Monthly Archives: November 2012

COUNTRY GARDEN ROSES

HALF PRICE ROSE SALE

Sale! 50% Off Selected Roses

We have a surplus of some varieties of roses and are offering them at HALF PRICE to clear. 

Details of all the SALE  roses are available on our web site. (click below)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY


MAKE SOMEONE’S BIRTHDAY EXTRA SPECIAL
Everyone has a Birthday and a Rose makes an Extra Special Birthday Gift. Send a loved one a Rose as a Birthday Gift and they will NEVER forget who sent it. Year after year as it blooms it will always remind them of you. A posy of flowers will only last a few days but a Rose Bush will last for years and give a constant reminder and many years of enjoyment. You need never be stuck for a Special Birthday Gift again if you send a Rose.  A Rose is a Gift that never gets lost or misplaced, it cannot be hidden away and forgotten. Roses are always acceptable as a Gift for any Birthday at any age. Birthday Roses come in a wide range of colours and perfumes to suit all tastes. Most Birthday Roses have names to suit all ages . How about Absolutely Fabulous, Birthday Boy, Birthday Girl, Birthday Rose, Fab at 50, Many Happy Returns, For You With Love, Happy Memories, Isn’t She Lovely, Forever Young, Keep In Touch, Little Miss Sunshine, Mum In A Million, My Darling Husband, My Darling Wife, Special Mum, Special Dad, Special Grandad, Special Grandma, Thinking Of You, You’re Beautiful, Birthday Wishes, or just HAPPY BIRTHDAY If you are still undecided why not try our Name Your Own Rose Service and really personalise your Birthday Rose. You may book your Birthday Roses for any Birthday Date whether it is next week, next month, or even next year, its up to you. Take time to browse our web site for a suitable rose, we have over 1000 varieties to choose from and you will be amazed at what we have to offer. We have the largest selection in the country which is backed up by an experienced team who are only too pleased to help. If you need any advice on which roses to choose or any help with rose care, just e.mail or telephone our office for the best advice available. As usual you may order your Birthday Rose, On Line, By Telephone or by post which ever you prefer.
We are open SEVEN DAYS A WEEK 10.AM-4,PM.
Tel 01939 210 380

Don’t be stuck ever again for a suitable Birthday Gift, MAKE SOMEONE’S BIRTHDAY EXTRA SPECIAL AND SEND THEM A ROSE.

Don’t Forget

CHRISTMAS GIFT ROSE DELIVERIES

Last Posting Day For Christmas.

Thursday 20th December.

Please book as early as possible.
Special Mum
Thank You For Your Custom. Best Wishes From All At
Country Garden Roses

Details of all our roses are available on our web site.
Over 1000 varieties to choose from.
(click below)

www.countrygardenroses.co.uk

Rose News From Around The World

AFGHANISTAN

Roses or Drugs !

Afghanistan depends on agriculture – and that means: on the illicit drug trade. The Afghan government is fighting opium and cannabis on farmers’ fields, and now, a Canadian businesswoman has joined the fray.

She has never been to Afghanistan, and originally, she actually wanted to become a social worker. But now, Barb Stegemann is doing good business with Afghanistan. The 42-year-old imports the oil won from rose and orange petals and mixes them into perfumes.

Her scents are not only sold over the Internet, but also can be found on the shelves of large department stores in her home country of Canada and in several duty-free shops at airports. What is helping Stegemann is also having a positive effect on Afghanistan. When farmers plant roses and oranges and can make money with them, there will be fewer opium poppies in the fields.

Stegemann knows she is only scratching the surface with her business. Most Afghan farmers are still planting huge quantities of opium and cannabis, rather than legal crops, like oranges and roses. With a market share of some 90 percent, Afghanistan is the largest producer of opiates worldwide, according to the United Nations.

Building up trust
Opium Poppies

Most farmers in Afghanistan still prefer growing opium and cannabis

Stegemann, however, hopes that her example will encourage other investors to realize similarly innovative investment ideas abroad. Trade helps to build trust and is a key to development in this crisis region, she says.

Some 80 percent of Afghans today live from agriculture. There have been many attempts to ween farmers away from the drug trade. Since 2004, the German NGO, Welthungerhilfe, has been helping farmers plant roses and harvest the oil.

Barb Stegemann got the idea for her business from her best friend who was a soldier in Afghanistan. Learning more about the country, Stegemann stumbled across an Afghan trader, Abdullah Arsala, who had already started a business with essential oils as an alternative souce of income for farmers. Stegemann planned her end of the business in her own garage and initially bought oil from Arsala for around $2,000 (1,560 euros).

“The banks didn’t want to give me a loan,” she told Deutsche Welle. “So, I had to put it on my visa card.” Within a month she had the money back.

After her appareance on a Canadian TV show two years ago she managed to convince an investor. Since then, her company “7 Virtues” has invested some $100,000 in Afghanistan. Her business partner, Abdullah Arsala, has 15 regular employees in his country. During the harvest season, another 2,500 seasonal workers are hired. “Roses and oranges are a good substitute for opium,” he says. “But these plants take between three and five years until they reach full bloom.” Many farmers can’t afford to wait that long, he lamented.

Drugs trade twice as lucrative

Marijuana Crop

NATO troops try to curb the opium trade and subsidize other crops

Opium, on the other hand, can be harvested several times a year, depending on the weather. The sellers can get up to twice as much as they get with the petals and oils, explains Afghanistan expert, Jane Kursawe, of the German Institute of Global and Area Studies. “Many would prefer not to grow opium,” she told DW. They know it is banned and many would find it easier to enter the legal crops trade, if they had support for purchasing seeds and fertilizer and setting up irrigation systems.

The projects aimed at alternatives, like roses or saffron, not only have positive sides though, cautions Kursawe. “The price for rose oil dropped rapidly after some time because suddenly there was so much supply. And that has made it less attractive again compared to opium.”

But there is no need to abandon such projects. What is needed over the long term, Kursawe emphasizes, is an effort to break the dependence on agriculture, to develop infrastructure, and with that, to boost other sectors of the Afghan economy.

Barb Stegemann is already taking her business to the next level: She now imports oil from Haiti and plans to take her perfumes to the European market.

Details of all our roses are available on our web site.
Over 1000 varieties to choose from.
(click below)

www.countrygardenroses.co.uk