NEW YORK — The World Floral Expo seemed to be building an audience as it held its three-day run in New York for the second straight year and drew more people than last year, with registration up 12 percent. The show was held March 13-15 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York.

The new year got off to a fast start as Valentine’s Day set records in many stores. On its heels was Women’s Day, March 8, a growing floral holiday. Easter results were not in at press time, but were predicted to continue a rebound. The biggest floral day of all, Mother’s Day, awaits.

The National Potato Council and the U.S. Potato Board announced that the Council of Agriculture in Taiwan has granted approval for the state of Colorado to ship fresh potatoes to that country starting April 1.

The NPC and USPB credited the U.S. Department of Agriculture, including both its Animal Plant Health Inspection Service and the Foreign Agricultural Service, for its efforts to obtain this approval. Colorado joins Oregon, Idaho, Washington, Montana, and Alaska as approved states to ship to Taiwan.

The California Table Grape Commission recently expanded the responsibilities of Cindy Plummer and Jane Lytle in the areas of advertising and foodservice, respectively, and hired Jeff Cardinale as the new vice president of communications.

Jim DiMenna, chair of the Canadian Produce Marketing Association and president of JemD Farms in Leamington, ON, a leading distributor of high-quality greenhouse-grown vegetables, is stepping down from his one-year service as chair of the CPMA. The CPMA Convention & Trade Show, being held April 17-19 in Toronto, traditionally marks the end of the one-year appointment.

Newcomers to Florida who complain about the weather are often told, "Don't worry -- wait five minutes and it will change." In most years, that is a jest: Florida weather is reliably cool and dry in the fall and winter and hot and wet in late spring and summer. This year, however, Mother Nature has been schizophrenic.