Flowers from the Farm to the Float at the Rose Parade

Some of the spectacular colors in the 124th Tournament of Roses Parade, New Years Day in Pasadena, will come from the green houses of Carpinteria.Truckloads have arrived and float builders are busy adding the flowers to the entries that will be seen worldwide.Two floats, the Cal Poly University entry and the South Pasadena entry, will be using California flowers exclusively.The Cut Flower Commission CEO, Kasey Cronquist, says he is excited to see the finished product on the TV broadcast seen by millions.”It’s a proud moment for our farms, proud moment for those teams, and a proud moment for California,” said Cronquist.At the Mobi flower farm, Rene Van Wingerden said orders came in months ago. “Throughout the year, somebody from the float people will come out to look at what we’re growing and what color we have. We have a lot of involvement and it takes a lot of effort to produce flowers.”Van Wingerden says he has gone to the parade in person, and says “it was really the Disneyland of flowers.”The Cut Flower Commission hopes the exposure on the Rose Parade will lead to more sales of local flowers in stores. “It’s very exciting,” said Cronquist.The 124th Tournament of Roses Parade can be seen January 1stat 8 a.m. on Channel 3 KEYT.KEY News Senior Reporter John Palminteri has our story.