Capturing precious moments
Selma“s Captivating Memories specializes in preservation
From our weekly issue dated August 04, 2010
In the 1990s, current Selma resident David Bianco spent countless hours in San Francisco Bay Area traffic commuting to his high-stress job in the computer software industry.
But by the end of that decade, he and his wife, Janet, realized that something had to change.
In 1999, the couple purchased the more than 200-acre Flying B Bar Ranch property in Selma, which came complete with a business, Captivating Memories.
It specializes in custom floral presentation and display of family heirlooms and memorabilia from life-changing events such as weddings and funerals.
A huge component of the business is preserving flowers in a “realistic“ way, David said, through a freeze-drying process.
It may seem like quite a leap for someone to go from a high-tech software firm to growing, harvesting and preserving flowers. But David“s grandfather was a rose gardener in Southern California, and taught him the tricks of the trade as a young child.
Also, Janet“s mother had a rose business in her native South Africa.
Buying the business has enabled David to utilize his college degree in physical science to perfect the preservation process. Six freeze dryers are used to drop the temperature of petals to minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit.
“We are literally sucking water out of the flowers,“ he explained.
Once that is completed, the flowers are sealed with a polymer to preserve and protect them from damage.
The business originally started in 1993, David said, but roses were grown on the property beginning in the 1980s. At one point, more than 5,000 rose bushes were maintained on-site. That now is down to around 3,000.
During 2005, David said, the couple processed approximately 100,000 flowers and “several hundred pounds“ of petals.
The Biancos added a gift shop to the business, which previously was limited to selling flowers wholesale. Petal processing was added in an attempt to “diversify“ the business, David said, as well as the preservation of bouquets and garments.
Garments can include wedding dresses and uniforms, and David commented that the firm aims to keep them in a permanent state of museum quality.
On the wholesale side, David said that the company is fully international, with customers across the globe. Domestically, Captivating Memories is one of very few wholesale freeze-dry companies, he said.
The preserved petals mostly are sold in the United States, but the Biancos do make international shipments via an Internet site.
Much of the market for the firm“s custom floral preservation is in Oregon, David said, but many customers are from New York state.
Roses grown on the property are harvested from April to October, during which time the Biancos try to preserve enough inventory to last through the winter. The roses then are taken to a former airplane hangar on-site, which now serves as the processing plant.
On a daily basis, Janet handles most of the display work while David does the technical aspects of the business and manages the vast property.
But what makes it all worthwhile, he said, is the “tears of joy“ from customers who otherwise would have stuffed their memories into a box relegated to a garage, attic or other storage space.
Located at 1100 McMullen Creek Road, Captivating Memories is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. Appointments also can be made for weekend visits.
For more information, phone 541-597-2418 or visit frozenrose.com or captivating-memories.com.
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