Administrative Professionals Day, EVERY day

Administrative Professionals Day, EVERY day

Around the flower farm Floral industry Holiday flowers

This year, in the wake of the economic recession and subsequent downsizing throughout the world, Administrative Professionals Day is celebrating ALL office professionals, whose tasks likely increased as office budgets tightened. These people are wearing more proverbial hats and working harder than ever to help achieve the their companies' goals. They rightfully deserve some recognition. And in some realms, they're getting it.

Someone somewhere has taken it upon himself to honor these hardworking people from one day per year to one whole week... out of 52 weeks. This is certainly a great thing, don't get me wrong. But here's what I don't get:

Why aren't we celebrating our administrative professionals every day? And what can we, the floral industry, do to 1) take this from a secondary floral holiday to a major one and 2) take this concept into the rest of the year?

I know many of us do some types of small promotions to drive floral sales for this special time of year, but perhaps we need a little more umph to really drive the industry. Maybe we need more advertising; maybe the day (or week) itself needs more awareness built up again; or maybe we need to talk directly to the HR director of every Fortune 500 company and remind them that happy, valued employees are good employees.

Whatever the magic solution may be, those of us in the flower business should work together to make sure that admin everywhere are feeling valued EVERY day.

And what better way to make them feel valued than with flowers?

To our Sun Valley Team Members, we salute you!

Got any ideas on how to take Administrative Professionals Day to the next floral level? Let me know here in the comments!

Easter and Lily

Easter and Lily

Around the flower farm Holiday flowers

Let me be frank, until recently, if I were asked to name the first non-religious figure or object that came to mind when I heard the word Easter, I would have responded in about 0.0001 seconds The Cadbury Bunny.
 



Thanks tvguide.com


Second response: An Easter Egg.





Thanks melon-wallpaper.blogspot.com

 

However, my experience here at Sun Valley has forever changed that innate reaction. Ask me what I associate with Easter now, and I will immediately tell you "Tulips, and lots of them!"

I am truly amazed at the careful planning and hard work that goes into getting our Tulips from the bulb into the Easter basket.

The planning actually starts a YEAR in advance, when we choose the right mix of bulbs to purchase and plant for the next season. (Incidentally, these bulbs hail from the Netherlands.) Once the bulbs arrive at the flower farm, they are planted in soil crates and held in high-humidity rooting coolers, where they form small sprouts and root systems. Next, they are whisked away to very cold wintery coolers, where they patiently await spring.

When we're finally at the brink of Easter, the Tulip bulbs are moved into the Greenhouse somewhere around two weeks before they are ready to be harvested. Here they receive a heavy dose of TLC and the right mixture of temperature, moisture and sunlight so they can blossom into the beautiful Tulips Sun Valley is known for.

The Tulips are then harvested and sent on their way to the Bunching Room. Experienced team members carefully grade, bunch and package the Tulips with amazing speed and accuracy as they travel down the bunching lines. Then, from the Bunching Room to the Packing and Shipping Warehouse the Tulips go!

Did I mention amazing speed and accuracy? Well, the Warehouse team members work diligently to pack the Tulips into upright Tulip hampers (boxes) and load them onto pallets bound for refrigerated trucks, which are ultimately bound for our customers.

All of this takes place around the clock. It all happens within cold-chain managed environments. And it all means that people can enjoy those lovely Easter egg-like Tulip blooms for the holiday.

So, what's the first object that comes to your mind when I say Easter?