Market lovers - Gianni's roses
How do you become a floriculturist, how do you convert a farm into a temple for roses, how do you fight the uncertainty of weather, pests, unbridled online buying, and static roses?
Gianni inherited his family’s farm in Cerveteri a stone's throw from the sea in the province of Rome from his grandparents, Giuseppe Seri and Oliva Pennesi. His family, originally from the Marche region, moved from Manziana to Cerveteri (Lazio) in 1953 when they obtained land assigned to them by the Maremma Authority. These were the difficult years of the postwar period, yet Giuseppe and Oliva set up a fruit and vegetable production and also even at that time a flower production, limiting themselves, however, only to the production of carnations.
Gianni's father Adriano, born in Manziana, carried on the family vegetable farm and then his wife Maria Miolo, of Maccarese. “I remember as a child already helping out along with all my little cousins-I was one of the youngest and I remember these expanses of carnations,” Gianni confides. “Partly I played, partly I helped: each carnation had to be put back inside its box, then the buds had to be thinned, because the carnation makes so many buds but you have to leave only one. Or I would help remove the grass between plants, but that was more time playing than working. I enjoyed being there with my brother and older cousins.”
Gianni officially took over the farm in 1994. His entire family helps out onthe farm including his wife Valentina and then the his daughters Camilla, born in 2002, and Frida in 2007. Gianni’s flower farm is now very well known to florists all of Italy.
Today, Gianni and his flowers can be found every Tuesdays and Fridays and sometimes on Thursdays at the wholesale flower and plant market that was “deported” from Prati to Via Palmiro Togliatti with great controversy. On Saturdays and Sundays, you can find him at the Campagna Amica farmers' market in Circo Massimo.
His farm boasts fifty thousand rose plants of very different varieties, but also thirty thousand ranunculus, plants that are planted every year, the anemones, camomile, mimosas, peonies, freesias. On an April morning, walking with him under inside his greenhouses, among the rows of roses, I learned, among other things: that the flowers that smell the best last the least; that there is a variety of rose called “café au lait”; and that in the early morning the flowers smell the strongest because that is the time when insects are pollinating.
Among the many innovations Gianni has brought to the farm, using entirely natural methods for treating his plants was one of the biggest. “Nowadays, there is a demand for untreated flowers, a consequence of a more conscious choice, some customers prefer to have a product healthier rather than perfect - he explains- absolutely untreated is chamomile, which in recent times has been a resounding success, especially among younger customers. Also left untreated are a few varieties of roses".
A few years ago he started a collaboration with Dario the owner of a gelateria in Monteverde, Gourmandise. Gianni remembers ‘I used to make jams and rose jellies before; Now with him, we experiment with ice cream, a recipe made from goat's milk and rose petals. Of which I am very proud.”
And while there is a growing awareness for what sustainable agriculture and even sustainable floriculture means to a certain clientele, it is also true that the market scene has changed profoundly in recent years. “Twenty years ago the florist would come to the wholesale market see the product, decide, buy; today most customers buy online and prefer a static rose, which ages more slowly, perhaps more anonymous, less interesting but flawless. To tell the difference between a product like that and mine there is only the tool of trust, which has been built over the years, and the ability to make people understand the value of our plants and our work.”
Gianni's tenacity clashes with bad weather, with the drudgery of an unpredictable trade (on the day we visit the farm he has to set up an important event promoted by the Fendi sisters, outdoors, and the rain gives no respite), with unfair competition, and with the struggle to find collaborators. On Saturdays and Sundays, Camilla and Frida help out their dad at Circus Maximus: “of course I would be happy if they continued my business, but I want them free. Camilla for a long time studied as a pastry chef then decided it was not her path and changed paths and now studies forestry sciences at Sapienza University. What matters is that they do a job that gives them satisfaction." Like roses for Gianni.
All the images accompanying this article (except this one above, obviously) were taken by Philadelphia photographer Kara Foran, whom I thank from the bottom of my heart.