A buyer of sunflowers peruses the wares outside of the flower market on a recent morning. The San Francisco Wholesale Flower Mart has been in its current location at Sixth and Brannan for over a half century.
than 60 vendors displaying the country’s largest array of floral products at the century-old market. What would eventually become the San Francisco Flower Mart originally offered floor space for Japanese, Chinese and Italian immigrants to sell their products. Today it continues to be open to flower-growers of diverse backgrounds. Crowding parking lots and buildings there that seem to get lost in forests of orchids and clouds of roses, people gather to buy and sell blooming plants, cut flowers, cut greens, silk products, foliage and more. Branches and wreaths of lichen, which look like a mermaid’s hair, are fixed to Figone’s walls. Anemones, ranunculus and heather are Figone’s wares at other times of the year.
But Figone’s 21 dahlia varieties are his claim to fame. With names like Corona Pink, Bon Bini and Sangria from the Karma dahlia series, buyers might assume Figone sells ritzy cocktails. Some customers have admitted to wanting to eat the dahlias once they see them, said Figone. Indeed, a deep-hued Choc — almost black — and the creamier Cafe au Lait look like dessert. More often, however, these decadent dahlias end up as floral centerpieces for events, bouquets for weddings or arrangements for florists, often by that afternoon. Between 1 a.m. and 10 a.m., the market bustles.
Regular customers hustle between bouts of chitchat with Figone before they whisk his flowers away to their stores or clients. Miramar may be home to Figone and his plants, but the city event planners and flower shopkeepers visiting stall 74B have established close ties with him. “You know what’s neat about this? We’re all like family,” said Figone. The man is nearly nocturnal. He sometimes crashes on the couch after a combined bookkeeping-lunch session. Still, he manages a hearty social life. On the job, Figone and friends alternate sharing stories about home improvement, a job promotion and family gossip, with gathering 30 bunches of this, 20 bunches of that, a
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