Before They Sell the Stems

15 September 2026

Florists remove most foliage from cut flowers before they sell them. The reasons are practical, not aesthetic, and they matter for vase life.

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Bunches of long-stemmed roses arranged vertically in clear plastic sleeves on a wholesale flower market table, sorted by height with visible grade labels showing different centimeter measurements, pro

Why Flower Stems Are Graded by the Centimeter

12 August 2026

The wholesale flower trade sorts stems into grades by length, and a few centimeters can double the price. Here's what actually drives that difference.

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The dark window of a closed independent flower shop at dusk

One in Five Florist Websites Is Dead, and Some Now Point at Competitors

3 July 2026

We checked 27,151 florist websites twice on different days. Over five thousand were gone, and hundreds of lapsed domains now send customers elsewhere.

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Other subjects

A summer cutting garden bed with a trug of cut stems at the end of the row

Growing and Gardening

2 posts

Growing flowers rather than buying them. Beds, borders, containers, what to plant for cutting and when to sow it.

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An antique botanical illustration and old books with pressed flowers

History and Culture

1 post

Where the flowers we sell came from, who moved them around the world, and the stories that turned out to be myths.

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Bands of commercial flower fields stretching toward distant hills

Flowers and Places

2 posts

Growing regions, flower markets and festivals, and why what is on the bench differs from one part of the country to another.

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