By Archer, Rising 7th Grader
Most flowers sold in the US are imported to us from the Netherlands, Colombia, Ecuador, and Mexico. The disadvantages of importing flowers are that they use a lot of pesticides and other artificial chemicals. They are harmful to plants and flowers that can cause curled, spotted, and discolored leaves. Another problem is that imported flowers take longer to get from the flower farms to us. Farms outside the United States cultivate flowers that ship well, resulting in many flower varieties being unknown to people because they are not sold in stores. The good news is that there is another option which is to buy locally grown flowers. When buying locally, there is less likely pesticides and herbicides being used. Local flowers are picked the same day or just the day before. Local flowers will last longer than imported flowers. At Florista, we grow seasonal cut flowers. We recently harvested Cosmos, Snapdragons, Lilies, Lisianthus, Rudbeckia, Echinacea, and Zinnias. By growing these flowers locally, they will attract birds, butterflies, and moths that love the fragrance of the flowers. The bugs will also pollinate other flowers and food crops in the area, making our ecosystem stronger. Support your community by buying locally.