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Re: City Of Capitola Closes Railroad Bridge For Begonia Festival
Author: Chuck in Wallowa County
Date: 08-31-2017 - 16:16
I'm sad. Before I moved to Oregon, I lived near Capitola and was a big fan of the Begonia Festival. I even grew tuberous begonias and was on the festival board for a couple of years. For decades, people dared climb onto the trestle to watch the waterborne parade of homegrown floats.
I know it sounds impossible, but begonias once were a big part of the agricultural picture in Santa Cruz County. There were huge begonia growing grounds in Capitola and Santa Cruz and more recently south of Watsonville. There also were quite a few smaller growers and many retailers along the California coast.
Golden State Bulb Growers, the only remaining wholesale grower of begonia tubers in the U.S., is giving up the ghost because of a dwindling market. So their flowers no longer will be available for the festival floats.
The tubers you can order from Europe produce either inferior flowers or are way overpriced. That's why I'm sad.
R.I.P. Capitola Begonia Festival and Golden State begonia tubers, known earlier as Brown Bulb Ranch tubers. And, of course, long live the iconic Capitola trestle!
I know it sounds impossible, but begonias once were a big part of the agricultural picture in Santa Cruz County. There were huge begonia growing grounds in Capitola and Santa Cruz and more recently south of Watsonville. There also were quite a few smaller growers and many retailers along the California coast.
Golden State Bulb Growers, the only remaining wholesale grower of begonia tubers in the U.S., is giving up the ghost because of a dwindling market. So their flowers no longer will be available for the festival floats.
The tubers you can order from Europe produce either inferior flowers or are way overpriced. That's why I'm sad.
R.I.P. Capitola Begonia Festival and Golden State begonia tubers, known earlier as Brown Bulb Ranch tubers. And, of course, long live the iconic Capitola trestle!
