Vicente Vorse places flowers along the bottom of the floral display. Pollen Floral Works owners Jason and Vicente Vorse woke just before the sun Saturday morning to load the bed of their pick-up with dozens of crates of flowers and drive up to the covered picnic shelter off Huntington Avenue near Castle Rock Elementary School. In the dark before dawn, they arranged roses around a commemorative sign and hung carnations from the ceiling, transforming the rest area into a fragrant public art installation. • Save thousands of dollars worth of flowers from getting thrown out as floral suppliers close due to a downturn in business caused by the COVID-19 outbreak • Create “just a little bit of happiness” in the community as local residents adjust to life during a global pandemic “We wanted to use this mishap and make it something prettier,” Jason Vorse said. The economic downturn spurred by the COVID-19 outbreak has hit the flower market particularly hard, he said. Concerns about the virus have made flying in stock from other countries more challenging and expensive. And with weddings called off and most people in a sort of survival mode, there are few customers left to buy the flowers once they arrive. As a result, many flower suppliers have cut staff or closed, Jason Vorse said. Left unbought, their perishable stock of blooms usually ends up in the trash. “It’s hard to see dumpsters and dumpsters full of flowers,” he said. So he and Vicente concocted a plan to salvage at least some of the blooms by installing a public floral arrangement in Castle Rock. Their shop partnered with Portland flower suppliers Greenleaf Wholesale and Frank Adams Wholesale to gather material. Castle Rock Pollen workers decorate the sign at the entrance to town with flowers that would […]