Q&A: How a French Sugar Seller Became a Jeweler of Roses

Published on April 5, 2012 in Flowers & Nursery and General Ag News and Notes.

Florence Gervais d’Aldin got hooked on Russia at an early age when the Soviet Navy dropped anchor in Cherbourg, a port in northern France.

Eleven years old at the time, she ignored the initially frosty reception that the Soviet sailors received and experienced the warmth and boisterousness of Russian company, which left a lasting impression.

“In the evening there was singing and dancing, and I experienced the Russian soul,” d’Aldin said in an interview. “I was lost because what I saw was totally warm and — especially when you are young — you cannot be insensitive to this spectacle. From this, I wanted to learn Russian and had the will to go where I was told not to.”

A subsequent high school trip to Moscow, where she used the excuse of preparing for her diploma to skip the teachers’ prearranged tours and explore with a friend, piqued her interest in the still-closed country yet further.

“I was totally shocked. I visited in 1983. There was no advertising, nothing in the shops, and lines everywhere,” she said.

The brief excursion also marked the first time that d’Aldin made money on Russian soil, as Muscovites — amazed by the plastic bags that the teens were carrying — came up to them and bought up the bags with relish. Continue reading ‘Q&A: How a French Sugar Seller Became a Jeweler of Roses’

Say it with flowers but don’t expect everything to be rosy

Published on February 12, 2012 in Flowers & Nursery and General Ag News and Notes.

AUSTRALIAN flower crops, struggling to bloom through a dark and damp summer, are under threat this Valentine’s Day from foreign imports.

”It’s just about impact,” said Tim Baber, of PoHo Flowers in Potts Point, who will be stocking more Colombian roses this year.

”Most guys almost always opt for the Colombians because the bud is about 3-4 centimetres across and the local is about 2.5.
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”When you multiply across a dozen stems it makes a big difference”.

”They’re [local growers] going to lose out,” said Mr Baber.

An overcast La Nina summer has made flowers bloom more slowly and produce smaller buds. Wet and humid weather also exposes maturing flowers to mould and rot.

”Half our crop isn’t going to flower in time for Valentine’s Day,” said Gabriella Zaia, of T&G Growers in Horsley Park.

”We’ve had constant rain. We’re spraying for fungicide and pesticide. It’s been a really tough time.”

The poor weather has given Colombian exporters a greater foothold in the local flower market over the past year despite their higher price. At PoHo Colombian roses sell for $160 a dozen compared with $120 for local varieties

Colombian roses grow fat in the high altitude of the Andean mountains. The greater exposure to sunlight allows them to bloom over four months, Continue reading ‘Say it with flowers but don’t expect everything to be rosy’

All about Palms with William Merwin and Leland Miyano

Published on January 15, 2012 in endangered species, Flowers & Nursery, Gardening, General Ag News and Notes and Native Hawaiian Plants.

MALP Educational Meeting—Free to the public

Date: Tuesday January 24, 2012
Place: Maui Community Service Bldg next to CTHAR Extension Services (Map) on the UH Maui campus.
Time: Pupus will be served at 6:30 pm and the talk will begin at 7:00.

On January 24th MALP is proud to host guest speakers: William Merwin and Leland Miyano as they share with us their vast combined knowledge about palms. Their talk will include information on Hawaii’s palms, palm growth habits and conservation efforts.

William Merwin, who has twice won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry and is the recent US Poet Laureate, has lived and gardened on Maui for over 30 years. Most of his focus has been on cultivating palms from around the world. He has gathered approximately 800 different species of palms, creating a truly unique palm jungle within the rainforest of Maui’s north shore. His enduring gardening passion along with his legacy of being a successful poet will be preserved with the recently created “The Merwin Conservancy“.

Leland Miyano, a good friend of Merwin, is an artist, landscape designer and author from Oahu. Leland has years of experience working with native palms throughout Hawaii and has worked extensively with many highly respected people in the field of horticulture and design. Leland’s numerous books include: Hawaii’s Beautiful Tree’s and Hawaii, A Floral Paradise. Leland’s own 1-acre garden in Kahalu’u is renown for its design and features numerous palms.

CLICK HERE for full information on this truly notable event.

Illinois expert on orchids to bring rarity to islands

Published on February 28, 2011 in endangered species, Flowers & Nursery and General Ag News and Notes.

The last specimen of a rare Hawaiian orchid on Kauai will be joined next week by a half-dozen of its descendants in its home.

An Illinois botany professor who successfully reproduced the Platanthera holochila is expected to bring about 90 plants to Hawaii next week.

The orchid is extinct on Oahu and nonexistent on the Big Island, but Maui has about 20 plants living in the wild and about 20 live on Molokai. The only known specimen on Kauai lives in the Alakai Swamp within a fence that protects it from goats and pigs.

One of three orchid species endemic to Hawaii, the plant is the rarest of all three and appears somewhat unglamorous for an orchid, said Wendy Kishida, Kauai coordinator of the Plant Extinction Prevention Program.

It can grow to be several feet tall with hundreds of greenish-yellow flowers that bloom from spikes around the stem, according to some descriptions.

Chipper Wichman, director and chief executive officer of the National Tropical Botanical Garden on Kauai, said botanists have seen the plant’s population decline over 20 years from about four plants to one. He said no one has been able to propagate the plant.

“This is really a success story,” he said. “This is a huge breakthrough for us.” Continue reading ‘Illinois expert on orchids to bring rarity to islands’

New gardens director to infuse more native culture

Published on February 7, 2011 in Flowers & Nursery, General Ag News and Notes, Invasive Species and Native Hawaiian Plants.

KAHULUI The new executive director of Maui Nui Botanical Gardens wants to cultivate public interest in what she calls “a cultural gem in the middle of Kahului.”

Joylynn Jennifer-Nedine Mailemekalokelanionakupuna Nakoa Kaho’okele Paman took over as head of the 7-acre facility last week.

She succeeds Lisa Schattenburg-Raymond, who is teaching at the University of Hawaii Maui College, and Anders Lyons, who served as interim executive director.

Paman’s vision for Maui Nui Botanical Gardens may sprout partially from having studied Hawaiian language for 18 years.

“My vision here is to infuse the Hawaiian culture even more than it already is into this place. I come from a strong Hawaiian culture and language background, and so I just see the potential in sharing our Hawaiian culture with the community.

“The board wants to make sure that people know about this place. . . . It’s like a cultural gem in the middle of Kahului that we really need to share with everyone else.” Continue reading ‘New gardens director to infuse more native culture’

Florist brings attention and care to arrangements

Published on November 21, 2010 in Christmas Tree, Flowers & Nursery and General Ag News and Notes.

If you look back at the photos, the flowers are exactly the same.

Friston Ho’okano had to make sure Abercrombie’s flowers were just as tall as Hannemann’s, that Hanabusa’s heliconias were just as showy as Djou’s.

“It’s not just throwing flowers together. Florists work so hard,” he said. “I was there with my tape measure.”

Ho’okano, 47, did the floral arrangements for all four televised debates on KGMB this year. You might not have noticed how perfect each arrangement was, but if one candidate had droopy gingers or dying fronds, your eye would be drawn to that instantly. Instead, he helped make the stage look dressed, but not overdressed; and more polished than some areca palms in plastic pots, with a definite Hawaii aesthetic.

“For a piece in front of a podium, I always plan a slender design so the attention points up to the candidate’s face,” he said.

Ho’okano has worked in several Oahu flower shops and counts most florists on the island as his friends. He had his own shop, Waimalu Florist, for four years before moving to Ribbons n Rainbows in Kapolei. Continue reading ‘Florist brings attention and care to arrangements’

Ag officials urge buying local for the holidays

Published on November 14, 2010 in Flowers & Nursery and General Ag News and Notes.

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Hawaii has a lot of beautiful flowers that are available year-round. But we still think of evergreens and holly when it comes to Christmas decorations.

“I guess we’re kind of conditioned,” said Eric Tanouye, Vice President and General Manager of Green Point Nurseries of Hilo. “We’re all to blame for that. We’re looking for that certain look that maybe we grew up with.

But Hawaii’s agriculture community wants us to consider buying local plants and flowers. “Our locally produced flowers and plants make beautiful arrangements that could be used for holidays. Home settings, entertaining, at the office,” Tanouye said.

Tanouye was among those at the first annual “Buy Local for the Holidays” event Sunday at the Department of Agriculture’s plant quarantine branch facility near Sand Island. Floral designers from around the state were on hand, putting together flower arrangements. The public was also invited to create their own small floral arrangements to take home.

Organizers said there were two big reasons to buy local. First, export orders for Hawaii’s cut flower industry have fallen during the current economic downturn, and buying local would create a homegrown economic stimulus. Second, it would prevent invasive species from entering the state. Continue reading ‘Ag officials urge buying local for the holidays’

Overnight red a good sign for Growing Greens

Published on November 7, 2010 in Christmas Tree, Flowers & Nursery, General Ag News and Notes and Poinsettia.

KAPA‘A — Almost overnight, everything turned red, said Marit McHugh, manager of Growing Greens Nursery in Kapahi.

“It was starting to turn, we had some signs of red, and all of a sudden, it’s all red,” she said Friday. “It must be the weather.”

McHugh was talking about the 2010 crop of poinsettia which is scheduled to start shipping next week to various commercial outlets, malls, churches and people with standing orders.

This year’s crop included about 5,400 plugs that were brought in August and raised at the Kapahi location. Now that they are in bloom with the holidays looming, the deliveries will start going out.

“This isn’t the biggest crop we’ve had,” McHugh said. “But then, the economy dictates what we need to do. Our best year, we had about 8,000 plants going out.”

Included among her plantings is “Ice Crystal,” a new variety brought in last year that has proven to be a solid seller, McHugh said.

“We brought in just a few last year and people grabbed them up almost immediately,” she said. “This year, we’ve brought in a few more and, already, half of the crop is going to Marriott’s Waiohai Beach Club and some of the jewelry shops around the island. We’ve also put some in lava rock for decorations.”

The lava rock poinsettias are something new Growing Greens is trying out this year, the plugs being placed into specially drilled-out lava rock and growing bonsai-style. Continue reading ‘Overnight red a good sign for Growing Greens’

Jamaica Gleaner News – Orchid business flowering in St Mary

Published on September 21, 2010 in Flowers & Nursery and General Ag News and Notes.

Christopher Serju, Gleaner Writer

WHEN RICHARD Padgette, new owner of Green Castles in St Mary, decided that he would pursue ecotourism interests instead of the traditional areas of agriculture for which the property had developed a reputation, he offered some of the workers a chance to buy into those areas.

Lloyd Pringle, who was managing the orchid operation, jumped at the opportunity to go into business and with his wife, Shana, bought out the operation and leased some of the land. That was three years ago.

“Most of the houses were at the stage that they needed replanting and so we brought in new plants and replanted. The houses are just coming back into production and we have three acres of cut flowers and half an acre of potted plants. The cut flowers are grown for reaping the blooms alone while the potted plants are sold whole,” Pringle explained.

Orchids are a year-round business, with peak periods such as Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Christmas and Secretaries Day and the Pringles sell right across the island, from Negril Point to St Thomas in the east. They use courier services to facilitate delivery to the distant wedding coordinators, event planners and florists who support the business, while for neighbouring parishes, such as St Andrew and Kingston, they make the deliveries.

Business could be better if he could only get the orchids to cooperate by blooming in sync with the demand for them, but Pringle says that, try as he might, the flowers just won’t cooperate. Continue reading ‘Jamaica Gleaner News – Orchid business flowering in St Mary’

Flower Arranging Finds a Younger Audience – NYTimes.com

Published on August 4, 2010 in Flowers & Nursery and General Ag News and Notes.

Flower Arranging Finds a Younger Audience
By EMILY WEINSTEIN

THE first time I bought flowers for myself was about five years ago at the Greenmarket in Union Square, in the midst of the hottest, dullest days of summer. Feeling very alone that afternoon for a reason now forgotten, I stood admiring some tulips. For $8 they could be mine. I was in my mid-20s and it seemed like such a luxury to buy myself flowers for no reason, no occasion. But that day I had the money in my wallet, and soon I was carrying the tulips home. I stuck them in a glass pitcher and watched them bloom, until their stems bowed and swept the tabletop and the petals all dropped off.

Over time, I became a regular flower buyer, at farmers’ markets on weekends or at the bodega on the way home from work. The bodega tulips were often the color of margarine and just as engineered. I loved them anyway.

Yet arranging flowers was something I avoided. As with baking sourdough bread or building bookshelves, I was too intimidated to try, especially since buying individual stems can be expensive. Easier to buy a bunch of the same flower, or two or three kinds at most, snip their stems and plop them in water, all while handling them as little as possible.

It turns out that I am not alone in wanting instruction: flower-arranging classes are on the upswing. Established institutions have long offered programs in traditional arranging, but newer schools, with a natural, free-form aesthetic, have begun popping up across the country, part of a swell of enthusiasm for things homemade. Continue reading ‘Flower Arranging Finds a Younger Audience – NYTimes.com’

Carludovica ‘Jungle Drum’ « Gardening with Wilson

Published on May 14, 2010 in Flowers & Nursery and General Ag News and Notes.

A new palm-like houseplant with attractive, uniformly green but relatively stiff and pleated leaves that are curiously split halfway in the center to give two lobes has surfaced in our local nurseries. The identity of this new introduction is given as Caulodovica ‘Jungle Drum’ but its true identity is still under debate. Although it is named as a cultivar of Caulodovica, there are sources on the Internet that suggest that it can also be either an Asplundia or Cyclanthus.

Little information about the care of this new houseplant is available at present and no one really knows for sure how big it will really grow. To infer some information, I referred what is known about the most common cultivated Carludovica species, C. palmata, commonly known as the Panama Hat Plant. A member of the Cyclanthaceae family, its young leaves are used to make the Panama brimmed hat. A native of tropical America, it thrives in the shady and wet lowland forest understorey and can grow up to about 2 m.

From this, I safely guess that Caulodovica ‘Jungle Drum’ will probably grow well under roughly the same environmental conditions. So far, I have grown ‘Jungle Drum’ in a well draining, fertile and moisture-retentive soil mixture which consists of burnt earth and well rotted compost has yielded relatively good results.

Because it is an understorey plant, I expect my plant to burn if placed under too bright an area. Continue reading ‘Carludovica ‘Jungle Drum’ « Gardening with Wilson’

Disaster Preparedness

Published on October 30, 2007 in Banana, Coffee, Disaster Preparedness, Flowers & Nursery, General Ag News and Notes, Ginger Root, Guava, Livestock, Macadamia Nuts, Mango, Orchids, Papaya, Persimmon, Pineapple, Pumkin, Seed Crops, Sugar Cane, Vegtables and Watermelon.

Disaster Preparedness
How Prepared is Your Farming Operation?

Maui Extension Office
Monday, November 26, 2007
11 am ? 1:30 pm

Natural disasters, such as droughts, floods, wild fires, hurricanes, pests, and diseases, can cause excessive economic damage to agricultural production. In addition to crop damage, disasters can also affect farm buildings, machinery, animals, irrigation, family members and employees. Disasters along with marketing difficulties can lead to serious downturns in your farm income.

How prepared are you? This workshop is designed to provide you with information on:
1) preparing your operation for a natural disaster and
2) available and affordable crop insurance programs that minimize risk associated with economic losses.
Note: Now that the “Adjusted Gross Revenue” (AGR) insurance is available for 2008, in effect all Hawaii crops can be insured to some degree ? not just bananas, coffee, papayas, macnuts & nursery.

Speakers:
? USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) administers and oversees farm commodity, credit, conservation, disaster and loan programs. These programs are designed to improve the economic stability of the agricultural industry and to help farmers adjust production to meet demand.

? USDA Risk Management Agency Western Regional Office, Davis. USDA RMA helps producers manage their business risks through effective, market-based risk management solutions.

? John Nelson from the Western Center for Risk Management Education (Washington State University) on the new Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) Insurance.

? Dr. Mike Fanning, Executive Vice President, AgriLogic, is a specialist in Agri-Terroism, crop insurance, farm policy analysis, and individual farm risk management.

? Dr. Kent Fleming, an agricultural economist with the University of Hawaii’s College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (CTAHR), is an Extension Farm Management Specialist with a focus on risk management education.

The workshop is FREE and lunch (sandwiches or bentos and drinks) will be provided. For more information, visit the website http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/agrisk/ You may also contact Kent Fleming @ 989-3416 or fleming@hawaii.edu or Jan McEwen @ 244-3242 or jmcewen@hawaii.edu

Please call the Maui Extension Office at 244-3242 by November 21, 2007 to register for this seminar.

Hawaii Flowers & Nursery Products

Published on September 13, 2007 in Flowers & Nursery, General Ag News and Notes and Orchids.

Here is the PDF file for the Hawaii Flowers & Nursery Products report.

flower091307.pdf

Please visit the website for more information: http://www.nass.usda.gov/hi/

————————————————————-
Contact Information:
Mark E. Hudson, Director
USDA NASS Hawaii Field Office
1421 South King Street
Honolulu, HI 96814-2512

Office: (808) 973-9588 / (800) 804-9514
Fax: (808) 973-2909
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“HAWAII FLOWERS & NURSERY PRODUCTS” reports are available on our website and also PRINTED annually. Subscriptions for PRINTED copies are free to those persons who report agricultural data to NASS (upon request) and available for $2 per year to all others.

HAWAII FLOWERS & NURSERY PRODUCTS Annual Summary
Release: September 10, 2007

2006 FLORICULTURE AND NURSERY PRODUCTS NEAR RECORD

Hawaii?s floriculture and nursery products is estimated at $100.7 million for 2006. This is near the previous year?s record high and continues as the top contributor to diversified agriculture according to the USDA, NASS, Hawaii Field Office. Some commodity groups experienced increases while others had decreases in 2006. Cut flowers totaled $14.1 million, up 1 percent. Cut and potted orchids were valued at $22.2 million, nearly unchanged from last year. Lei flowers pegged at $3.5 million was 6 percent lower. Foliage sales were 7 percent less, registering at $18.1 million. Potted flowering plants were 1 percent above 2005 and valued at $6.4 million. Landscape plants were estimated at $20.9 million, almost unchanged from last year. Plant rentals increased 4 percent and totaled $5.1 million. Other nursery products jumped 14 percent, registering $5.8 million. Bedding and garden plants wholesale value, at $3.3 million, was 11 percent higher than 2005.

STATE SUMMARY

COUNTY RANKINGS:
Hawaii County, with $51.9 million in sales, ranked number one in 2006. Honolulu farmers registered sales at $33.5 million, 3 percent more than 2005. Maui County sales totaled $12.3 million, 3 percent above last year. Kauai sales, pegged at $2.9 million, were 8 percent below 2005.

COUNTY SUMMARIES

HAWAII COUNTY LEADS IN SALES
Hawaii County growers of flowers and nursery products accounted for 52 percent of the State?s total wholesale value of flowers and nursery products in 2006. Hawaii County?s 410 growers rang up sales of $51.9 million, 3 percent less than the $53.4 million in 2005. Honolulu?s 250 producers accounted for 33 percent of the State?s total wholesale value of flowers and nursery products. Honolulu farmers reported sales of $33.5 million, 3 percent above 2005. Maui County?s 195 producers generated $12.3 million in sales, 3 percent more than a year ago. Kauai?s 75 producers registered $2.9 million in sales, 8 percent less than 2005.

OUT-OF-STATE SALES

OUT-OF-STATE SALES TOTALED $49.0 MILLION

The value of out-of-State sales of flowers and nursery products (including wholesale and retail sales) during 2006 was estimated at $49.0 million. Values in this table are not comparable to values shown in the majority of other tables throughout this release. The value of out-of-State sales represents the dollar received at the point the commodity leaves the State. Thus, the product contains retail and wholesale sales and may include multiple transactions by the time it leaves the State.

Potted foliage, valued at $11.6 million, remained the number one floriculture and nursery product exported. Other potted orchids followed second with $9.3 million in value. Cut anthurium exports contributed $7.1 million, up 14 percent from 2005. Potted dendrobium orchids ranked fourth in out-of-State sales with $3.8 million, declining 13 percent from 2005.

DENDROBIUM ORCHID SALES DOWN 10 PERCENT
In 2006, dendrobium orchid sales were valued at $8.8 million, 10 percent lower than 2005. Potted in bud/bloom contributed $5.7 million, declining 3 percent from last year. Cut sprays registered $2.5 million in sales, down 19 percent from the previous year. Sales of individual blossoms fell 10 percent to $532,000.

DENDROBIUM PRODUCTION AREA 9 PERCENT LOWER
The combined production area for dendrobium cut sprays and in bud/bloom pots totaled 5.2 million square feet, 9 percent lower than 2005. Production area reported by growers includes newly planted, as well as established acreage; thus, year-to-year yield comparisons calculated using area and sales may be misleading.

Area utilized for cut sprays totaled 2.8 million square feet, 16 percent below 2005. Production area for potted in bud/bloom totaled 2.4 million square feet, increasing 2 percent from the previous year.