Cultivation Of Crops: Mother's Day ~ Let's Get It On!

"Let's get it on!"

When Marvin Gaye sang these immortal words he must have been thinking about Mother's Day in the floral biz. All throughout Sun Valley, the energy level is rising and everyone is feeling the vibe. It’s going to be a wild few weeks until we hit May 12^th. We all know Mother's Day is crazy for flower growers, but did you know it is also the single day with the most long distance calls of the year?

So what crops are we still flush with?

Matsumoto Asters, White Dubium and of course, Tulips.

Hot Pink Matsumoto Asters

Time to celebrate MatsuMania 2013! Our Sun Valley Matsumotos are known for their bright colors, big blooms and tall sturdy stems. The red, purple, pink and lavender colors are all coming in strong. The weather changed just perfectly at our Oxnard farm this spring to provide us with a bumper crop. Gerrit in Oxnard is responsible for growing this epic crop, now all of YOU need to come through and find a home for these beauties.

Red Matsumoto Asters

I feel like Matsumotos are often one of the unsung crops of the farm. We are known for our impressive tulip production, year round Telstar iris production and our jaw dropping lilies. It seems these unique flowers live in the shadows. This is not the case right now, Matsumotos are standing up, so you better take notice. They are also bursting out of our bouquet department, have you checked out these bouquets, let us do the work for you!

White Dubium progression

Two weeks ago I wrote about Dubium Ornithogalum, imagine Star of Bethlehem on steroids. We have an abundance of the white variety, which is perfect as a focal or in a supporting role in your Mother's Day designs. This plant is really well known in horticulture circles, and you will often see this as a potted plant in garden centers or supermarket floral departments. We have been getting a really positive response from our customers on this crop as a cut flower, it is definitely an up and coming "cut" flower, and will add a little spice to whatever you use it for. One of its' outstanding qualities, is an almost freakish vase life. These plants are native to arid regions of Africa and the Middle East. They survive three weeks and beyond, after the blooms start to open in a progression up the stem. You could give your Mom a big bunch of these with some greenery for Mother's Day, and still be enjoying them at Father's Day!

"The secret of success is consistency of purpose" -Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881, British Prime Minister)

Consistency of purposesums up the Sun Valley Tulip program. Our soil grown, greenhouse tulips maintain the highest quality year round. We strongly believe that offering a consistent, dependable product is the key to return business. Whether you are a wholesaler selling tulips to florists or a mass marketer selling tulips to the general public, if you sell poor a quality tulip you are poisoning your next sale. When a customer is buying from you they are already committed to the sale, however, the next sale is what you should be thinking about. Consistency creates return business, better relationships, and in the end, builds your customers trust.

Is there anything more valuable or precious in business than your customers trust?