Today we would like to recommend Sandersonia aurantiaca grown by Chiba grower’s cooperative of JA Maruasa Engei.

Sandersonia aurantiaca belongs to the genus of Sandersonia, in Colchicaceae, which is one of Liliales families, and is the only species in this genus (which is not really common). This flower was first discovered in South Africa back in 1850 and has arrived in Japan for the first time in 1970. The origin of the name “Sandersonia” is said to be in several ways but possibly it derives from the discoverer’s name, “Jon Sanderson.” One of the characteristics of this flower, is that the leaves have cute “tendrils” curling up from the top.

JA Maruasa Engei grows Sandersonia aurantiaca‘s bulbs too and it takes growers about three years to ship a flower from growing a bulb. We have been constantly receiving the flowers from them, and it is going to be the peak of their season so the supply will be stable until the end of May.

Please kindly make a good use of this seasonable item.

Original article written by Mr. Tada,
Translated by S. Yamamoto.

Happy New Year!

The first auction of 2019 started from 7:00 on Friday, January 4.

As it was the first day of a new year, our CEO Mr. Isomura and the representative of Ota Floriculture Auction Shinwa-kai, Mr. Yoshichu gave a greeting. Shinwa-kai has provided the “treasure ships” which were filled with various kinds of flowers, symbolizing a rich harvest of flowers and prosperity of business.

In Japan, seven gods are believed to deliver fortune to us by this kind of treasure ships so at our market the first auction each year starts from auctioning these.

This year’s auction accordingly started with two following treasure ships:

■Treasure ship”Daikoku-maru”

■Treasure ship “Ebisu-maru”

We sincerely appreciate your patronage and wish you a wonderful new year filled with abundance, joy, and treasured moments.

 

Translated and edited by S. Yamamoto

Annual auction for “Senryo”, “Kokematsu” and “Kokeume” was held on December 16, Sunday at 7:00 AM.

• Check the article of another annual Cut pine tree Auction 2018. 
• Check the article of Senryo Kokematsu Kokeume Auction 2017.

This year was a so called low-yielding year for “Senryo” (Sarcandra glabra) that comes every other year, as they last year got small numbers of new shoots to fruit the next year, and they actually fruited loosely because the blooms fell off earlier than usual due to the rough climate that the rainy season ended early, and the summer heat went extreme. Additionally, just like pine trees, numerous typhoons caused salt damage to the leaves of Senryo, which made this year’s yield even less. Every grower therefore put their special effort into sorting in order to ship great ones.

Although there were too many natural disasters in this year, we truly hope that retailers sell them sincerely to customers. Growers’ effort then can be paid for.

Regarding “Kokematsu” (pine with moss), the number of larger ones has been decreasing because of insects or being damped off, still we received splendid ones that had been grown carefully for decades. We also received a lot of easy-to-use ones in terms of size like “Sanko Harigoke” from Mr. Hasegawa, Mr. Sunouchi, and Mr. Shioya.

Regarding “Kokeume” (prunus with moss), we received specially-sorted ones with blossoms, from Mr. Hiroyuki Suzuki and Green Tech Inc. These can be useful for displays like in a hotel lobby.

Original article written by Mr. Takeda, translated by S. Yamamoto

Annual Cut pine tree auction was held on Dcember 9, Sunday at 7 AM.

Click here for Cut pine tree auction 2017.

The entire amount of production has decreased due to the high temperature in summer and many typhoons this year. Plus, shortage of workers is still a severe problem including the fact that many workers are getting older.
Some of the growers therefore have been struggling with not being able to ship enough number of products. Especially longer types have been less shipped year by year, since some certain types of pine trees like “Karage matsu”, which is relatively short grown after only three years of cultivation, are getting demands nowadays and thus being more shipped.

Although the extreme heat of this summer caused “Nebiki matsu” damped off or bad effects, thanks to growers’ extraordinary work we were able to offer great pine trees both quality-wise and quantity-wise.

“Daiomatsu“ and “Goyomatsu” were also affected by the typhoons, but we tried our best with collection for the auction.

Next week on Sunday, December 16 we have another annual auction of “Senryo”, “Kokematsu” and “Kokeume”.

Click here to check the last year’s article.

 

Original article by Mr. Takeda, translated by S. Yamamoto

Today I would like to introduce  “Aika”, a new variety of Noble Lily,  from Tosa-Reihoku Growers’ Cooperative in Kochi prefecture.

Noble Lily is unique to this Cooperative, with its main characteristics being a vibrant green color and many petals.  No other grower produces it.  And it was developed based on the Asiatic lily.

This Cooperative first tried to grow the Noble Lily about 20 years ago, and now their line-up gradually increases. For example, the line-up today includes;  “Noble Super”, distinguished by its  few spots; “Mimori”, characterized by its thin petals; and “Mimi-tail”, which is characterized by its 20cm flower head length.

 

Noble Aika	Noble Super	Noble Mimori	Noble Mimi-Tail

As these are original varieties, it is difficult to increase the number of seeds and bulbs. Three producers work hard for production of those varieties.

The new variety, “Aika”, has a stronger green color than the Noble Lily, and it has a characteristic in its blooming appearance – less spots and more than 100 petals in one flower head.
The rare variety is limited in quantity, but it will gradually increase.

We receive the main product, the Noble Lily, until mid-July and I hope the demand for this flower will continue to expand.

Written by M. Takashina
Original article written by Mr. Yatsuda.