Once a month, Trebol Rose farm near Cuenca gives tours and on our last full day in Ecuador, we toured this beautiful rose hacienda.

The farm is an hour from Cuenca and off the beaten path. After exiting the highway, the bus snaked through narrow muddy roads in the Andes mountains until we arrived at Hacienda El Cortijo (The Farmhouse Estate).

Since 1997 the Trebol Rose farm has grown roses on 30 acres at an altitude of over 9,500 feet. The year-round warm days, cool nights and daily sunshine provide perfect conditions for roses. This 4^th generation farm also has been a 178-acre dairy farm since 1910.

In 1996, Rosana, the oldest daughter of the family, decided to grow roses starting with one greenhouse and 20 employees. Today, there are 18 greenhouses with 21 different rose varieties and 700,000 plants. The rose farm employs 150 workers and another 80 temporary workers to harvest roses for Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day. The farm exports roses around the world and guarantees 5-day delivery to the United States.

When we arrived at the estate, we were treated to a buffet of cheese, bread, fruit, and juice. Rosana and her sister, Juana, told us the history of the farm and after sampling the food, we headed to the greenhouses.

For the next hour, Rosana explained the entire process from planting rose bushes through harvesting, packaging and shipping the flowers. The process is very controlled, and the employees are highly trained to harvest and care for roses.

Roses are harvested daily allowing workers to cut rosebuds at the perfect time. The daily harvest is recorded and tracked.

In the processing area, each rose is evaluated to assure it meets high standards. The roses will have a vase life up to a month because they are cut and shipped the same day.

The roses are then packaged in bundles of 25. The stems of the packaged roses are cut to the required length and moved into cold storage for shipment. Their premium roses have three-foot stems!

Roses are shipped daily to Quito and loaded onto planes for export. Other roses are delivered to Cuenca for retail sale. Today, 5% of sales are direct orders to U.S. customers but the company plans to increase direct sales to 50%. Currently, most of the sales are to wholesalers around the world

During our tour, Rosana pointed out a display of tinted roses. These unusual multicolored roses are created by splitting the stem into several smaller, thin stems. Each stem is submerged into colored water. In two days, the rose absorbs the color into various parts of the petal, creating unique designs.

After our tour, we returned to the hacienda for lunch. Juana prepared chicken soup with a variety of toppings and a delicious stir-fry pasta. We sat on the veranda eating at tables decorated with roses.

After lunch, we were offered roses to take with us but unfortunately, we could not accept them because this was our last day in Ecuador. What a lovely way to end three months in beautiful Ecuador.