| Marco James Booman - Owner |
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 As the bulldozers cleared the debris from a two acre plot of land in Vista, California in March 1990, Mr. Booman had no idea that one day his new company would include 300,000 square feet of greenhouses, four major divisions, and two additional companies.
Booman Floral still follows his original vision to promote unusual and beautiful plants. Divisions include Propagation, Plant Breeding, Orchids & Tropicals, and Carnivorous Plants.
With an output exceeding two millions liners per week during the winter, his company is one of the largest propagation facilities in the world. Young plants are grown in 3 acres of computer controlled greenhouse environments designed for this specialty production.
Booman’s efforts to develop new plant varieties have netted him 20 patents for novel Rex Begonia varieties as well as one for a unique hybrid Carnivorous Plant named “Cobra Nest,” the world’s first carnivorous plant to receive a patent. He has been credited by some in the industry for “single handedly reviving commercial interest in Rex Begonias.” Breeding work with orchids has yielded ever blooming varieties suitable for pot plant culture.
Focusing on new and beautiful Orchids & Tropicals, his company is the sole source for several selections, including Dendrobium ‘Zeschia Lynn,’ Clivia ‘Golden Dragon,’ Clivia ‘Aztec Gold, Ivy ‘Booman’s Chartreuse,’ and Ivy ‘Booman’s Silver Lining.’ His company also pioneered the large scale production of the Hawaiian Snowbush for the pot plant and patio plant markets.
Booman Floral’s Carnivorous Plant program is said to be one of the world’s largest.
Mr. Booman established a sister company ProgeniFlortm in 1999 to handle the domestic and international promotion of his expanding plant breeding program.
Web based company PlantsForKids.com makes rare and fun plants available to children.
He began his plant breeding work at the University of Hawaii in 1980 while working on a graduate degree in Tropical Agriculture. He received his Bachelor's in Science degree in Horticulture in 1977 from Colorado State University, and his Master of Science degree in 1980 in Horticulture from the University of Maryland where his research focused on Plant Pathology and Vegetable Production.
Mr. Booman served on the Latin American Expansion Committee for the Western Region of the International Plant Propagators' Society. In 1992, he initiated an effort to recruit members for the society in Latin America.
He has worked closely with the University of North Carolina to develop carnivorous plant hybrids for commercial production, in an effort to protect endangered wild populations.
Interested in Human Rights issues, he also served on the Advisory Board for the Oceanside Race Unity Office, sponsored by the Baha'is of Oceanside, CA.
Mr. Booman is also a writer and photographer. His articles have been published in various international newsletters and journals. He was a regular contributor to "Desde los Jardines", a horticultural magazine in Buenos Aries, Argentina.
As a Horticultural Consultant and Speaker, Mr. Booman has traveled to Israel, Saudi Arabia, Guatemala, Argentina and Brazil.
As a philanthropist, he has donated plants and time to support th educational efforts of the Quail Botanical Garden in Encinitas, CA and KidSpace Museum in Pasadena, CA.
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