Every Flower Counts: Finding Your Own Path to Sustainability

^{Image: Carol's Garden Flower Farm} 

"I Can't Understand Why You Buy Imported Flowers"

“Why don’t you just forage from the countryside?”

“It’s such a shame you don’t grow your own…”

I’ve heard these comments many times over the years. And while they might be well meant, they highlight something important about how we think and talk about flowers.

Over the last two decades, awareness of sustainability in floristry has grown enormously. Provenance, seasonality, and responsible sourcing are now key parts of the conversation, which is a wonderful step forward for our industry. Yet sometimes, alongside this progress, there can also be an unspoken judgement about how people should be working with flowers.

The truth is that not everyone begins their journey with access to home grown blooms, wild meadows, or fields full of flowers. I certainly didn’t. I grew up in Liverpool, in social housing, with a concrete yard instead of a garden. There was nothing to forage, and certainly no space to grow. When I first started out in floristry, the only flowers I could get were from supermarkets or the local flower stall. Those bunches may not have been sustainable in the way we talk about it today, but they were my entry point. They allowed me to practise, to learn, and to fall in love with flowers.

Over time, as I gained more knowledge and resources, my buying habits changed. Now I choose more sustainable options wherever I can. But I’ll always be grateful for those first supermarket stems, because without them, I wouldn’t be here.

And this is what I want to share with you. Sustainability matters, and we should all do what we can to tread more lightly on the earth. But it’s equally important to remember that everyone is at a different stage of their journey. Even the simplest bunch of flowers can spark creativity, or bring joy, or ignite a lifelong passion. Instead of judgement, let’s offer encouragement.

Maya Angelou once said, “When you know better, you do better.” To that, I’d add, “When you can afford to do better, you will.” There’s no point being sustainable if your business can’t sustain itself. What matters most is that we each do what we can. Sometimes that means growing your own, sometimes that means supporting local growers, and sometimes that simply means picking up a bunch at the supermarket to keep practising.

Every effort counts. Every flower matters. And together, step by step, we can make our industry both sustainable and sustaining.