SAN DIEGO – Mum’s the word as Dümmen Orange, the world’s largest breeder and propagator of cut flowers, bulbs, tropical plants, pot plants, bedding plants and perennials, has relocated all of the company’s mum unrooted cutting production to its greenhouse facilities at the famed former Ecke Ranch in Encinitas, Calif.
“This move helps us to remain very nimble in our production strategy, so we can ramp up availability to meet seasonal needs,” said Emily Mason, regional director of programs at Dümmen Orange. “We can do very intensive production trials here and we can also adapt the production to meet environmental needs or customer needs with timing or with specifics.”
New for 2021, all Dümmen Orange chrysanthemums for both garden mums (VitaMum®) and pot crop mums have moved south from Oxnard, Calif. down to the coastal city of Encinitas.
This change provides a number of benefits including weather, expertise and staff. Southern California’s coastal conditions are ideal for year-round quality cutting production. Having the cuttings at the Dümmen Orange facility where all mum research and development is done on new varieties provides expertise in successfully growing and completely understanding the crops before they go into commercial production. Dümmen’s staff members will be onsite for trialing, growing, order entry and shipping, which allows for faster communication and agility for last-minute customer requests.
Sylwia Vaclavek, farm manager at Dümmen Orange, will be on-site overseeing all mum unrooted cutting production and shipping. Having decades of stock management experience, she will handle forecasting, planning and production of the mum crops at the facility.
The consolidation of Dümmen Orange’s core strengths into one facility will benefit its customers and the industry as a whole. Production can quickly increase for different times of the year such as Easter or Mother’s Day to meet seasonal needs. Conducting thorough production trials allows for intensive product stock evaluation. The ability to respond quickly to customer needs and make changes to the production schedule based on climate and local growing conditions are all valuable assets.
Breeding and trialing activities at the current site allows Dümmen Orange personnel to evaluate and observe their breeding pipeline, make the best possible selections related to mum timing and families, and provide the best quality cuttings for mum production season.
For more details about Dümmen Orange, please visit na.dummenorange.com.
About Dümmen Orange
Dümmen Orange represents a legacy of floricultural excellence more than a century in the making. By uniting the world’s top breeders under one distinctive brand, the company blends traditional techniques and emerging technologies to provide the largest selection of superior flowers and plants on earth. Globally accessible and locally embedded, Dümmen Orange continues to be at the forefront of its industry while bringing stability and opportunity to partners and associates worldwide. Grounded in this rich history, wise growth and deep commitment to our customers, Dümmen Orange blooms brighter year after year. For more information on Dümmen Orange, visit na.dummenorange.com.
