“What you have done I admire greatly, but what have you done for me lately?”

That old gibe applies to the floral industry as it shifts gears from the tension and strain of Valentine’s Day and Easter and braces for another major floral day — Mother’s Day.

And just for good measure, you can throw in high school prom season, a growing market for supermarkets.

Supermarket buyers may not recognize John Dolan’s name, but his work in Colombia and Ecuador has affected almost every box of roses they’ve received in the past 25 years. I met John in 1990, while working in Miami for a huge importer and bouquet-maker. My job was working with our 40-plus farms to diversify crop offerings.

For John Dolan, life was a bed of roses for almost four decades. Mr. Dolan embarked on a distinguished career as a trailblazing rose plant propagator who brought numerous bestselling roses to U.S. and international markets.

Mr. Dolan, who now lives in Pleasanton, CA, opened the door to Latin America for U.S.-bred roses. From Town Crier in 1961 to Amber in 2007, with bestsellers along the way like Classy and the No. 1 rose in Eastern Europe, Forever Young (12 million and counting), he introduced 33 rose varieties over the years.

Sprouts Farmers Market and Sunflower Farmers Market, two independent natural food store chains, announced March 9 they have agreed to merge. But will the merged chain carry flowers?

Sprouts did not originally carry flowers, though some of its subsidiary companies did, but has recently added floral displays.

This Mother’s Day, lots of lucky mothers will receive stunning sprays of cymbidium orchids, beautiful corsages and impressive orchid plants. And to make this happen, we here at Gallup & Stribling Orchids Inc. have been getting ready for mom’s big day all year long.

Beginning April 21, Stew Leonard’s garden centers are offering free Saturday morning workshops at their grocery stores in Danbury and Norwalk, CT, and Yonkers, NY. During each one-hour workshop, a company news release stated, attendees will learn about gardening techniques and trends from a Stew Leonard’s gardening expert and receive handout materials for home reference.