The Tournament of Roses announced today that they will be dedicating the 2012 Directors’ Trophy award, one of 24 awards given to floats in the parade, to long time Sierra Madre resident Jacob Maarse, who passed away in December at the age of 82. Maarse had been both a float designer and a float judge during his career.
“Jacob Maarse was a dear friend of the Tournament and an innovator in floral design,” said Gene Gregg, chair of the Tournament of Roses judging committee. “We cannot think of a more fitting individual and former float judge to honor with this award.”
Maarse was born in 1928 in Holland, and moved to New York in the 1940s. He moved to Pasadena in the 1950s, and in 1966 opened Jacob Maarse Florist on Green St. in Pasadena. In the 1970s, the shop moved to a different Green St. location near the Pasadena Playhouse.
For nearly thirty years, Maarse grew roses in a 3-acre plot of ground on his property in Sierra Madre. According to the L.A. Times, “Wise customers preferred Maarse’s home-grown flowers; they said they were prettier, smelled better and lasted longer.”
Also according to the Times, the home garden was begun as a birthday present for his wife, Clara, who along with son Hank helped run the florist with Maarse. “He ordered 100 bushes, mostly of the classic Mister Lincoln variety because they were his wife’s favorite color, red. When he brought a bowl of the cut blooms to his shop, his customers began clamoring for them. Gradually, his lawn shrank as he planted more roses to meet the demand. At the height of the cutting season in April and May, his staff cuts 500 to 1,000 stems a day to sell in the store.”