Flower growers in the mountain barangays of Cebu City are busy harvesting flowers to meet peak demand during the observance of the All Saints’ and All Souls’ Days this weekend.
Among them is couple Ellane and Julito Marjadas who cultivate 26 plots in the upland barangay of Taptap, Cebu City.
Flower farms are in full bloom in mountain barangays of Cebu City, ready for harvest in time for All Saints’ and All Souls’ Day. (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)
When Cebu Daily News visited them early morning yesterday, several big baskets full of a variety of flowers like mums and Wonder White were brought to a selling station at the roadside to serve customers who come for bulk orders.
Along the Transcentral Highway, several roadside stalls are set up from Busay to Sirao for people who want to get fresh flowers from the source.
Ellane said that they started their harvest last Tuesday since the demand for flowers already started to rise.
“Daghan jud ming orders basta ingon aron. Naay uban nga among suki sila na ang mu-distribute sa Freedom Park. Ang uban kay adto sa Manila. (We have a lot of orders during this time. Some are our patrons who sell the flowers in Freedom Park and some are shipped to Manila),” she told CDN.
Their farm is about 10 meters from their house and they do the cutting and packing early in the morning to keep the flowers fresh.
In a day, they could sell 20 to 200 bundles of flowers.
The Golden and Wonder White blooms are sold at P70 per bundle while the mums are sold at P150.
The farm is located in the interior of the barangay.
From afar, patches of yellow and white could be seen at the hillside.
Ellane said they spent around P30,000 for fertilizers and plant vitamins.
They also pay laborers who cultivate the land as well as those who harvest the flowers.
At the foot of the hill is a spring which serves as the source of water.
They start planting in July and the flowers bloom in time for the observance of the All Saints’ and All Souls’ days in November.
Ellane said demand for flowers is highest in the months of November, December and January.