Where New Zealand's flowers come from

An export industry built on three flowers

The NZ Herald reported in 2022 that New Zealand's flower export industry is worth about $20 million a year, mainly from cymbidium orchids, hydrangeas and peonies, with Japan the largest market for cymbidiums. That is down from 2007, when the same paper described a "$50 million flower export industry".

• Cymbidium orchids: one large grower near Pukekohe exports about 90% of its cut flowers, to the United States, Australia and Japan. Its peak season is winter.
• Hydrangeas: in February 2024 they were the country's most popular export flower, with 11 tonnes sent overseas, mainly to the United States, Japan and Hong Kong.
• Peonies: RNZ reported in 2023 that about 40 export growers in the South Island and the bottom of the North Island export about $3 million worth of stems a year, with the United States the largest market.
• Calla lilies: historically worth about $7 million a year in exports, New Zealand's second most valuable cut-flower crop after orchids.

Southland's tulips: grown for bulbs

Southland's tulip fields are a spectacular sight in October and November, but the flowers are not the product. The Otago Daily Times reports that the flowers are cut off and discarded, and the bulbs are exported, with markets including the Netherlands, the United States and Canada. Five Southland companies grow about 350 hectares of tulips, producing an estimated 175 million bulbs a season. If you see tulips in a bouquet in Southland, they did not necessarily come from those fields.

The trade in numbers

Trade data for cut flowers and buds (HS code 0603), compiled from UN Comtrade, show the balance in 2023:

• Exports: about US$8.6 million, mainly to the United States (35%), Japan (21%) and China (14.7%).
• Imports: about US$3.4 million, mainly from Colombia (49%), India (28%) and Malaysia (9.8%).

These figures cover a narrower category than the industry estimate above, so the two numbers are not directly comparable.

Imports peak in February. The NZ Herald reported that 30 tonnes of roses were imported in 2024, almost half a million flowers, mainly from Colombia and India, and that roses and chrysanthemums are the most imported flowers. See our Valentine's Day guide for why.

How local flowers reach florists

Much of what New Zealand grows for the home market is sold at auction. RNZ reported in 2025 that about 40% of New Zealand-grown flowers are sold through the main flower auction three days a week. The auction represents about 150 growers and sells to about 300 buyers, and it has been fully online since early 2025.

The number of growers has fallen over time. In 2014 the president of the New Zealand Flower Growers' Association told RNZ that of the 120 contacts on his list, just 40 were still active growers, and that the average grower was 56 or 57 years old. RNZ reported in 2025 that local growers had concerns about proposed changes to import rules.

Consumer television programme Fair Go tested a small sample of roses in 2022 and found 13 pesticide traces on imported roses against three on local ones. It was a small test, but it is one reason some buyers ask where their flowers were grown.

The 2025 import rules, in plain English

The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) sets the rules for importing cut flowers. Its import health standard, Fresh Cut Flowers and Foliage for Decorative Purposes 2025, came into force on 5 November 2025 and replaced three earlier standards.

• Approved countries: the standard names 26 countries, including Kenya, Ecuador, Viet Nam and China. For roses, 15 countries are approved, among them Colombia, India, Ecuador and Kenya.
• Paperwork: all imported cut flowers need a phytosanitary certificate from the exporting country, and documents must reach MPI at least 48 hours before the consignment arrives.
• Treatments: where a pest needs targeted measures, one option is a phytosanitary treatment before export, either methyl bromide, or pyrethrum with carbon dioxide followed by phosphine with carbon dioxide. MPI's own import steps page also still mentions on-arrival treatment, including fumigation or devitalisation.
• Transition: for 12 months from the date of issue, existing pathways could still meet the old standards. That window ran to about early November 2026.

What this means if you are sending from abroad

Commercial importers can bring flowers in under these rules, but private senders cannot. MPI lists fresh flowers among the items you cannot bring or post to New Zealand, and incoming mail is screened with declarations, x-rays and detector dogs. So if you live overseas and want to send flowers to someone in New Zealand, order through a florist in New Zealand. Our seasonal calendar will help you choose what is at its best when you order.