Floriculture
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
flo ri-kul-tur, the business of producing cut flowers and ornamental plants. In the United States this industry came into prominence about 1825, first in the vicinity of Philadelphia and Boston. New York had a reputation for many years of being behind other large cities in the demand for flowers. In the early days of the industry, as we learn from Bailey's Cyclopedia, the camelia, the tuberose, and the heliotrope were in chief demand for cut flowers. Fuchsias, geraniums, and bulbs of various kinds were favorites for bedding and ornamental purposes. About the middle of the century the rose, the carnation, and the violet led in popular favor. After the close of the Civil War florists found their business profitable all over the country. At the present day it is a small town indeed that is without its florist and greenhouses. Cut flowers and house plants are for sale everywhere. Florists now receive many orders for flowers to be sent out by express for wedding, funerals, parties, and parlor and church decorations. According to present estimates, there are about 12,000 florists' establishments in the United States, employing at least 15,000 clerks and managers. Many more people are engaged in raising flowers. The annual sales at retail are estimated at about $25,000,000, three-fifths of which is spent for cut flowers, the rest for house plants. Named in order of popularity, the leading cut flowers are now roses, carnations, violets, and chrysanthemums. One hundred million cut roses, worth $6,000,000, are sold annually. The florist realizes $4,000,000 for as many carnations. He sells 75,000,000 violets. Lilies, hyacinths, tulips, and orchids follow in the order named. See separate articles on the several flowers; also GREENHOUSE.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
When Aiton's wrote this in 1910 it described a domestic trade: 12,000 American establishments selling about $25,000,000 of flowers a year, all of it grown in nearby greenhouses because cut blooms could not travel far. Cheap air freight from the 1960s onward broke that link, and the United States now imports the large majority of its cut flowers, chiefly roses and carnations from Colombia and Ecuador, with much of the world's trade priced through the Dutch auctions at Aalsmeer. The rankings collapsed too: the 75,000,000 violets Aiton's counted have all but vanished as a commercial crop, and the corsage-and-funeral culture that supported them went with them. Roses still lead, but they are far more likely to have been flown in overnight than cut in the next county.
Written for this edition, 2026.