In the Field...

GREENHOUSE DINNER

“In the Field” dinners are all the rage in California. Small farmers host well known chefs for events in their fields. What we haven’t heard about is “In the Greenhouse” dinners, so we held one a few weeks ago at Kitayama Brothers Watsonville. This was in conjunction with the annual Monterey Bay Greenhouse Growers Open Houses. Kathleen Williford of CCFC put together a guest list of local flower growers, food and wine writers and bloggers, other local media and industry people for a fun dinner in the greenhouse.

 

Dinner was catered by Local Harvest Catering which features all local food. The wine was supplied by Pajarosa and to put it mildly, it was very, very fun. Set among our gerbera daisies, we were able to let our hair down, eat, drink and enjoy each other’s company. Kasey Cronquist of CCFC and Debra Prinzing spoke about supporting local flowers along with local food and wine. We also wanted to press the point that flowers belong on the table along with food and wine.

KB will have more greenhouse dinners for business and pleasure because it is fun and unique. They also help us remember how lucky we are to be flower growers next to Sunset Beach on the Monterey Bay of Northern California. Let us know if you would be interested in attending.

KB at Santa Cruz County Fair

KB grown flowers at Santa Cruz County Fair

At Kitayama Brothers we try to maintain a strong profile in our local community. This week we donated flowers through the R.O.P program in one of our local High Schools to be used in demonstrations of the work they do with budding designers at the Santa Cruz County Fair. We also had our own beautiful exhibit at the fair (thank you Carol K.)

~ Tony Scalisi

KB grown flowers at Santa Cruz County Fair

KB Fall Novelties in Season!

mini pumpkin trees, yellow yarrow, billy balls (craspedia) and flame mini callas

Forget your pumpkin lattes and your eggnog shakes. We are looking at real Fall seasonal products here at Kitayama Brothers. We have Japanese lanterns, mini pumpkin trees, yellow yarrow, billy balls (craspedia) flame mini callas, and 3 different types of cut peppers. The novelties are just starting to roll in. I love this time of year.

~ Tony Scalisi

Japanese lanterns

3 different types of cut peppers

KB showing at SAF Convention

Jimmy Zheng and Dave Kitayama

Jimmy Zheng and Dave Kitayama preparing some of the OUTSTANDING VARIETIES Dave will be showing at this years SAF Convention in Florida. We will be well represented with lilies, mini callas, gerberas, and lisianthus. Which will be the BLUE RIBBON winner this year?

KB's Lisianthus & Mini Callas

Meet Rich Dallimonti & Bella

Rich Dallimonti & Bella

Are these the dog days of summer or is the market just going to the dogs? Actually, meet Rich Dallimonti and his faithful companion Bella. Rich is nearing 30 years of sales at Kitayama Brothers. I don’t know if anyone really knows the total $$ amount or the stem count Rich has sold since the early 1980’s but his numbers would match anyone else’s in the US floral industry. We are lucky to have Rich and Bella on our team. Thank you Rich for 30 years of dedication.

~ Tony Scalisi

Greg Lum & KB in Signature Weddings

Greg Lum, the Kitayama Cup winner (open division) 2 years in a row - 2011 & 2012 published in Signature Weddings Asia Magazine - The FASHION Issue 07/12 (starts on page 242)! Way to go Greg and thank you very much for using California grown KB products including our gorgeous Callas!

Greg supplied us with some details of this lovely event: "The concept for the wedding was to create an Asian inspired wedding using both Asian and European design styles. Many of the flowers used were grown in California. Such products as the deep purple calla lilies and purple lisanthus grown by Kitayama Brothers in Watsonville. Phalaenopsis orchids, Dahlias and Aeonium succulents were among the many other flowers grown in California."

Greg Lum's designs featured in Signature Weddings

He continued with more details about the designs he created for the event: "The bridal bouquet was a symmetric, decorative design with the stems arranged in a parallel fashion adorned by a jeweled pin, that was chosen by the bride herself. The ceremony flowers consisted of long, arching sprays of white Phalaenospsis orchids arranged inside of a construction armature of white mistusmata branches atop a tall clear glass vase."

"The cocktail table centerpieces were designed in different sized black square ceramic containers with maroon Dahilias, magenta Phalaenopsis orchids and small spheres covered in dried purple seeds."

"The centerpieces for the dinner were 5ft tall and consisted of fresh manzanita branches (The orange man - Gerry Gregg) decorated with spheres of purple lisanthus blooms; purple calla lilies (Kitayama Brothers). Sprays of dozens of magenta Dendrobium orchids also decorated the branches at varying heights."

Congratulations to the bride & groom, and Greg, for creating this beautiful wedding.

Produce News features Robert K & Open House

Robert Kitayama. Photo
The Produce News

The 7/2/12  issue of the on-line magazine The Produce News featured a guest column by Robert Kitayama (California flower growing Industry: seeing the glass as half-full), an article about the Kitayama Brothers open house and a mention in an article about California Growers on pages 76, 77 & 78. http://www.theproducenews.com/digital_editions/pn070212issue3/index.html

This magazine uses the 3DIssue platform, and might not work on iPhone and iPad.