Protea growers' school held in Rainbow

The California Protea Association and the California Ornamental Research Foundation co-sponsored a protea growers’ school May 24 at the Resendiz Brothers nursery in Rainbow.

Approximately 65 growers and aspirants joined the handful of presenters at the workshop.

“We’re pleased to put it on, and I’m glad those who came came, and it was pretty well-received,” said protea grower Chuck Stone, who organized the workshop on behalf of the California Protea Association, on whose board he serves.

Stone was also a presenter; his topics included marketing and business considerations for planning a protea plantation as well as a history of the flower. Other topics included plantation considerations and field preparations, maintaining the plantation (covering both cultivation and protection subjects), propagation and selling products rather than price. The workshop concluded with a tour of the Resendiz Brothers plantings.

In addition to protea growers, the speakers also included researchers from the University of California Riverside, the University of California Davis and the University of California Cooperative Extension.

Course evaluation forms were provided to those in attendance, and about 20 of them have been returned. “They were all very complimentary,” Stone said.

Although most of the attendees were from nearby communities, some came from as far as the Santa Barbara area. Approximately 500 acres of proteas are grown in California, mostly in San Diego, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties.

Stone believes that future protea growers’ workshops will likely take place at three- to five-year intervals.