The Astounding Importance of the Floral Industry: Flower Power

In the midst of winter I often buy myself bouquets of flowers as a pick-me-up; but getting a delivery of flowers is the best feeling, especially when it is unexpected. One year I was feeling very sad due to challenges with my autistic son. My husband sent a surprise bouquet to me at work. It was so beautiful, and felt so good to know I was being cherished. The bouquet came inside of a teacup and saucer which now reside permanently in the center of my fireplace mantlepiece. During the pandemic, bouquets bridged the divide created by quarantining, helping families to stay in touch and show their love. This highlights the importance of the floral industry to our well being. My long-time friend Sue is today’s guest blogger. Here, she shares her experience of the unusual year of 2020.

Sending flowers is a beautiful way to express your love, empathy, kindness, sympathy, and joy.

For about 10 years, I have been helping my friend at her family's floral business, Scotchwood Florist in Fanwood, New Jersey. I pop in during Valentine’s Week and Mother’s Day week to offer my hands and help with deliveries. They have owned the business since the early 1970s and have been there for their customer’s families through life’s ups and downs - marriages, births, and funerals. It has become a channel for me to express my reassuring voice on the phone, smiling face at the door, and creativity; all while reminiscing and sharing laughter with my lifelong friends during their most strenuous times of the year.

Photos: Susan Marshall Peckman

As it has for so many, the pandemic has posed many new challenges for them, especially the supply chain being broken. Due to workers being out or spaced apart a lot less growing happened, and wholesale suppliers fought for inventory - driving up prices. With workers laid off, vases were not manufactured, and so forth.

What did not change was my friend’s commitment to quality and superb design due to her family’s cumulative years of experience and dedication.  What also did not change, was their clients’ loyalty to a local, family-owned business that has contributed to the fabric of the surrounding area and given to the community for decades.

It felt different to me this year. I love meeting and connecting with people, but during the pandemic deliveries and pickups were non-contact. When clients called, that phone contact was even more meaningful. I spoke with one man who said that he and his girlfriend had broken up due to being long-distance through Covid-19. He was missing her and didn’t know what to put on the card. I’m grateful that I was able to help him and others.

For many customers, bouquets were the way to reach out and connect with friends and family. Their cards were more heartfelt; their reasons for sending flowers were sometimes different than in other years. There seemed to be more mindfulness about celebrating loved ones while they are here, even if they are apart physically. People were hopeful. Their cards expressed their feelings about looking forward to the chance to be together again.

Kindness abounds and flowers seem to make everyone smile, even if they are blue. May the years of flowers ahead continue to surround everyone with beauty and remind them of their loved ones with gratitude.