As I stood in front of La Bouquetera, a large bouquet-making facility in the Savannah of Bogota, Colombia, I was reminded that it is here where many of the United States’ fresh-cut flower bouquets are made. A large number of the flowers that will eventually bring joy to the lives of millions of people are grown in the Savannah because of its ideal year-round growing conditions — average temperatures of 42-68 F, sunny days, cool nights and 33 inches of rainfall per year.

And I thought you might like to become acquainted with the origin and journey of the flowers in a South American mixed bouquet. It begins at a farm where the flowers are grown under the watchful eyes of trained agronomists who specialize in different crops. Colombia is home to more than 40 various crops of flowers, including roses, chrysanthemums, carnations, alstroemeria, lilies, etc., plus foliages, and there are around 12,000 acres of greenhouses in the Savannah alone.

Aaron PickeringEach day of the week, throngs of workers from many farms harvest the flowers and bind them for shipping, then refrigerated trucks transfer the flowers to a manufacturing plant where they are inspected, graded and stored in coolers until ready for use in the next day or two. On the day of use, the flowers are carefully laid on tables for the hundreds of trained bouquet makers who will hand-tie the bouquets according to a “recipe.”

After the bouquets are assembled, they are hydrated for a few hours in preparation for their flight from the Bogota airport to Miami, because they will be without refrigeration for the next few hours. Upon arrival at the Miami airport, the bouquets are delivered to a warehouse where the United States Department of Agriculture inspects them for insects and diseases.

The bouquets are then delivered to the processing plant where they are immediately pre-cooled — a process that involves removing the heat from the boxes — so that their temperature is reduced to between 32-38 F. Next, a small portion of the stem is cut from each flower to allow for its rehydration. At this point, the flowers are re-inspected for any damage that might have occurred during transportation and the damaged flowers are replaced with fresh product.

Later that day, thousands of bouquets are trucked to distribution centers and then delivered to local supermarkets. From flowers growing in the ground in the Savannah to an arrangement in a vase on your table can take as little as six days.

As I sit at my table admiring one of these colorful bouquets after its long journey, I drink in its beauty and its fragrance and feel proud of my involvement in bringing these wonderful South American mixed bouquets to the United States market.

Aaron Pickering is the vice president of West Coast operations at Sunshine Bouquet Co. in Miami. He can be contacted at [email protected].