The Grand Canyon State has a rich agricultural economy thanks to its year-round sunshine and a surprisingly diverse climate. Nearly a third of Arizona farms and ranches raise cattle, with a total around 1 million head in the state. The state is also well known for its milk, cotton, and alfalfa production. Not surprisingly, all that sunshine helps make Arizona a leading producer of fresh vegetables as well, and the state ranks second in the US for lettuce and spinach production. What you might not know is that Arizona is the top rose growing state and boasts one of the largest pecan groves in the country.
Roses – Over 75% of the rose bushes produced in the U.S. originate in Arizona. The state’s climate actually allows rose bushes to bloom for nearly eight months out of the year. According to the Arizona Farm Bureau, rose bushes bound for home improvement stores, Walmarts, and nurseries across the country primarily come from four farms in the west valley. The largest is Francis Roses, founded in 1987 by Michael C. Francis in Eloy, Arizona. Now led by 4th generation farmer, Tyler M. Francis, the farm is the largest wholesaler supplier of rose bushes in the United States and Canada.
Arizona is also home to a famous rose tree found in one of the state’s most famous cities – Tombstone. Commonly known as the “Lady Banks,” the “lady banksiae” white rose dates all the way back to 1884, when a young Scottish immigrant planted a single-rooted clipping in the backyard of a boarding house for miners. Today, it covers some 9,000 square feet in the backyard of the Rose Tree Museum with a trunk that’s about 12-feet in circumference.
Tombstone’s Rose Tree was made famous in the 1930s when it was included it in Robert Ripley’s widely syndicated column “Believe It or Not.” The World’s Largest Rose Tree is also listed in the Guinness Book of World Records, and its status has never been challenged.
Pecans – Arizona has become a key player in the production of a variety of tree nuts but most of the acres are dedicated to pecans at 27,345 acres. Arizona is now the third biggest pecan producing state in the US behind Georgia and New Mexico. Like those grown in Georgia, Arizona’s pecans are typically larger in size than those that come from Texas and the fourth largest pecan growing state, New Mexico.
Some buyers, especially those in China, prefer large in-shell pecans, which has helped spur production in Arizona in recent years. However, pecan production dates back to the late 1920s when trees were planted in the Camp Verde area by Carl and Eva Hayden. The majority of those trees are still alive but no longer under commercial production. In fact, they now cover a street named “Pecan Lane.”
Pima County in the southeast part of the state is home to most of Arizona’s pecan farms. That’s where you’ll find Green Valley Pecans, which is one of the world’s largest growers with over 7,000 acres of trees in Sahuarita, Green Valley, and San Simon, Arizona.
