The Gilroy Rotary Club’s annual flower sale and benefit features
traditional favorites,
flowers you’ve never seen, and a mad dash to get what you
want
By Julie Engelhardt Special to South Valley Newspapers
For weeks, San Jose resident Lindy Herrera has been making plans to attend the Gilroy Rotary Club’s annual flower sale taking place Saturday. It’s her mission to find something that will add a splash of color and spring zing to her garden.
Each year, Gilroy-based Goldsmith Seeds Inc., one of the largest breeders of hybrid flower seeds, holds a charity event that features hundreds of varieties of flowers, from geraniums and begonias to newer hybrids recently developed by Goldsmiths. The proceeds from the event benefit different charitable causes.
“We have a lot of new varieties each year,” said Alecia Troy, marketing manager for Goldsmith Seeds. “This time around, we have an award-winning flower called ‘zowie zinnia,’ – a bi-color flower which is yellow with bright, hot pink. Another new variety is the mache rununculus. This is a great, intense flower with fluffy blooms.” This variety comes in a rainbow of colors, including bright yellow, orange and pink.
But that’s just a smattering of what will be for sale. If you have a penchant for pansies or petunias, or a craving for calibrachoa, they’ll be in stock, along with impatiens, verbena, dianthus, digitalis, gazania, vinca, osteospermum, argyranthemum, trailing impatiens and aquilegia.
Each year, Goldsmiths holds what’s called spring flower trials, an industry event where commercial growers, seed brokers and retailers such as Home Depot get a sneak peek at what products will be available for the new season.
About 1,500 retailers visit the facility during the trials to check out the different types of flowers, Troy said. This year, the trials were held the first week of April, and Goldsmith played host to Fischer USA, another giant in the horticulture industry. Thousands of flowers in 500 different colors were on display during the event, and now that the trials are finished, the flowers will go on sale to the public Saturday.
The fund-raiser began about 16 years ago when Glenn and Joel Goldsmith, longtime members of the Gilroy Rotary, along with others from the club, tried to decide what to do with the flowers left from the trials. When the fund-raiser first launched, volunteers would cart the plants to a local grocery store and sell them in the parking lot.
But as the inventory began to increase, Goldsmith and the Rotarians decided it would be more efficient to hold the sale at the Goldsmith property. The event raises between $40,000 and $50,000 every year.
“The proceeds go into a scholarship fund that is administered by the Goldsmith family,” said David Cox, co-chair for the fundraiser. “A large portion of the money is distributed to local charities on an annual basis through an application process.”
The sale begins at 8am and runs until 1pm, but if you’re a serious buyer, it’s best to show up early. Even though Herrara lives about 45 minutes from the site, she plans on being at the front gate by 7:30am.
“The last time I went was two years ago, and I ended up being third in line,” she said. “Even if I’m early, I need to be quick about what I want to pick up. There are lots of people who show up who are avid gardeners and know what they want, so items go fast.”
If you go
What: Gilroy Rotary Club’s annual flower sale
When: 8am-1pm Saturday
Where: Goldsmiths Seeds, 2280 Hecker Pass Highway (Highway 152 West), Gilroy
Info: (408) 847-7333, www.goldsmithseeds.com or www.gilroyrotary.org
Suggestions: Bring a wagon to carry your purchases. Bring another person along to help you carry or watch over your purchases while you shop. Bring newspaper to line the trunk or the back of your car in case of spills. This is not the best place for babies, strollers or young children because of the crowds.
