Each year, 18 million roses are specifically chosen to decorate the floats that make up the iconic Rose Parade every New Year's Day.
But as climate change continues to drastically alter weather patterns across the globe, finding those roses is becoming more difficult.
Between rain, wildfires, extreme whiplash between hot and cold weather and other dramatic weather changes, there are fewer good-quality roses being produced, said Danielle Hahn, who owns a rose growing farm in Southern California.
As a result, the Pasadena Tournament of Roses turned to importing its roses from all over the world decades ago, importing most of its iconic flora from Colombia, Ecuador and the Netherlands.
Get top local stories in Southern California delivered to you every morning. >Sign up for NBC LA's News Headlines newsletter.
But that can be costly — according to Alejandro Martinez, who represents rose growers in Ecuador, the country exports about $1 billion in roses every year.
Other countries haven't escaped the effects of global warming either, Martinez said. Because warmer temperatures come sooner, rose plants produce more stems prematurely, and they don't always bloom.
Though climate change hasn't proven to be insurmountable for the parade so far, the float builders at Phoenix Decorating Company, one of the two sanctioned construction companies the Tournament of Roses uses to build its parade entries, are starting to notice the impact.
"In mid-December, I do start getting things that this didn't happen, or this color couldn't come in, or they had a freeze, or something like that," said Lyn Lofthouse, the floral decorator at Phoenix Decorating. "Whatever somebody’s growing that I need, I’ll find them."
On top of the financial responsibility importing the flowers demands, it also leaves a significant carbon footprint — making climate change even worse.
One solution, Hahn said, might be to hold the parade at a later date. Because the weather in Southern California typically mellows out in the spring, bumping the celebration to mid-May may allow the roses to be grown locally.
The 2025 Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade will be held on Wednesday, Jan. 1 at 11 a.m. P.T.
NBC will broadcast the 136th Rose Parade live on Wednesday, Jan. 1 from 8 to 10 a.m. PT (11 a.m.-1 p.m. ET) and simulcast on Peacock, hosted by Hoda Kotb and Al Roker.
