Breeders take look at the rose market
Roses are red, violets are blue. These first two lines of a nursery rhyme are probably very descriptive of the color of the vast majority roses. When roses were first grown in Colombia to send to the United States, many farms grew mainly, or in some cases only, the red variety Visa from the breeder Meilland. The history of the major reds grown in Latin America has been dominated by Visa, Madame Delbard from Delbard, Royalty/Vega and Classy from Hills, Charlotte from Rosen Tantau, then Forever Young from Hills and finally Freedom from Rosen Tantau.
California Pajarosa Floral still blooming after 36 years in the floral trade
California Pajarosa Floral is a wholesale, luxury cut-rose grower located in Watsonville, CA, about 70 miles south of San Francisco. Roses were first planted on our property in 1979 by our founders, John Furman and Alan Mitchell. All of our greenhouses were self-built by our own employees using steel frames and a double-ply polyurethane covering.
Partnership expands distribution of Ethiopian roses to U.S. and Canada
As the shifting of the world’s economies affects the international production of flowers, Ethiopia is taking an active role in the development of their flower industry. Being the number four producer of roses for international distribution, Ethiopia exported over $300 million of roses in the fiscal year 2014.
Postharvest rose care and handling techniques to increase vase life and profits
At the grower level:
• No hydration in greenhouses and minimal hydration (one to two hours) thereafter can help reduce stem blockage by bacteria, petal bruising during transport, Botrytis development, and/or ethylene induced damages. This also results in reduced labor, bucket, and solution costs and allows for more effective use of cooler space.
Snapshot of Northwest onion production
On Jan. 29, 2015, the National Agricultural Statistics Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture released its Vegetables 2014 Summary. According to the report, Washington growers planted 2,000 acres of summer non-storage onions in 2014, and harvested the full crop. Yield per acre was 400 hundredweight, with production set at 800,000 hundredweight. The price per hundredweight during 2014 was $34.60, and the value of production was set at $27.68 million.
Designer’s love affair with roses persists
Nothing seems to make us go gaga like a heady, perfume-soaked rose — the texture of the petals, the saturation of color, even the sting of a random thorn — it’s all part of the romance and mystique of the flower of love.
I fell in love with roses long ago. We grew them in my family’s greenhouse. Back then things were different — we had over seven acres of greenhouses in a small town in Nebraska and we had greenhouses dedicated to roses. I can still recall the smell of the rose house at night — greenhouses are especially mysterious at night.
Roses are strong sellers in the grocery industry
The rose stands for a number of things. For example, the rose holds the meaning of love to many people, its colors have endless meanings and it seems to never lose the power to get people to buy it. It seems to stand above the other flowers in sales day after day.
The rose is especially important to grocery stores and it can be the main reason someone is heading into the store. It can be merchandised in so many areas of the store, but when a consumer specifically heads to the coolers when first entering a store, it is in most cases to buy roses.
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.
Global economy shaping the flower-producing industry
“Buy American” sounds great, but it’s not always the answer. We live in a globalized economy with relatively efficient transportation systems for both products and passengers that span the globe. Competitive advantages in costs and quality due to lower use of energy and labor, and more ideal growing conditions, are shaping the flower-growing industry.
Fascinating facts about roses, America’s favorite flower (that’s one of them)
• Roses are ancient plants. One of the oldest fossils of roses, discovered in Colorado, dates back over 35 million years ago.
• Columbus discovered America because of a rose. On Oct. 11, 1492, while becalmed in the Sargasso Sea, one of the crewmen picked a rose branch from the water. This sign of land renewed their hope for survival and gave the seafarers the courage to continue on to the New World.