Author: admin

A dozen red roses may say “I love you”, but many conventional bouquets carry an environmental price, having been imported by air, dipped in chemicals and wrapped in plastic.

Valentine’s Day is second only to Mother’s Day for sales of cut flowers, a popular choice for the millions of Australians planning to buy gifts for that special someone.

About 13m rose stems were imported into Australia for Valentine’s Day last year, according to the agriculture department.

But many are now seeking alternatives: blooms for a romantic gesture without the thorn of environmental impacts.

“We’ve seen a continuing trend since 2020 of people wanting to choose more sustainable bunches and more locally grown flowers,” says Anna Jabour, chief executive of Flower Industry Australia.

Imported blooms bring environmental baggage

About half of the fresh flowers sold in Australia are imported, Jabour says, which means they arrive at supermarkets and florists with a larger chemical and carbon footprints than locally grown bouquets.

Approximately 262m stems of fresh-cut flowers and foliage were imported into Australia in 2025, according to government data. Most are air-freighted from Kenya, Malaysia, Ecuador, Vietnam and China.

The chemicals used to grow them are mostly unknown, Jabour says. There’s no chemical manifest required, she says, which means those handling them – wholesalers, florists and customers – don’t know what pesticide or herbicide residues they’re being exposed to.

“I know quite a few florists who have stopped using imports because they develop skin issues or they develop headaches,” she says.

Australia’s biosecurity rules also stipulate that most imported flowers are dipped in the herbicide glyphosate and fumigated with the pesticide methyl bromide. The federal government is reviewing these conditions.

The transport and chemicals make it “a much more harmful road into Australia”, she says.

Shop local and seasonal

The huge demand for conventional red roses on Valentine’s Day amplifies the problem, says Michael Pavlou, who owns Bush Flowers in Melbourne.

“That basically creates the need to bring them from overseas, because the local growers can’t produce enough of that one thing, for just one day. It’s not how growing works.”

Pavlou suggests choosing something different that’s still “bright and happy and beautiful”. It could be as simple as choosing a different-coloured rose, he says, or something locally grown and in season, like hydrangeas or dahlias.

Lisianthus, sunflowers, zinnias and cosmos are other options likely to be in season in Australia around Valentine’s Day.

Pavlou’s business is dedicated to celebrating the diversity of Australian native flowers, with bunches featuring unique and seasonal varieties, including many lesser-known species. It’s a counterpoint to commercial bunches of “natives”, often containing South African varieties such as proteas and leucadendrons.

Most locally grown flowers come from Victoria, followed by Western Australia and Queensland, according to government data.

Sourcing locally can be weather-dependent, Pavlou says, but he hopes to bring colour and warmth to Valentine’s bouquets with varieties such as flowering gum, paper daisies, or a feathery pink flower called mulla mulla.

But with no country-of-origin labelling for cut flowers, it can be hard for consumers to tell where they’ve been grown. Pavlou says one solution is to buy directly from local growers at the farmers’ market or from roadside stalls. Another is to ask your local florist.

Flowers are a bit like fruit, Pavlou says. “You can bring in fruit out-of-season from other places, but it never tastes as good as what’s in season.

“When they’re in season, they’re vibrant, they last.”

The connection to seasonal changes in the environment is an aspect that’s lost when importing flowers. “It’s catering to our desire to have everything where we want it, instead of just enjoying the subtle changes in the seasons.”

If your sweetheart has a garden, why not give them something to plant? Australian native seed bombs, for example, are a simple way to share the gift of wildflowers. These are usually small balls or air-dried potting mix and seeds that can be thrown on to soil without digging.

Wear your heart on your sleeve

Plastic is widely used in the cut flower industry. A lot of bouquets come wrapped in plastic sleeves, or are stuck in green floral foam.

Sleeves help protect flowers when they are being transported, stored and displayed, but the Sustainable Floristry Network estimates they contribute to 500 tonnes of plastic waste sent to landfill in Australia each year.

For Valentine’s Day, the network recommends buying local and in-season flowers where possible, and requesting simple packaging such as a hand-tied bouquet, paper wrapping or an upcycled vessel.