Hydrangea: The Marvelous "Mophead"

Hydrangea: The Marvelous "Mophead"

#americangrown #CAGrown #hydrangeas #mophead #OriginMatters

 If you live in the cool Northwest region of the United States, chances are you have spotted one of summertime's most beloved shrubs in your town--giant orbs of blue, pink, white, and lavender stretching skyward from big, leafy branches.  Oh, Hydrangea!

Close-up of Hydrangea's florets

The genus "Hydrangea" is represented by over 11 species of varying bloom shapes, but the cultivar most often used in cut flower arrangements are the globose heads of H. macrophylla (affectionately referred to as "mopheads").  This highly decorative, bulbous form was born in the coastal areas of Honshu, Japan, developed extensively in Europe, and was introduced to the United States well over a century ago.

At first glance, the garden varieties around the northwest may appear similar to what we grow here on the farm, except for a few key differences. This is because over the last few years we have been planting more and more hybridized varieties.  Why?  Our trusty plant breeders have been working to produce  varieties of Hydrangea which possess the longest vase life, with the sturdiest stems and the most vibrant (and giant) blooms.  And now their breeding success has become our viewing pleasure!

Many Hydrangea varieties can produce pink, lavender, and deep blue blooms depending on the soil's pH.

These immense and billowy flower heads are made up of multiple florets which boast long-lasting color.  And the varying colors of Hydrangea are fascinating! Yes, different cultivars will give us clear blues, vivid pinks, pure whites, shades of frosty lavender and coral—but their color and intensity can vary depending on the acidity of the soil or water that is used.  Aluminum sulfate will reduce the soil's pH, causing a hydrangea to produce blue and lavender blooms, while a higher soil pH will give us vibrant pinks.  It is even possible for some cultivars to produce different color blooms on one plant! (Further on in the growing season, hydrangeas' coloration gets even more interesting, giving us the marbled tones of Antiqued Hydrangeas.)

Soil pH aside, the most important element to growing long-stemmed, giant blooms is temperature and light.  H. macrophylla originated in the temperate maritime climate of coastal Japan, which bodes well for us flower farmers in Coastal California.  Hydrangeas love a coastal setting, where cool breezes dissipate the heat.  Heat and too much sunlight can be a problem for these blooms, as they are sensitive to drooping from heat stress.  We grow ours in open shade-houses which allows for the circulation of cool sea breezes, while giving the plants just enough (but not too much) sunshine.  This one-two combination encourages stem length and complete coloring of the florets.  In winter, we keep the dormant plants uncovered, where the abundant Humboldt rainfall nourishes the shrubs for production the following spring.

Young hydrangeas stretching skyward in our shade-house.

Thanks to our forward-thinking growers here and our ground-breaking breeders across the pond, Sun Valley is on the forefront of America's Cut Flower Hydrangea Market.  Our new hybridized varieties look stunning in wedding bouquets, in large, upscale arrangements, as single stems, or even gathered together in a rustic display of color, as in the photo below.  They're fun and versatile blooms, giving you the creative freedom to build what you like.  Take ours, and make them yours!

2014 Hydrangea Forecast

2014 Hydrangea Forecast

#hydrangeas AmericanGrown Hydrangea

Sun Valley's 2014 Hydrangea harvest.

Hey Hydrangea Fans!
Good News, the Sun Valley hydrangea crop is looking very strong. We have already been picking several varieties, and hopefully you've already ordered some this season.

The Hydrangea Forecast is GOOD!

Personally, I think our hydrangea are so much fun. They feature crazy kaleidoscope colors and with our grading system you have the choice of head size, and various stem lengths. I love to run my hand over the massive blooms and experience the amazing texture. What differentiates Sun Valley hydrangea from others is our size. A typical South American hydrangea is a nice accent for a bouquet or a pretty filler flower. Our hydrangeas are focals, and they can stand alone beautifully.

Sun Valley hydrangea are big, robust and impressive. The growing conditions at our farm in Arcata, California are ideal to grow these show boats of the flower world. Here  are a few pictures of our team members out in the field. 

Chris can barely hold these up!

We take a lot of pride in our flowers, it is obvious here.

We have many classic varieties available, however, we are always trying new varieties. This one is getting a lot of great press, called "Revolution." This is still in its' test stage so we won't have big numbers for a couple years...be patient

Meet "Revolution."

Our Sales Rep Amy Carrieri has been singing the Beatle's song Revolution to her customers as they call to inquire,

"You say you want a revolution, wellllll you know, we all want to change the world..."

Her extension is 5810, and she's got a great voice so ask her to sing!

Another Sales Rep based at our farm in Oxnard, Barbara Haskins, just used our hydrangea last week for a wedding, have a look at the beautiful work she does.

Here are some more posts about our Hydrangea Crop:

What Color is that Hydrangea?
Hydrangea: More Than Just a Pretty Face
The Scoop on Antiqued Hydrangea
Antique Your Own Hydrangeas

Just Picked Hydrangea

The forecast is truly smooth sailing and clear skies for the 2014 Sun Valley Hydrangea harvest, and don't forget...ANTIQUES ARE ON THE WAY!!!!!

Antique Your Own Hydrangeas

Antique Your Own Hydrangeas

#americangrown #CAGrown #hydrangeas Antique Your Own Hydrangea DIY Antiqued Hydrangea

O hydrangea-

you change and change
back to your primal color

-Bairyu, 1863

Do you love the look and feel of Antiqued Hydrangeas as much as we do?  This year we dramatically increased the amount of antiques we have available to sell, so we will be heavy on these until first rain, probably November first…or until we sell out.

We love our antique hydrangeas at Sun Valley, everyone shows it in different ways.

Living on the north coast of California, we have perfect growing conditions for hydrangeas and I actually have a beautiful hydrangea starting to antique in my yard.  So how do you antique a hydrangea blossom?

First start out with a great variety.  At Sun Valley we like Hamburg and Bottsteinfor big, showy heads. Of course if this isn’t the type of hydrangea in your yard, don’t cut it down just yet since all varieties will antique, and it’s simpler than you think.

We have plenty of antique hydrangeas ready to harvest.

As we move into late summer and early fall you will see the blossoms start to fade and marble, don’t stop watering at this point.  This is a common mistake people make, thinking that the bush doesn’t need water as it appears to dry up.  Keep watering, pruning and caring for your hydrangea as if it was a month or two earlier. The bush is still giving nutrients to the blossom; the colors are simply fading due to sun bleach and other atmospheric conditions.  As the nights get colder and the days get shorter the hydrangea will antique at a faster rate.

This head has a very pastel tone.

You must leave the bloom on the bush while it antiques. If you cut off a fresh vibrant, bright bloom, it will not antique, although it will look beautiful as it is.

This hydrangea is firm to the touch.

As you inspect the antiques on your hydrangea, don’t let how they look deceive you.  The key is how they feel. Does the blossom feel soft, like a normal flower petal?  If so, it’s not ready yet.  The bloom should feel rigid and spring back a little when you rub your hand across it.  If your hand just smooshes into the bloom with no resistance, it’s not ready.  A nice firm head means the hydrangea is ready to harvest.  Caution:  just because they look antiqued, they may still need a few more weeks to firm up, use your sense of touch to guide the way.

This hydrangea is smooshy to the touch.

Cut your antique hydrangea with about a 12-15 inch stem, place in about 3-5 inches of clean water, depending on your vase size and the number of stems in the vase.  The bloom will continue to drink water, but the key here is that you are going to let all the water get absorbed by the bloom.  It will likely take about a week, and the vase will be empty.  Don’t refill the vase because over the week and into the next couple weeks the hydrangea will dry out thoroughly.  This will leave you with a “dried hydrangea” which will last indefinitely, or until the dust bunnies take over. 

If the water gets real dirty during the week, you may change it out, however, don’t fill it back to the original level, just match the current level.  This gradual drying out of the bloom will let the flower gently dry and you will have a gorgeous antiqued hydrangea.

Hydrangeas are a great DIY flower, and their essence is at once classy, and down-home.  The sky’s the limit for designing, and ultimately enjoying this great flower which may be growing right in your neighborhood.

Want to keep reading about antiques?  Here is a post  about antiques from last summer.

Housekeeping Note:

Please be sure to add feedblitz@mail.feedblitz.com to your list of approved senders, so we don’t end up in your spam folder.  

With the new GMail inbox, you can just grab ”Flower Talk” which is likely in your “Promotions” inbox, and move it to “Primary.”  Thanks a bunch!

It's a Farm! (Part 1)

It's a Farm! (Part 1)

#Arcata #Flower farming #Flowers #hydrangeas #iris #Redwoods #stargazer #Sun Valley



Looking at a beautiful flower arrangement on a polished wood table in your hallway, it is easy to forget that these flowers didn’t come from a test tube or a pristine laboratory. They came from a real working farm.  This means dirt, mud, weird smells, heavy equipment and people hustling and bustling in every direction.

Forklifts, trucks and carts full of buckets are zipping around in a constant commotion. You do a double take as a mini-train of colorful Hydrangeas goes speeding by, their delicate heads overflowing out of white buckets and barely staying on board.

These flowers were just picked, and are now on the way to be packaged and sent on their way. The contrast of vibrant colorful flowers stacked on a drab muddy cart, epitomizes the surreal beauty of a cut flower and the hard work involved in getting it to the vase on your hallway table or to the design table in your studio.

Farm fresh Hydrangeas and Golden Beauty Iris just after picking.

The beeping of a forklift grabs your attention just in time as it pulls out of a seemingly endless row of hoop houses. The scale is amazing. Are you on a flower farm tucked between the roaring Pacific Ocean and the legendary redwood forests of northern California, or in the vast Midwest, surrounded by silos, combines and hay bales?

The strong wind driving the salty freshness of the sea up over the dunes and across the Arcata Bottoms leaves no doubt that you are next to the ocean.  The sand and dust in the wind scour your cheeks, you are dodging huge puddles, keeping dry from the spitting rain and all the while looking out of the corner of your eye for the next forklift. Yes, they call this "summer" around here.

You reach for a heavy glass door, slide it open with both hands and step into a huge glass paned greenhouse; your senses react to the incredible change. Here you stand in the warm swirling air, the smell of new growth and rich soil welcomes you. The wind is gone, replaced by the hum of fans moving the air strategically around the vast green house. You still hear the outdoor environment as it shakes the glass panels of the structure with each gust, but now you feel the humidity and the effects of all that fresh green foliage. Row upon row of Oriental lilies greet your eyes, a few have blossomed out early, ridiculous blooms bursting out of a sea of green stalks.

Early blooms and Sumatra Lilies just about to be harvested.

The quiet of the greenhouse is very calming.  Way down at the end of a row, you see a small cluster of workers. They are snipping lilies at the perfect stage.  These lilies will be ready to open up and share the peak of their beauty when they get to the consumer.


Picking our Starfighter Oriental Lilies, the Starfighter is a contemporary version of the legendary Stargazer.

Sun Valley's growers guide the lilies upward with light.  Ironically, we are usually trying to reduce the amount of light on the lilies, so that they strive to grow taller and get closer to the sun.  The proper light level also encourages thick stems which are needed to support the big heavy blooms, usually growing 4 or more per stem.  Hanging from the top of the greenhouse are small black boxes.  These are sensors which are constantly monitoring the conditions in the greenhouse.  If the light gets too bright, canvas sheets are automatically pulled across the length of the green house, if it gets too dark, lights will come on to keep the precious lilies in the ideal conditions.

Bunches of lilies.

A flower farm is science wrapped in organized chaos. Communication flows from the growers, to the sales team, to the customers, back to the picking teams, to the warehouse and transportation departments, and again back to the customers.  Sun Valley prides itself on "operational excellence."  This isn't just lip service, this is an absolute necessity to get our California grown flowers to the end users all over the county, with the highest quality, impeccable consistency and a fair price.

"Creating a World of Color" includes a lot of people, enormous logistics and tons of soil.  In the next installment of "It's a Farm" we will visit the warehouse, so stay tuned.

Please forward this post to fellow flower fans!

Connect with us on the web to learn more about flowers and flower farming. Facebook, Pintrest and Twitter. Thanks.

-Lily


“The earth laughs in flowers.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson