Texas cut flowers are as pretty as a Hill Country dawn and so fresh you'll swear you can still see the dew. They're grown on small farms the old-fashioned way: harvested by hand at the peak of quality, loaded on to climate-controlled trucks and personally delivered to market.

If you're looking for quality, selection and reasonable prices, Texas cut flower growers have it all.

Here are just some of the advantages of cut flowers produced in Texas:

Freshness - In most cases, Texas cut flowers can be ready for retail sale on the day of cutting or within 48 hours. Getting to market faster increases their shelf life, a plus for retailers.

Cost-effectiveness - Texas flowers cost less to transport. Prices for international and domestic imports reflect shipping costs including packing, freight and customs fees.

Selection - The availability of Texas specialty cut flowers allows for certain varieties to be ready for Christmas and Valentine's Day when others are hard to find. Field, greenhouse and shadehouse production offers retailers extended availability of Texas specialty cut flowers. Texas growers offer more than 77 different types of commercial cut flowers, including sunflowers, Gerbera daisies, alstroemeria, iris and delphinium.

If you're in the market for beautiful, fresh, long-lasting cut flowers, look to Texas - a cut above the rest.