ABOUT US
Who we are
Flowers Grown in Scotland is an association of Scottish flower growers who are working together to promote the Scottish flower industry and highlight the benefits of growing and buying Scottish flowers
How we were formed
The group was formed on the back of a Soil Association Scotland-led Rural Innovation Support Service (RISS) group, facilitated by Scotland’s Agricultural Organisation Society (SAOS) in November 2020. The group started as 8 members and are now more than double the size currently.
Why Scottish grown flowers?
Flowers Grown in Scotland have unique characteristics – provenance, variety, artisanal, carbon credentials, good scent, and long shelf/vase life. Scotland can grow equally if not more beautiful flowers as the rest of the world, just with fewer air miles.
The Scottish climate provides ideal growing conditions for flowers with cool day time temperatures and long daylight hours assisting in the reduction of pest and disease pressure, resulting in the production of high-quality produce.
The primary season runs from March to October. It starts in March with Daffodils, followed by ranunculus, peony early summer, followed by Astrantia, Sunflowers and a host of summer garden flowers finishing off with Dahlias in October. If we include foliage growing and sales for the festive season, it can be a year-round industry.
Flowers are grown all over Scotland and in recent times have seen more and more farms diversifying to join the sector and enjoy the economic benefits it brings.
The value of flowers
Not only is the economic benefit to Scotland from sales of cut flowers a major advantage, so is the number of jobs supported on farms and in the supply chain as is the health and wellbeing benefits it brings to those involved and to those who buy.
The UK cut flower and indoor plant market is worth £2.5bn, with the value of flowers around £800m of which imports account for 88%. Most imports come into Scotland and the UK from Dutch Auction houses, which have subsequently been flown in from further afar, contributing thousands of air miles to get into Scottish vases.
The cut flower sector is growing (forecasts suggest 2.5% year on year growth) and employs more than 25k people across the UK in over 8k businesses of which 42% are self-employed. In Scotland, many micro farms are run by women entrepreneurs.
Supermarkets account for 60% of all sales; Florists 25% the remaining 15% are local sales and a growing market of online purchases.