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Last call for Easter lilies

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The final push is on for some growers in the greenhouse industry.  Michigan Floriculture Growers Council President Bill Tuinier of Post Gardens in Rockford, Michigan says they’ll soon be transitioning to their spring products.

“This is the final push just before the Easter holiday and a majority of our stuff basically sells Thursday, Friday and Saturday before Easter.”

Michigan is the nation’s largest producer of potted Easter lilies. Tuinier says Easter lilies start out on the west coast, but are grown in northern states because their temperatures can be better regulated while growing.

Tuinier tells Brownfield, the actual lily grows in a field in Oregon, California or out on the west coast. He says they’re shipped to greenhouses about the middle to the end of October.  Greenhouses then pot the lilies and put them in coolers.

“An Easter lily has to actually have a thousand hours of cooling,” says Tuinier. Once cooled for about six weeks, the flowers are warmed back up to bloom just in time for Easter. He explains, “The reason you have to put it through a cold period is that the Easter lily has to vernalize.”  According to Tuinier, “without the vernalization, it won’t have flower buds.”

Consumers should expect to enjoy the lilies for about seven to 14 days once the buds open.

AUDIO: Interview with Bill Tuinier (5:18 mp3):

 

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