After 125 Years, Manatee Company Delivering Fresh Flowers Differently
June 22, 2018 | 1 min to read
The Preston family founded the Manatee Lemon Co. in 1892. It’s been evolving ever since
The Preston family founded Manatee Lemon Co. in 1892, a few years before the freezes of the early 20th century would wipe out all their lemon trees.
The Preston family changed the name to Manatee Fruit Co. in 1911 and began producing oranges and grapefruit.
Over the years, they’ve grown and shipped vegetables, produced potted plants and became renowned for gladiolus flowers until 2008 when an outbreak of gladiolus rust fungus caused a quarantine and ultimately destroyed much of their bulb stock.
To read the rest of the story, please go to: Herald Tribune