News
Alan Shapiro Wins Prestigious Balentine Award from Southeast Horticultural Society
The Southeastern Horticultural Society, based in Atlanta GA and responsible for staging the Southeastern Flower Show there, has presented the 2010 Robert McGee Balentine Horticulture Award to Grandiflora owner, Alan Shapiro. This award, established in the memory of Robert McGee Balentine, a founding trustee of the Southeastern Flower Show, is presented annually to the individual that the Awards committee feels has made a significant contribution to the field of horticulture in the southeastern United States.
Previous winners have included Tony Avent, Don Shadow, Alan Armitage, JC Raulston, Dick Bir and Ozzie Johnston.
The award will be made at the opening night reception, a gala black tie affair that offers sponsors and eager attendees a sneak peak of the Flower Show.
For more information on this event that takes place on February 3, 2010 at the Cobb Galleria Centre, you may visit: http://www.sehort.org/flower_show
Grandiflora helps with Extreme Makeover House in December 2009
When the call went out for donations of plant material for the Extreme Makeover House being built in Gainesville, Grandiflora offered to supply many of the shrubs and all the annual color, with one stipulation - we would have to be involved in the planting. Heather, Alan, and Ellen showed up for work at 6 a.m. on the last day before the "reveal" to plant, and then returned the next day as the lucky family got to see its new house for the first time.
Ty Pennington and the other designers were all on hand to "move that bus" as well as Gator cheerleaders, Albert and Alberta (the UF mascots), and hundreds of volunteers who had worked 106 hours straight on the re-build. Be watching ABC Sunday nights in February to get a glimpse of our Grandiflora Grown plants installed at the Extreme Makeover
house.
Alan Shapiro Represents Grandiflora at OFA Perennial Short Course in Buffalo NY September 2009
Grandiflora owner, Alan Shapiro, was flown to Buffalo NY in September to speak at the OFA Perennial Production Conference on the topic of adopting sustainable practices in a perennial growing operation.
Besides sampling authentic Buffalo hot wings, Alan was able to hear presentations by experts from around the world, dine with John Friel and Allan Armitage, and visit the trial gardens at Cornell University.
Grandiflora Featured in Grower Talks Magazine April 2008
Grandiflora was featured as the cover story in the April 2008 issue of Grower Talks Magazine in an article entitled "Call it Thrifty, Call it Cheap - we call it Smart Business". The story focused on the nursery's efforts at sustainability including catching and re-using irrigation water, buying back customer's used plastic containers, and recycling aluminum cans, pallets, and old vehicles.
Alan Shapiro, owner of Grandiflora, speaks at Educational Events around the South
In 2006 and 2007, Alan Shapiro was asked to speak at Maclay Botanical Gardens in Tallahassee, the Jacksonville Zoo, the South Carolina Nursery Association Trade Show in Myrtle Beach, and the Charleston Winter Symposium.
Most of these powerpoint presentations focused on the topic "Surprisingly Hardy Tropical-looking Perennials for Southern Gardens".
Alan and Ellen Shapiro go on Amazon Adventure
In February 2007, Alan and Ellen took a once in a lifetime plant exploration trip to the wilds of Brazil, starting from Manaus, a city 1000 miles up the Amazon River. Living and traveling in a boat that accommodated 24 passengers, the Shapiro's and their traveling companions (mostly aquatic plant enthusiasts), were in search of a rumored Dwarf Victoria Water Lily.
Besides seeing exotic birds like caracaras, macaws, green parrots, and toucans, the Shapiro's also saw (and sometimes handled) monkeys, boa constrictors, sloths, iguanas, and caymans. They also found many exotic plants in the rain forest that unfortunately they could not bring back seeds or cuttings of, only pictures.
Alan caught a black piranha while fishing for Peacock Bass, and it was delicious.
Grandiflora Hosts International Plant Propagators Society
The Southern Region of the International Plant Propagators Society of North America (IPPS) convened in Gainesville FL in October 2005 for their annual educational symposium, with members representing almost all of the 16 southeastern states in attendance. Alan Shapiro was site chairman and helped in the planning of the 4-day seminar which included three partial days of touring regional nurseries as well as classroom sessions at the Hilton/University Conference Center and time visiting the University of Florida Horticulture greenhouses.
Among the highlights of the event were dinner and a ramble at Kanapaha Botanical Gardens, a "Road-kill Soiree" party at Glen St. Mary Nursery, a stop at the McGuire Butterfly House, and a tour of Grandiflora. At the nursery, guests were shown the entire operation, from propagation to potting to shipping.
Grandiflora takes first prize at FNATS 2006
We won First Place Large Exhibit for our trade show booth at FNATS on September 28, 2006. The theme was color in the landscape, so we dressed as painters, complete with paint-splattered pants. Our signage declared "Grandiflora - it's all about color!" If we had brought extra pants, we could have sold them all.
Cingular Wireless Tower Constructed
Being so close to Interstate 75, Grandiflora was chosen as an ideal location for a Cingular Wireless Tower. Construction of the 200-foot tower was completed in May
2005.
2005 Trade Show Theme - A New Idea is Born
Announcing the Birth of Grandiflora
In the winter of 2005, we dressed in scrubs in Myrtle Beach SC and Mobile AL to promote the birth of our new marketing program, winning booth awards at both shows. Pictured are sales manager Pat Stevens and salesman Mark Gruver.
New Loading Dock
In 2005, we completed construction on an impressive 115' X 40' covered loading dock with plans to double its size in the future. Now our truck loaders don't have to work in the dark, rain, lightning, hail, or blazing hot sun.
San Felasco Nurseries, Inc. Becomes Grandiflora
A new name, logo and branding program will position the nursery to reach the next level of professionalism and become a major supplier of color for the entire southeast.
After 3 decades of customers and suppliers wrestling with the spelling and pronunciation of San Felasco, owners Alan and Ellen Shapiro announced plans to change the name of their 106-acre Florida nursery to Grandiflora. Coordinated with the name change will be the debut of a new whimsical logo and a branding program for the nursery's products. In the future, flowering plants will be marketed as "Grandiflora Grown" with the tag line "long-lasting Southern blooms". The Shapiro's hope that in time, retail nursery customers will request "Grandiflora Grown" plants just as they currently seek out products from Monrovia, Blooms of Bressingham and Proven Winners.
Let's Get Tropical!
Our Fall 2004 Trade Show theme promoted our hardy tropical line.
The boys sported tropical shirts and Panama hats, and the booth was brimming with big leafy tropical-looking (but surprisingly cold hardy) plant material including canna lilies, crinums, palms, gingers, bananas, elephant ears, and philodendrons.
San Felasco wins Operation of the Year Award
At FNATS 2003, it was announced that San Felasco Nurseries had won Ornamental Outlook Magazine's Operation of the Year Award. This is the highest honor a nursery can win in the state of Florida, and part of the prize is to appear on the cover of the magazine.
New Cold Frames
In early 2003, we finished construction of 8 new Jaderloon greenhouses sited just north of the office building to protect our perennials during the winter.