Times Staff | Posted: Monday, October 8, 2007 12:00 am
For the second year in a row, Eufloria Flowers has earned the Best in Show Award at the 2007 Society of American Florists Outstanding Varieties Competition held Sept. 26 through 29 in Palm Springs.
The spray rose variety “Kelly,C a soft apricot orange, won the competition/s highest award.
Last year, the Nipomo-based company won Best in Show for its standard rose “Polar Star,C a large-headed white rose.
Among the 367 entries from the around the world, Kelly was selected the best spray rose and the best flower overall, said a Eufloria spokesman.
In the past five years, Eufloria has been awarded three Best in Show and five Best in Class awards, garnering a total of 141 awards since entering the competition in 1999.
Eufloria Flowers is already known for its high-quality standard roses; however, spray roses are new to Eufloria/s program this year, as they were planted right after Valentine/s Day, the spokesman said.
Eufloria entered 16 varieties of spray roses into the competition and was awarded seven blue ribbons and seven red ribbons. Eufloria claimed all the blue ribbons in the spray rose category.
“We are really honored to win Best in Show two years in a row, but to win Best in Show with Kelly, a spray rose variety that we just started seeing production in July, this is very unexpected; we are truly blessed, said owner Andy Koch.
Eufloria also won Best in Class this year with its standard rose “Sweet Avalanche+C 7 a large-headed soft pink rose.
Eufloria entered nine standard roses into the competition and was awarded with two blue ribbons and five red ribbons.
Eufloria/s blue ribbon winners were:
n Peach Avalanche+, a large soft peach standard rose;
n Sweet Avalanche+, a large soft pink standard rose;
n Jazzabell, a deep orange spray rose;
n Kelly, a vibrant, soft apricot orange spray rose;
n Nathalie, a medium pink spray rose;
n OMG, a dark pink with white reverse spray rose;
n Rubicon, a medium red spray rose;
n Silver Bell, a mauve pink spray rose; and,
n Yellow Babe, an intense yellow spray rose.
October 9, 2007