Alstroemeria


Pat Etzel discusses Len Busch Roses' "closed loop nutrient system."


Pipes carry steam across the Len Busch Roses compound of greenhouses.


Alstroemeria in the greenhouse.

When the orchids come in to the Wedge Co-op from Len Busch Roses, Kristin Smith looks for the remnants of webs from the predator insects.

"Almost always, they've been cleaned," Kristin, Wedge Floral Buyer, said. "But every now and then you can see their webs. Especially on the phalenopsis."

Kristin likes looking for those webs because they're a reminder of Len Busch Roses' dedication to integrated pest management (IPM) systems. The phalenopsis orchids come from Silver Vase, a company that, like Len Busch Roses, uses IPM to reduce the use of chemical spray on their plants and flowers. Rather than dowsing pesticides at the first sign of invasive pests, Len Busch Roses and Silver Vase release predator pests to take care of the invaders.

"Silver Vase orchids are very clean, chemically speaking," Kristin said. "So are Len Busch's roses. Plus they're right here in our backyard; their flowers are fresher and longer lasting. That's why I buy from them."

Phalenopsis orchids? Roses? Spiders? But isn't this the dead of winter in Minnesota?

Though its hometown of Plymouth, Minnesota may be frozen solid this time of year, Len Busch Roses is in perpetual spring, a humid, hothouse paradise of roses, alstroemeria, gerbers, tulips, tropicals, and ferns, delivering just down the highway to the Wedge Co-op.

"You're going down Highway 55 and it's all right there," Kristin said, referring to the oddity of such a huge set of greenhouses in Minnesota. Five main greenhouses connected by steam pipes to heat over half a million square feet, Len Busch is like a town of flowers. "It's the last thing you expect. There's a Target, a Perkins, and then all of a sudden, bam: Len Busch."

Len Busch began with 28,000 square feet in 1965, growing pom poms and expanding to roses in 1969. Since then, the company has grown to include over a 500,000 square feet of greenhouse space. What began as "home-grown flowers" has bloomed to an import business and a full line of cut flowers and potted plants from all over the world and distributed across the Upper Midwest.

Kristen was careful to find a grower like Len Busch Roses who takes care not to over-spray its flowers, and while pest management may seem like a funny concern for a greenhouse (shouldn't those glass walls keep the bugs out - especially in winter?), handling pests in an eco-friendly way is a crucial component of Len Busch's business.

That's because, unfortunately, the daily truckloads of numerous flowers mean that a new shipment of pests might get shipped in, no matter how careful everyone is along the chain of custody. With 150,000 rose plants in production and 220,000 square feet dedicated to 40 varieties of roses, that's a huge potential for problems at Len Busch Roses.

"Roses are the most disease and pest-prone flower we grow, and this environment is perfect for invasive insects," said Pat Etzel, Director of the Physical Plant and Production Systems at Len Busch Roses. "Pests can be hard to get rid of once they get entrenched in a greenhouse."

Take the two-spotted spider mite, said Etzel. Please.

Two-spotted spider mites can come in on the flowers that Len Busch Roses purchases, as well as from outside during the warm months of the year. To minimize infestations from outside, they installed insect barrier screens on all their air intakes. This has provided them with a more manageable and environmentally friendly means of controlling the mites.

"We prefer those simple sorts of solutions," Etzel said.

Len Busch Roses also integrated predator mites into the greenhouses to devour the two-spotted spider mites, but, then, after seven seasons, that biological method stopped working, and the two-spotted spider mite took over.

"Who knows why?" Etzel said with a shrug. "But that's the only time we spray, when all our other tricks have stopped working."

This dedication to more eco-friendly means is reflected in Len Busch Roses' alternate energy use, too. In the 1970's, founder Len Busch endured a major challenge to growing roses in the Upper Midwest. The energy crisis.

For those too young to remember, the prices of oil and gas doubled rapidly in the mid-to-late1970's, thanks to a global oil shortage. With the added fuel expense, building a new boiler for the growing greenhouse meant spending more money on oil. Even for a successful operation like Len Busch Roses, heating 90,000 square feet of greenhouse space was more expensive than they could afford.

"For a long term competitive approach in northern climes, we needed a more affordable and sustaining heat source," said Etzel.

Founder Len Busch came up with an innovative approach. Local tree trimming companies in the three county area around Plymouth were putting their wood into landfills. Why not charge them a nominal fee, but less than the landfill would charge, and take that energy source for the greenhouses? The tree-trimmers and the greenhouse would both save money.

The system was put in place in 1977, and now, 30 years later, steam and wood-power are a hallmark of the operation. They just completed an expansion of the wood burning system, which can now supply over 90% of the heat needed. Len Busch Roses chips the reclaimed wood (see video), a special wood-burning boiler heats the water, and an elaborate system of pipes carries steam to all 500,000+ square feet of greenhouses.

Furthermore, they use a "closed loop nutrient system," too. Like many greenhouses, they apply a nutrient solution to flowering plants, but Len Busch Roses uses a complex system to recapture excess solution that filters through the rock wool, the soil in which roses and other flowers are planted, and reuse it. This reduces waste and saves money on creating new nutrients for the plants.

"I'm excited about our progress," Etzel said of their environmentally friendly practices. "We're right on the cutting edge."

Eco-conscious and sustainable practices aside, what Len Busch does best is flowers. At the Wedge, their "market bunches" are the biggest seller in the floral department. Twelve Minnesota-grown roses for $9.99.

"It's the best deal that you can get for Minnesota roses," Kristen said. "Plus, it's nice to be able to tell our customers with confidence that all our roses are from Len Busch. They're surprised to know there's this big, huge greenhouse in Plymouth of all places."

Local flowers in winter, grown with concern for a greener planet. Minnesota can be a strange and beautiful place sometimes.

Proper care and handling of your roses(pdf), by Len Busch Roses