My Kingdom for Orange Roses

"What do you have in orange roses?" That is the number one question we are getting at the sales office. Everyone is looking for orange and/or fall color roses. We are over sold on all varieties of orange roses at this time. Many are sold before they are even cut from the plant. Our production is down at this time but it should be picking up in the next few weeks just in time for the final fall push to Thanksgiving. The next date I am sure we'll have orange roses will be the day after Thanksgiving!

We are currently expanding our spray rose production. This means we have to take some of the spray roses we harvest to use as plant material to make new spray rose plants. Spray roses will be very limited over the next few weeks until we have finished making the new plants.

Check out this video of our Ranuncula roses. These roses are amazingly huge!

http://sharing.theflip.com/session/7.../video/3958897

The Verde Way

This is the week for green with St. Patty's day tomorrow and the official beginning of Spring on Friday. But green is always in play at Eufloria since it is our favorite color and more importantly it is the way we grow!

Our Eco-friendly growing practices include the use of double poly roofs and energy curtains that reduces energy consumption by 33%, natural gas to heat our greenhouses instead of burning used motor oil, a water recapturing program to recycle the water and fertilizer, recycle all paper and plastic including the plastic used for the greenhouses, we mulch all plant material and coco fiber and we use an integrated pest management that greatly reduces the use of pesticides, a process so clean that Eufloria roses can be put on a plate with food! And since Eufloria roses are domestically grown in California and much closer to our customer's market, they go from farm to florist in days, reducing their carbon footprint or as we like to say "Our fingerprints are all over the reduction of your carbon footprint." Most people think all roses are the same but there are huge differences depending on where they're grown.

Why do we do this? Not because it matters to us, because it matters to you!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day or as I call it, Happy Valloween! We are coming to the end of a long couple of weeks. The holiday is out of our hands and now out of the wholesaler's hands. The florists are right in the middle of the Valentine's storm. We wish them a successful and profitable holiday. They turn the product into cash and pay everybody back down the supply chain. If they don't do well, we don't do well.

We had a local news station do a report on our environmental responsible growing practices for Valentine roses. The segment is called "Down to Earth". The reporter starts off his report by talking about roses from South America and how they are sprayed and dipped in lethal pesticides and chemicals. We did not talk about any growing practices or farms in South America. He came up with this information all on his own. We know there are plenty of farms in South America that are environmentally and socially responsible. I am sure that there are other farms that could do better but choose not to. All we can control is what happens at our farm and we are doing the best growing practices possible as the video will show.

Enjoy the video and let us know what you think! Click on the link below to start viewing...

http://www.kcoy.com/global/video/flash/popupplayer.asp?ClipID1=3442842&h1=Local%20Flower%20Grower%20Creates%20Beauty%20Without%20The%20Beast&vt1=v&at1=News&d1=183933&LaunchPageAdTag=News&activePane=info&rnd=67049381

Take a Tour of Eufloria Flowers Farm with JTV

J Schwanke of JTV was recently at our farm to shoot new photos for our 2009 advertising campaign. While on location J filmed a video tour of our growing operations in Nipomo, California. J made this into a webisode for JTV. Join J as he tours the farm and documents the Tender Loving Care given to our award winning roses and then creates a Candle Centerpiece featuring Eufloria Spray Roses.

Back in the Saddle

Good news! We have roses once again! The return from the Valentine's pinch has begun and we have roses to sell. I know it was a long three weeks but the drought is over and now our cup runneth over. It is such a hard time for us because we don't like disappointing any customers, especially our standing order customers. If we didn't pinch the plants then we wouldn't have roses to fill our customers orders for Valentine's Day which also would be very disappointing. It's a "Catch-22" for us but we are through the rough patch and back to smooth sailing. Now where are all the pre-book orders for Valentine's?

It is starting to become a little scary concerning pre-books orders for Valentine's. I know everyone is concerned about the economy and how it will effect V-Day. What is the alternative, not do anything for your significant other? No way! People will have to buy their sweetheart something and flowers are still one of the best deals going. I think the high end gifts like jewelery will take a significant hit in sales this V-Day but the classic, tried and true gift of a dozen roses will still give the sender their desired results. Remember what we are selling, not flowers or roses but we are selling hope! The guy buying a dozen roses for his sweetheart is hoping for a certain response and action to come back to him. Have you heard the expression "Sell the sizzle not the steak."? It applies to our industry this year more than ever! Don't sell roses this Valentine's, sell what the roses will do for your customers. That's what they want to know "how will a dozen roses make my life better?" Come up with these answers, tell your customers and you will sell more roses than you ever expected.

Pictures of Valentine's Day Pinch

Here are some pictures of the plants after we "pinched" them. Notice the taller plants in the background that have not been pinched. These are Black Baccara plants. They are a fast producer and therefore are some of the last plants we pinch.