Forever Young, Yellow Magic, Cherry Love

Ecuador is a large exporter of flowers and most notably, roses.  We had the opportunity to visit one of the growers and were given a guided tour.  "Altaflor" is a member of the National Association of Flower Growers and/or Exporters of Ecuador.  Their farm is located just outside of the town of Paute, which is about 20 miles northeast of Cuenca.  There are about 650 growers throughout Ecuador, employing thousands of people.  Roses make up the bulk of the flower exports at 62%.  The largest importer of Ecuadorian roses is the U.S., with Russia being a close second.  We learned that Russia wants roses with extra-long stems so the tallest roses are exported to Russia.  Sixty-five percent of the roses produced at this particular farm are exported to Russia.  So much for the facts, now for the fun stuff -- pictures:

These roses are ready to be packed and shipped. 

But before they were cut -----

--- they were here

"Forever Young"

These roses were just cut.  We learned that this farm cuts 28,000 stems a day, everyday (7days a week)!

"Yellow Magic"

"Cherry Love"

"Movie Star"

"Mohana"

"Esperance"

This farm employs 200 people, 60% of which are women.

After the roses are cut, they are placed in these wet containers so they don't dry out.

You can see how tall the roses are

"High and Magic"

"Priceless"

Ready to be sorted and packed

In the cold storage room

Potpourri anyone?

We were each given roses on our exit from the farm

Here they are on our dining room table.  Beautiful!!

After our visit to Altaflor, we then went to have lunch at Hosteria Uzhupud.  See my next post for the pictures of this beautiful hotel.