Bouquets in Brooklyn

Bouquets in Brooklyn: a Saturday by Prospect Park and what to bring

Every Saturday, year round since 1989, the Grand Army Plaza Greenmarket sets up at the north-west entrance to Prospect Park — GrowNYC's main market in the borough and second in size only to the one at Union Square. Saturday here is a day for walking and for visiting, and for a weekend call in Prospect Heights or the blocks nearby, bouquets in Brooklyn are made to order rather than picked off a shelf.

Roses, lilies and a spring hyacinth in a Brooklyn hand-tied

Bouquets in Brooklyn draw on a catalogue built around a handful of flowers: Ecuadorian and French roses, lilies, gerbera, lisianthus, hydrangea and the pale Misty rose, with hyacinth joining in spring. Almost four fifths of cut flowers sold in the US are imported, most of them from Colombia and Ecuador, so a Brooklyn florist is working with imported stems rather than anything grown locally.

Hyacinth is the one seasonal flower on that list: it grows from a bulb and blooms in spring, so it only shows up in a Saturday order for a few months of the year. Lilies, gerbera and lisianthus are greenhouse flowers that stay in the catalogue all year, which means any of them can go into a bouquet for any Saturday visit, whatever the month. A French rose isn't a separate variety — a florist takes an ordinary rose and folds its outer petals back by hand, the way it's done in a bunch sold as 11 French Roses.

Grand Army Plaza sits across from the Brooklyn Public Library's central branch, with the Brooklyn Museum and the Botanic Garden a short walk south, and the whole stretch fills with people out for a Saturday walk or a visit. Prospect Heights is on the borough's list of delivery zones, and the delivery terms page sets out which nearby blocks are covered.

For the host of a Saturday visit, a compliment bouquet is sized for a thank-you rather than a centrepiece, small enough to carry over on the walk. A family lunch calls for something larger, and a classic bouquet fills that role instead.

The bouquet is handed over at the door, so it travels the whole way there in someone's hands. Wrapped in paper or carried in a bag, it's easier to manage on the subway or on foot from the car. Once it's indoors, the wrapping comes off and the stems get a fresh angled cut before they go into water.

When the colour matters more than the flower itself, a bouquet here is chosen by shade rather than by name. A saved photo works much the same way: send it over in chat, and the florist pulls up similar work with prices attached before anything is paid for, then puts together a bouquet built to match it.

Bouquet delivery in Brooklyn works the same way: every bouquet is made to order, and the florist photographs it before the courier leaves, so a change can still be asked for on the spot. If one flower isn't in stock, it's swapped for one close in colour and price, and the swap is visible in that same photo. Most orders reach the recipient the day they're placed, and the exact window is shown on the bouquet card rather than promised in the text.

How many stems to send, and who opens the door to receive them, is answered in one line on the main bouquets page.

A mixed bouquet is the easy starting point among the mixed bouquets in Brooklyn when several kinds of flower suit the occasion better than one. For a Saturday visit, bouquets in kraft paper carry well on the walk over, and if there's already a picture in mind, a bouquet from your photo turns it into an order.