A lifetime with flowers: Third-generation florist John LaSalle offers blooms and kindness

By EVELINE MACDOUGALL

For the Recorder

Published: 04-03-2023 7:24 PM

John LaSalle’s astonishing productivity might lead one to wonder if a lifelong collaboration with flowers imbued him with superpowers. Yet at age 70, LaSalle shows no signs of slowing down.

“I’m getting ready to retire, though,” he said during a tour of his Whately-based business, LaSalle Florists, which sits on the same property as his home. He hopes to find a person or group to pursue horticulture or agriculture on the site where his father and grandfather also operated the business.

LaSalle carries out a mind-boggling number of tasks, including propagation, greenhouse maintenance, field cultivation and other farming activities. He also oversees design, deliveries and communication with a vast clientele — both retail and wholesale — some of whom also did business with LaSalle’s forebears.

“For me, the community that develops through our retail store is the best part,” LaSalle said. “We meet people when they’re mourning the loss of loved ones, as well as when they’re celebrating happy occasions.” He added, “Many customers have become our friends.”

LaSalle employs one full-time and five part-time workers in a business that’s about 50-50 wholesale and retail. In addition to working in the greenhouses, fields and store, LaSalle is frequently on the road. His travel schedule is busiest from July through October as he drives to Boston and New York City several times a week, averaging four hours of sleep per night.

“I go to Boston on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays throughout much of the year,” LaSalle said, “and in the busy season I go to New York on Mondays and Wednesdays … plus Fridays, if we’re lucky.”

He leaves Whately around 2 a.m. and arrives in time for the 5 a.m. market opening at either site. “That’s when the best wholesale customers show up,” LaSalle noted. “I drop off flowers, hop back in the van and head home, pulling over for a brief nap on the way.” When LaSalle returns to Whately, he gets back to work.

The business began in 1929 when his grandfather, James LaSalle Sr., sold his Northampton-based ice cream business and parlayed a hobby into a professional enterprise. John’s parents — James Jr. and Ann — joined the business in 1949.

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“My grandfather, who was born in 1884, loved to cross-breed gladiolus — a mix of European and Australian varieties — and wanted to solve the problem of nice flower colors on poor plant form, or lackluster colors on hefty plants,” John LaSalle explained. “He aimed for beautiful colors on strong plants and he nailed it.”

Glads require two years when grown from seed to flower; James LaSalle Sr. built a greenhouse in 1934 to shorten the process. For eight decades, the LaSalles grew up to 7 acres of glads and delivered them to markets in Boston and Springfield. “My grandfather produced a world grand champion in the 1940s,” said John LaSalle.

A sister of John LaSalle’s paternal grandmother lived in Whately, which is how James LaSalle Sr. came to purchase 16 acres in the town known for farming. The property had a hay barn and a tobacco barn; everything else now in existence was built by the LaSalles.

The property includes two homes, one of which housed John’s grandparents. “The home I grew up in was built in 1952, the year I was born,” said LaSalle. That year also saw the construction of a second, larger greenhouse. Today, they have 13,000 square feet under cover, including three glass houses and two plastic-covered hoop houses.

Stepping into the 1952 greenhouse, one passes beneath three camellia trees that retain faded versions of spectacular pink blossoms. Several types of scented geraniums cover long, flat surfaces, along with baby sunflowers and freesias, which emit a heavenly fragrance. Bright yellow helichrysum — members of the sunflower family — blossom near scores of potted amaryllis bulbs.

Exiting the greenhouse, one passes a 1950s Farmall tractor. “I still use that to cultivate,” said LaSalle, pointing to a 3-acre dahlia field.

The tour continues in an older, warmer greenhouse filled with calla lily plants. “I start the callas both from seed and cuttings,” LaSalle said. There’s an enormous clay pot filled with massive amounts of greenery: “That bird-of-paradise plant is 65 years old,” he noted, “and produces 15 to 20 blossoms at a time.”

LaSalle said he hardly uses any chemicals in the growing process. “We used to, but at this point, we mainly use IPA (integrated pest management).”

Over the years, economic arcs and international trends required the LaSalles to reinvent their operation many times.

“When I was a kid, we grew carnations,” he said. “In fact, Massachusetts was the biggest U.S. carnation producer.”

That changed in the 1940s when the industry shifted — first to Colorado, and then to California.

“Carnations grow best where there’s clear, bright light during the winter,” LaSalle explained. “Massachusetts is grayer in the winter than mountainous regions out west. That shift took a chunk out of our business.”

A 1970s federal policy brought a bigger shift: “The U.S. government wanted to promote flower growing in South America,” said LaSalle, “to provide alternatives to [producing] cocaine. It became tariff-free to grow and ship cut flowers.” The operations were mostly owned by European companies, however, who employed poorly paid South American workers who suffered from lax labor rules and heavy pesticide use. “I don’t think it improved the lives of South Americans that much,” said LaSalle, “and we lost the carnation portion of our business.”

The LaSalles pivoted to chrysanthemums in the 1970s and ’80s, which led to a year-round program of lighting and shading plants in response to seasonal changes.

“The blossoms are triggered by shorter days,” LaSalle noted. “They need 14 to 16 hours of darkness [per 24-hour cycle], so when days are longer, we shade the plants.” LaSalle described another strategy: turning lights on from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m., “to trick the mums into thinking they’re experiencing two short nights instead of one long one.”

The LaSalles specialized in heirloom mums. Yet they had to pivot again when South America-based growers figured out how to ship mums in good condition.

John LaSalle has worked full-time in his family business since 1979. After graduating from Stetson University in Florida with a degree in business administration, he worked for a few years as a landscaper.

LaSalle now offers a variety of plants and cut flowers, including freesias, stock, calla lilies, scented geraniums, daffodils, lisianthus, dusty miller and baby sunflowers.

“Baby sunflowers are the same plant you see growing tall in gardens and fields,” LaSalle said. “Sunflowers take 70 days from seed to bloom, no matter when you plant them. When we plant in January, we get late winter blossoms in the greenhouse, but the plants are smaller due to decreased photosynthesis. To get full-size sunflowers, we plant in May.”

His expertise has gained LaSalle national recognition. He was recently featured in The Cut Flower Quarterly, a magazine published by the Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers (ASCFG), and he’s been invited to speak at ASCFG’s 35th annual conference in St. Louis this fall. “I’ll be on a panel addressing changes in the industry over the last 30 years,” said LaSalle, adding, “We’re calling it the Old-Timers’ Panel.”

One shocking change that occurred just three years ago was “when COVID shut everything down,” he said. “All of a sudden: no weddings, no parties, no in-person church services. And it happened during one of the biggest points in the floral year: just before Easter. It thinned out the business, for sure.”

John LaSalle kept going, though, following in the footsteps of his grandfather and father. In fact, James LaSalle, Jr. remained involved in the business right up until his death at age 94 last July. “I always got along really well with my dad,” said John LaSalle.

When asked if he ever gets tired of flowers, LaSalle shakes his head and says, “I genuinely love them.”

He is, however, looking forward to his next chapters. When he finds someone to take over the business or start a similar one, he hopes to continue in the floral world as a consultant.

“I’d love to get a camper van and travel from place to place, sharing my knowledge,” he said. “There are a lot of young farmers out there, some of whom want to transition from vegetables to flowers. Others want to do flower design for weddings, events and farmers markets.”

Semi-retirement will free up time for John LaSalle to spend with his three grandkids, three children, and wife of 42 years, Debi, who works as a hairdresser. Whatever he does next, though, you can bet that he’ll bring smiles and encouragement to the people around him with blooms, kindness and love.

Eveline MacDougall is the author of “Fiery Hope” and an artist, musician, teacher and mom. She loves to hear from readers: eveline@amandlachorus.org.

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