We were delighted to be given an award recognising the contribution made by Flamingo (Homegrown) in supporting the establishment of the Kenyan Flower Council in 1996.

The award was nominated by the members in recognition to the work done in total by the Flamingo staff in assisting in establishing the overall Kenya Flower Council standard and further ensuring its recognition in the wider flower community as the top standard for growing flowers in Kenya . The award was accepted on behalf of the business by Karen Rono. Commercial Manager Flamingo Flowers Kenya.

by Sam Clarkson

The theme for this year’s stand at Chelsea Flower Show was Spirit of Summer, a carnival of flowers, which showcased beautiful blooms from around the world.

The stand design showcased floral blooms such as English peonies and stocks, roses from our Kenyan farms, and a vast selection of flowers from Holland.

The stand design is a celebration of floral and cultural diversity across the Britain, Europe, Africa and South America, and this was reflected in the four quadrants within the stand design.

Flamingo worked with M&S and Sallis Chandler Landscape Designers in helping to create a main feature of the stand – the centrepiece and picnic display made with flowers.

This year’s gorgeous display was truly a unique exhibit at the Chelsea Flower Show.

Facts

• 22,000 stem of flowers were used in the stand
• Flowers source from around the world – Holland, Colombia, South Africa, Kenya and UK
• 500 plus man hours to build the stand
• 58 florist hours to create the center attraction working tirelessly to the last minute
• 4800 flowers used in the central display
• 12 lorries delivered flowers and plants to the stand build on the Saturday/Sunday, before Chelsea
• Raised £1781 for the floral Angels Charity – during the “sell off” on the last day
• Won our second Gold Medal and the judges awarded the highest standard of “excellence” in every category – Product, Overall Impression, and Endeavour
• 10 months of planning and preparation (including 2 pre-Chelsea Stand builds in February and April)

 

by Sally Wiles – Flamingo Senior Account Manager

Towards the end of 2015 Flamingo Horticulture at Weston were given the huge of honour of being the chosen supplier to partner M&S in the production and delivery of a chilled hamper for the Patrons lunch on the Mall on June 12th, 2016.

For Flamingo this was a hugely exciting challenge involving Engineering, Operations, and Technical teams to enable us to maintain all ingredients integrity, at the required individual temperatures to deliver the perfect product on the day.

A 24-hour window ahead of production saw 40,000 sandwiches, 10,000 salmon mouse , 10,000 chicken Salads, 10,000 cans of Pimms and 10,000 mini pork pies arrive on site. An example of five of the 30 different ingredients that were consumed on the day.

We all had an early start of Saturday 11th , 4.30 am ! All teams pulled together and even with additional support from the Metropolitan police on site X-raying every basket before it left , production went very smoothly and the last Hamper came off the line at 18.30 that evening.

The sight of 12 clean and shiny M&S lorries leaving site in convoy to begin their journey down to London was a very special one.

A few of the team volunteered to help M&S on the final leg of the journey, the giving out of all the hampers to the guests. The torrential rain in the morning did not dampen spirits and with a bit of help from a much-needed poncho, we successfully delivered all the hampers from the individual stations up the length and breadth of the Mall. By 2pm that afternoon the sun began to shine as many members of the royal family including Her Majesty the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh came out to meet and greet all the very excited guests.

In summary, this is without doubt one of the highlights of my career and all at Flamingo are very proud to have been part of such a once in a lifetime event.

A steam boiler was salvaged and serviced to provide the hot air for the project. The project has been installed using recycled materials to reduce cost. The project is motivated by the sharp temperature fluctuation in Naivasha region especially at night when temperatures drop below 10ºC. Roses require an average temperature of between 10ºC – 30ºC for optimum growth. It is nearly impossible to achieve this during the sharp temperature drops at night at certain times of the year in Naivasha area.

Cold water enters the steam boiler through the pipe inlet then it is heated. The steam is then delivered to the beds through the pipes that circulates from end to end and maintains a circular delivery system. At the ends, the cooled water is taken back to the boiler to begin the process again.  The project is expected to keep temperatures inside the greenhouse optimum at night. The other benefit to be looked at is managing disease and pest as there is more control in greenhouse environment. Also, forecasting weekly production should become easier as there is more control over the crop!

Sunflower farming in the farms is largely favoured by the climatic advantages in Naivasha.  Sunflower covers a total crop area of 1ha. There are three varieties of sunflower under production. The crop takes up to 10 weeks crop cycles for it to be economically viable.

The target disc is preferably 4 – 5cm in size as required by the customers. The crop is covered with nets during initial growth stages to protect from birds. Sunflower plant stem is less lignified and additional support is provided to observe upright growth. All these are achieved by monitoring the plant in all the growth and development stages for production of the desired disc size.

Why project success?

• Benefits from use of soil amendments from animal and plant compost.
• Grown under light greenhouses to protect against rain.
• The varieties selected are vigorously tested for equatorial growing.
• The crop is grown exclusively on demand on a lean cost of production.
• Inorganic fertilizers are used in very small quantities to supplement crop nutritional needs, as well as IPM strategy.

Benefits of growing sunflower!

• Sunflower is an efficient soil purifier. The crop takes out soil impurities through a process called phytoextraction.
• Low labour requirement majorly required during weeding.
• Excellent for crop rotation.

Photo log showing various stages of growth of sunflower plant