An Insider’s Look at The New York Flower Market
Posted in Adult Education on May 29 2014, by Plant Talk
My mission—and I chose to accept it—was to audit Trish O’Sullivan’s “Shopping the New York Flower Market” class in Manhattan. This four-hour insiders’ tour offers a priceless introduction to the business side of floral design and teaches students where to shop for flowers, vases, and related accessories, like ribbons, wire, and event supplies.
The district is more than a century old, and occupies one city block on 28th Street, between 6th and 7th Avenues. It’s inarguably the best place in the region to purchase bulk flowers and floral design supplies. Most shops open early—around 5:30 a.m.—and close in the mid-afternoon, if not before lunch. Many sell their goods strictly wholesale, although plenty of shops also sell to individuals. The New York Times once called the district “Midtown’s Lush Passage,” which, as the class learned, is an adequate description of an area featuring sidewalks lined with potted plants, flowering tree branches, and buckets of cut botanicals.