KB Gardenias Galore

We are on a campaign to give KB gardenias a better home.  

This is a sad picture from our gardenia foreman Artemio Garcia who spends a lot of time growing the finest gardenias. He is standing next to a dumpster of his “babies.”  

 

A BETTER HOME!

This is a the time of year that gardenias flourish, and you can call your KB Salesperson and get a deal on stemmed gards, select gards, sem-gards or work gardenias.  We have increased our gardenia production because we are often asked about “fragrant” flowers, and nothing is more fragrant than gardenias.  

If you believe that gardenias do not last, try our stemmed gardenias. They are cut in the bud stage and shipped with a 8-10 inch stem. You can put them in vases and they will open within 2-3 days and last another 3-4 days.  They are a great value and we can pack many in a box.  Go ahead and tell your sales person you read about stemmed gards from this blog and he or she will give you 10 cents off per stem.  Offer good through April 18^th.

 

~ Robert Kitayama

Pre-Valentine's Day Greenhouse Report

January 8^th, 2014 Sunset Beach, CA 65 degrees…Looking Good!

Another nice January day at KB Farms.  I took a quick walk through the greenhouse to check the Valentine’s production.   According to our grower Jimmy Zheng, everything is on time and looking good.

Oriental Lilies:

The lilies are looking great, strong stems, good bud size with dark green foliage.  

We will have a good supply of every oriental but we added more Starfighters. 

So call your KB sales rep to add or book more fighters.  

Tulips and Iris:

The Valentine tulips are just starting to bud, and the timing might be a few days later than we wish, that means they will be fresher.  We had a great tulip crop last year, and we believe, we will have nicer tulips this year.  We did not produce a lot of iris because the bulbs were difficult to get, so we might be sold out. Please call KB to inquire about our iris and tulips.

Lisianthus, Snaps and Stock:

Lisianthus cannot be cropped for Valentine’s Day, but the weather has been nice, we believe we will have more than last year.  We did increase snaps because the demand at Valentine continues to rise.  We will have some stock but not in huge numbers.

Stemmed Gardenias:

We want to thank J Schwanke for saying that KB stemmed gardenias were his favorite flower.  As you can see in the photo, we have doubled our gardenia production.  Gardenias are very hard to propagate and there are no cutting suppliers, so we have to create our own. 

Artemio Garcia who takes care of the gardenias has done a great job making new plants. Try them yourself.  Also, make sure to visit uBloom.com to order your “Flowers and Fun” book by J.

www.kitayamabrothers.com

The Stemmed Gardenia

Who came up with the stemmed gardenia idea?

Kitayama Brothers would love to claim that we created the stemmed gardenia, but we have to give credit where credit is due, to our customer and friend Michael Miyashiro of Rainforest Florist in Honolulu, HI.  

Four years ago while I was attending a trade show in Honolulu, Michael advised Kitayama Brothers to “burn” all our roses and grow gardenias.  He also said to keep a stem on the gardenias and ship them in a bud stage.  To be honest, at that time I thought he was “just being Michael.”  Michael always asks for the most bizarre and extreme forms of flora.  Half the time I don’t even know what type of flower or green he is talking about.  However, he has a booming business in Honolulu and his work is in high demand because of his fun and exotic look. 

Today, Kitayama Brothers has pulled out every rose plant and I believe we must be the biggest gardenia grower in the USA.  And with the introduction of the stemmed gardenia, our customers can get a new use for an old flower.  The stem allows the gardenia to be used in arrangements.  Also, because of the bud stage, the flowers can be ship in greater quantity and are much better priced than traditional select gardenias (3 in a box).  

Hopefully we are creating a new generation of gardenia lovers.  I will be back in Honolulu this Fall, (it's my duty to visit once a year), and I will visit Michael again, there just might be a new idea..

RHK