Flower News: September’s Articles and Blogs of Interest from Around the World

From flowers to festivals — Judges picked to evaluate
2019 Rose Parade floats have unique backgrounds

The trio that will decide which floats are best in this year’s Rose Parade consists of a celebrity wedding planner, the Kentucky Derby Festival CEO and a florist who used to design floats herself.

The Tournament of Roses each year selects several people to judge the 45-or-so floats based on criteria including design, floral craftsmanship, animation, thematic interpretation and color presentation. This year’s theme is “The Melody of Life.”

Read more here.
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US: California Grown Flowers Shine at State Fair

For 17 days this summer, California Grown Flowers were center stage at the California State Floral Association’s (CSFA) booth at the California State Fair. This year’s theme was “Back to the Floral Future

The fair’s run was kicked off at the California State Fair Gala on June 21 that featured flowers and foliage donated by California Pajarosa, Dramm & Echter, Glad-A-Way, Holland America Flowers, Joseph & Sons, Mellano & Company, Myriad Flowers International, Resendiz Brothers Protea Growers and Sun Valley Floral Farms.

Read more here.
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Cal Poly Universities’ Rose Parade entry
will be ‘out of this world’

Cal Poly Rose Float announced the 2019 Cal Poly Universities entry in the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade will feature a pair of astronauts and a handful of aliens on another planet communicating through music.

The premise is that astronauts landing on a distant planet are unable to communicate with its inhabitants through language, so they use musical instruments to share a message of goodwill.

Read more here.
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Fall Wreath Workshop

Our kind of ‘Autumn Welcome’… Protea Wreaths! Clear skies and warm temperatures greeted guests here on the farm as they enjoyed a wreath making workshop, along with a tour of the nursery and a peek in the packing house at the dawn of this year’s fall equinox. Our favorite flower farmer, Mel, demonstrated the art of wreath making while participants eagerly contemplated what flowers and foliage they would select for their special wreath.

SAF’s Sylvia Cup Competition…Top Designers… A Mystery Assignment

The Sylvia Cup Design Competition is the longest running, live, national annual floral design competition. It's sponsored by Certified American Grown and Smither-Oasis and coordinated by Professional Floral Communicators-International. The 2018 competition, the contest’s 50th anniversary, paid homage to “The Wizard of Oz.”

This year the Sylvia Cup Competition tested the skills of 19 designers. Among them were 12 members of the American Institute of Floral Designers, eight past Sylvia Cup contestants and three contestants sponsored by state floral associations.

Rey Rodriguez, AAF, AIFD, TMFA, of The Gypsy Florist in Austin, Texas, won the grand prize on Sept. 15th during SAF 2018 in Rancho Mirage, California. Congratulations to Rey and all the contestants!

It was exciting to see all the wonderful Conical Designs, Imaginative Wands and Monochromatic Container Designs that were created using the same product assortment of beautiful American Grown flowers and foliage, including Protea Pink Ice and Leucadendron Safari Sunset! Here's a glimpse of some of these creative designs - Enjoy!

Resendiz Brothers Wins SAF’s 2018 Marketer of Year Award

We’re beyond thrilled to share the news that Resendiz Brothers won the 2018 Marketer of the Year Award from the Society of American Florists’ (SAF) Floral Management magazine.

This prestigious award highlights forward-thinking SAF members who are creating new pathways to get ahead of the competition, to give them deserved kudos but also to offer everyone else some timely inspiration. “It recognizes businesses that see an opportunity, craft a solution and then work their tails off to succeed. Taken as a group, Marketer of the Year award winners show an industry brimming with entrepreneurs, risk-takers, out-of-the-box thinkers, and perhaps most important of all, people who are willing to share the “secrets” of their success for the benefit of others”, said Mary Westbrook, SAF’s Editor in Chief.

What made for Resendiz Brothers’ winning entry? We’ve since learned that Marketer of the Year judges were impressed with our ability to propel Proteas into the national spotlight and raise their profile among consumers, the media and industry professionals with dazzling results.

As the Marketer of the Year Award winner, Resendiz Brothers is the cover story on the October 2018 issue of Floral Management. [See the full story here.]

This recognition is truly an honor. And the attention it brings to the Protea Family – is absolutely Incredible!

2018 SAF Outstanding Varieties Competition

The Society of American Florists (SAF) held their 134th Annual Convention in Rancho Mirage, California. It was three action packed days of educational sessions and workshops, thought-provoking breakfast sessions, the Sylvia Cup Design Competition and the Outstanding Varieties Competition featuring the best flowers, foliage and plants from farms around the world.

The Outstanding Varieties Competition has always been a great way for us to help educate wholesalers, florists, designers and other farmers about the amazing Proteas we grow, especially some of the lesser known varieties. It puts our flowers and foliage in front of the attendees so they can see them up close as well as touch and feel them. This year we had nine entries competing in three categories: Other Cut Flowers, Decorative Foliage and Flowering Potted Plant. And they were all Blue and Red Ribbon Winners… Here's how we fared:

People’s Choice & Blue Ribbon:

Protea Madiba – Other Cut Flower

Blue Ribbon:

Protea Arctic Ice – Other Cut Flower

Red Ribbon:

Leucospermum Ayoba Sun – Other Cut Flower

Protea Ivy – Other Cut Flower

Leucadendron Senorita – Decorative Foliage

Leucadendron African Tulip – Decorative Foliage

Leucadendron Phylica – Decorative Foliage

Eucalyptus Macrocarpa – Decorative Foliage

Protea King – Flowering Potted Plant

Protea King Arctic Ice

A luxurious Protea King is the crowning glory of a design or bouquet - these chic beauties offer an enchanting world filled with color, texture, and sizes to try. But not all Kings are created equal. In fact, some varieties are so special, they take nearly a decade to create. Such is the case for the voguish Arctic Ice, a magnificent White King Protea which has proven to be one of the most popular cultivars of this coloring of the king protea. The large flower heads are almost dinner plate in size with serrated edges much like a king’s crown. A mature plant can reach up to 5 feet in height and produce up to 50 blooms a year.

The King Protea is the national flower of South Africa — but they have been grown commercially here in California for 50 years. If you’re as crazy about these majestic flowers as we are, we suggest spending a little time in this Cynaroides’ realm.