Defining Sustainability

Sustainability has become a buzzword across many industries and the sustainability reckoning is well-underway in the floral industry worldwide; however, we feel it’s just starting to make it’s way to the Des Moines area.

We believe that you should be asking your florist questions about where your flowers are coming from, what types of materials they’re using to create their designs, and what their overall sustainability commitment is. Like we said on the Indianola-based podcast, “life as an outsider” recently, “the days of businesses operating without ethics, are not going to continue... the future of business really marries that: our ethics with our business practices.”

at Violet Lane we commit

to the following practices:

  • No floral foam. ever. (Google it - it’s gross)

  • Compost our green waste

  • Repurpose, reuse, and recycle:

    • Vessels

    • Cardboard & paper products

    • Rubber bands

  • Sourcing our botanical materials as close to home as possible

Sourcing

Sourcing flowers is one of the biggest components of a floral design, and as such, we believe it’s through sourcing our flowers and botanical products that we can make the biggest impact in both our global and local communities.

Our policy is to source flowers “as close to home as possible” but what does that mean, really?

To us, it means hitting the county roads in the early Summer sun to the farms listed below because we know the best flowers come from the people who care about them the most. Farming is the masterclass on dedication, and we’re just as dedicated to creating inspirational, artful designs that capture the moment you’re celebrating.

Outside of the growing season or when the needs of an event call for us to order outside our local community, we’re sourcing from places like Minnesota and using suppliers who make it easy to connect with US based family farms first.

We believe in supply chain transparency,

so here’s the full list of suppliers we used in 2023

Iowa flower farms we support

KD Cut Flowers | Iowa Dahlia Lady | Murtha Flower Farm | Mellow Moon | Ruth & Rose | Lux Farm | Wild Bird Farm | Jester Hill Farm | Wren and Willow | Sprig Flower Farm

Many of these farms have their own on-farm events or have direct purchase options as well, so make sure to check out their socials!

Other suppliers we use

  • Twin Cities Flower Exchange, Minneapolis - sourcing from MN & WI farms almost year-round

  • The Floral Source - connects us to US based farms who have the same commitments we do

  • Koehler & Dramm, Minneapolis & Nationwide - their online platform makes it easy to find domestically grown product. If we need to source international product, this is one of our main providers. They have a sustainability policy listed on their website.

  • Bill Doran, Des Moines - if we’re fighting a quick turnaround, or if we want to see varieties IRL, this is the spot we head. This is the only wholesaler of flowers left in the Des Moines metro area, so we are lucky to have them!