Buying roses, begonias, impatiens and other flowers may get a lot easier for florists and other businesses later this month.

Michael Bolling, a Hawaii native, is planning a July 23 opening for the Central Oregon Flower Market, a wholesale operation that will serve as an intermediary between growers in California and South America and local flower retailers. The shop, located at 1560 N.E. First St. in Bend, will be the only flower wholesaler in the area, Bolling said.

Shortly after arriving in Bend two years ago to care for his ill father, Bolling met his wife, Nicole, who had sold flowers in Seattle for 14 years and frequented a wholesale market there twice a week.

Her description of that experience illuminated what he saw as a need to make fresh flowers more readily available in the Bend area, Bolling said.

“I saw a niche in Central Oregon and decided to fill it,” he added.

Without a wholesale flower dealer, local florists must have flowers shipped from Portland, or make their purchases at larger outlets, like Costco and Trader Joe’s, Bolling said.

“It’s unfeasible for us to drive to Portland all the time to pick up our flowers,” Bolling said of the area’s flower retailers.

“There hasn’t been a wholesaler in Central Oregon in eight or nine years.”

Doris Dilday, the owner of Donner Flower Shop, said the previous flower wholesaler was unable to find enough florists in the area to sustain the operation.

Dilday said she has suppliers who have been loyal to her and her business for many years and that she doesn’t plan to use Bolling’s market to buy all of her flowers. However, she said she’ll often receive requests from customers a day prior to an unexpected event, like a funeral, and there isn’t enough time to get a shipment from Portland.

“If we run out of something, we could come and get it” at the new wholesale market, Dilday said. “I don’t think I will use it to buy all of my flowers, but I will use it as a fill-in.”

Bolling said he will only sell to people who can furnish a business license, and he will not provide floral arrangements.

He will also provide fresh flowers directly to individuals who are hosting large events, as long as they have a business license.

“If you’re in Sunriver and need 500 sunflowers, you can come to me,” Bolling said. “I will provide for businesses like that. No arrangements, just fresh-cut flowers in bulk.”