About Us:
When I think back to the early days
of our family business, we've come to realize "good luck" was
on our side. It was back in 1949 when my father, Ernie, and his
mother, Sylvia, were vacationing in Hawaii. Among the many
beautiful things they noticed in this tropical paradise was the
fascinating Ti (pronounced "tee") Plant. Native
Hawaiians believe the Ti Plant brings "good fortune" to those
who grow the plant and therefore many home on the island have Ti Plants
in or outside their homes. Realizing how popular this plant was among
the locals, my grandmother and dad decided to share Hawaiian Ti logs
back on the mainland. That following year, they began importing
the cuttings to sell them at flower shows across the country. The
popularity of the Ti log had grown so much that in 1964 Roberta's
became one of the largest exhibitors at the Oriental Pavilion at the
World's Fair in New York City.
Soon after, Dad purchased a 20 acre farm in
Hawaii to expand the line of tropical plants. "Roberta's of
Hawaii" was named after Roberta, our mother. Ernie continued to
travel the world and created great relationships with growers in China,
Holland, and New Zealand to name a few. Roberta's was incorporated in
1976. By then, we were selling our plants on television, to mass
merchants and via mail order. My brothers and I traveled coast to coast
selling unique, hard-to-find yet easy-to-grow plants at Flower Shows
and Festivals across the USA. Kevin even exhibited at the
renowned Chelsea Flower Show in England amongst many other
international events.
We began selling our line of Easy to Grow
and Unique plants on QVC in the late 1990's. Now, the entire
family is in the business with the fourth generation just getting
started. We are proud of the flowers we sell and are all directly
involved in satisfying our customers needs. Our goal is to have
our customers grow the gardens of their dreams.
Good Growing!
Eric Wallien
