Showing posts with label Flowers and Emotion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Flowers and Emotion. Show all posts

Nov 8, 2016

Election Recovery and Royal Sunset Lilies

Today, as the sun sets, our mailboxes breathe a sigh of relief as they are no longer forced to house piles of glossy proposition pamphlets... It's been a whopper of an election season, and I'm sure many of us are looking for a little bit of calm and tranquility right about now.  For a pretty pick-me-up, I, of course, look to flowers. What better way to celebrate the end of this year's election season with something pretty, soothing, and tranquil—the Royal Sunset Lily.

Royal Sunset Lily growing by sun Valley Floral Farms
 The psychology of colors is well-documented with colors on the warm end of the spectrum—such as red, pink, orange, and yellow—shown to bring forth feelings of optimism and energy.  Our bi-color Royal Sunset lily offers that perfectly soothing color combination in addition to its  positive emotional affects as a flower.

fall color lilies

royal sunset lily bouquetThe Royal Sunset lily is an LA Hybrid, which means it isn't your average garden lily—LA Hybrids are a crossbred, man-made flower species. We have been these lilies for years now and have branded our LA Hybrids as Royal Lilies to indicate their prestige and high-quality standing.  Their blooms are bigger than traditional Asiatics, their vase life is the longest of any lily to date, and they have an incredible range of warm colors.  They are also virtually scentless—perfect for those who have floral allergies.

 Besides their excellent breeding history, Royal Sunset lilies also need a quality growing environment to really shine.  We plant our bulbs directly into the ground, laying down drip tape and a wire grid as we go.  The drip tape provides a consistent, measured supply of water and fertilizer directly to the flowers' root systems, and as the lilies grow, the wire grid is raised with them to provide support and help them continue growing tall and straight.
 
Royal Sunset Lilies in FallRoyal Sunset lilies respond best to warm days and cool nights, which is why Arcata's cool, coastal weather is the perfect place for them to grow.  During the colder months of winter, we switch to growing our Royal Lilies at our Southern California farm in Oxnard. The two locations allow us to produce a continuous supply of high-quality lilies all year. 

LA Hybrid lilies growing
It takes about 12-16 weeks for the lilies to reach the perfect time to harvest.  This unrushed developmental period is enough time for all the energy and nutrients from the bulb to reach the buds, so their vase life is incredible and the colors really pop.
Royal Sunset orange yellow lily

We are especially excited to offer the popular Royal Sunset Lilies as we dive head-first into November.  The demand for these particular lilies has increased over the last few years, so we have adjusted our growing schedule accordingly in order to have plenty of these warmed-hued babies throughout the season.

This autumn, let the gorgeous colors and soothing presence of Royal Sunset Lilies evoke feelings of optimism, creativity, and energy within you and everyone who enjoys them. 

fall flower arrangements

Lady Aster and fall arrangements



Mar 16, 2012

The Luck of the Flower Farm

Gray skies over our Arcata farm

As luck would have it, while the rest of the country is basking in unseasonably HOT weather, we're finally getting those torrential winter downpours at our Arcata farm that were accustomed to... just in time for spring. With St. Patrick's Day a day away, one can't help but think of the rolling green hills of Ireland (and little "green" men). No place gets that green without A LOT of rain! Dark and stormy isn't always the best recipe for elation, yet the Irish still wholeheartedly believe in luck.

For our flower farms, rain doesn't hurt us per se, but heavy doses can delay field planting and they make everything just a bit muddier! Yet our farmers still believe in luck as well!

Why do they feel lucky? Some of our favorite spring field crops are about to make their debut, in spite of the rain!

Within the next few weeks, you should be on the lookout specifically for Viburnum (Snowball) and Dubium (Star of Bethlehem), which just so happen to be green and orange respectively when they first come in. (These are the official Irish colors, FYI.) 
Viburnum - Look for these early in April.

Orange Dubium - You'll see this popping up now.
Look for white in the next few weeks.

So, grab those brollies (umbrellas) and wellies (rain boots) and put a smile on your face. Despite the rain, we're in luck!

Mar 2, 2012

Flowers for Girl Scouts


Next Thursday (March 8th) is International Women's Day, a global holiday that commemorates the continuing political, social and economic achievements of women throughout the world. This year's IWD theme is Connecting Girls, Inspiring Futures, meaning if we can spread the message of female empowerment to young girls today, we'll have "brand advocates" for female equality tomorrow.

What better way for those of us in the floral industry to show our appreciation towards young women on IWD than to donate flowers to organizations like our local Girl Scout troops?

Theirs is a mission to build "girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place." In essence, the Girl Scouts embody the very principles on which International Women's Day was founded, and they instill these values in girls early in life. Furthermore, the Girl Scouts of America have marked 2012 as The Year of the Girl. It's hard to ignore the correlation between the two themes.

This March 8th, why don't we give a little happiness (aka flowers) to these bright young women to go along with their badges?

Sun Pacific Bouquet's Girl Power Bouquet

Dec 20, 2011

Baby it's cold outside, but it's warm fuzzies in here!


The holidays tend to bring on a flood of emotions: Joy, surprise, anticipation, gratitude, love, maybe a little stress from time to time... Spending time with loved ones, carefully selecting the perfect tree, bedazzling the home, swapping gifts, cooking and eating traditional feasts, and traveling can truly cause one to experience every emotion on Plutchik's Wheel of Emotions (see image below) simultaneously. I'd argue that no other season has this impact on so many people.

Robert Plutchik's Wheel of Emotions, 1980 (Notice its floral shape!)

Like the holidays, flowers have an emotional impact on people, and their effects are resoundingly positive. Some of the top emotional benefits associated with flowers (according to a 2006 behavioral research study by Nancy Etcoff, Ph.D. of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School) are increased compassion towards others, diminished feelings of anxiety, stress and depression, and increased energy, happiness and enthusiasm. All particularly beneficial during the holidays!


Increased compassion for others

Reduced feelings of anxiety, stress and depression
 
Increased energy, happiness and enthusiasm
As it turns out, these favorable emotional shifts aren't only associated with receiving flowers - the flowers just have to be present in the home. So, they can be given as a present to a friend or a present to yourself - everybody wins! According to Etcoff, placing flowers in a high-traffic area (oh, let's say maybe the kitchen or living room this time of year) gives the most emotional bang for your floral buck. This makes sense really - higher exposure to flowers = elevated feelings of elation.

It's cold out there. You could light a fire or spike your eggnog to keep warm, but why not use flowers to make things warm and fuzzy?

Happy holidays from Lily and the Sun Valley Team!

Oct 21, 2011

A trip down serenity lane

As you might imagine, one of the many perks of working at a flower farm is getting to stroll through the flower farm once in a while. Immersing yourself in fields of flowers, foliage and berries makes you forget about ringing phones and unanswered emails for a bit. Everyday stresses just melt away and in flow feelings of calmness and tranquility.

And happiness. Let's not forget about happiness.

When you're waist-deep (sometimes over-your-head deep) in flowers, you basically feel every emotion we know cut flowers invoke in people - just a much larger dose.

For the readers who don't get to frolic through the flowers on a regular basis, I want to take you on an image tour of Willow Creek, which I visited for first time since summer the other day. Hopefully sharing these pictures can help you forget your daily woes for a few minutes!

The Farm

Three months ago, Willow Creek was sun-drenched valley laced with the
scent of roses and buzzing with bees. A couple weeks ago it was blanketed
in fog (as pictured here) and bursting with fall crops.


The view from above
The neighbors

Rosehips

Fog hangs over the Rosehip crop

A few rose bushes still have flowers, soon to be completely replaced by berries

Close-up of brilliant red, giant Rosehips

Cotinus

The Cotinus stands about 8 - 10 feet tall now.
I felt like Alice in Wonderland when I wandered past this crop!
 
The Cotinus was covered with droplets from the previous night's rainfall. The rain drops
looked like crystals against the dark purple Cotinus. What a stunning sight!


Close-up of rain droplets on Cotinus leaves


Physalis (aka Chinese Lanterns)
 
A field of Chinese Lanterns, nearly ready for harvest
 
Close-up of the paper-like Chinese Lanterns

Sun Valley team members - fully clad in waterproof gear to keep dry after
the rain - harvest a row of Chinese Lanterns

A tractor-pulled cart full of freshly cut Chinese Lanterns


Ilex Berries

Gold Ilex is just about ready for harvest

Red Ilex will follow the Gold and Orange harvest, just in time for Christmas!

Here ends my photo tour of Willow Creek in the fall. Hopefully it gave you a moment of peace during your busy day!

If you want to learn more about any of these crops click on the following links:

For more on Rosehips, click here for the blog post or here for the flower resource page.
For more on Cotinus, click here for the blog or here for the resource page.
For the Chinese Lanterns resource page, click here.
And finally, for the Ilex resource page, click here.

Also, check back in a few weeks for a post on Ilex and what this crop has in common with Degas' famous paintings of ballerinas!