Nose Candy

From the Houston Chronicle: Growers' profits wilt.

Valentine's Day is the one day in the middle of the winter when everyone wants roses, and the 150 laborers on this 35-acre rose plantation are working overtime to sell American customers fresh, fragrant flowers.

But for all the bustle and fuss of the peak season, growers in Colombia, the world's second-largest exporter of cut flowers, say they are being squeezed.

Prices for flowers remain flat. The falling value of the U.S. dollar has turned profits into losses. Several farms have closed, laying off thousands of employees. And a trade deal that would give Colombian flowers permanent duty-free entry into the United States may be rejected by the U.S. Congress.

"The business has always faced difficulties, but never more than now," said Augusto Solano, president of the Colombian Association of Flower Exporters, a trade group in Bogotá.

Part of the problem is heavy reliance on the United States, where nearly six of every 10 flowers sold are imported from Colombia.

Amid an economic slowdown, the U.S. dollar has lost more than one-third of its value against the Colombian peso.

Guess it's time to go back to your original cash crop, Colombia!