New initiatives to support the flower industry are cooked up every day. All around the world, people are stimulated to buy flowers for family, employees, and people who are not allowed to be visited due to the COVID-19 situation. To brighten up the end of your week, here's yet another list of some wonderful initiatives to support the flower industry.
Australia
NGIV is launching a marketing campaign that unites growers, nurseries, retailers and gardeners, to educate an audience that is new to gardening. There is a lot of buzz around gardening right now and they want to help satisfy the thirst for knowledge from those who are getting familiar with seeds, spades and soil for the first time. Every day they'll share a short video from a grower, nursery, retailer or gardener, offering up their top gardening tip. "The thing you wished someone had told you when you were getting started. And that's where you come in. We want you to record a short video for us. The commentary may go something like - "This is Matt from Green Growers Nursery and we're excited to take part in NGIV's Rediscover Your Garden campaign. Today I'm going to share with you how to ......................................... Thanks for tuning in and be sure to upload your gardening exploits and #rediscoveryourgarden".
The Netherlands
Chrysal is proud to support the Dutch initiative 'Floriculture together against loneliness for elderly’ by contributing flower food for all the 150,000 bouquets that will be given away to lonely elderly next Friday. This initiative is part of the #LetHopeBloom campaign by Bloemenbureau Holland.
United Kingdom
In Sussex, nurseries are switching to home delivery as people are spending more time in the garden during the coronavirus lockdown. FarGro has also started a Sussex Grown Facebook page to let people know which nurseries and garden centres are offering deliveries of plants, Sussex express reports. Melanie Wood, of Poling-based FarGro, said: “We have lots of customers in Sussex and we found they did not have a route to market for their plants. The peak time for garden centres in spring is Mother’s Day and Easter weekend when the footfall is usually really high. We decided to set up the Facebook page and try and engage with other community pages to share the information of those growers who are getting plants to people in the local area. We know people love plants and people are spending more time in the garden. And it’s good for people, for their mental health, just to get outside.”
To help connect growers with the public, London-based HTA has launched the ‘Plants Near Me’ webpage – plantsnearme.hta.org.uk , allowing the public to find local growers and garden centres that are offering home delivery. To make this initiative a success, the HTA is urging members and non-members to add their details to the database, so that the resource can become a comprehensive online directory for the public to use. Since its soft launch at the end of last week 137 horticultural businesses have signed up so far but more are needed to allow for coverage across the whole country.
Canada
In Canada, there's a response to the Dutch #flowerboostchallenge, there they call it #floralsupport. On the website, they sell buckets of flowers for people to arrange at home.
Spain
In Spain, a communication campaign was launched with the #AhoraFloresyPlantas. With this hashtag, citizens are encouraged to spend a part of their time caring for their plants and reporting on the benefits that it brings them.
Russia
In Russia, thousands of roses went to doctors. In the suburbs the action "Roses to doctors" is being held. The action was announced at the initiative of the management of the Stupinsky greenhouse plant, which proposed during the period of the coronavirus epidemic to thank the doctors for their dedicated work with roses from their own greenhouses.
For 3 days, more than 15,000 roses were awarded to doctors and nurses in thirteen cities of the Moscow region: Domodedovo, Stupino, Voskresensk, Balashikha, Star City, Odintsovo, Ozyory, Istra, Pushkino, Protvino, Roshal, Shatura, Sergiev-Posad .
Rose cultivation under the trademark "Mosroza" in the Stupino greenhouse complex has been going on since 2007. Roses here are grown according to modern technologies in greenhouses built by the Dutch company "Revaho", which is a leader in the field of global greenhouse production.
The total production area of the complex is 13 hectares. The plant constantly monitors world trends in floriculture and regularly updates the assortment of roses grown. (Source: www.flowers-expo.ru)
Today, when the flower industry in Russia, as well as the whole world, is going through difficult times (the rose does not know there is an epidemic in the world), “Mosrosa” specialists are optimistic and thank the doctors who fight for our health. The action continues. (Source: www.flowers-expo.ru)
Colombia
Also in Colombia, the nurses and doctors working in the hospitals were thanked with flowers. On World Health Day, Asocolflores delivered more than 120,000 flowers to hospitals and clinics in gratitude to health professionals for how they have been facing the Covid-19 situation. They delivered more than 120,000 flowers and each batch delivered included a note from the First Lady, María Juliana Ruiz, in which she praised the role of those who are giving their best each day to save lives. “To those Colombians with a vocation to help, who are generously giving us confidence and security every day, even when some have left hope behind, Colombia is saying thank you with these flowers. Thank you for watching over our physical and mental health.”
Hydrangea grower Flores del Este, was one of the growers supplying and handing out the flowers. In this video below, a recap of the day and a tribute to the heroes of the world.
United States
Also in the United States, numerous initiatives are being undertaken by growers to increase the awareness of flowers and plants. Nature's Way Farms, a women-owned farm in Homestead in South Florida, for example, encourages connecting feelings of well-being with cultivating tropical plants. Nature’s Way debuts their new plant collection to cultivate wellness. The collection includes outdoor garden bromelias, blooming tropical plants, and shrubs that can turn landscapes into tropical retreats. “Whether it’s practicing yoga, writing a journal, taking a run, gardening, or taking an art class, everyone should have their release – something you can turn to when you feel stressed or need to clear your mind,” says Marta Maria Garcia, Marketing Director for Nature’s Way Farms. “We hope those who choose gardening will find that our plants help them unwind, create, enjoy the sun and fresh air.”
Another grower Voorhees Greenhouses in Hightstown, New Jersey, is offering free drive-thru tours of its farm and has started a "Save the Tulips" initiative to donate to Robbinsville Meals on Wheels, click here to read the article on nj.com.
Also associations like PMA are working hard to support the flower industry. Recently, they introduced the marketing campaign #JoyOfFresh and the floral marketing toolkit will be ready for download on pma.com by end of this week. The toolkit includes social media assets members can use as they capture and share stories of joy related to giving and receiving flowers, and simply making flowers part of peoples’ everyday lives. The toolkit will also include templates members can use for public relations pitches.
SBI Software has launched nocontactplantpickup.com, to help protect consumers, staff, and jobs. The company supports some of the largest growers and retailers in the country with their suite of applications.
At Mayesh, they want to share their story, educate the public and highlight the potentially devastating impacts of COVID-19 on the longevity of the flower industry. In a letter they published on April, 9, they ask everyone help to share their story. "So why are we writing this? We hope this gives you a glimpse into our "nonessential" industry - an industry built on the shoulders of family businesses that have operated for multiple generations and created a thriving, dynamic piece of the global economy. At Mayesh, we employ over four hundred amazing people, many of whom offered to work for free when we laid them off if it would help Mayesh stay afloat. These are the same types of people you're trying to support by picking up takeout from your favorite neighborhood restaurant."
South Korea
The Embassy of the Netherlands in Korea has kicked off a series of HOPE flower campaign. It is to cheer up all those who are suffering from the COVID-19 crisis including care providers in medical service, farmers/traders in floriculture industry and all other ordinary citizens. As the first round of the campaign, 1,000 flower bouquets made with 7,000 tulips were offered to a thousand care providers in the Seoul Medical Center fighting against the COVID-19.
1,000 tulip bouquets to the care providers in medical care service
On April 8th, Ambassador Joanne Doornewaard visited the Seoul Medical Center, one of the municipal hospitals focusing on the COVID-19 treatment. The Ambassador attended a short briefing provided by the Director General of the hospital regarding the current status of the COVID-19 care. Following the briefing, she could personally distribute part of the 1,000 tulip bouquets to the hospital staffs including doctors and nurses who were getting off work during the early shift. Heartfelt appreciation was successfully delivered by a bunch of tulips which made them smile for a moment.
98% of imported tulip bulbs are from the Netherlands as of 2019. By purchasing 7,000 tulips locally, the growers and traders in the floriculture industry who are also suffering from the crisis both in the Netherlands and Korea could be supported. Click here for more information on the campaign.