Do you know where your Valentine’s flowers are from? Seattle expert pushes American grown

While many of us will buy flowers for our Valentine’s this week, few of us have any idea most come from out of the country. But a growing movement aims to change that.

“It’s kind of crazy – 80 percent of the cut flowers that are sold in the U.S. are imported, mostly from South America,” says Seattle-based outdoor living expert and author Debra Prinzing.

Prinzing is leading the charge to promote American-grown flowers. Her website slowflowers.com includes a database of American growers and florists carrying American-grown flowers.

“We’ve got about 500 vendors on the site, about 60 of them are from Washington state,” she says.

It’s a fraction of the total number of growers worldwide who came to dominate the U.S. market because of stricter labor and environmental regulations which made foreign grown flowers far less expensive. But Prinzing says thousands of American growers are getting into the game, bringing prices down and supplies up.

Finding American grown flowers this Valentine’s Day, though, is still a challenge because there are no labeling requirements listing where flowers are grown.

“Increasingly some farmers are labeling voluntarily and so there’s a new national program called certified American grown flowers, which has got a beautiful red, white and blue logo that you will see on those plastic sleeves on bunches at the supermarket,” says Prinzing.

The program is only a year old, so there aren’t that many places carrying labeled flowers. She says that should change in the coming years.

Finding American-grown roses for Valentine’s Day is particularly challenging. Just 2 percent of the roses sold in the U.S. are grown here. Prinzing says more flower buyers are turning to tulips instead for the occasion.

“They are catching up with roses and for one big reason: they are grown domestic,” she says. “They are just as long-lasting, perhaps even more long-lasting than roses. And they come in a wider range of colors, and they do sort of symbolize spring.”

Because Valentine’s Day falls in the middle of winter, the variety of American-grown flowers is limited. Prinzing says a great option is signing your Valentine up for an increasingly popular program called community supported agriculture or CSA, where small farmers deliver flowers directly to you or your florist soon after they’re cut.

“You can buy shares in flower futures, give your sweetheart a gift certificate for a summer’s worth of local bouquets that when your flowers are in season, your local farmer or florist will provide them.”