14th Annual Memorial Day Flowers tribute at Arlington National Cemetery 2024

All of us in the flower world know all the preparation it takes to have a successful holiday.

For the Memorial Day Flowers Foundation, it’s all about the last weekend in May; at Arlington National Cemetery and another forty-five cemeteries across the country.

The Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, makes it possible for thousands of cemetery visitors to place a flower to honor and thank those who served our country. It is a privilege to count CalFlowers as our major underwriter and partner. CalFlowers continued support has allowed the Foundation to plan and operate these flower-based events with the assurance that we have the resources to be able to plan and execute tribute events.

Every year is unique in its own special - and terrible - way, and other moments have become a tradition. 

One of these traditions is the generous donation made by Ben Dobbe from Holland America Flowers, of 500 bouquets for the T.A.P.S. Convention held over Memorial Day weekend in Washington DC. This donation is sent to Younger & Son, where Jeff and Sue bring them along and deliver them to the Marriott Gateway Hotel near Arlington.

A newer tradition is Williee Armellini joining us and writing about his experience in his newsletter. For anyone not subscribed yet, visit https://www.flowersandcents.com.  Even more incredible, Williee takes the time to make a video you can watch here: https://youtube.com/watch?v=nBLQErt29-U&si=g0qN-jZkQbtWGD9i.

This year, Ramiro Penaherrra, (pictured left) the Foundation’s Executive Director, had the surreal and seren-“gyp”-itious opportunity to ring the opening bell at Nasdaq to start trading operations on Friday, May 24. We thank the Google algorithm for placing Memorial Day Flowers as a top result for around Memorial Day weekend.

In 2024, as in previous years, DV Flora arrived at Arlington National Cemetery with pallets and pallets of flowers. These always prove a wonderful addition to the flowers placed at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The incredible variety of flowers at the Tomb are featured beautifully in the photos and videos from ANC.

On the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, we had over 300 volunteers of all ages at the ANC Service Complex. Flowers from Miami were donated by Fresca Farms, MiaFloral Farms, JetFresh, Galleria Farms, USA Bouquet, Passion Growers, Sole Farms, RosaPrima, Choice Farms, The Queens Flowers, Golden Flowers, and The Elite Flower. A total of 798 pieces had to be processed under the direction of Stephen and Dana Armellini. Volunteers unpacked, chopped, dropped, and repacked about 170,000 flowers in under 5 hours. Mimi Martinez from JetFresh did a wonderful job managing all the volunteers, along with Jena Gizerskiy, from Rosaprima, and her lovely daughter.

Sunday was dedicated to Flowers of Remembrance Day, where 8,000 cemetery visitors placed flowers before the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The spray roses from Passion Growers, and the bouquets from Elite were perfect to add color and volume to the flowers. Tracy Parks from House of Flower in Connecticut took charge of handing out flowers and listening to visitors as they left the Tomb.

Memorial Day proper was a day dedicated to giving out flowers to families and visitors at Section 60, the final resting place for many lost in recent armed conflicts. Families often have heart-rending stories to tell, and our volunteers did an incredible job of listening and supporting these visitors. The flowers were laid out and visitors could pick and choose their favorite flowers, which they took with them to their loved one’s grave.

The support from the flower industry is one of the things that makes our work even possible, and there is so much to say that this would become too long.

• Rob, Jon, and Henry from Mt Eden Floral supported an event organized by one of our sponsors at Gate of Heaven in California.
• 7000 Logistics spent a week getting all the flowers out of Miami ready for shipment.
• Queens Group is another one of those unwavering supporters that inspire and motivate us.
• Armellini Logistics, aside from the crew they bring up to ANC, ensures that the flowers arrive on time, every time
• Flowers sponsored by Chrysal were placed at ANC’s Section 71
• Cleveland Plant & Floral Co also supported one of our sponsor’s events in Raleigh, NC
• Mayesh supported another non-profit, Victory for Veterans, in their flower tributes over Memorial Day weekend.
• A heartfelt thank you to all the supporters and donors.

The flowers provided to the Memorial Day Flowers Foundation were shared with Alexandria National Cemetery, in our ongoing efforts to expand the Memorial Day flower tribute. This year former President Barack Obama join in the flower tribute. https://thezebra.org/2024/05/25/photos-president-barack-obama-joins-community-placing-flags-on-soldier-graves-in-alexandria-national-cemetery/

(Barack Obama pictured left)

Memorial Day 2024 was beyond a doubt, the most successful and smooth tribute we have had.

We encourage everyone in the flower industry to create their own Memorial Day tributes. Or join us at Arlington in 2025, to honor those who served in the U.S. Armed Forces.

It is a privilege to have the opportunity to show Americans, in a real and physical way, the sentimental importance of flowers.