We visited a rose farm in the Andes. When cultivated roses grow at 10,000 feet they have a number of unique characteristics that distinguish them from roses grown all over the world. Their stems are especially long and of significantly larger circumference. Their blooms are full and regular. And they have a long “vase life.”
The Trebol Rose Farm has been in the family for four generations. Founded as a dairy farm, rose growing was added to the farm land twenty-two years ago.
Now the farm exports 9 million roses a year to countries all over the world. Celebrations from Chinese New Year to Valentine’s Day in the United States are marked with specific bloom colors.
Different countries prefer different colors. The Chinese value colors not found in nature. Royal blue and bright kaleidoscopic roses are big. In the U.S red is the tradition for Valentine’s Day. In some cultures, yellow roses are considered an insult or a curse.
The Ecuadorians who work on the farm are from many of the same families. Mothers and daughters, fathers and sons work side by side, some on stilts to reach and cut the tallest blooms.
But there have been changes and innovations over the years. The farm is reached by turning off the main road and up several dirt tracks. Rose workers used to walk to work, then they biked, now it is motorcycles.
We visited the farm 2 days before Valentine’s Day. The last shipment went out the week before. After growing, sorting, trimming, packaging and shipping one and a half million roses, preparations began for Mother’s Day in Britain.
Walking through the 10 acres of greenhouses, the owners told us of the challenges of growing in Ecuador. On the plus side is 12 hours of daylight per day, warm daytime and cool nighttime temperatures and abundant pure water. But the land in the mountains is dynamic and hilly. It is hard to find any flat land, so it must be created.
As with most farming there are long days in hot greenhouses. But the result is hectare after hectare of Ecuadorian mountain roses .
MedFlies 