On May 23, Bob Von Rohr, director of customer relations for Sunny Valley International, headquartered in Glassboro, NJ, told The Produce News that at this time of the year an accurate assessment of New Jersey’s blueberry crop is pretty much a sure thing.

HAMMONTON, NJ — With a mild winter and early spring, plenty of sunshine during the growing season and rainfall coming at the right times, Tim Wetherbee is expecting a good crop of New Jersey blueberries in 2012, with the only possible negative — as it has been the last couple of years — the labor situation.

HAMMONTON, NJ —Atlantic Blueberry Co. was expecting to start this year’s blueberry harvest around June 7, a few days after some others in the state but still way earlier than the normal start date of around June 14, according to Art Galletta, president of the company, headquartered here.

Rocket Farms in Salinas, CA, donated potted orchids on Mother’s Day to mothers living in nursing homes and assisted living facilities through the I Remember Mama program of the Monterey County Alliance on Aging. About 50 mothers in facilities in the county received orchid plants, a company official said.

At Sunflower Farmers Markets, floral sales for Mother’s Day 2012 were termed “a big success” by floral specialist Courtney Young. He attributed a big part of that to advance preparation that began a year ago with the booking of spring product. “In addition to bouquets and indoor blooming plants, we launch an outdoor program for Colorado and New Mexico,” he said.

Syngenta Flowers Inc. announced May 14 from its offices in Greensboro, NC, that it will offer 123 new and improved varieties in 2012-13 from Goldsmith Seeds and GoldFisch Vegetative.

In a news release, the company said it is adding more color, choices and versatility to every growing season to better meet the diverse needs of its customers.

The news release quoted Keelan Pulliam, head of Syngenta Flowers, noting, “In developing the new varieties, we really focused on our customers’ core needs within the growing seasons to maximize their profitability.”