NEW YORK — Dick van Raamsdonk was only 24 when he staged his first flower trade show, in Taipei, Taiwan, in 1985. He was calm, with nerves of steel. It was when he came to his home country of Holland to put on his second show that he got stage fright.

“I was very nervous about opening a flower show in Holland, my native country,” he said at the World Floral Expo, here, almost 200 shows and three decades later.

NEW YORK — New products such as green orchids and spray roses 100 or more to the stem in startling new colors and double-sized blossoms were introduced at the World Floral Expo, here, March 13-15.

Arie Van Vugt, president of Plainview Growers in Pompton Plains, NJ, is one of three growers in the United States licensed to use a patented Dutch infusion technology to produce brightly colored orchids. A blue orchid came out about three years ago; lavender, two years ago; yellow last year; and this year, he introduced a bright green orchid called Limelight.

Easter floral sales have been in a downward spiral since the recession began, but perked up in 2010 and should show further improvement this year when sales figures for March 31 are available, according to the consumer research firm Prince & Prince.

Still, the 2010 rebound did not return sales to pre-recession levels, the study released Feb. 28 showed that Easter has lost one-third of its “purchasing power” since 1966. And there are warning signs that floral retailers are getting out-hustled by those who market other products for Easter.

Soren Kaplan, author of Leapfrogging, will be the keynote speaker at the International Floriculture Expo on June 20, according to a news release from the show organizers, Diversified Business Communications Inc. Leapfrogging received the 2013 Axiom Best Business Book Award.

The annual Great Lakes Floral Expo in Grand Rapids, MI, drew 500 floral professionals to the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel March 1-3 for a bevy of awards, designer contests, five main stage presentations, seven hands-on workshops, nine business sessions and a tour of four area floral businesses.

The Olympic-themed expo drew growers, wholesalers and florists from Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin. Bob Patterson, president of the Michigan Floral Association, which sponsors the weekend, termed it “a marvelous investment in the future of your business,” in a news release.

John H. Dane, who began work as chief executive officer at NORCAL on Aug. 6, 2012, has left the organization after about seven months. The board president of the California association of flower growers and shippers, Patricia Mullen of Mayesh Wholesale Florists in Los Angeles, told The Produce News in a phone interview March 21 that the organization would begin a search process to replace Mr. Dane.