GREENVILLE, SC (FOX Carolina) – It’s a story Fox Carolina has been looking into: supply chain issues – affecting local florists, and your ability to find your favorite flowers this Valentine’s Day.
But what about local farms who grow flowers right here in the Upstate?
Normally, all the flowers you might find in a local shop this time of year are imported from other places around the world. But, to combat supply shortages, and increased expenses during the pandemic, local farms say they’ve started blooming earlier than ever – just in time for February 14th.
Deby Wright says she’s in her 5th year as owner of Fieldstone Flower Farm in Pendleton. She says for three years, it was business as usual.
But the pandemic, and subsequent supply shortage, have changed the game – and the economics of it all.
She says they’ve experienced everything from price increases to seed shortages, but that she’s found a workaround by planting some flowers in the fall; doing that makes them available to bloom right now.
She says before, she would’ve never thought to do this, but demand for locally grown flowers has gone up the past two years. She hopes that what is left over at the end of all of this is a local movement that’s changed things for the better.
“Americans everywhere, and especially right here in Greenville, have really stepped up to support local flower farmers,“ she told Fox Carolina. “We’ve been blown away at how many people are buying local flowers.”
“We deal with about 300 local farmers and vendors here, so it’s really important to keep those small farms and traditions alive,” added Mark Kennedy, event coordinator at the Swamp Rabbit Cafe and Grocery.
Kennedy says they purchase hundreds of flowers from Deby, adding that buying local this time of year is still only a recent phenomenon for their business, but they are all for it.
He adds that they pay their vendors well so that everyone – including customers who come in – thrive.
Wright says that the flower community in Greenville is a tight-knit one, with around 30 local farmers in all. She says buying locally sourced Valentine’s Day flowers is one of the best ways to circulate love right here in the community.
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