Last night, I was chatting with a friend, and she said something about how Petaler looks super put together, and how it looks like I’ve got it all together and under control. I think I laughed out loud. I’m flying by the seat of my pants. I think likely like you were the first year you opened your business (maybe the second, third, and fourth as well?). It’s hard. It’s frazzling.

I was reminded recently in my discouragement to think about the why. Why are you doing this?

I believe that local flowers are better flowers. I believe the beauty of flowers themselves is life giving, but even more so the shared joy of flowers in a community makes that community stronger. Knowing your neighbor, your farmer.

I believe there is so much more room in the market for local flowers. As we know, about 80% of the cut flowers sold in the US are imports. Three decades ago this was not the case. It can seem naive and overly optimistic to say community over competition, but when we look at the numbers the numbers say we can choose to think in terms of abundance instead of scarcity.

For every farmer who wonders - Is this what success looks like? Is this what failure looks like? Is this worth it, when it makes me crazy at least 4 months out of every year? Is this worth it, when the days are long and I haven’t actually sat down for a meal with my family or friends, and have inhaled food next to the computer instead?

Petaler exists to enable flower farmers to succeed by making locally grown flowers more accessible. Florists, designers, and flower lovers have a huge role to play in this, and reap enormous and wonderful and beautiful benefits from this goal as well.

What if we could have a national network of flower growers that came together, that felt like they were organized enough individually to organize collectively.

What if we could put more average people in contact with the beauty and joy of local flowers, and they can experience how nourishing it is, and then make the connection that this is something they can enjoy, regularly, from someone in their own community, be that farmer or florist who chooses to source locally.

Do I know if this will “work”? No. But do I believe that if we all had a little more breathing room, not spent organizing, planning, stressing, managing details, tracking lists, doing spreadsheets, digging through emails, we could give it our best chance at figuring how far we could get? Yes.

Here is the big picture plan:

1. Build tools that make growing, selling, and buying local flowers easier. Tools that give farmers room to take a breath and not have that sinking “this does not feel sustainable and I think I’m burning out” feeling.
2. Inspire flower lovers and average people with the joy of local flowers to cause them to seek out and enjoy flowers more. Support policy that supports farmers.

I am a software developer first and a flower grower second. It comes with some imposter syndrome (who do you think you are jumping into this? you’re not a real flower farmer), but it makes part 1 in my wheelhouse. I’m a cheerleader (not actually) - I love seeing other people who are brave enough and tenacious enough to start and run their own businesses succeed. Let’s talk, let’s learn, let’s build something truly useful together.

There are already some amazing people and organizations doing part 2 - from those teaching flower design, to those lobbying Congress, to those bringing awareness to consumers about American Grown flowers. Let’s come together.

Together we can shift an industry, strengthen our communities, support our farmers, and enjoy more flowers.

All ideas welcome. Hana