Something New: Flower Power

If you’re in downtown Traverse City this summer, you may see a bright yellow cargo bike out and about making flower deliveries or selling bouquets at local events.

Known as The Flower Petaler, this unique flower bike was inspired by florist Libby Hogan’s travels to Copenhagen. “I love our cargo bike — it’s a Christiania Bike, a really lovely Danish producer of bikes,” says Hogan, who owns floral design studio Lilies of the Alley. “I visited Copenhagen in 2021 and the bike commuter culture there was very inspiring, as is Danish floral design with great minds like Nikolai Bergmann and Tage Andersen.”

With The Flower Petaler, Hogan has brought that ethos to Northern Michigan, highlighting the walkable and bikeable coastal tourist town she calls home. “We use The Flower Petaler for flower deliveries in downtown Traverse City during the warm months, which is great to promote how bikeable our city is, not only for commuting but also transporting goods, and it really gets the community engaged,” she says. “The Flower Petaler always turns a lot of heads when we petal/pedal downtown.”

The bike has also caught the eye of the wedding world, with a couple reaching out to book the bike for a fun activity for their welcome party. Each guest at the party was able to select from an assortment of locally grown blooms as Hogan and her team created petite bouquets on-demand. “It was super fun,” Hogan says. “We got to chat with guests about the beautiful bounty of flowers Northern Michigan has to offer during the late-summer months, sharing the stories of our local flower farmers that we cherish so much and work with closely throughout the year.”

To learn more visit liliesofthealley.com.