Blue Flower, Blue Planet : Earth Day 2015

Blue Flower, Blue Planet : Earth Day 2015

#americangrown #USGrown Blue Iris blue planet CA Grown Earth Day 2015 Sustainability

Earth Day was first conceived in 1969, in reaction to a massive oil spill in Santa Barbara that ravaged the California coastline.  At the time, there were minimal protections for our blue planet, and accidents of this kind were common.  Community organizers, along with a senator from Wisconsin--Gaylord Nelson--pushed for an environmental teach-in to be held on April 22, 1970.

On that day, the influence of the earth and nature had particular significance; millions across the United States participated in the celebration of our blue planet and the collective concern for its conversation and preservation.  Years later, this day was brought to international attention, and now over 190 countries celebrate and recognize the beauty of our shared Earth.

Official Earth Day Flag

 Earth Day led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts.  Now, the United States boasts some of the strongest environmental standards in the world--especially here in California.

And here in California, Sun Valley has been doing its part to nourish and give back to the planet.  This is especially important since our products (aka beautiful flowers) come straight from the Earth's rich heart.  To demonstrate our care and respect for the land we use, we seek to utilize sustainable farming practices.  To minimize unnecessary waste, we use an environmentally friendly steam-sterilization technique to recycle our soil, while also employing the practices of crop rotation, integrated waste/compost management, and energy-efficient greenhouses.  We use bicycles to get from hoop house to greenhouse to field to office, which is friendly for the land and for our bodies.

We were the first flower farm in California to be certified by Veriflora, an agricultural sustainability and eco-labeling program which ensures that we meet America's most comprehensive sustainability standard.  In short, we try to live symbiotically with the planet that, in turn, gives us our gorgeous lilies, tulips, and irises.  

And what better way to celebrate the iconic beauty of the Earth than with a flower?  Here at Sun Valley, we are commemorating Earth Day with our Iris.  It is a refreshing and pure symbol of what clean air, land, and water can achieve—a blue flower from, and for, a blue planet.

This Earth Day, look around, feel the dirt, smell the air—find yourself something of this planet to enjoy.   Bring some earthen beauty home with you and celebrate with our Iris, grown with the earth in mind.

The Journey to find the Wonder Flower, Part 1

The Journey to find the Wonder Flower, Part 1

#americangrown #CAGrown #dubium #ornithogalum #Sun Valley #USGrown #wonderflower

Yesterday morning, a brilliant flash of orange from our hoop houses made me stop in my tracks. What vivid flower could this be? Why, it's the beautiful Ornithogalum---a mouthful of a name for an extraordinary plant. This elegant flower is native to both South Africa and the Mediterranean, and features a cluster of star-shaped, bell-like flowers gathered at the head of a long, leafless stem.  It’s simply beautiful, so there's no surprise why it's been dubbed "the Wonder Flower." How did we get our paws on such an exotic beauty? Well, our man-with-a-plan, Mr. Lane DeVries, made a special journey to Israel specifically to find the varieties that we offer you today.

Ornithogalum dubium: The Wonder Flower

There are not many US companies who offer Ornithogalum, and this is because growing the wondrous thing can pose several challenges--without the right growing environment or variety, its long stems can become tangled or curved, and its cluster of blooms can be sparse and scattered.  When Lane made his trip to Israel in 2011, he was looking for the best that Ornithogalum had to offer.  He wanted ample, abounding heads of blooms atop longer, straighter stems.  He found this with Ben Zur.

Ben Zur, holding a prized Ornithogalum.

For the last 25 years, Ben Zur Nurseries has been working with plant tissue culture, hybridizing varieties to produce stronger, healthier plants as well as first-generation bulbs.  Lane had gone to see Ben's latest work with the Ornithogalum, and found "The One"--the brilliant orange Ornithogalum dubium.  It was, quite literally, the only one of its kind in the greenhouse.  Lane noticed it immediately, not only because it boasted a taller, straighter stem than its sisters, but (most importantly) because its blooms were thickly gathered together at the top.  Ben Zur called this outstanding variety AV-13, but with its adoption by Sun Valley, we know it as Royal Valley.

Lane picking AV-13

"The One"

Now that you've heard the tale of Lane's journey across the sea to hand-pick our beautiful star-of-Bethlehem, stay tuned for Part 2 next week, in which we will explore why Ornithogalum is so beloved, what it needs to grow so beautifully, and I will also unveil some sweet photos of all our Ornithogalum varietal colors.  

Stay brilliant, stay dubium.

Now that’s a Croc! Crocosmia that is...

Now that’s a Croc! Crocosmia that is...

#LetsTalkFlowers #USGrown Croc pods Crocosmia crocosmia pods Lucifer Crocosmia

“Now that’s a Croc!” 

JW Brown inspecting our crocosmia crop.

When this was shouted at me across a flower field the other day, I was a bit startled as I turned to look, and then I smiled. Out in the sweeping field of red was one of our National Sales Reps, JW Brown, holding up a remarkable crocosmia bloom. The flower showed a fiery red contrast to the surrounding coastal environment, matched only by JW’s 49ers shirt.  We grow the variety “Lucifer”, which is a rather appropriate name for this saturated red bloom.

A single crocosmia stem

Crocosmia leaves are sword shaped, and the flowers are branched spikes, they sort of look like a freaky freesia. We sell them both in bloom, and then as “pods” which have a great visual appeal for designers. 

 

'Crocosmia' is derived from the Greek words 'krokos' meaning saffron and 'osme' meaning smell. It is said that when the flower heads are put into water that they smell of saffron. They are also used to make yellow dye. Crocosmia is originally from Africa and it is a member of the gladiolus and iris family. Crocosmia masoniorum was crossed with Antholyza paniculata (now C. paniculata) by Alan Bloom and produced a sturdy tall plant which was named 'Lucifer' in 1966.

Just picked crocosomia

Right now, we are harvesting a big swath of Lucifer, so it’s a good time to check out this unique crop. In the coming weeks, crocosmia pods will also be available. These are created by bringing bee hives out to the fields to pollinate the flowers, and this leads to outstanding rows of pods on the stems. 

10 Stem bunches of pods

The only other crop which we use bees to pollinate is our Ilex crop, the majority of our flowers are cut and shipped before they open so the bees never get a chance to sneak in there and do their thing.

Buzz, Buzz, Buzz

Another difference between crocosmia and our other crops is that we reuse the same bulbs for multiple years.  Each fall the bulbs are dug up, sorted, and then the best quality ones are replanted, or saved to be replanted at a later date to maintain steady production form mid-summer through fall.

Crocosmia is a dramatic, impressive flower, which adds a rich splash of color to any vase and it is a great summer flower.

Crocosmia with a light breeze off the Pacific

If you aren't familiar with Sun Valley's Resource Pages, check out these two, one for Crocosmia, one for Crocosmia Pods.  ...we have similar sheets for all our major crops. Have a look.

Parrot Tulips ~ How do they do that?

Parrot Tulips ~ How do they do that?

#CAGrown #USGrown flowers Geert Hageman Georgia O'Keefe Parrot Tulips Tulips

"When you take a flower in your hand and really look at it, it's your world for the moment. I want to give that world to someone else.”
- Georgia O'Keeffe

"Pink Tulip" Georgia O'Keeffe (1926)

Was Georgia O’Keeffe thinking of tulips when she made this remark? It seems there is no better flower to submerge your thoughts in than our novelty tulips. We sometimes call these varieties “fancy”, and I like this term more, because in theory a “novelty” wears off, where my fascination with these ornate gems is unending.

Looking at tulips in the “Parrot” family can be pretty mind boggling. The most often question we hear is “How do they do that?” How do the petals gain the fringe, the curly edges and the wavy texture that makes these tulips truly fancy?

Parrot tulips came on the scene in the early 1900’s. They existed before then, however, there was a renaissance of the Parrot as breeders were able to increase stem strength in about 1930.

Tulipa gesnerana dracontia is the name for the variety of cultivated tulips known as Parrots. The bold serrated edges of the tulip petals give them a ruffled appearance; this ruffled look is thought to be very similar to the feathers of a parrot. These feathered and contorted petals really grab your attention, and require a second look to see what is going on with these blooms. Technically these tulips are early flowering; however, at Sun Valley we have them year round.

Rococco           |               Salmon Parrot               |                Super Parrot           |           Bright Parrot

The history of how some of these wild varieties have come to be is sketchy at best, however, I did track down Lane DeVries to ask him, what happens to create these interesting tulips? He explained that many of our fancy tulips are in their origin mutants; meaning a genetic abnormality, which breeders were able to reproduce. Some examples are:

• Our Rococco variety is a mutation of a classic tulip variety named Couleur Cardinal.

• Our Super Parrot is a mutation of White Dream.

• Our Bright Parrot is a mutation of Kees Nelis.

• Our Libretto Parrot is a mutation of Prominence.

Many of our fancy tulips have an ornate fringe, such as Honeymoon, Dallas, Daytona and Curly Sue. These fringed varieties were developed by one of the modern masters of tulip breeding, Geert Hageman. Tulips with fringe have been around for many years, yet these new varieties stand out as dramatically better tulips for growing commercially, as opposed to a “garden variety” tulip. To achieve these impressive results, the rumor is Mr. Hageman took older heirloom varieties of fringed tulips, then crossed them with newer varieties, creating an exceptional class of beautiful fringed tulips.

Honeymoon                   |                 Dallas             |                 Daytona             |                 Curly Sue

In the greenhouse, our fancy tulips grow a little faster than our standard tulips, they usually come to harvest about 4 or 5 days sooner than a regular tulip. For this reason our lead tulip grower Antoon Volwater plants all the fancy tulips in the same vicinity of each other. He says he like to keep them together to facilitate the picking and for monitoring their progress because they need a little more attention than a standard tulip.

A developing Rococco Tulip

Antoon also pointed out that you can tell the crates of fancy tulips because when they emerge from the ground, the first leaves that appear are flared out horizontally, while a regular tulip’s leaves stand straight up. We generally put fewer bulbs in each crate, so they have a little more room to move, and of course, like all Sun Valley’s tulips, we grow them in Lane’s special blend of soil. Growing in soil leads to bigger, healthier tulips than what is flown in from Holland. (Check out this comparison).

Antoon among his tulips.

This obsession with quality is a distinctly American ideal, and it shows in our tulips. Flowers grown in the United States have a better vase life, a lighter carbon foot print and they represent American jobs, which is something everyone is concerned with these days. Get the best of both worlds, ask for high quality American grown flowers and support our economy by keeping your dollars stateside.

Call a Sun Valley Floral Farm Sales Rep. to see what fancy tulips we are currently harvesting.