Feeling Lucky? St. Patrick's Day Bouquets

Feeling Lucky? St. Patrick's Day Bouquets

#americangrown #CaFlowers Bells of Ireland Emerald Ireland Leprechauns Pantone 17-5641 shamrock St. Patrick's Day

Never iron a four-leaf clover, because you don't want to press your luck. ~Author Unknown


Are you feeling lucky? St. Patrick’s Day is coming this weekend, and believe it or not, but this has turned into a great floral holiday. Whether you are Irish or not, it seems everyone enjoys getting in the spirit. Did you know that 1 in 161 Americans are named “Patrick”; ironically St. Patrick’s real name was Maewyn Succat. This holiday has grown into more than just a Guinness and corned beef event, but a cultural celebration of all things Irish.

At our Sun Pacific Bouquet division we have been planning for St. Patrick’s Day all winter. We have an incredible collection of St. Patrick’s Day bouquets that are perfect for your customers, or to inspire your own creations. The green of St. Patrick’s Day is more relevant than ever, since it is a perfect match for this year’s Pantone of the Year, Emerald 17-5641. We wrote about this back in December when Pantone made the big announcement, and it has been great to see the fashion and floral industry explore all the possibilities of Emerald.

Irish Sun Bouquet            |            St. Patty's Sensation            |            St. Patty's Holiday

I recently caught up with Rodi Groot, the head of our Sun Pacific Bouquet Division at our Oxnard Farm to talk about our St. Patrick’s Day collection.

Lily: Sun Pacific has a wide variety of bouquets to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, are you seeing a large demand in the market for bouquets?

Rodi: Well, we actually see a lot of interest in these bouquets throughout the spring, because people love green and white bouquets. St. Patrick’s Day is a tricky holiday for many of our customers; this is why we offer a lot of different options.

Lily: Do you think the Pantone of the Year; Emerald 17-5641 is going to boost St. Patrick’s day sales.

Rodi: Yes, green is really hot right now, adding the fun, colorful celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, will only increase demand.

Lily: What’s your favorite Bouquet in your lineup this year?

Rodi: The Lucky Leprechaun bouquet is my favorite. When I was a young man I traveled to Ireland, and this bouquet reminds me of this experience. It also highlights many of the flowers we grow best, Asiatic Lilies, Tulips, Bells of Ireland and Sword Fern. The fern really freshens this bouquet up; if you go to Ireland you will see ferns growing everywhere.

Thanks Rodi.

Rodi's favorite, The Lucky Leprechaun Bouquet

This year for St. Patrick’s Day, we can add Pantone 17-5641 to our beers, and celebrate the shamrock. The shamrock is the unofficial flower of Ireland and even though it is more known for its shape, it has a beautiful little flower.

It also has many impersonators throughout the world with all sorts of clovers and sorrels trying to cash in on the fine reputation of the shamrock.

So why is the Shamrock attached to St. Patrick’s Day? Most people know that St. Patrick’s legacy of chasing the snakes out of Ireland is really a metaphor for chasing the Pagan and Druid beliefs out of Ireland, and replacing them with Christianity. The shamrock was a key element in St. Patrick’s explanation of Christianity to the Druids. The Druids actually held the shamrock as a sacred plant, so St. Patrick showed quite a bit of wisdom in using it to explain the Trinity of Christianity. The three leaves represent the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, yet the three leaves are all part of one plant, which is symbolic of the Christian God.

This great bit of history shows the power of plants in culture. In history, we see botanicals attached to religion, ancient myths, rises in power and playing a huge role in societies across the board. This reminds us that we are still closely tied to the earth, even living in a concrete and steel society. That sprig of grass or dandelion reaching up from the cracks is a constant reminder of our roots and our heritage.

As flower growers here at Sun Valley we also have another close tie to the Emerald Isle, as do most folks who like to work in the garden. Ireland was home to the patron saint of gardeners, Saint Fiacre, who lived in the sixth century.

If you are feeling lucky, try growing some shamrocks yourself, here is a great article from The Green Mountain Gardener on growing your own.
May the luck of the Irish
Lead to happiest heights
And the highway you travel
Be lined with green lights.
Wherever you go and whatever you do,
May the luck of the Irish be there with you.







Emerald With Envy, Pantone 17-5641

Emerald With Envy, Pantone 17-5641

Bells of Ireland Christmas greens Corgy White Emerald Green Ball Dianthus Hypericum J Schwanke Pantone 17-5641 Parrot Tulips Rodi Groot Sun Pacific Bouquet.

Now that you have had about a week to ponder Pantone 17-5641, let’s talk FLOWERS! You’ve seen the runway models in gorgeous emerald dresses; the wild emerald jewelry that is back in vogue and anyone on Pintrest has seen a huge emerald wave crash over cyberspace. Some of these emerald fans are getting a bit carried away, but if you can’t get carried away in the fashion industry, then where can you?

Pantone 17-5641 grips the world! Shoelaces, a python, and the Emerld City...where the Wizard lives. 



Luckily at Sun Valley we don’t need to look too far to find amazing emerald hues. In our botanical category some of our most popular items are emerald. Green Ball is an ever popular style of dianthus. Adding volume and beautiful texture to any arrangement, Green Ball will be the bell of the ball this season. Speaking of bells, how about Bells of Ireland? Ireland is known as the Emerald Isle, and our Bells of Ireland are about as close to Pantone 17-5641 as you can get. Its scientific name is Moluccella laevis and it’s a member of the mint family. In the language of flowers, it means “luck” and since we are growing this crop down in Baja, you are in luck that you can order it today, even when it is dark and stormy back in the old country.



Green Ball, Bells of Ireland, Corgy White Brassica



Ornamental kale, otherwise known as Brassica, is a really unique design element either playing a leading role as a focal in bouquets, or adding girth and substance to accent lilies and iris. We grow several varieties of brassica throughout the year, but currently we are harvesting a variety named Corgy White. This variety has rich green leaves on the outside and reaches a white center. On the journey beautiful emerald tones highlight this unusual botanical.

Rodi Groot the lead bouquet designer for our Sun Pacific Bouquet division in Oxnard says, “ In bouquet design I like using green flowers like viburnum, green ball, bells of Ireland and green hypericum to name a few. They bring calm to the bouquet and at the same help the other colors pop!”



A beautiful emerald design from Rodi Groot in our Sun Pacific Bouquet department. 



Hypericum is seriously in demand this time of year. Its shiny berries make it a favorite of floral designers. We have brought in a large shipment of hypericum from our partners in Ecuador. The “Selvia Romance” boasts heaps of emerald green berries; perhaps the runway models should be carrying a bouquet of this stand out…although it might outshine the Divas.

Selvia Romance Hypericum

And when it comes to Divas, anyone who follows this blog will be thrilled to know the Queen of Greens is ecstatic about the new Pantone. Our West Coast Evergreen Division is full of green foliage in a variety of shades, whether specialty branches, Christmas greens, seasonal greens or western greens.

Sun Valley is known first and foremost for our year round tulips, and guess what? We have Pantone 17-5641 in a tulip. Check out our Super Parrot. Yup, that’s the real deal; the white edges provide a great contrast to the green petals. Ooh la la.

Sun Valley's Super Parrot Tulip.

We sent a note over to J Schwanke, The Flower Expert and Host of FUN with Flowers and J, www.ubloom.com, and asked him his opinion on Pantone 17-5641. He had some very insightful comments, not just discussing using green elements, but really explaining what this color as a fashion trend is going to look like.

Here are some words of advice from J:

It's about using the COLOR of the year to our "FLOWER'S" Advantage... and this year's Pantone Color provides a PICTURE PERFECT Background... for so many flowers... it's not limited to Flowers that may grow in its specific tint, tone or shade...

The whole Flower World looks FABULOUS With Green... "Emerald" Envy... I dare say.

With Juxtaposition... I think Emerald - Pantone's Color of the Year for 2013... is a dramatic background color that allows us the opportunities BEYOND "Matching the color"... (Although Amazing Textural Products like Bells of Ireland, Green Ball Dianthus, or Corgy White Brassica... will indeed allow us to address the color of the year with TEXTURE too!!!)

2013's "Emerald" provides the perfect "Backdrop" ... to showcase our Creativity and the Diverse Colors of our Flower Palette. What will you do with Pantone's Color of the Year??? Your Creativity is the only Limitation!"

J continued on with some fun examples of how he might interpret emerald: LOVE THESE IDEAS!

Imagine the Complimentary "Explosion" of featuring Acapulco Lilies... on an Emerald Green Bridesmaid Dress...or a Christmas Departure... using ILEX Branches in a Clear Vase atop an "EMERALD" Christmas Table Cloth...

Experience the Friendly "Laughter" caused by an exquisite fragrant bouquet of Sun Rise Freesia and Aventura Gerbera placed on a dining or cocktail table... set with Glistening "EMERALD" glassware or Napkins...

Visit a Magical "Mineral Color Based" Flower Spa... as you soak in the Cool Colors of Kuhnert Blue Hydrangea, Delphinium, and Atlantic Hyacinth... against an "Emerald" Background of a sofa or throw pillows positioned in an ocean side cabana...

Thank you for sharing J, I hope you invite me next time you head to the “Flower Spa”…I wanna go!