Nothing like an industry acquisition to break up the lazy hazy days of early summer, right? A slow news cycle got a boost from the news that Costa Farms of Miami, Florida, had acquired another prominent Florida grower—DeLeon’s Bromeliads of Homestead and Mount Dora.

DeLeon’s is one of the largest U.S. growers of not just bromeliads as their name indicates, but also of orchids. They’ve been in the growing game and providing top-quality products to the market since 1980. DeLeon’s can do that because they have four climate-controlled facilities to guarantee a 52-week blooming availability.

By acquiring DeLeon’s and a number of their employees, Costa Farms continues to expand its share of the skyrocketing houseplant category. Said Costa’s CEO José Smith of the acquisition in a press release, “We’re excited to continue to expand our operations to better serve our existing and future customers. DeLeon’s experience and expertise will help us continue to grow even during these challenging times.”

Somehow or other, my biweekly Fresh Insights briefing that I receive from GrowIt! on trends in the world of consumer horticulture has ended up in my spam folder. Egad! And I missed some important houseplant information about some research they did back in May, too, doggonit. And so that is why I am bringing it to you in the latter half of June (sorry about that).

Anyway … GrowIt!, the app-based plant community and horticultural insights collector, asked its member users what they were most likely to purchase when gifting a plant—a houseplant, a flowering houseplant or cut flowers?

Turns out that “houseplant” was the clear winner; 78% of respondents answered houseplant, 40% answered flowering houseplant and 10% answered cut flowers (yes, there were some folks who voted for both types of houseplants, hence a total of more than 100%).   

Said the Fresh Insights briefing, “Many insisted on getting something leafy and heavy in foliage that is easy to care for. Others opted for a flowering houseplant such as an orchid because of the bright beauty it brings indoors.”

What’s selling in your gift line?

So hey, if you want more of GrowIt’s very actionable and very useful insights, you can sign up for their monthly insights report HERE.

Westerlay Orchids partnered with two big associations to give thousands of orchids to COVID-19 frontline workers. And by “thousands,” I mean close to the 100,000 mark! Golly, that’s allotta orchids!

California-based Westerlay partnered with the Fresh Produce & Floral Council (FPFC) and the Produce Marketing Association (PMA)—along with several other local and national organizations, to gift orchids to frontline workers throughout California. It’s part of their Box of Orchids program and the “100,000 Orchid Challenge.” About 6,300 orchids went to the cancer treatment and research center City of Hope, thanks to the help of the FPFC, which is an organization that connects folks along the produce and floral supply chain with resources and opportunities.

By the way, what’s that Box of Orchids program anyway? Well, Westerlay is having a hard time shipping their orchids to grocery outlets due to the pandemic, so they are making their wholesale packs available to ship for free anywhere in California, Arizona, Nevada and Oregon at below wholesale prices. And isn’t it nice that first responders and frontline workers are receiving them? Wanna help them reach 100,000? You can find out more about it at www.boxoforchids.com.

Friend and colleague Marta Maria Garcia wrote in to give me an update on what’s been going on at Nature’s Way Farms recently. You may recall we did a sweet article on Dawn Wilson and company in GrowerTalks back in 2017. How’s it been going since then? Swimmingly!

First, Nature’s Way has officially been certified as a woman-owned business by the National Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC). CEO Dawn Wilson founded the company 40 years ago this year, and gosh, they are both pleased and proud to have gone through the meticulous process, which included an in-depth review of the entire business. The process is designed to confirm the business is at least 51% owned, operated and controlled by a woman or women. Congrats to Nature’s Way for receiving that honor!

Second bit of news from Nature’s Way—Marta said they’ve had a phenomenal spring this year, despite a virus’s attempt to sabotage everything. Their ready-made planters were a real hit—just look at how tropical they are!

Marta feels there’s a current consumer trend for having that tropical look and feel and that played a huge role in having these containers fly out the door. Also flying out the door—and at the right time, too—were tons of houseplants they’ve started as part of a unique houseplant program they’ve developed on recently acquired land. Great timing for that purchase, I’d say. 

As soon as it’s safe to travel again, I’m hoping to put a return visit to Nature’s Way on my itinerary.