| Article by Lilian Schaer Photos by Sharon Grose Sometimes the best professional development doesn’t happen in a conference room. Rather, it happens meeting an Ontario farmer and walking the rows of a greenhouse that smells faintly like soil, steam… and 4 million flowers a year. That’s what happened at the end of March when a small group of ECFWA members visited Slaman Quality Flowers in Burford for a behind-the-scenes look at one of Ontario’s seriously impressive sectors: cut flowers. Slaman is a third-generation family business rooted in a story that started when founder John Slaman arrived from the Netherlands in 1952 at age 19 and began building a greenhouse business. Fast forward to today, and you’re looking at 150,000 sq. ft. of production, a fourth generation already toddling around, and a whole lot of science, strategy, and sweat behind every stem. If you think flowers are simple, think again. This is precision agriculture at its finest: 3,300+ sensors tracking soil, air, light and temperature Automated curtains controlling daylight (a key trigger for bloom timing) Steam sterilization systems running six feet underground to fight disease Biological pest control (the good bugs earn their keep here) And yes, they’re even looking ahead to digital twin technology to simulate growing conditions before making real-world decisions. |
At Slaman, production runs like clockwork: Continuous planting and harvesting cycles Up to 1,500 cuttings planted per hour Around 80,000 stems harvests weekly A staggering 500,000 stems moving through the company’s coolers in the three weeks before Mother’s Day. Here’s something that surprised many of us: Slaman is one of only a handful of Canadian growers specializing in cut chrysanthemums and lisianthus. Most of what we see in flower shops? Imports, often from South America, Israel or Europe. That puts operations like this in a unique (and competitive) position, supplying florists across Ontario, into the Maritimes, and even parts of the U.S.
And despite all the tech, you still need a grower walking the greenhouse, smelling and observing the plants and making that connection between science, nature and business.
Next time you see a bouquet, especially if it has a pickOntario logo, remember this: there’s a lot more behind it than meets the eye.
Thanks, Stephanie Slaman, for opening your greenhouse doors to a group of curious farm writers!
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