Rose Industry Has Major Economic Impact in East Texas
business, chamblee, east texas, economic, flowers, rose nursery, roses,
For more than half a century‚ everything’s been coming up roses for the Chamblee family. In all fairness‚ though‚ many others can make a similar claim in Tyler; after all‚ it’s known as the Rose Capital of the Nation.
Tyler’s rose industry pumps an estimated $12 million into the local economy each year. Processing facilities in Smith County package and ship nearly half the roses marketed in the United States. Locally grown roses‚ as well as those from California and Arizona‚ are processed in Tyler‚ including the bulk of rose bushes sold through Wal-Mart‚ K-Mart‚ Lowe’s and other major retailers.
Chamblee’s Rose Nursery is one reason the industry continues to flourish. Roland Chamblee started the business in 1953 with about 15 acres of field-grown roses. Twenty years later‚ he began potting roses. Today‚ with son Mark Chamblee as president‚ the company’s 20 full-time employees oversee about 11 acres of container-grown roses inside 150‚000 square feet of greenhouse space.
Adopting new horticultural methods has been one key to success‚ says Mark Chamblee. Most of the nursery’s fragrant roses are grown on their own root system‚ with no bud union‚ making them more freeze-tolerant and vigorous than grafted roses.
One of the newest developments in the industry is the availability of disease-resistant EarthKind roses. Developed by agricultural researchers at Texas A&M‚ these high-quality roses require little or no maintenance. Unlike the finicky varieties of past decades‚ EarthKind roses are extremely disease resistant and rarely‚ if ever‚ require pesticides.
“EarthKind roses have given my staff and me personally a lot more excitement and satisfaction by offering roses to the public that anyone can grow‚” Chamblee says. “Their popularity has given a lot more publicity to the Tyler rose industry.”
Another aspect of the industry takes place at Certified Roses Inc.‚ which processes 4 million to 5 million rose bushes each year for shipping across the country. The employee-owned company‚ started as the Rose Growers Co-op in 1949‚ has about 280 workers during the peak October-to-May season.
Unlike Chamblee’s‚ which grows much of its own stock‚ Certified Roses receives dormant plants from growers throughout the U.S.‚ and then prepares these plants for distribution elsewhere. When the plants arrive – without flowers or roots and looking very much like sticks – they are bundled for cold storage‚ where they are bathed in moisture for six months before being packaged and shipped to retailers as far away as Alaska and Puerto Rico. The company handles about 250 varieties of roses.
“Everybody’s looking for the perfect rose‚ and that means different things to different people‚” says Larry Burks‚ Certified Roses vice president of research. “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”
In Tyler‚ motorists are starting to notice more roses along major roadways through a beautification program between the city and Texas Department of Transportation.
“Roses have a lot to do with our identity as a community‚ and they’re the most recognized component of our economy‚” says Mark McDaniel‚ deputy city manager. “When people come to Tyler‚ they expect to see roses‚ so we’re showing them roses.”
City horticulturist Craig Reiland says his staff has worked with TxDOT to landscape medians along South Broadway and the South Loop.
“We are showcasing what we do best‚” Reiland says. “The city is definitely moving in the right direction in promoting the rose theme.”
Reiland also manages the Tyler Rose Garden‚ the largest municipal rose garden in the nation and the city’s top tourist attraction. The 14-acre garden contains more than 500 varieties of roses and about 38‚000 individual plants.
Story by Edward Navarro
Photo by Antony Boshier
