Roses are red and violets are blue, so the saying goes. But did you know there are numerous varieties of roses you can pick from?
It is easy to tell the type of rose in your hand just by looking at the colour — red, white, pink, purple et cetera — but there is more to it going by its formation, name, texture, stem length and thickness, scent and head size.
There is a palpable sense of expectation in the air for lovers ahead of Valentine’s Day celebrations across the world on February 14.
Red roses are the most popular flowers that people share to mark this day of romance.
“These are the two most popular flowers for different celebrations, especially Valentine’s, but they both have unique attributes that tell them apart,” she said.
The Ever Red rose flower, she says, has a velvety texture, a deep bright red colour, a bigger head size and a thicker and longer stem that makes it desirable globally. It also has a longer vase life of up to 14 days.
The Madam Rose flower is the most common in your retail or a wholesale store. It has a dull red colour, light petals, zero thorns, and a different range of colours such as pink and reddish pink.
According to Ms Karuga, the majority of the flowers are not scented, but breeders can decide to grow a specialised variety such as Spray roses that are scented and have smaller and tighter heads.
Like most flower producers at this time of the year, it is a hive of activities at the Everest farm. The workers in the pack house move in a coordinated manner after receiving flowers from the farm — from grading, pre-treatment, packing, and cooling, to storage in readiness for dispatch.
They have already dispatched their produce for the export market and it is now all hands on deck to ensure local retailers have enough flowers to sell on Tuesday.
The family-run farm sitting on 22 acres of land shifted from vegetable farming to growing flowers for export in 2014, to now acquiring a slot in the world market for exporting flowers with the biggest head of roses, thanks to favourable climatic conditions in Mt Kenya region.
“That is just one of the many things that the buyers in the export market look for before buying a rose though it depends on the market... they also look at the length of the stem, which ranges between 40cm and 70cm,” said Ms Karuga.
They cultivate around 13 varieties of roses with the guidance of certified breeders who have also accredited them to propagate and export to the European Union market and the Middle East.
According to Ms Karuga, the altitude of 2,100 above sea level in Nanyuki is the best leverage to attain the prerequisite conditions needed by the buyers of Kenyan flowers in the import countries.
Inside the greenhouse, the flowers’ large heads have opened beautifully ready for harvest while some are budding. The different types of roses at the farm require different amounts of sunlight to allow colour formation — this is evident from the colour of the greenhouse’s roof.
“For single-colour flowers you need ultraviolet block which emits what is necessary for colour formation while for bi-colour flowers, the roof is white to allow more sunlight to allow a break in colour,” she said, adding that flowers require different altitudes to grow.
“High attitude is favourable though it is dependent on the type of flower one is growing,” she added.
Ms Karuga notes that buyers are now seeking different varieties of flowers rather than sticking to usual red roses, a dynamic spurred during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns.
For a novice farmer wishing to venture into flower farming, Ms Karuga says there’s a lot to consider, including the type of soil and availability of water.
“Growing flowers is capital and labour-intensive, like keeping off and controlling pests and damage from the wind... furthermore, handling the flower is important because it is a sensitive crop and you have to reduce the number of hands handling the flowers,” she says.
