Enjoying the four seasons of Taiwan
The flower auctions begin at 4 a.m. At five or six, flower shop owners, floral designers, and flower-arranging school proprietors begin to arrive to purchase the flowers they need from dealers’ stalls. Ordinary citizens also come by to pick out some decorative blossoms to brighten up their daily lives. On the dot of noon, the flower dealers shut up shop.
Betty Huang, general manager of the Taiwan Floriculture Development Association, is our guide. She explains: “The Taipei Flower Market is the largest retail and wholesale flower market in Taiwan, with more than 200 businesses. About 80% of the flowers sold are grown domestically, while about 20% are imported.” Flowers come from all over Taiwan, but mainly from Taichung, Changhua, Nantou, Yunlin, Chiayi and Tainan. Autumn to winter is peak season for flowers, whereas the intense heat of summer is unfavorable for flower production. That’s why at that time of year you often see flowers from overseas that are brought in to meet demand.
Huang has been in the flower industry for over 30 years. “The biggest consumption of flowers in Taiwan,” she says, “is for events at temples, accounting for more than 30%. At the Lunar New Year, Taiwanese go to temples to pray on New Year’s Day and the 15th day of the new year, and businesspeople also pray there on the second day of the new year. They all want to use flowers.”
Describing how the market has changed over time, Huang observes: “Traditionally the main flowers were the likes of chrysanthemums, roses, and gladiolas, and the main colors were red, white, yellow, and purple. But over the past decade or so, many new flowers have come to the fore, such as lisianthus, Oncidium orchids, zinnia, and African daisies. The offering has become much more diverse.”
There is also an amazing abundance of flowers and other materials used to coordinate with the main flowers in arrangements. In the past asparagus fern and baby’s breath were mainly used, but today vendors offer a wide variety of plants including eucalyptus, monstera, Sprenger’s asparagus fern, globe thistle, and bird’s-nest fern. Indeed, almost every vendor has various types of greenery that you can’t even name.
Huang, who often plays host to groups of flower experts from abroad, says that what they generally most admire about Taiwan’s flower markets is their diversity, finding it incredible that such a small country can have so many different plants. As Huang puts it: “From the fact that even a single vendor has so many different varieties, you can get a glimpse of the richness of the industry as a whole.”
Many people visit flower markets and buy fresh flowers to brighten up their days.
Many people visit flower markets and buy fresh flowers to brighten up their days.