Shannon Florist & Nursery

A shop that sells you a bouquet today and a plant that outlives it by ten years. David Shannon Florist & Nursery has been run by the Perrotta family for decades in Kensington, and it is two businesses on one lot: a floral counter for the occasion you are dealing with right now, and a yard with greenhouses for everything that gets planted rather than given.

What people come here for

The floral half handles the ordinary calendar of a settled neighborhood: birthdays, anniversaries, get-well flowers, the holidays. Weddings are taken on as designed work, discussed rather than ordered off a page. Sympathy and funeral arrangements are a steady part of the workload — the family has spoken publicly about how those orders are handled, including the unusual requests.

The nursery half brings a different visitor entirely: someone with a stoop, a back garden or a fire escape, buying a house plant, a shrub, or the first pansies and bulbs of spring. Plenty of people use the shop for both, which is why a visit here often ends with a wrapped bouquet in one hand and a pot in the other.

Delivery and same-day orders

Delivery covers Brooklyn and the areas around it, and same-day is usually possible, but the shop does not publish a fixed cut-off hour the way larger operations do. So the practical advice is simple: call rather than assume, especially in the afternoon, and name the time it has to arrive. For the big holidays the shop’s own guidance is to order at least a day ahead. Pickup is easy here — there is a parking lot beside the store, which in Brooklyn is close to a luxury, and it is the way to collect a large plant or a tree.

What stands out

• One family, decades in place. The Perrottas have run the business for well over thirty years — a neighborhood institution rather than a storefront that turns over.
• Greenhouses, not just a cooler. House plants year-round under glass, plus a yard with trees, shrubs and outdoor plants.
• A parking lot next to the shop. Rare enough in Brooklyn to change how you plan the trip.
• Spring bulbs and bedding plants. Pansies, primrose, tulips, hyacinths and daffodils arrive early and go straight into gardens and window boxes.
• Two errands, one address. Cut flowers and living plants under the same management, which is not how most florists in the borough are set up.

Where the flowers come from

The shop does not publish its buying arrangements for cut flowers. What is on the record is the growing side: the greenhouses hold house plants all year, and the seasonal bedding stock is part of the operation rather than a bought-in sideline.

The shop, the service and what else is sold

It is a working retail florist with a nursery attached — bouquets, balloons and gifts at the counter, and beyond it the yard and glasshouses with indoor and outdoor plants, trees, orchids and gardening supplies. The useful part is the advice: the same staff can tell you what will hold up in a hot apartment and what will survive a shaded Brooklyn back garden, which is a conversation most flower shops cannot have.

When to come and how to get there

The shop sits in Kensington, on the edge toward Borough Park and within sight of the Green-Wood boundary, a few minutes from the F and G trains and easy to reach by car from the Verrazzano side of the borough. The year has two peaks: February and early May for flowers, April into May for the nursery, when the plant tables are full and weekends get busy.

Questions and answers

Can I get a bouquet delivered today?

Often yes, but there is no published same-day cut-off — call, confirm, and be clear about the hour it has to be there.

How far ahead should I order for a major holiday?

At least a day, and more for a large arrangement. That is the shop’s own advice; on those dates the trade sells out of both flowers and delivery slots.

Can I pick the order up instead?

Yes, and it is easier here than at most Brooklyn florists thanks to the lot beside the store.

Do they do wedding flowers?

They do, as designed work. Bring the date, the venue and the palette and expect a conversation with the people who will build it.

Can I buy plants for the garden here, not just cut flowers?

Yes — indoor and outdoor plants, trees, shrubs, orchids and gardening supplies, with house plants in the greenhouses year-round.

When do the spring plants arrive?

Early in the season: pansies, primrose, tulips, hyacinths and daffodils are among the first, well before the main garden rush.

Opening hours