He worked as a reporter for the Daily Picayune and briefly practiced law before joining the cotton factoring firm of Edwin Nall & Co. In 1884, he founded his own firm, Flower Brothers, with his brother Ivy, and in 1888 formed a partnership with Branch M. King; in 1891 the firm became Flower, King and Putnam. He served as President of the New Orleans Cotton Exchange in 1891.