Now that we're over a week into December, I think it's safe to say we're officially in Holiday Mode. Whether you celebrate Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Boxing Day, Christmas, or just a holiday from work or school, you're undoubtedly encountering the festive spirit everywhere you go. The colors red and green, silver and gold deck every hall and home. Reindeer sweaters, eggnog cocktails, fairy lights, huge blow-up snowmen, real snowmen, and Christmas cookies are everywhere you look. (My team members just brought in a Dutch auction cart sized load of the little confectionery delights for "Bagel Friday," for example. Many thanks for the gluten-free cookies!)
Yep, the holidays are here.
Since Sun Valley is full-swing into Holiday Mode, it makes sense to write about our holiday offerings. Of course, we have gorgeous red Tulips, pristine white, Starfighter and Candy Cane Oriental Lilies, fragrant Christmas greens, and bountiful red berries - Ilex and Rosehips. But today I simply want to talk about Asters.
Because some of our Asters come in true holiday red, I thought they fit perfectly into my Holiday Mode schema. A recent interview with Gerrit, aka "The Aster Master," the other day left me with abundant information about the star-shaped flowers.
When this happens - "this" meaning I learned A LOT about our crops from one of our farmers - I need to break up the information into few posts to keep my rambling to a minimum, so here we go. For now, I'll start simple, really simple, and give you a breakdown of the Asters we grow at Sun Valley:
Matsumoto Asters - The Godfathers
Matsumoto Asters, also referred to as Calistephus, feature cushiony, brightly-colored petals in red, hot pink, pink, purple, lavendar, bi-red and bi-lavendar, arranged around clusters of tiny yellow flowers. Because of their popularity among customers and favorable recovery rate, Matsumotos account for a large percentage of our Aster program. You might say Matsumotos are the head of the Sun Valley Aster family.
Sweetheart Asters - The Comeback Kids
They're back! These little beauties, commonly called Serenade Asters, consist of multiple small star-like flowers per stem. They've just made a comback in our Aster arena, which will be discussed further in the next post. With brilliant colors like red, hot pink and purple - not available in other filler crops - and exceptional vaselife, Sweethearts are a charming and unique filler.
Sea Star Asters - The Crowd Pleasers
Matricaria (Chamomile) Buttons, Cushions and Daisies - The Healers
As cute as the names imply, these little blooms add a dash of whimsy and fun to any arrangement. Aside from their aesthetic qualities, they also have healing qualities. You're probably already aware of the calming properties of chamomile tea, but did you know that the plant actually "heals" the soil as well? This makes them an essential part of our Aster crop rotation, which I'll discuss in detail in the next post.
Finally we have Solidago, which I would describe as bringing the garden into your home due its wildflower look. Our farmers have timed this crop carefully to come in during peak yellow demand seasons, thus Solidago signifies the onset of spring one season and resembles falling leaves another season.
And those, my friends, are the Asters we grow at Sun Valley - all fabulous fillers and some wildly appropriate for this holiday season. I'm glad I finally got the opportunity to share some information about them with you. Now I'm going to don my reindeer sweater, pour some eggnog, and use some Matsumoto Asters for my snowman's eyes! Happy Holidays!
For more information on Matsumoto Asters, Sea Star Asters and Matricaria, check out our flower resource pages:
Matsumotos
Matricaria
Also, please check back soon to learn more about how we grow Asters at our Sun Valley Oxnard farm...
Interview with The Aster Master - Part 1
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