In the grey and blustering winter months, there is one pop of color that students can depend on week after week: Friday Flowers. At the end of each week, local florists set up shop in Sayles to sell flowers and plants to students. Students hover over bins of hydrangeas and roses, daisies and tulips, then bring their chosen blooms to the florists to wrap in newspapers. They scrawl thanks or confessions on a card and tuck their gifts into the mailboxes of their friends, classmates, and lovers. Friday Flowers is a beloved tradition that has become part of Carleton’s weekly rhythm, but it takes hard work from the florists to make the magic happen.
Two businesses, Forget-Me-Not Florist and Judy’s Floral Design, take turns providing flowers to Carleton. It is unclear when Friday Flowers began, but for both florists in town, the tradition is deeply intertwined with the history of their shops.
Judy Smith, owner of Judy’s Floral Design, worked for the shop for 8 years before buying it in 1989. “This is the only thing I’ve ever done in my life,” said Smith. “I love it.”
Smith remembers doing Friday Flowers as far back as she can remember. “I did it when I worked at the flower shop in my 20s, around 1976. I asked for the person I bought my shop from, Carol Irwin, and she said she remembers doing Friday Flowers through the 70s,” said Smith.
Sarah Polsinger, manager of Forget-Me-Not Florist, says that the business has been servicing Friday Flowers “pretty much since [it] opened” in 1994. Both Polsinger and Smith described the logistics required to sustain the floriferous tradition.
“We set aside, depending on the campus, 800 to 1200 stems of flowers,” said Polsinger. “We definitely have all hands on deck because someone has to be at the school, someone has to be on hand to be able to drive flowers up there, we have multiple people taking care of the parent Friday Flower program, and someone at the store. It is a little more hectic but it kind of is just routine at this point.”
Polsinger said that daisies are particularly popular among Carleton students and guessed that this popularity is due to their “bang-for-your-buck” high bloom-to-stem ratio. “Carleton students like roses, too. They like the classics, I would say.”
Smith recalled the days when Friday Flowers was a work-study program for students and the profits benefiting the Student Activities Office. Now, the operation is completely managed by the florists. She noted that Friday Flowers helps Judy’s Floral Design operate on a wholesale model which keeps their prices relatively low.
“There isn’t much land in America that grows flowers anymore, so [many of our flowers] take a plane ride to get here. There are local people, but that’s seasonal. We have another wholesale business, and we bring in flowers by semi-truck. When buying by quantity, rather than a bunch or two, the price is better. [Friday Flowers] helps us move flowers so we can keep buying a lot. It helps the community, helps us and the kids seem to enjoy it,” said Smith.
“We do make money from it,” said Smith. “There are days, of course, when we don’t sell as much. And by the time you pay a couple of people and buy the flowers, it’s a real gamble. Because we really can’t use anything that comes back.”
Both florists said that while most of the flowers they bring to Carleton are purchased, they try to repurpose leftover flowers if possible. Judy’s Floral Design donates the salvageable stems to a local flower arranging teacher to pass on the art.
On the other hand, Polsinger said that Forget-Me-Not Florists did Friday Flowers mostly to continue the tradition.
“It’s not like a huge money-making thing by any means, it just pays for itself mostly,” said Polsinger. “We pay the taxes on Friday Flowers, so we just do it for the love of the game. It’s really integral to our business and who we are as a flower shop.”
For the workers on the ground at Sayles, Friday Flowers was a busy yet rewarding day.
“I just love being here, working with the flowers and helping people out. It’s stressful enough going to school; it’s good to bring a smile to people’s faces,” said Robin Patrick, a worker for Judy’s Floral Design.
That floral joy passed on to students, too. “It’s a sweet gesture,” said Alyssa Guzman `27. “When you go to your mailbox and you see [a flower], it just makes your day.”
“Human beings have a big heart, and are giving by nature,” said Smith. “It’s hard – maybe we lose that a little bit. But in my world, people are here every day to give to someone. Flowers become a part of that.”