Which farm should you buy from?

Why altitude decides head size

Roses grown at higher elevation experience colder nights. Cold slows the rate at which a bud develops, and a bud that takes longer to mature accumulates more petals, a thicker calyx and a heavier head. The same variety planted at 2,300 metres and at 1,700 metres will not produce the same flower.

Slower development also produces a stiffer, more lignified stem, which is why high-altitude roses travel better and hold vase life longer after a long cold chain. The trade-off is yield: cooler sites cycle more slowly, so stems per hectare per year are lower. This is the fundamental economic tension in Kenyan floriculture, and it is why a group operating at several elevations can serve buyers that a single-site farm cannot.

The three farms at a glance

Sierra Flora

2,300m · 27 hectares · est. 2011 · Elburgon · largest heads · 34 varieties

Roseto

1,950m · 28 hectares · est. 2005 · Rongai · medium to large heads (3–5cm) · 46 varieties

Florenza

1,750m (Ol'banita) and 1,700m (Solai) · 22 hectares · est. 2013 · small to medium heads · Fairtrade certified · 49 varieties

Sierra Flora — the largest heads

Sierra Flora sits at 2,300m at Elburgon, the highest of the group's sites, on 27 hectares established in 2011. It produces the largest rose heads in the group, alongside alstroemeria.

Choose Sierra Flora when head size is the specification — premium single-stem retail, luxury florist work, and North American wholesale, where buyers grade heavily on head diameter and stem strength. Sierra Flora already supplies wholesalers across the United States and Canada.

Roseto — the all-rounder

Roseto is the group's founding farm, established in 2005 on 28 hectares at Rongai, 1,950m. Head diameter runs 3–5cm, giving medium to large heads across both standard and spray roses.

Choose Roseto for volume programmes that still need a substantial head — supermarket bouquets at the premium end, event work, and mixed standing orders where consistency week to week matters more than peak head size.

Florenza — bouquet and mixed-arrangement work

Florenza farms two sites: Ol'banita at 1,750m, established 2013, and Solai at 1,700m, opened in 2023. Together they cover 22 hectares and produce small to medium heads across standard roses, spray roses and chrysanthemums.

Choose Florenza for bouquet and mixed-arrangement programmes, where a smaller, well-proportioned head sits better in a mixed bunch than a large solitary bloom, and where colour range across many varieties matters more than individual head size. Florenza is also the group's Fairtrade-certified operation, which is a requirement for some European retail buyers.

Shared across all three farms

• Export destinations: Netherlands, United Kingdom, Europe, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kazakhstan, East Asia
• Post-harvest grading and cold-chain handling to the same group standard
• Packaging supplied in-group by Mega Pack, including telescopic flower boxes
• Approximately 90% of farm electricity drawn from on-site solar generation