Japanese company, Aucnet is known to deliver some of the most unique floral products from across the country, worldwide. From the rare Enkianthus to many others such as Gloriosa, Oxypetalum, Forsythia, Allium, Ozothamnus, Paeonias, Stemona, and roses, Aucnet’s portfolio of floral products is exceptional, for discerning floral designers and florists.
Gloriosa, in particular, is one flower that is continuously attracting global attention. Thus, this Japanese floral exporter collaborates closely with the flower's growers in the country, exploring the best distribution and packaging methods to deliver the finest quality flowers to both domestic and international customers. Here’s all about this beautiful flower, and how the exporter guarantees its delivery.
Gloriosa Production in Japan
A bulb plant belonging to the lily family, Gloriosa possesses exceptionally appealing characteristics. Its native habitat is widely distributed across tropical and southern Africa to Asia. The flower is, however, naturalized in Australia and the Pacific as well as widely cultivated in different other regions across the world. Its representative varieties include Gloriosa rothschildiana, Gloriosa superba, Gloriosa simplex, Gloriosa superba var. Lutea, and Gloriosa carsonii, among others.
Gloriosa is a leading Japanese export flower. In the country, the major production hubs for Gloriosa are Kōchi Prefecture on the island of Shikoku, and Aichi Prefecture in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Kochi has been involved in Gloriosa cultivation since the 1980s and has gained a significant share of both the domestic and international markets by breeding original varieties and maintaining stable production, particularly, through agricultural cooperatives. Aichi, on the other hand, has over thirty years of history in producing medium to small-sized, brilliantly flowering Gloriosa.
As for cultivating this flowering plant, the growers produce and manage the bulbs themselves. Typical cut flower varieties are bought from seed companies for flower seedlings and then planted. This is both a positive and negative factor in Gloriosa production as it averts having to buy seedlings from seed companies, but there is also the possibility of disease wiping out the bulbs. Obtaining good bulbs, therefore, ensures good flowering.
Even so, carelessness is not acceptable when growing the flowering plant, hence when cultivating it, the growers basically take a risk. This has, accordingly, made it a rare flower! And for this, the cultivators from the Gloriosa-growing regions in Japan have won awards at the Floriade, an international exhibition and garden festival. Kochi won the gold medal at the Floriade 2002 (for Gloriosa Southern Wind and Gloriosa Misato Red), while Aichi won a gold medal at the 2022 Floriade (Gloriosa Zen). It took many years of hard work to win these awards.
Noteworthy is that the plant’s breeding is not just about the appearance of the blooms, but also about making its characteristics easier for the growers to work with.
Aucnet:
“The more productive, the higher the volume of deliveries. Increased productivity means higher volumes of deliveries. This means more opportunities for customers to pick up the Gloriosa.”
Growing Gloriosa and Its Unique Qualities in Floral Designs
The primary charm of Gloriosa lies in its beauty and diversity. The archetypal features of this flowering plant include a vine-like, horizontal growth habit with a supple stem and curly leaf tips that cling to other plants and objects as they grow. This trait, however, poses a challenge when handling the flowers for cut flower production.
Growers in the flower’s growing regions in Japan have improved it such that it grows vertically and the stems grow firmly so that it can be sold as a cut flower. Varieties such as Gloriosa Southern Wind grown in Kochi and Gloriosa Zen cultivated in Aichi were, accordingly, established as typical original varieties.
For its unique qualities in designs, the allure of Gloriosa stems from its lively color palette. The flowers come in a range of hues, including red, yellow, orange, and pink, making them a conspicuous presence in floral arrangements. Essentially, the elegant Gloriosa presents different atmospheres depending on its color. So, mixing these flowers with others creates an attractive floral piece, but also simply mixing the different colors of the Gloriosa offers a uniquely beautiful decorative effect.
Aucnet Offers Year-Round Delivery of Gloriosas
One strong point of Gloriosas in Japan is its year-round cultivation potential. The country’s climate is distinctly divided into four seasons. Many growers, therefore, produce different flowers for different seasons due to the country's topographical features.
Even so, since Gloriosa is sensitive to cold, the relatively mild climates of Kochi and Aichi allow for greenhouse cultivation even during the winter months. Winter is, essentially, the peak demand season for flowers, with the New Year and Chinese New Year in Asia being crucial periods. So, Gloriosa has become an essential floral item during these times of the year.
On the other hand, in the hot and humid summer when the variety of distributable flowers is limited, Aucnet still reliably supplies these flowers. As a result, through the dedicated efforts of Japanese growers over the years, Gloriosa has evolved into a high-quality, year-round cut flower.
Japan’s Gloriosa Flowers Produced From Generation to Generation
Quite fascinatingly, even though producer challenges exist, growers of these colorful plants often pass their knowledge of the trade from parent to child, generation to generation. Gloriosa, essentially, has an appeal that makes young ones who have grown up watching their parents, seek to follow suit. Accordingly, Aucnet continuously enhances its delivery mechanisms guaranteeing that the Gloriosa flowers cultivated by these growers reach different markets.
The strategy for exporting these flowers, according to Aucnet, is to use the best methodologies, including repackaging approaches that do not compromise loading efficiency, as well as the materials used and the number of packs used.
Aucnet:
“No matter how good the quality of the flowers is, if they are incorrectly handled, their quality deteriorates. Based on constant interviews with growers and feedback from buyers, we pursue all possibilities to ensure that the flowers reach their destination safe and sound.”
As such, Aucnet remains dedicated to sharing the beauty and charm of this exceptional cut flower from Japan, with all people around the globe.
Photos courtesy of Aucnet.
