Tyler is known for its roses, but today it's a lot harder to find them than it once was.
At the height of the rose growing industry, stands with cut roses for sale could be found around town and in front of rose growers' houses on numerous roads out of town, according to local residents and business owners.
Mark Chamblee, owner and president of Chamblee's Rose Nursery, said the cut roses were just a byproduct of the field, taken before the bushes were harvested in the fall. So the companies would sell them.
Starting price in the early days was 25 cents a dozen, but that gradually increased to about $2 a dozen at the time Chamblee's stopped selling them, he said.
At one time, the company sold the roses at 20 East Texas businesses. And they weren't alone. Other rose growers did the same.
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