Garden roses growing in popularity, variety and availability, even in volume
Garden roses growing in popularity, variety and availability, even in volume
Garden roses used to be super delicate, seasonal, expensive, hard to find (especially in volume), and had very short shelf and vase lives. Well, all that has changed.
Pilar Buitrago, manager of the New Variety program.Breeders have identified the market for nostalgic shapes, special colors, and fragrance as a growing one in the U.S. and the world, and they have started to breed roses for this market. Also, growers have hundreds of newer garden rose varieties to test and select from to create a commercial-sized garden rose program of all colors and shapes.
Garden rose varieties for cut flowers were really hard to find in the past — we used to have to sneak around breeders testing benches to find anything worthwhile. Now, most have a line of garden roses for cut flowers. As both of these initiatives get traction, buyers will notice new offerings in this category.
The cut garden roses of today are grown in professional greenhouses in Colombia and Ecuador where growers control many of the variables that have made garden roses unreliable in the past. And because they are grown near the equator, they are available all year. They are now easier to find, the varieties are much less delicate and longer lasting in terms of shelf and vase lives, and they are not so expensive.
Now may be the time to take your rose program to the next level by adding the high-end garden roses category. Stores that have are seeing their customers’ perception of their stores raised to higher end and more deluxe. Also, stores experience an increase in event business as garden roses are an important element in any event, and customers will do much of their event shopping in stores that carry a good garden rose selection.
Jose R. Azout is president at Alexandra Farms in Bogota, Colombia. He can be contacted at [email protected].
