Alabama Flowers
Alabama Flower & Florist Information Directory

If you like azaleas Mobile, Alabama is a great place to visit between Feburary and April.

The soil and climate of Mobile and the surrounding area are perfect for azaleas so every yard and garden has at least a few bushes.

There are three major azalea and garden attractions in the Mobile area:

• The Mobile Azalea Trails
• The Mobile Botanical Gardens
• Bellingrath Gardens and Home

The Mobile Botanical Gardens and Bellingrath Gardens and Home in nearby Theodore make Mobile a great place for flowers and gardens year round.

Read more about the azalea city of Mobile Alabama.

Your local florist is just a phone call away, or so you think. Some unscrupulous telemarketing firms are posing as local florists, charging you higher fees and taking business away from legitimate florists in your town.

Selling flowers through a wire service or order taking service is a legitamate way to do business. Many top growers and florists use this business model.

However, deceiving customers into thinking they are ordering from a local florist is not legitamate.

Read more "Protect Yourself From Flower Fraud."

One reason a lot of guys hate buying flowers is that they see it only as something that will get you into trouble if you mess it up.

If you forget to buy your wife or girlfriend some nice flowers for her birthday, Valentine's Day or anniversary, you are sure to hurt her feelings. If you remember, it was just what was expected. You can't win.

The truth is you can win with flowers. When you buy flowers for no reason at all, you win!

Read more "How to Win the Flower Game".

"Ornamental and Floral" is the general term for any farmer who is growing flowers or other ornamental plants as a crop. Often, growers produce vegetables as well as flowers at different times of year. Growing flowers is an important international agricultural business. Growing flowers has much in common with growing a crop like strawberries since both are highly perishable and must be properly stored and shipped.

You can often save money and get better flowers by buying directly from the grower.

Read more about ornamental and floral growers.

The floral business is very competitive so flowers are marketed heavily in all local and national media. This includes, television, radio, magazines, newspapers, direct mail, billboards and increasingly, the Internet.

Read more about floral marketing media.

Growing flowers is advanced agriculture and requires a staggering variety equipment and supplies. Everything from fertilizer to ribbon falls into this category. Likewise, a great deal of specialized equipment and supplies are needed by a floral shop. Unless you plan to grow flowers or learn to arrange flowers, you probably will never buy directly from this type of business.

Read more about floral supply manufacturers.

Unless you are willing and able to deliver the flowers yourself you are going to be using a delivery service. Almost all local florists have delivery vans and are very reliable at making deliveries in their area. Growers and many online providers use Fed Ex, UPS or DHL to deliver flowers.

Read more about floral delivery services.

The floral industry is a complex business. The complexity begins with the fact that growing flowers is a type of farming and flowers are difficult to grow, handle and ship.

Read more about floral industry economics.

Florists are the traditional link the public has with the floral business. Most local florists are small businesses with well under $1 million per year in sales. They care for and store flowers, take orders, make floral arrangements, make deliveries and all the hundreds of other tasks required to run a business.

In addition to having a large variety of technical and business skills, a successful florist must also be highly artistic.

When buying directly from a local florist you have 3 options:

• Buy flowers by visiting a florist's shop
• Buy flowers by phoning the florist's shop
• Buy flowers by visiting the florist's web site

Read more about florists.

The Society of American Florists recommends:

Look for a floral shop that offers the product mix, level of service and design style that fit your needs.

But what does this mean?

Read more "Choosing a Florist: The Right Fit".