The UPS Store’s “Rise, Shine & Read!” float won the top prize at the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California. Sourcing fresh product for the floats proved to be a challenge because of ongoing supply logistics.
Saturday saw the return of floats elaborately decorated with an abundance of flowers as they traveled down Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena, California for the annual Tournament of Roses Parade.
Dubbed “America’s New Year Celebration,” the parade has been an annual event since 1890 — with the exception of last year when it was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The parade’s floral floats made a spectacular return this year, but it wasn’t without the supply logistic headaches that many in the floral industry have experienced since the beginning of the pandemic.
“It’s a large undertaking in a non-COVID year,” says Bob Mellano, vice president of Mellano & Company, which has been supplying flowers for the parade for nearly 90 years. Logistics proved to be the biggest pain point this year, Mellano says. Delayed flights and late trucks affected the flow of product. Working with California growers made some of the logistics more reliable, but in addition to COVID, California is going through a major drought.
Camron King, CEO of Certified American Grown, also acknowledged the challenges in sourcing product for the parade and says it prompted designers to think outside the box to use products and materials in different ways.
“We were excited to be able to still work in sharing the bounty American growers from a number of different farms all over the country and ensure that what was available and used on the floats was as American-grown as possible,” he says.
Mellano & Company was able to get more than 750,000 stems of flowers and greens processed and distributed to float designers. In previous years the company’s Oceanside farm would get orders in the spring from float designers asking for specific flowers and plants to be grown for the parade decorations. That practice has fallen away, he says, but they still provide several products produced on their farm, while others, such as chrysanthemums, pom pom carnations, and of course, roses, are sourced from around the world.
FTD, the parade’s official floral partner for more than 60 years, used 10,405 stems to decorate six antique vehicles for the parade’s VIPs.
“It was a challenging year to procure all the specific flowers we wanted,” says Andrea Ancel, director of design at FTD. “When working with a perishable product you need to improvise quite often. A few of our designs had an ombre twist to them, so adjusting one floral variety meant we often needed to shift a few others to remain true to the intended design.”
The design team had to improvise to achieve the desired looks when they couldn’t get the color or flower they needed, Ancel says. That included dying corn husks with beet juice and turmeric and dipping palm leaves in dried florals to add texture and unique color.
FTD also sponsors the float awards, which was judged by Janet Gallagher, AIFD, John Piper, and J. Keith White, AIFD. The UPS Store won the top prize, the Sweepstakes Trophy, for its “Rise, Shine & Read!” float. The animated float, standing 35-foot-tall, 55-foot-long, featured a rooster reading to his family of chicks. (See a complete list of winners here.)
That float was designed by Fiesta Parade Floats, which was awarded five other trophies for its entries.
“Winning the Sweepstakes Trophy is an honor every float builder dreams of, but it feels especially sweet after such a challenging year,” says Tim Estes, president of Fiesta Parade Floats.
The winning float and others were parked not far from the parade route for Float Fest, which allows spectators to take in the creativity and beauty — and fragrances — up close.
“Watching the parade in real life this year was so exciting for the crowds,” Ancel says. “It’s been too long since so many of us have been able to gather outside — with masks — to celebrate in groups. The energy and excitement were unlike any other parade I’ve been to and it felt good to be back believing in, celebrating and being optimistic about the future.”
Molly Olson is a contributing writer for the Society of American Florists.
