California
How is climate change affecting roses and the Rose Parade?
Between rain, wildfires, extreme whiplash between hot and cold weather and other dramatic weather changes, there are fewer good-quality roses being produced.
By Julia Yohe •
Published 31 mins ago •
Updated 22 mins ago
NBC Universal, Inc.
Each year, 18 million roses are specifically chosen to decorate the floats that make up the iconic Rose Parade every New Year’s Day.
But as climate change continues to drastically alter weather patterns across the globe, finding those roses is becoming more difficult.
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Between rain, wildfires, extreme whiplash between hot and cold weather and other dramatic weather changes, there are fewer good-quality roses being produced, said Danielle Hahn, who owns a rose growing farm in Southern California.
As a result, the Pasadena Tournament of Roses turned to importing its roses from all over the world decades ago, importing most of its iconic flora from Colombia, Ecuador and the Netherlands.
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But that can be costly — according to Alejandro Martinez, who represents rose growers in Ecuador, the country exports about $1 billion in roses every year.
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Other countries haven’t escaped the effects of global warming either, Martinez said. Because warmer temperatures come sooner, rose plants produce more stems prematurely, and they don’t always bloom.
Though climate change hasn’t proven to be insurmountable for the parade so far, the float builders at Phoenix Decorating Company, one of the two sanctioned construction companies the Tournament of Roses uses to build its pa