Polder flower ranch crew at the home of Walter Polder, Mines Street in Montebello; circa 1914.

Great slideshow today at Montebello Public Library, sharing some of the photos of the area and from the book Sending Flowers to America. Highlighted some of the folks from Montebello who were so instrumental in establishing the Los Angeles Flower Market and Southern California as a source for cut flowers nationwide. People like H.N. Gage (grower), Roy F. Wilcox (nurseryman), Gebhard Prechtl (grower), C.J. Groen (grower), John and Walter Polder of the Polder Ranch*, Frank Kuwahara, the Goto family of florists and many more.

Several of these people (Gage, Wilcox, Prechtl, Groen) helped establish the Los Angeles Flower Market.

*Much to everyone’s delight, John Polder’s son Bill showed up at this presentation. We enjoyed his comments and reminiscences from his childhood growing up in Montebello and working in his father’s and uncles flower fields there.

A delightful afternoon.