Green connections

Women in the horticulture industry may not be as numerous as in other industries, but they’re certainly as important — and I’m not just saying that as a fellow woman. Garden center retailers can tell you that most of their customers tend to be women, so in my opinion, it behooves the industry to employ and support women breeders, growers and managers who understand the end consumer. Back in June — during Week 24 to be exact — I traveled to Holland and Germany for the European Flower Trials as part of the second international trip organized by Luxflora.

Luxflora is a new organization that supports women executives in horticulture. Its role and goals are simple: “Luxflora is a leading group of female professionals in the horticulture industry. Our mission is to promote the usage of flowers in everyday life.” After all, the more people who incorporate flowers into their lives, the stronger the horticulture industry will be. Following the success of last year’s inaugural women’s European FlowerTrials trip, Luxflora founders Rebecca Lusk and Kate Santos, both of Dümmen Orange, decided to try for a repeat success. And success they found.

A group of 14 women hailing from California to Canada embarked on a weeklong, whirlwind trip that crossed two countries. We visited numerous greenhouses, a flower auction, breeding stations, a cut flower specialist and a wholesale floral market, and enjoyed cultural visits and the local cuisine.

Over the next few pages, get to know several of the Luxflora ladies as they share their perspectives on a horticultural adventure that was worthwhile to all who attended.

A festival of flowers in Holland and Germany

According to information provided by the organizers, there were no fewer than 49 pot and bedding plant breeders represented in the three participating regions (Westland, Aalsmeer and Rheinland Westfalen) at the European FlowerTrials this year. While we weren’t able to visit all of the stops this time around, the breeders we saw had some exceptional plants and displays waiting for us. Here are some of the trends, ideas and concepts that stuck out to the women in the group.
 

Jillanne Johnson
Live Goods Procurement, Kurt Weiss Greenhouses,
New York

One of the big “take home” messages that I got at the Week 24 trials was in a place where I least expected it to be… with cut flowers. At Dümmen Orange they had a florist who was making cut flower arrangements to demonstrate a good, better and best mentality for bouquets. If I was a consumer and he had not explained what he was trying to do, I would have associated the value of my purchase with the price tag alone. Missed would be the messages as to why the florist chose the bouquets that he did such as: “two-week shelf life” or where the flowers had to be imported from.

As an industry we tend not to explain enough to the customer about what it took to produce a product or the value they will receive with their purchase. The more that we can do to make the customer a part of the experience the better off we might all be. All in all, a powerful message to me and an excellent trip!
 

Barbara Jeffrey-Gibson
General Administrative and Sales Manager at Jeffery’s Greenhouses in Ontario,
Canada

Every time I go to Europe, I find it very inspiring: the way the product is presented, the number of customers buying. The amount of detail they put into marketing plants amazes me. I wish we could generate that kind of interest from our consumers, too — maybe we can?

The timing of this event works well with planning for 2016. Things we saw can be incorporated into our program as we are just entering the planning stage for next spring.

Jen Kuziw (left)
Regional Sales Manager,
Dümmen Orange

It was great to see the European trials as they offer a whole new look on marketing and displays, etc.

Penny Merritt-Price
Research & Development Coordinator, Young’s Plant Farm,
Alabama

[I appreciated] the opportunity to see the differences in what is available/popular in Europe versus in the U.S. in varieties, marketing and consumer preferences.
 

Debbie Haigh
Business Manager, Valley View Greenhouses,
New York

I noticed the use of green as a color. When we were at Royal Van Zanten, it was mentioned to me that green is a true color now in mums. And I really liked it! During subsequent stops, I noticed the color green (in flowers) showing up. I’m curious to see if this trend makes it to the United States.
 

While visiting the trials, many varieties looked exciting to me. I especially liked the Calibrachoa at Dümmen. I found the color on Calibrachoa Hula jumped out at me! The dark ring in the center really caught my eye. I also found Calibrachoa Volcano to have very interesting color patterns. They match up with other plants in combinations. I will definitely be using both in 2016.

Beverly Ogburn
Marketing Manager, Young’s Plant Farm,
Alabama

What a great industry to work in — each day we visited locations that showcased different breeders and their current products. Each location was impressive and looked like the pages of a flower magazine. However, our visit to Westoff stands out. Their collection was absolutely gorgeous — brilliant, vibrant color, full blooms, every plant was perfection. The one item that was most impressive was their Chameleon Calibrachoa. This flower is a bit mystical. The flowers change color based on the light levels and day length. It could be pink in the morning and then turn a beautiful yellow by afternoon. I’m not a scientist, but it seems like magic to me.
 

Lindsay Blauwkamp
Account Manager, Meadowridge,
Michigan

Editor’s note: Lindsay mentioned to me on the trip that she’s always on the lookout for new and interesting color combinations to bring back to the company, as well as display ideas. Here are a few of her top picks from the trip:

The “Wall Street” of plants

For those of you who haven’t had the opportunity to visit one of the three FloraHolland Flower Auction locations in the Netherlands, it’s truly an experience. FloraHolland is a cooperative owned by 4,500 members from the Netherlands and other flower-producing countries, according to its website. Around 6,000 growers from around the globe send their plants to the auction sites, where they are purchased by the highest bidder and immediately shipped out to end consumers all over the world. They auction off 20,000 different varieties every day and report total annual sales of about €4.5 billion (approx. USD $5.1 billion). It’s certainly a different way of doing business than most North American growers are accustomed to.
 

Beverly Ogburn

Our visit at the FloraHolland Flower Auction was quite mind-blowing. Millions of flowers are traded every day in a “Wall Street” type of environment. The difference is, there isn’t the chaos that you find on Wall Street. The bidders are seated in front of three huge monitors while the live plants are wheeled in front of them for their viewing. The price starts high and works its way down. They only get a few seconds to bid on the flowers before they are sold and passed to their new owner. We were escorted around the facility on the catwalk that overlooks the floor which is completely covered in racks of the most beautiful flowers you will ever see. It was breathtaking, and pictures do not do it justice.

Uniting women in horticulture

Even though the schedule was tight and there was much to see, Luxflora organizers still made sure to incorporate plenty of networking opportunities into the trip. The chance to strengthen relationships with other women in the industry was a significant benefit of traveling with and being a part of Luxflora. Here’s what some of the women had to say about this Luxflora trip:
 

Debbie Haigh

I feel Luxflora opened up an exciting opportunity for women in the green industry! Personally, I enjoy having women to talk to about trends, marketing, growing, new varieties and all-around business issues. I wish I had had this resource when I started in the industry 25 years ago.
 

Kate Santos
Operations Director, North America,
Dümmen Orange

Personally, the Week 24 trip further afforded me the opportunity to get to know some amazing women in the floriculture industry. We had a number of new faces that joined this year which added diversity, different perspectives and more enthusiasm to the Luxflora initiative. The trip further validated for me the value of having opportunities whether domestic or abroad, for collaboration and inspiration — outside of the day to day. It was both energizing and inspiring.

From a Luxflora perspective, the organization is truly beginning to take shape with these events and the growing momentum makes for a very exciting 2015-2016 year!
 

Rebecca Lusk
Regional Sales Manager,
Dümmen Orange

Our recent Luxflora trip to the European FlowerTrials represented a huge commitment for those industry women who stepped out of their daily routine to attend, and for the organizers who arranged the travel and networking events.

The group attending our second annual event was made up of top female talents from all facets of the greenhouse industry. I challenged each woman to learn every other participant’s company, position and a key personal attribute or quality by the end of the trip. It only took one day! This is what I call the Luxflora effect: Women, when given the opportunity to share ideas and sharpen vision, will ultimately hatch the “next big thing” for our industry. Networking and idea sharing spark creativity, and creativity sparks good business.

Overall, every woman who attended felt the trip was of high value and was proud to support the mission of Luxflora. Those who could not attend due to previous commitments have asked about how to be more active in future events, so I’m pleased that interest and commitment is there, and is building.
 

Penny Merritt-Price

[One of my takeaways was] meeting and getting to know women in the industry — there is always something new to learn from peers and women in the industry provide a unique perspective.
 

Beverly Ogburn

Overall, the trip was amazing for me. I’ve only been in this industry for six months, having come from the apparel industry. So any and all experiences are educational for me at this point. But this was more. Since the group was composed of all women in the industry, it was very relaxed and comfortable. All of the ladies were welcoming. Each one was a leader in their company and I was so honored to have met them all. In an industry that is predominantly male, what a blessing it is to have a group of strong, smart women to look to for mentoring, guidance, ideas and friendship. I’m so glad that [the women from] Dümmen Orange organized this trip and this organization, Luxflora. I look forward to the next event!
 

Luxflora update
Since the Week 24 trip, Luxflora members have been busy putting the finishing touches on the new website and sponsoring a presentation at Cultivate’15 about luxury brands. We also had the chance to catch up with founders Rebecca Lusk and Kate Santos at Cultivate’15 to discuss Luxflora. You can watch our video conversation on the Greenhouse Management website at bit.ly/1LybbHb. You can also keep up with the latest Luxflora news at luxflora.org or by following the organization on LinkedIn.