On a mild autumn night on the outskirts of Sydney, the house lights flick on while most of the city sleeps. In the dark, among neat rows of poppies, chrysanthemums and native blooms, a fourth-generation flower family begins its Mother’s Day shift.
For more than 20 years, the Padovano family have coaxed colour from the soil in Yanderra in Sydney’s south-west, growing, cutting and arranging the blooms that will go on mum’s kitchen table.
A normal day for the Padovanos starts in the dead of night. The family leaves for the Sydney Flower Market at midnight, trading long before sunrise, so bundles of florals can be in homes by morning.
Mother’s Day is one of the biggest trading days of the year. The market estimates 300,000 people will buy flowers in the week leading to the special day. Growers prepare for months. But this year, things have been a little slower.
“There’s not as much demand as there has been before,” said Ingrid, who runs the farm with husband John and children Nicola, Marco, Daniella and Luca. Amid growing economic uncertainty, purse strings have tightened. Still, people find their way for mum.
“Rather than a big bouquet, they might buy something more simple,” Ingrid said. “It’s the little things people will buy to just bring some happiness to them.”
What sort of bouquet does a mum who has thousands of flowers receive? “I don’t get a bouquet,” Ingrid laughed. “I have flowers all around me.”
Instead, she gets a “lovely cup of coffee”, is “treated extra special”, and receives the most precious gift of all: rest.
“I would love one day to just leave the flowers to let me enjoy them, but our purpose is to cut them so we can share that beauty,” she said.
Asked for her the secret to keeping flowers alive, Ingrid has some tips: “When you receive your flowers, recut the stems and put them in fresh water. Every couple of days recut the stems and change the water. By giving them that little bit of extra love sometimes you can double their vase life.”
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