Here’s How You Can Help a Ukranian Flower Grower in Dire Straits
March 11, 2022 
Recently, while browsing Instagram under the hashtag #Ukraine, trying to get first-hand unfiltered updates of what was going on, Marc Englert of Florep says he saw a post of a greenhouse burning with the message, “It’s a flower farm. Not a military object!” He started following their Instagram account: villaverdere.farm.
At that time, the company was asking for financial help to rebuild their operation when the war was over.
“I wanted to reach out to Spanish greenhouse and irrigation manufacturers that my business partner in Spain and I work with,” Englert says. “The plan was to help them rebuild their structures once the war was over.”
Then, Englert saw a new post – a plea for help – not for their floriculture operation, but for their life and for their country.
“I direct messaged the poster, asking if I can pass on her plea to help her and her country to our U.S. horticulture industry and industry leaders. She messaged me back, thanking me for my support and saying yes to sharing their story and plea,” Englert says.
The person reaching out was Yulia Zavalniuk, director of the LLC Villa Verde farm that is operated by Zavalniuk and her mother. They are a grower of peonies, hydrangea, ranunculus, and more.
Yulia is now sheltering in place in Lviv in eastern Ukraine (not far from by the Polish border). Everyone else from her company also fled the area.
If you want to help Yulia, her email is [email protected]. Their greenhouse operation is located in Kolonschyna, Kyiv Oblast (Kyiv Region), Ukraine. You can also click here for more.
For Englert, the plight of Yulia is personal to him.
“My German grandfather was a truck driver during World War II after having been drafted to the German army, leaving behind his family and vegetable nursery. He drove to Kyiv to bring supplies to his battalion. When he left to get more, he was captured by the French and later handed over to the Americans. Everyone else in his battalion died in Kyiv. He was one of the lucky survivors,” he says.
“Let’s see how our horticulture industry can help Yulia and Ukranians fighting for survival,” Englert says.
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