A blossoming Medellín: Visiting the roots of Colombia’s booming flower and orchid industry
With the holiday season in full bloom, a floral piece may be donning a nearby mantle or dinner table.
Odds are that those seasonal pops of color stem from Colombia. The South American nation is the second-highest exporter of flowers in the world – the Netherlands being number one.
According to the country’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Colombia exported $1.4 billion in fresh cut flowers globally with approximately 80% of them going to the United States in 2020.