A History of Minnesota Floriculture

In 1995, Target, an upscale discount department store division of the Dayton-Hudson Corporation headquartered in Minneapolis, decided to enter a floral float for the first time in California's world-renowned, New Year's Day Tournament of Roses Parade. It was a 26-foot-high, 55-foot-long, five-ton replica of a 1935 Dusenberg Speedster with a family of seven bears on board and headed for the Rose Bowl football game.

The parade float exterior shell was an assembly of 250,000 flowers, arranged in various combinations with cinnamon, paprika, seaweed, palm fiber and onion seeds. Flowers included carnations, Cattleya and Dendrobium orchids, chrysanthemums, gerberas and roses. Minnesota florists Dale and Ruth Bachman, Ned and Lorna Butterfield and Jim, Karyn and Irene Goldstein of Monday Blooms were hired to work with 500 Target employee volunteers to prepare and apply the flowers and plant materials to the float. The Target float won the national trophy as best float of the 54 entries in the parade.

Grower Expansion

Bachman's large retail centers offer full floral services, potted flowering and green plants, bedding plants, bulbs, seeds, horticultural supplies and tools, patio furniture and gift items. These retail operations include greenhouses and outdoor sales areas. (Photo by author)

Lynde Greenhouse and Nursery of Maple Grove added 12,000 square feet of greenhouses in 1994. In 1995 the company also installed a 1,500 foot, in-place, variable-speed conveyor belt plant mover with computerized controls for 24 destinations.

Expansion of Gerten's Greenhouses in Inver Grove Heights accelerated when Robert's sons, Lewis and Glen, joined the firm in 1980. By 1995, with the construction of an up-to-date one-acre addition, there were five acres under cover. Features of the facility include a heated concrete floor, collapsible side ventilation, horizontal air flow and overhead movable cable belts for hanging baskets which permit loading, unloading and watering in one location. The firm's expansion plans also include tripling the size of their retail store. The current operators are Lewis, Glen and Robert's son-in-law Gino Pitera. Sales are primarily retail and include nursery products.

Linder's erected a detached range of 10,000 square feet in St. Paul for forcing its 12,000 potted plant rose crop for spring and summer sales. Ninety percent are sold at retail. This new range will also be used to grow specialty crops. A 10,000 square foot, cold crop area was added to the 200,000 square foot range at Lake Elmo. In addition, a soil preparation area capable of producing 35 cubic yards of mix per hour was completed for use at the Lake Elmo range.

Bachman's constructed a 100,000 square foot addition to its range in Farmington in 1995.

Len Busch Roses constructed a 60,000 square foot range of Lauer aluminum greenhouses covered with double-layer Exolite (acrylic) rigid plastic. It also added a 30,000 square foot headhouse building, large enough to service additional greenhouses which could be added in the future. The new greenhouses included an ebb-and-flow tray bench system, a tray stacker, a robotic plant spacer, and some overhead irrigation booms. This range is devoted to pot plant production with Pat Etzel in charge. The unit cost was about $30 per square foot of production area. Dave Hertog has continued in charge of pot plant production in the original range.

Dan and Jerry Greenhouses built additional plastic film greenhouses in Monticello in 1995. It now has 15 acres devoted to bedding plants.

Firms using automatic planting machines for bedding plants in 1995 included Bailey's, Bergen's, Donahue's and Lynde's.

Debbie Schwarze left the University in 1995, to accept a position with Koehler and Dramm in Minneapolis. Her position at the University was upgraded to include more responsibilities for independent experimentation and extension activities. Brian Kovanda was hired to fill the newly defined position of Assistant Floriculture Extension Specialist and Assistant Scientist. It continues to be partly funded by the Minnesota Commercial Flower Growers Association.

Florist Industry Meetings and Regulations

The annual North Central Florists' Association Convention and Trade Show is held annually in late winter. In recent years, it has been held at the Minneapolis Convention Center. It continues to be a strong industry activity with 900 reported attendees in 1995. The program included a one-day greenhouse bus tour for growers, another bus tour for retailers, and a large two-day trade show. The second day offered business seminars, a floral design symposium and a floral design competition.

Every autumn, a three-day short course is presented by the Minnesota Commercial Flower Growers Association. Attendance has averaged more than 200 in recent years. The short course program includes a greenhouse bus tour, plus discussions on sales and production techniques spread over two days, featuring talks by University of Minnesota staff and industry specialists from Minnesota and elsewhere. A half-day session on pesticide recertification usually concludes the short course. Past presidents of Minnesota Commercial Flower Growers are listed in Appendix D.

Effective January 1995, Minnesota's Worker Protection Standards (WPS) for protecting agricultural workers from the dangers of improper use of pesticides were revised. Inspectors now announce in advance when they will inspect individual greenhouse operations, and owners and operators are informed of any violations found and provided an opportunity to correct the problems. Follow up visits are made to determine whether the required corrections were made, and penalties can then be assessed if they are not completed.

Florist Industry Segments

There are currently eight major wholesale cut-flower houses in the Twin Cities area. Three are owned by local growers: Hermes Floral of Falcon Heights; J.R. Johnson Supply, Inc., of Roseville and Len Busch Roses of Plymouth. The others are Koehler and Dramm and Twin City Florist Supply, Inc., both of Minneapolis; Metro Florist Supply, Inc., of Roseville; Van's Floral Products of Edina and Traders' Edge of Bloomington. Many of them now sell pot plants as well as supplies for retail florists.

Minnesota firms selling supplies, but not cut-flowers, include Lakeland Florist Supply, Inc., of Edina and Dudek Florist Supply of Minneapolis. Greenhouses and greenhouse equipment are available from Albert J. Lauer, Inc., of Rosemount, J.R. Johnson Supply, Inc., of Roseville and Minnesota Distributing and Manufacturing, Inc., of Minneapolis. The J.R. Johnson firm also sells a complete line of grower supplies.

Sales representatives for numerous out-of-state firms that sell seeds, bulbs, young plants and supplies also service commercial clients in Minnesota and visit the state's florists regularly.

The Minnesota Commercial Flower Growers organization has 120 members who represent a major portion of the floricultural crop production industry in Minnesota. There are also members from neighboring states, plus associate members from other parts of the United States and from other countries. They join primarily to obtain the Minnesota Commercial Flower Growers Association Bulletin.

Estimated Industry Value

An estimated retail sales value for Minnesota floriculture is presented in Table 15. The USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service Floriculture Crops 1993 Summary provided the basic figures for Minnesota produced crop values. Estimates of percent of crop products sold that were shipped into Minnesota, and the average retail mark-up factor of 2.0 were based on the author's discussions with industry representatives. Lack of government figures on the value of Minnesota's retail florist industry necessitated development of the estimated value.

Despite Minnesota's floriculture profession being comprised primarily of relatively small businesses, the industry's total thrust on the state's economy was calculated in excess of $200 million in 1993. Because of continued greenhouse expansion and floral imports, the figure for 1995 could easily exceed $250 million. This figure includes sales through the assortment of retail outlets listed in Table 14. Wholesale sales to retailers in neighboring states might lower the Minnesota retail value by an estimated 5 to 10 percent.

Outlook and Analysis

A multiple-acre span of Dutch-style greenhouses covered with two layers of long-life polyethylene film. The crop is recently germinated plants in plugs which are grown for sale to commercial growers who replant and grow them until ready for consumers. Houses are equipped with automated shade cloth and rectangular high-intensity lamps for supplemental light when needed. This is a portion of Wagner's Greenhouses in Minneapolis in 1995. Many of the commercial polyethylene film greenhouses are of lower cost construction than seen in this picture. (Photo by author)

Based on U.S. Census Bureau figures, the current Minnesota greenhouse production area for floricultural crops exceeds 9 million square feet.

A strong effort by Minnesota flower growers was always required to overcome the weather-related obstacles presented by our harsh winter climate, and varying economic climates and other vagaries of life. In time, they faced the competition of florists in other states nearby, the southern states of the United States, and now, producers throughout the world.

As with much of agriculture, flower and plant producers work with live, non-forgiving crops which have a limited shelf life. The floral industry has responded intelligently to the challenges with hard work, initiative, ingenuity, through times of adversity, with courage and pride. Their efforts in Minnesota have had the cooperation of the University of Minnesota. In floriculture, a high percentage of wives have always worked beside their husbands to develop the family business and meet the challenges. It was a progressive attitude that substantially predates the modern trend of women working at paying jobs outside the home.

The University of Minnesota's mutually beneficial working relationship with the industry started early in the twentieth century. The role of the University, to facilitate the development, survival and advancement of floricultural product production, has on the whole been successfully executed. The University's end of the partnership has been characterized by several approaches:

• Development and application of technical advances to hasten and improve production;
• Ascertaining causes of and remedies for difficulties encountered by professional growers;
• Educating the non-industry public about appropriate and beneficial uses of floricultural products;
• Familiarizing professional producers with research findings; and
• Educating undergraduate and graduate students to provide persons equipped to further the development of floriculture.

Over the years, the University of Minnesota has also played a significant role in aiding florists in neighboring states and beyond. It has aided growers throughout the country in efficiently producing high quality specialty crops such as Alstromeria, Easter lilies, Poinsettias, Bedding Plants, Roses and Cyclamen. In return, Minnesota's growers have benefitted from developments at agricultural experiment stations in other states. With major competitive changes occurring in recent years within the industry, domestically and internationally, greater efficiencies continue to be a priority requirement. This suggests a probable need for the University of Minnesota and Minnesota florists to continue their partnership as the floriculture leaders in the upper midwest region of the United States.

A few of the larger firms in the floriculture field are developing their own research programs. These are expected to become stronger, and the trend more commonplace in the field. Fruits of the efforts of ingenious, innovative growers have always been evident. The fact that Minnesota commercial floriculture is basically an industry of small businesses highlights the essential need for a continuing, strong, supportive role by the University of Minnesota.

Use of bedding plants in Minnesota gardens and the indoor use of flowers and plants, despite significant increases, are just scratching the surface. One need only visit numerous European countries including the Netherlands, to see visual proof of the potential.

Weather remains an important factor in Minnesota production, although its effect may be modified in a few instances by the utilization of new cultural techniques. Sales of floral products may be modified significantly by adverse weather conditions, and to a greater extent than sales of inanimate objects. Stormy weather immediately preceding holidays such as St. Valentines Day and Easter has the substantial potential to affect sales negatively. Easter liles, for example, are not purchased the day after Easter; and a series of cold, rainy spring weekends will likely significantly curtail bedding plant sales to home gardeners.

Production must be made increasingly productive and efficient, as price, quality, and value are key factors in retail sales. Automation and computerization are currently playing key roles, but the world is constantly changing and new innovations are always being sought. Still, if the past is indicative, Minnesota floriculture should have a good future, provided a continuously dedicated, cooperative effort is faithfully applied.

Currently, Minnesota growers are expanding to fill the public's demand for high quality floral products efficiently produced locally. This appreciation of the local product should help limit imports of bedding plants and potted flowering plants from other states. Unfortunately, university administrators throughout the United States have significantly curtailed important one-on-one contacts between university personnel and greenhouse operators. The University of Minnesota must, however, strive to continue to operate as efficiently and effectively as possible despite continuing budgetary retrenchments, while industry must continue to cooperate as it has in the past. Recent changes leave a big void which will sometimes need to be filled by commercial producers, with hired consultants where available and when economically feasible.

Finally, it must also be noted that floriculture, through its products, artistry and gardening activities, provides mental and physical therapeutic benefits beyond those that can be measured in dollars. Florists can be proud of their industry and its efforts to improve the quality of life. Minnesota floriculture has been a bright spot recognized on the national and international floricultural scene. A continued, unified effort will maintain a vibrant industry. Past success has not been an accident, and future success will likely be a similar product of hard work, intelligent planning, ingenuity, investment and cooperation.

Produced by Communication and Educational Technology Services, University of Minnesota Extension.

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