Sydney Garvey, a flower farmer who also owns Flowers by Garvey’s Gardens in downtown Grand Junction, was among 20 floral designers selected to arrange flowers for the First Lady’s Luncheon.

Certified American Grown, a national trade association representing flower and foliage farmers, selected the designers to participate in the event. Garvey and the others spent three days in Washington, D.C., processing 20,000 stems of donated flowers from Certified American Grown Farms to create designs and set up installations for the luncheon.

Garvey and other floral farmers also visited Capitol Hill to lobby on behalf of Certified American Grown, promoting American-grown flowers and the farms that grow them.

“American-grown flowers are fresher, are healthier due to fewer toxins, support the American economy and have less of an environmental footprint than imported flowers,” Garvey said. “All of these reasons and more are why Garvey’s Gardens LLC only sells American-grown flowers and flowers from our own flower farm during the growing season.”

Garvey previously worked as a teacher, but changed directions with a renewed interest in gardening. She operates a flower farm in the Grand Valley and early in 2023 opened Flowers by Garvey’s Gardens at 137 N. Fifth St. in downtown Grand Junction. The floral shop offers fresh flowers and floral arrangements for weddings and other events as well as to sell individual customers. For more information, call (970) 730-8644 or visit www.flowersbygarveysgardens.com.