90% of the roses and flowers arriving to the U.S. for Valentine’s day arrive through Miami, according to CBP
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- Millions of americans today may receive a teddy bear, chocolates, or, of course, the staple...flowers. According to the society of american florists, Valentine's day is the most popular day to receive flowers. Here's more about the journey those flowers have to make, before arriving to your hands. It's always nice to hear who your valentine's day flowers are from, but you don't always find out from where. If you're in the United States, there is a very, very good chance they got here from South America, via South Florida.
According to U.S. Customs and border patrol, 90% of the roses and flowers that come here for Valentine's day were transported through the Miami International Airport. In a news conference this week, Avianca airlines said that they transported about 460 million flowers this season from Ecuador and Colombia. They also stated that most roses and carnations came from Bogota or Quito. And when it comes to Valentine's day, this process starts in mid-January, with hundreds of flights bringing flowers just cut that morning, to Miami by the Afternoon.
Once in the airport, that's when the inspections begin. Yes, these flowers get a little spanking, for being bad and trying to bring in any unwanted hitchhikers to the country. "If we let one insect in, it's gonna be devastating. It's gonna create an outbreak" said the Miami airport port staff. According to the airports port director, through February 8th, 1,100 pests had been intercepted while inspecting 75,000 boxes.
Say what you want, but that is one efficient spanking. So if you receive flowers this valentine's day, just remember that your date loves you extra, because in a way that person kinda, sorta went all the way to another continent to get you those flowers. And if you're wondering Mother's day is the second biggest flower holiday in the U.S.
