Sales Blossoming : The bright bouquets at farmers’ outlets are attracting more customers. A certification protects against fraud.

Seasonal fresh-cut flowers and nursery stock are popular items at Ventura County’s five farmers market outlets.

Strolling the market grounds, you are likely to see bright gladioli offered next to fresh arugula, while prickly cacti are a step away from ears of corn and blue lake beans.

And though fresh produce attracts most market patrons, it isn’t unusual to see customers with a bag of fruits and vegetables in one hand and flowers or a plant clenched in the other.

According to Karen Wetzel, manager of the three certified Ventura County farmers markets, fresh-cut flowers and nursery stock purchases account for about 10% of total sales at Ventura’s market on Wednesdays and Saturdays and the Thousand Oaks market on Thursday.

The Camarillo and Oxnard farmers markets, held Saturdays and Thursdays respectively, also offer an assortment of plants and seasonal flowers from local producers.

“These items have been offered since the beginning, but they have more recently grown in popularity,” Wetzel said.

And as outdoor markets experience a boom in business, the State Department of Food and Agriculture--which regulates certified farmers markets--has sought to protect customers from fraud.

“At certified farmers markets,” Wetzel explained, “being certified requires that the sellers are indeed the producers of the products they are offering.”

Fresh produce growers have always been certified. But until recently, a loophole allowed flower and nursery stock vendors to sell products at farmers markets without certification.

“In the past, there has been some abuse,” she said. “People would purchase product, say at the flower market in Los Angeles, then turn around and sell it at the farmers markets.”

That all changed July 26 when the loophole was tightened. New regulations now require fresh-cut flower and nursery stock vendors to acquire certification.

“It ensures there is more accountability on the sellers’ part,” Wetzel said.

The recent change was welcomed by many growers.

“I put in a lot of hard work to be able to offer what I have here,” said John Wooten, a familiar face at area markets. “I’m happy about the new certification because now you can’t just come in here and sell whatever you can get your hands on.”

Wooten and his colorful bouquets of fresh-cut flowers are popular at the Thousand Oaks market. Besides an assortment of organically grown vegetables, he and his wife, Nandanie, grow about 50 varieties of seasonal flowers in Camarillo, including dahlias, gladioli and marigolds. Their bouquets are emblazoned with up to 10 colorful varieties.

“We usually sell out in about a half hour,” Wooten said.

Other flora offered at area markets include indoor and outdoor potted plants, bedding varieties, cacti and exotics.

Werner and Maria Bajewski offer a whiff of Hawaii at the Ventura and Thousand Oaks markets and occasionally at the Camarillo outlet. Their plumeria plants--the petals of which are commonly used for Hawaiian leis--are known for their intense fragrance.

“The plants we propagate came from Hawaii 30 years ago,” Werner Bajewski said. Even though it is considered exotic, plumeria is easy to grow in Southern California, he said.

The plants have thick branches with large, pointy dark-green leaves. They can be grown as a shrub or a small tree. Most varieties will drop their leaves during the winter. Plant size, Bajewski said, is easily controlled by pruning during the dormant season.

The plant produces colorful blooms in white, pink, red, orange and bicolors.

Another exotic plant seen at Ventura County markets is the tillandsia--more commonly known as a tropical air plant, which take its sustenance from the air. Tillandsias thrive without soil and are found naturally in Central and South America clinging to rocks, cliffs, trees and other plants.

“Their root system is more of an anchoring device than it is for feeding,” said vendor Liz West. Her varieties are available in sizes from tiny to large. West attends the Thousand Oaks market and Saturday’s Ventura market. The fern-like tillandsia, with its long slender leaves, is commonly found on curled pieces of driftwood.

And the drought-resistant plants produce a beautiful bloom. “They have bright, long-lasting flowers,” West said.

* WHERE AND WHEN

Ventura County Certified Farmers’ Market:

* Wednesdays, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Montgomery Ward Parking lot at Main Street and Mills Road, Ventura.

* Saturdays, 8:30 a.m. to noon; corner of Figueroa and Santa Clara streets, Ventura.

* Thursdays, 5 to 8 p.m.; Janss Mall at Hillcrest Drive and Moorpark Road, Thousand Oaks.

Oxnard Downtown Certified Farmers’ Market:

* Thursdays, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; corner of 7th and B streets, Oxnard.

Camarillo Certified Farmers’ Market:

* Saturdays, 8 a.m. to noon; parking lot at the Senior Nutrition Center, 2220 Ventura Blvd., Camarillo.