Unseasonable warm months
In November and December 2015, Canada had unseasonably warm months. "Warm weather is good, but this is often combined with dark days. Temperatures below zero, on the contrary, are often combined with high levels of light, which occurs more often and is better. The combination of the two, warmer temperatures and high light levels, does not occur often, but when it occurs, it's a bonus," says Lindeboom. This was the case in November. "It was a very good month as the days were warm (around 10 degrees Celsius) with a lot of sunshine. December was still unseasonably warm, but a bit darker," says Lindeboom.
Enhanced crop health roses
These warmer months, and November in particular, contributed to a better crop health of the rose compared to last year. This combined with their new biological program, which they re-introduced last year, enhanced the quality of their crop even more. "So, all in all, we do not have any complaints," says Lindeboom. Unfortunately, these weather conditions have not been favorable for all crops. "Snapdragons and iris for example flowered too early," says Lindeboom.
Forecast
Currently, the temperatures are at their usual level again. "When I woke up this morning, it was minus 7 degrees Celsius with a lot of sunshine, which is better than December." Fortunately, the forecast for the coming weeks looks good too. "On average, the temperatures will be around minus 2 to minus 5 degrees Celsius and not much snow is expected. Hopefully this trend will continue without any snowstorms. Then our trucks will not have any problems with delivering our flowers for Valentine's Day," he says.
Lindy's Flowers
Lindy's Flowers started cultivating sweetheart roses in 1985 and added the spray roses in 2009. The roses are being grown in a 1.2 ha sized double poly greenhouse in Dunville, Ontario.
For more information
Lindy's Flowers
Scott Lindeboom
Email: [email protected]
www.lindysflowers.ca
