Posts Tagged columbian
Posted on May 29, 2009 with No Comments
The welcome sign for Washington state is made up almost entirely of flowers. This weekend volunteers and workers from the Washington State Department of Transportation put in some extra time to spruce things up a little.
Volunteers put this sign together about two years ago, until recently when an unknown person decided to chop it apart. About two hours of planting petunias and geraniums was needed to patch things up.
Roadside maintenance supervisor Bill VanAntwerp said, “It’s a great example of how volunteers can help in the community. This is the entrance to the state everyone’s coming up I-5.”
The sign and a shrub-lined flower bed shaped like Washington, were created by an employee at the maintenance office. Each year a new and inventive design was thought up, but with a lack of funding the flowers were neglected.
Extreme weather and a tighter budget saw money being focused on snow plowing and routine maintenance. VanAntwerp added, “We just can’t justify spending a boatload of money here when there’s potholes on the main line and safety features to fix.”
This is where volunteer work comes in handy and is of great value in keeping the flowers blooming.
[Via: columbian.com]
Posted on December 2, 2008 with No Comments
New Yorkers will not have to go far to stop and smell the roses as their streets will soon be full of them.
As a part of the Columbia, Land of Flowers campaign, roses and carnation grown in Columbia are being handed out on the streets of New York. The Association of Columbian Flower Exporters and the Columbian Consulate have combined their efforts to celebrate the flower industry of South America.
Roses and carnations will be distributed at Wall Street, Pennsylvania Station, Grand Central Terminal and Times Square next week, according to organizers.
The social landscape of Columbia has changed greatly with the help of the flourishing Columbian flower industry says the president of the exporters. Columbia is a large supplier of fresh flower to the United States exporting nearly $1 billion dollars worth of flowers this past year.
[Via: silive.com]
Posted on September 11, 2008 with No Comments
Many people would say that with fall just around the corner, they do not have much work left to do in the garden. They are mistaken — there are still quite a few things left to do in the garden. This is the time of year when flowers like roses, flowering perennials and annual planting beds need a final layer of fertilizer. They will get an extra boost of colour and produce more flowers into the fall season. It is best to use an organic product as it will release the most essential elements into your soil.
This is also the time to get some of the last of your deadheading done in your garden, this will ensure that the blooming period of your fall flowers will be extended. Deadheading will give your plants a reason to produce more blooms. Pincushion flowers and geraniums will bloom once again if they are deadheaded.
Flowers see a lot of damage and disease throughout the summer, so as you are deadheading look out for dry or diseased foliage. By tidying up your flower borders you will make an improvement to your flower beds. Cutting back the leaves of hostas, heucheras, and durable perennials will help them in sprouting new and fresh leaves. With this work done you can finally sit back and enjoy your garden.
[Via: columbian.com]
Posted on April 26, 2008 with No Comments
There was strange weather and even stranger music to start off the Woodland Tulip Festival in Washington, making for a lively start of the annual event.
The show is held every year at Holland America Bulb Farms and there are many kinds of tulips featured — all the colors of the rainbow are present.
This year the festival began with a blast of cool windy weather. Russell Prewitt, a bagpiper, provided the music for the visitors of the farm. There was really no explanation for the Scottish bagpipes introducing the Tulips from Holland. Prewitt simply said, “It’s a haunting sound. Whether you are playing in the forest or in the tulips it just fits.”
Admissions are free for the festival, and it was only supposed to last for a week but has been extended.
Though only the tougher tulip lovers came out as the weather has been fairly nasty for the time of the festival with a couple of hailstorms to make things worse.
The tulips have been protected from the hail with the help of an anti-hail machine, allowing the sightseers the best of the tulips.
Many children and adults attended the festival, buying fresh cut, and potted flowers. In addition to the flowers there was food and drink to keep the crowds entertained.
[Via: The Columbian]
Posted on April 23, 2008 with No Comments
Over a million mothers will be getting bouquets of flowers this coming mother’s day, which may seem like a big waste of flowers.
This Mother’s Day the gift of flowers will have even more meaning. There is a company called Florverde in Columbia, which is helping the mothers working for them. The florticulture industry in Columbia is an ever expanding business bringing in a lot of money. Women employed in this field can become certified for a program. Asocolflores, which gives these working mothers aid for their families. They get funding for education, health-care, housing, childcare, and they are included in many other programs.
The certified flowers of Florverde, will be send to the United States by the millions, 2 million stems to be exact. Those who buy flowers for their mothers next month can feel that they have a part in this as Columbia is the greatest supplier of flowers to the United States.
Augusto Solano, President of the Columbian Association of Flower Exporters (Asocolflores) says, “Families can take comfort in knowing when they celebrate mother’s day, or any other day, with the purchase of flowers, they are also helping to enhance the lives of thousands of Columbian women and mothers working in our country’s floriculture industry.” Solano goes on to say, “Through the growing Florverde initiative, more Columbian women and families will have the opportunity to benefit from social, environmental, labor, and occupational health and safety standards we have established.”
If you want to give your mother a truly meaningful and beautiful gift perhaps this year flowers will be the right choice.
