The Slow Flowers movement has finally arrived in Buffalo. I never thought it would happen. We love our gardens and our flowers here, but have always had a fairly traditional line-up of florists, who make nice but not particularly envelope-pushing arrangements and don’t seem to prioritize local sourcing and organic culture.

Then, of course, there are stores like  Wegman’s and Trader Joe’s, which offer surprisingly wide-ranging selections of cut flowers – especially Trader Joe’s, which often has really cool flowers for really nice prices. I’m told it’s a major loss leader for the chain.

I’m glad to see alternatives emerging – though, on the whole, the lack of slow flower thinking in our local industry never bothered me much. After all, they’re flowers. Flowers are never bad.

The Slow Flowers movement, founded by Debra Prinzing in conjunction with her 2013 book, stresses seasonal, locally sourced and organically grown flowers and foliage.

Cut flower offerings at Wildroot

This is all well and good and I agree. But what really gets me excited is the thought of truly interesting floral arrangements, no matter where they come from or how they’re grown. That’s what I have been longing for and it turns out that in Buffalo we can have it all – the slowness and the boldness.

Recently, I visited three local florists who try to source almost all their flowers locally, from more-or-less organic growers. Of course, in February in Buffalo, that means buying from local greenhouses when possible or local wholesalers or at least something grown in the U.S. The ground is covered in ice and snow, so you do what you can.

Up here, Canada is considered a local source. Hmmm, hope that doesn’t change because it is a reliable and popular one.

But from May to November, local is the word with Buffalo florists like Wildroot, Bōtan (website image at top), and Flower Garage. And they have distinctive styles. For the most part, they don’t ask customers about which flowers they want to include in arrangements. It’s more like “what colors do you like,” “what kind of a gesture is this?”

Wildroot tends toward low and lush and will not admit the necessity of “filler flowers,” while Bōtan veers toward “blasphemous ikebana.” Bōtan’s owner, Sloan, never uses floral foam, which is loaded with carbon black and  formaldehyde and produces plenty of microplastics when discarded. I hadn’t really known this, but if you look at the stuff, it makes sense.

Sloan also taught me about “bunny ears” which is two flowers of the same height poking out of an arrangement. Something else I’d never given though to, but I’ve stopped doing it.

There are such tiny margins in the  floral industry, especially now, when people know they can pay less at the grocery store. But I’m encouraged by the ambition – as well as the sustainability – these small businesses are demonstrating.

There was even – briefly – a place that had cut flowers and a wine bar. That’s an idea whose time has come. Hoping for a revival!

 

Here’s the article I wrote on these florists. Some manage to escape the paywall; some don’t, for those who want to try their luck.