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10A Daily News – Tuesday, February 14, 2012 Bloom comes off the rose industry SACRAMENTO (MCT) — Future genera- tions may never know the beauty of Diana, Princess of Wales; sniff Catalina in the sunshine; or fall for Beloved. For a century, devoted gardeners have appreciated the marvels of delicate and finicky hybrid roses and referred to them by name, like pets or family. The product of generations of breeding, the queen of flow- ers could act like a spoiled princess because its delicate blooms offered a special reward. In recent years, though, time-strapped homeowners have traded their big teas for compact shrub roses — util- itarian soldiers in the land- scape that could cover ground without fuss. Our desire for the care- free — no-iron shirts, no- wax floors, and now low- maintenance yards — has brought the rose industry to a crossroads. "At some point, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. (Landscape) roses will be all you have; the beautiful, unique hybrid teas will be gone," said Charlie Anderson, president of Weeks Roses, the only major company still creat- ing new varieties of full-size roses. The flagging economy has compounded the rose industry's troubles. Two years ago, rose giant Jackson & Perkins, which had annually shipped 10 million bushes nation- wide, filed for bankruptcy protection. Many of the hybrid roses the company created — such as Diana, Catalina and Beloved — may soon disappear from the mass market as the sup- ply of those bushes dries up. "Roses are viewed as an extravagance and they're still trying to shed that stig- ma," said Seth Taylor of Capital Nursery. "People have a very spe- cific thing in mind when they think of a rose — it's full and lush and romantic. That's your traditional rose, what people love," Taylor said. "The single-petaled shrub roses are gaining a foothold with the public, but when my customers look at those flowers, they say 'That's not a rose.' " While gardeners may have visions of old-fash- ioned roses plucked from cottage gardens, their inter- est in growing them has waned, said Jolene Adams, incoming national president of the American Rose Soci- ety. "Many homeowners have had some experience — usually in their mother's or grandmother's gardens — so they'll try growing roses," she said. "But with- out sufficient knowledge (on how to care for them), the roses languish and do not grow to their full, beau- tiful potential. And they're not replaced if they die." Most of the nation's rose bushes originate in Califor- nia's Central Valley. But unlike wheat or tomatoes, it takes several years to pro- duce a single crop of rose bushes. Hybridizers typically will test 400,000 seedlings "The financial ills of the rose growers will cause a slowdown in the number of new varieties of roses that are available for sale," he said. "Since growers make plans years in advance, it may take a year or two to see the full impact." The annual wholesale value of California's rose crop dropped 55 percent from a high of $61.05 mil- lion in 2003 to $27.20 mil- lion in 2010, according to nursery industry expert Hoy Carman, a retired Universi- ty of California-Davis pro- fessor. "The whole nursery industry is down," Carman said. "In 2008, sales just plummeted." to find one or two new vari- eties. Once selected, a new hybrid will be developed for seven to 10 years before it's $5 off Signature Service® Oil Change 190 S. Main St., Red Bluff 530-527-8264 Jiffy Lube, the Jiffy Lube design mark and Jiffy Lube Signature Service are registered trademarks of Jiffy Lube International, Inc. ©2011 Jiffy Lube International, Inc. Christina M. 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Milk, Dark, White Are you paying too much for life insurance? 5 3 0 - 2 3 3 - 0 3 3 4 released into the market. When ready for sale, field- grown bushes are 2 years old. Winter is prime rose- planting time. Valentine's Day also spurs sales. But this month, local gardeners are finding limited selec- tions at nurseries and home centers. "I observed dramatically fewer roses in the nurseries this year," said T.J. David, co-founder of the World Peace Rose Garden in Sacramento's Capitol Park. Said Adams of the Rose Society: "Roses are not the first thing homeowners think of when they want to plant a garden. Competition with other choice plants is fierce. ... The industry is going to have to change — and supply roses that the customers can use in the landscape." Most major rose growers have gone bankrupt or con- solidated with other whole- sale nurseries. Weeks Roses, in Wasco near Bakersfield survived its bankruptcy and is now owned by Indiana-based Gardens Alive. On 1,000 leased acres, Weeks will har- vest about 3 million bushes this year. During grafting and harvest season, it employs almost 400 people. RED