Bud Unfurls Nature’s Mystery

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By Donna Furey | LB Indy

A unique, trademarked rose whose open petals form a heart arrives just in time for Valentine’s Day.

Ava Arman and her unusual roses. Photo by charlie Craig.
Ava Arman and her unusual roses. Photo by charlie Craig.

Ben and Ava Arman’s recently established, Color Blast Flowers, at 210 N. Coast Highway, are one of the only florists in the area to stock the unusual rose.

The veteran florists who have previously designed floral arrangements for weddings are hoping that “Rosa Hearts” puts their new shop, opened with assistance from their friend Annette Wolford, on the map and in the minds of the romantic.

The unusual deep red, long-stemmed rose with a head of 55 wavy petals won best of show at the Society of American Florists convention in 2013 beating all other flowers entered.

Jan Spek Rozen, a Netherlands-based rose grower, developed the trademarked flower in Ecuador in 2007 while working to create a superior red rose, Erik Spek told the Hortidaily, an online horticulture industry site. After four years of breeding, selecting and testing in a greenhouse, the rose finally bloomed. “At first we were disappointed, the flower was different than expected. It did not look ‘normal’; it looked wild and more like a garden rose. However, after having a closer look we saw something special about the rose; the heart shape,” said Spek, director of the family business begun in 1890. The heart shape comes from the fact that the rose is cultivated at 9,200 feet above sea level. “Only above this level, the rose will have a heart shaped flower,” Spek said.

Roses grown at lower elevations will bloom in a standard shape. In Asia and Europe, the same rose is cultivated but it has the standard shape and is named “Wanted,” also trademarked.

Color Blast offers a bouquet containing 12 heart-shaped roses for $99, a half dozen for $49, a three-stem bouquet for $19 and a single stem can be had for $6.

 

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