Hi there, Mackenzie (HHF’s resident floral designer) is back again! If you don’t mind, I’d like to get on my soapbox for a minute and talk about an issue that I feel very passionate about: giving flowers to men. Look, we’re a farm owned and operated by a group of strong, independent women, and most of the flowers we send are sent to women, from women, so I never really gave a thought to whether men were missing out on the flower magic. I figured women are just our demographic and men don’t really want flowers, right? That is, until last year when I sent my dad a big bouquet of flowers from our farm for Father’s Day - he called me to say thank you, and told me that he had never been given flowers in his entire life! He absolutely loved them, even if he got a little help from my mom to arrange them in a vase. After a little Google searching, I learned that only about 12% of men ever receive flowers in their lifetime. Unfortunately, the other 88% will receive flowers for the first time at their funeral.  As a huge fan of flowers, this is clearly unacceptable.

“But Mackenzie”, you may be thinking, “The men I know don’t want flowers! They don’t care! They think flowers are too girly!” To which I would like to say, why do we women like getting flowers? Sure, they’re beautiful to look at, but when you receive a bouquet or arrangement of flowers, is your first thought about the beautiful flowers, or is it that warm fuzzy feeling you get when someone sends you a thoughtful gift? At least for me, it’s that warm fuzzy feeling (and that’s saying a lot coming from me as a professional flower-lover). Sure, if you know a man who expressly hates flowers, you can leave him off your list. But you might be surprised how excited your boyfriend, husband, father, brother, or friend would be if they received a bouquet of fresh flowers!  Or, they might want to tag along next time you come by our farm to pick your own flowers from our Victory Garden - you might have to twist their arm a little, but I think even they’ll be surprised at how much they enjoy a little time in the flower fields. And as far as flowers being too “girly,” I’d like to add this: flowers are beautiful, and men love beautiful things - they love their daughters, mothers, sisters, girlfriends, and wives, don’t they? 

As an added insight, here’s what my blue-collar husband had to say about the subject:

“If you sent me flowers at work I bet all the guys would be jealous. Guys would look at it as a testament of how much they’re loved and appreciated, and would use it as fuel for their masculinity.”

(For the record, I have given him flowers, just never sent to his work!)

Now you may also be wondering if I’m only talking about this to sell more flowers to a wider demographic. Maybe a little - can you really blame me? But really, I’m on a personal mission to make sure that at least the men in my life aren’t part of that 88%, and hopefully together we can create a better life through flowers - for both women and men alike!

*Steps down from soapbox*