Sunflowers are awesome

When your mom is in the hospital again, what do you send her? Instead of indoor plant she will later pass off to you or let die, how about a sunflower bouquet?

A few weeks ago, Andy from the Sunflower Guy wrote and asked me if he could send me a sunflower bouquet for review. As he writes on his website, sunflowers are awesome, and I love their cheery faces. A few days later, I got home from a long day filled with family and work obligations and on my front stoop was a bright shiny box which stated: “Unzip. Lift. Water. Smile.” I certainly needed a smile, and the box brought one to my eyes. I unzipped the box as instructed, poured in a bit of flower food, added water, and now my table is graced with the Pacific Sun bouquet shown above. The flowers are guaranteed to last eight days, and this bouquet has lasted longer than that. I took the picture today, so you can see how good it still looks.

My only wish was I’d stuck to one of the lemon yellow sunflower bouquets instead of choosing Pacific Sun. It’s very pretty, but not as sunny as I would wish. However, that’s my fault, not the Sunflower Guy’s.

So, for my mom I chose the sunniest one I could find, Sunbeam Splash. The shipping isn’t too pricey, and the best part is it is so easy for the recipient. The instructions are clear, and with the flowers already in the vase, it is nearly nothing for the recipient (especially someone who is elderly) to open and enjoy. Many times, for my mother-in-law, I’ve bought from one of the other online flower companies, and it was work for her to snip the stems and place them in water. This is easier. Now, I know some will criticize the box itself for being wasteful, but it is made from fibers which are part of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative which I’ve linked to in case someone wants to investigate it further. Also, the company appears to be certified as part of the Fair Labor Practices and Community Benefits. I wrote Andy to ask about that, and he wrote me a rather lengthy and though filled reply as follows:

“The only certification that I am aware of is our Veriflora certification (given to Dos Gringos, our parent company).  Veriflora is an organization in the floral industry that attempts to establish fairly rigorous standards for quality, environmental sustainability, environmental protection and resource conservation as well socially responsible practices with regards to labor, safety and community benefits.

The Veriflora certification process is conducted by Scientific Certification Systems (SCS) and that is probably where the “Fair Labor Practices and Community Benefits” comes from.

In short, a Veriflora certification is meant to insure that the flowers you receive are produced in an environmentally and socially responsible way and with high quality standards.

We grow most of our own flowers, and we buy flowers from Dutch growers, and also from South and Central American growers who also adhere to Veriflora guidelines.  The Veriflora standards have been very important for helping to establish responsible labor and environmental practices in those countries where the production of cut flowers for the export market is a very important part of their economies.”

I’ve got to say I like the Sunflower Guy, and I thank him for my bouquet. I hope you will like him too. I linked to Anna’s review above so you can read it too if you’d like. Aren’t sunflowers awesome?