How will I find organic/fairtrade flowers and plants?

Many flowers and plants are ethically grown without being labelled as such. Rules and regulations make it difficult for retailers to label their products without getting into trouble with the organisations that run the schemes. For instance, if ethically-grown imported roses are included with UK-grown foliages, the bouquet cannot be called “fair-trade”. Around 50% of some retailer’s product may be ethically grown, but only 2% able to labelled as such. There are increasing amounts of flowers being grown organically but it is still a small market. However, growers are constantly reducing their use of pesticides and chemicals and have been for many years. Like ethical products, it can take up to five years and large amounts of paperwork to be called “organic”. Some flowers cannot be successfully grown commercially under organic methods – they are fine in the home garden where only one or two are required, but if several thousand are needed in perfect condition, this becomes impossible. ...  more