Planting
We started growing Protea as a hobby…a hobby that soon started paying for itself. The upside potential was obvious early on. Initially, one of the challenges we faced was closing the gap between the wholesale prices and the retail prices for the magnificent flowers. This issue was addressed by launching www.DiscoverProtea.com. This gave us the ability to sell directly to the public, capitalizing on the higher prices. Also, this opened a new market…establishments like restaurants, hotels and retail outlets that took advantage of the longevity of Protea flowers. Logistically we did not have the flower production to support the demand, so an ‘drop-ship’ arrangement was entered into with Fowler Flower Wholesalers. This arrangement is still in place – going into our sixth year! Our commercial production is sold into the wholesale market and all orders for protea Bouquets are filled by Fowler Flower Wholesalers. A system is in place to electronically send the order details, FedEx shipping labels and personalized greeting cards; from where the bouquets are assembled (according to a pre-determined ‘recipe’) and picked up by FedEx for delivery. The arrangement works great…customer complaints are non existent!
One acre of the approximately available five acres are currently planted with flowers. The phase one planting area was planned as an experimental flower field. We started with Sunset Safari, Long-stemmed Myrtle, Australian Pine and various ornamental eucalyptus…primarily to pay the bills. These are considered ‘cash-crops’ - with established and existing year-round markets. Next came crops like Intergrefolia, LCD Galpinii, Rice Flower, Wax Flower (2 varieties) and LCD Discolor. Once these were established we added more ‘experimental’ crops like flowering Banksia, flowering Protea (Protea blooms and Pincushions) as well as many Protea varieties grown from seed. The purpose was to determine which crops thrive in our micro climate, and which would be economically viable to expand with. The results from phase one (five year’s data) has been completed and the planning for phases two through six can now commence. Protea USA has been identified for the development and implementation of phases two through six.
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Main House
E-commerce
