“Most of his buds come through the big flower auction in Holland. But roses are his favorite, and these he buys directly from a dozen small farms in Ecuador. “My job is to know what farms are good at what colors,” he says. He calls the farms via Skype, placing orders in broken Spanish. Hardy flowers like carnations, which can survive a three-day journey, are flown to Miami on cargo planes and trucked up the Interstate for delivery to his warehouse. Delicate varieties requiring speedy delivery are flown directly to JFK and trucked straight to the bodegas under the cover of night.”

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“Nick Valenti, owner of Metropolitan Wholesale in Saddle Brook, NJ, has to keep an eye on foliage fads. He sells around 10,000 plants a month to garden centers, bodegas, grocery stores, and interior designers in the tri-state area.”

“Plants come in and out of fashion much like everything else,” Valenti says. “A few years ago, fairy gardens were the hot seller. Before that, bamboo. The trend now is succulents;everyone is using them in just about everything from weddings to living walls to planter boxes.”

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