If love makes the world go round then Colombian flowers are on track to make it spin this Valentine’s Day!
... the money spent on flowers throughout the world is directly fed back to the people who grow and look after them
More than 500,000,000 flowers from the South American country are being shipped around the globe to meet the February 14th deadline. That’s enough flowers to go round the world at least eight times!
And not only will Colombian flowers be saying “I love you” in a truly international language but helping provide safe and financially rewarding work for more than 200,000 workers in the country.
For they work directly or indirectly for the country’s second biggest export business.
Speaking in Bogota, capital of Colombia, Augusto Solano, president of Asocolflores, the Association of Colombian Flower Exporters, said: “We are on the threshold of the most important season for our industry.
“Colombian growers are renowned for their quality roses which are sold in high end stores like Marks and Spencer and quality independent florists.
“With larger heads and strong stems they have become the rose of choice for customers wanting something extra special to express their love and friendship.”
Due to the near perfect growing conditions in the Sabana de Bogota, just outside the capital city, Colombia produces amazing flowers with larger heads, stronger stems and more vibrant colours.
More importantly the country is acknowledged as one of the leaders in terms of social and environmental achievements with an independently audited certification programme, Florverde, which has Global Gap approval.
Mr Solano continued: “In 2011 over $5 million was spent by the Colombian flower industry on local social programmes that directly benefited more than 90,000 workers and their families.
“Be it low-cost housing, schools, University programmes or medical services, the money spent on flowers throughout the world is directly fed back to the people who grow and look after them.”
Flower facts at your fingertips
• Based on an average stem length of 70cm and a world circumference of 40,075 kms you’d need 57,250,000 stems of roses to go round the world end to end!
• Colombia is the world’s second largest exporter of flowers, and the main flower provider of the US market.
• The first flowers to be sent from Colombia to the UK were carnations more than 30 years ago.
• These days Colombia still produces more carnations than any other country but also supplies roses, calla, hydrangea, agapanthus and alstroemeria in large quantities.
How did Valentine’s Day start?
The origins of Valentine’s Day trace back to the ancient Roman celebration of Lupercalia. Held on February 15, Lupercalia honoured the gods Lupercus and Faunus, as well as the legendary founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus.
In addition to a bountiful feast, Lupercalia festivities are purported to have included the pairing of young women and men. Men would draw women’s names from a box and each couple would be paired until next year’s celebration.
While this pairing of couples set the tone for today’s holiday, it wasn’t called Valentine’s Day until a priest named Valentine came along. Valentine, a romantic at heart, disobeyed Emperor Claudius II’s decree that soldiers remain bachelors. Claudius handed down this decree believing that soldiers would be distracted and unable to concentrate on fighting if they were married or engaged. Valentine defied the emperor and secretly performed marriage ceremonies. As a result of his defiance, Valentine was put to death on February 14.
After Valentine’s death, he was named a saint. As Christianity spread through Rome, the priests moved Lupercalia from February 15 to February 14 and renamed it St Valentine’s Day to honour St Valentine.
What’s Cupid got to do with it?
According to Roman mythology, Cupid was the son of Venus, the goddess of love and beauty. Cupid was known to cause people to fall in love by shooting them with his magical arrows. But Cupid didn’t just cause others to fall in love – he himself fell deeply in love.
As legend has it, Cupid fell in love with a mortal maiden named Psyche. Cupid married Psyche, but Venus, jealous of Psyche’s beauty, forbade her daughter-in-law to look at Cupid. Psyche, of course, couldn’t resist temptation and sneaked a peek at her handsome husband. As punishment, Venus demanded that she perform three hard tasks, the last of which caused Psyche’s death.
Cupid brought Psyche back to life and the gods, moved by their love, granted Pysche immortality. Cupid thus represents the heart and Psyche the (struggles of the) human soul.