What's becoming almost an annual trip down to the Bay Area to visit friends, family, nurseries, and gardens, I had three destinations in mind for my extended weekend down in the Bay Area of California. One of my first stops was one of the country's largest flower markets!
"If you're going to San Francisco, be sure to wear some flowers in your
hair".... well, then you have to hit up the famous SF Wholesale Flower
Mart on Brannan Street.
Composed of a MASSIVE warehouse where 60+ vendors pack the large facility with cut blooms, potted plants, branches, and other natural materials, the SFWFM also includes "stores" lined up one by one selling specialty products such as orchids, potted tropicals, floral supplies and other hard goods. It's the nucleus of the Bay Area's floral industry and you can basically get everything you need to run your flower business.
It was a little intimidating to go as I was renting a car for the very first time so driving into the big city was a little nerve-wracking (thank goodness for iPhone Maps) and I was also testing out my new digital camera and entering a place that can be very fast paced and I was actually worried about vendors harping on me for being a disturbance. Perhaps I could have contacted someone and inquired about visiting and taking photos, but they did have public shopping hours so I thought I'd just go and ask the individual vendors if I could take photographs and all seem to say "yes" (although I did see a sign that said "no photography please", but no one said anything and I was pretty much finished taking photos when I saw it. OOPS.
This place was quite large and pretty exciting to see the product being offered.
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| These manzanita branches were to die for! |
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| California grown!! |
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| A baker's multiple dozens of already cut succulents! |
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| Yes, please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
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| An assortment of Bromeliads sold here for floral work! |
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| My favorite Tillandsia xerographica |
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| Puffy hydrangeas including some unusual peachy types! |
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| A close-up of these soft peach Hydrangeas that were probably dyed. =( |
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| A most interesting manipulation of Phalaenopsis orchid spikes shaped into a heart |
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| Fresh old-fashioned garden roses!! |
Another interesting observation was a business that I've heard a lot about in various publications. "
Farmgirl Flowers" is tucked into a vendor stall within the SFWFM and boy is business thriving for them. What surprised me most were the multiple employees. Two long tables up front are flanked with Macs with 5-6 people at a table probably taking orders and in the background you can see all of their supplies and the arrangements being assembled. They supply locally sourced flowers throughout the city and often do special events.
Their wedding inquiries are sent over to my next stop in San Francisco: the infamous FLORA GRUBB.
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For more information about the market,
visit their website (which could use a reformat and update):
R
