Floral

Rosa Flora sells mass orders of fresh-cut flowers from its greenhouses to wholesalers in Canada and the United States. The 138-employee company now uses an automated system that can process just one variety of flower at a time. That’s restrictive if clients want any kind of change to orders, such as different colours, stem lengths, numbers in bunches or other differences. …

www.FlowerChat.com, the No. 1 online forum for floral professionals, is celebrating its 10th anniversary in a huge way: With a prize giveaway that includes the new Kindle Fire HD tablet computer. What’s the catch? There is none. As the site’s contest page explains: “No hoops, no tricks, no fine print;* just rewards to whose who are members of the FlowerChat community.” (To what does the asterisk refer? Text that says, “*Ok, so there is some fine print, but only the really necessary lawyery stuff. No tricks or entanglements, we promise!”) …

Terra Nova has been at the forefront of Heuchera and Heucherella breeding for 20 years which resulted into great genetics. The complete series are known for their stunning colors and excellent plant habit. The production farm in Guatemala has developed techniques to produce cuttings with compact leaf petioles and small leaves that allow easy sticking in liner trays. Rooting hormone treated at the farm is resulting into a high rooting percentage and offering a year around availability of these perennials. …

Encore® Azalea, the world’s best-selling reblooming azalea – with blooms in spring, summer, and fall – has  announced the debut of four new varieties in its collection for spring 2013. With the addition of Autumn Sunburst™, Autumn Lily™, Autumn Ivory™ and Autumn Jewel™, the collection now features 29 varieties offering improved characteristics such as increased cold-hardiness, sun tolerance and lacebug resistance in addition to three seasons of beautiful blooms. …

Two well-known wholesale floral distributors will join forces as of October 1, 2012. Kennicott Bros. Company and Vans Floral Products, both headquartered in the Chicago Metro area, will merge their operations with Kennicott acquiring most of the assets of Vans. …