Your Guide to an Evergreen Christmas

Your Guide to an Evergreen Christmas

#CAGrown christmas Debbie Hartman Holiday flowers holiday greens Lady Aster West Coast Evergreens

If you are familiar with Sun Valley, you know that our Arcata farm is located in the Pacific Northwest, in a region that has been rightfully dubbed, "The Redwood Empire." Here is where the world's old-growth redwoods--along with Fir, Oak, Spruce, and Cedar—reign supreme.  These aromatic beauties stretch up the coast and inland to the mountains, providing us with an unbelievably gorgeous landscape as well as beautiful greens—West Coast Evergreens, that is.

Our West Coast Evergreen Division brings the forest to you.  Our resident greens expert, Debbie Hartman (Queen of Greens!), has been working with Northwest flora for almost 35 years and has built valuable relationships with those who gather our greens.  These are generations of foragers who know and respect the forest, so between them, our location, and Debbie, we have all the resources, wisdom, and experience we need to offer you a wide variety of quality Seasonal, Western, and Christmas Greens.

As you can imagine, the Christmas season is when our greens department really shines. And now, as the holiday season descends upon us (can you feel it?) West Coast Evergreen takes the reins.  Right now we are filling the wonderful world of wholesale with our Christmas greens (now is the time to buy!), and we are also supplying the good stuff for Sun Pac’s Winter Bouquets, as well as our own Enhanced Seasonal Bunches.
 

This Ilex, Lily, and Cedar bunch is one of the seasonal favorites around here. 

Before you pick up the phone and call your rep, I’d like to give you a chance to meet all our evergreen friends and learn a bit about where they're from and what they can do for you.  So put on your best Christmas sweater, grab a cup of hot chocolate (or spiked eggnog) because it’s time for Sun Valley’s annual Christmas Greens Meet and Greet!

If you want them all, check out our Mixed Greens Season's Greeting Box

The main stars of our Christmas Greens are Fir, Pine, and Cedar, though Christmas really wouldn’t be complete without a few other special players.  However, these three kings greens, are the ones that give us the signature smells and textures of Christmas, the ones that make us feel as if we're on a mountaintop even though we’re warm and toasty inside.

THE FIRS:

Pacific Silver Fir and Doug Fir (L--R)

Firs are high-elevation greens, very fragrant and have beautiful shiny, dark green needles.  The Pacific Silver Fir (see photo above) is known for the silvery-white underbelly of its needles.  Its  cousin on the right, Douglas Fir, is a very popular Christmas branch that easy to work and highly recommended for DIY projects for beginner and advanced floral enthusiasts alike.   

Noble Fir

Another favorite branch, the Noble Fir, is similar in shape to the Pacific Silver, but has blue-green needles, with a bluish underside.  Debbie said that many people can get the two mixed up, but all you have to do is take a peek at their backsides to see what is Silver and what is Noble.

THE PINES:

Princess Pine

Next up in the meet and greet are the Pines.  Pictured above is the high-elevation Princess Pine, also known as “Western White Pine.”  As you can see it has lovely long needles and a soft, interesting texture.  Pictured below is the Shore Pine, aptly named for its low-elevation setting.  It is a local pine, found near the ocean shore, with dark green needles and small pine cones.  Debbie said this had always been a favorite of the San Francisco flower market, and still is.  

THE CEDAR:

Our next featured Christmas Green is one of my favorites, and according to our Queen of Greens, Port Orford Cedar is the Queen of Cedar!  It has lovely long stems, 24-inch branches, and beautiful, lacy tips.  It is also the best holder of all the greens, maintaining its color and vitality for weeks and weeks.

Port Orford Cedar

THE SPECIAL PLAYERS:

Two low-elevation must-haves for Christmas décor are our Berry Juniper and Incense Cedar.  I love these specialty Christmas branches—they both have great focal texture and look amazing in wreaths. The gold tips of the incense cedar and the berries on the juniper really pop and add depth. 

Incense Cedar and Berry Juniper

Close-up of incense cedar tips

Our seasonal greens, such as California bay leaf (great for wreaths!) European holly, red huck, blue prince holly, and heather are beautiful holiday fillers.  Woodwardia (pictured below) is an excellent branch that designers absolutely adore--it has a rich, dark color, very tall stems (up to 4-6 feet long), and its dramatic shape looks amazing with other flowers and in large displays..

Woodwardia with orange for scale

CHRISTMAS GREENS TIPS AND TRICKS:

Greens are known for their lasting ability, but here are some tips to help keep these long-lasting branches looking green and lasting even longer—before you add them to your arrangements, be sure to store them in their boxes in cold temperatures (the colder the better).  For example, Port Orford will last 3-4 months in a 34 degree cooler!  This is because cold is their natural habitat (up on the mountaintop), so they respond well to it.  Once you’ve made your wreath or arrangement, keep it looking fresh by using a spray bottle to mist it with water. Since evergreens absorb water through their needles, your misting will add life and sheen.



This holiday season, bring the mountaintop home with you, and have a lovely Evergreen Christmas.

A Bouquet of Stars

A Bouquet of Stars

Asters Holiday flowers Matsumoto Asters red flowers

For my part I know nothing with any certainty,
But the sight of the stars makes me dream.
                                                                         -Vincent Van Gogh

Holiday time is upon us—I’ve set up camp in Sun Valley’s shipping warehouse; a thermos of coffee in one hand and a gingerbread cookie in the other.  I’ve been able to witness the change of seasons simply through watching the colors of our fresh bouquets change from autumn’s darling oranges and yellows, to the rich December hues of red, green, and gold.

The smell of evergreen is in the air and amidst the cold, a particularly bright and happy flower has caught my eye—the Red Aster Matsumoto.

Matsumotos have long-lasting flower heads whose soft petals grow in single, double, or semi-double layers.

This vibrant flower, also known as the Japanese Aster (Callistephus) has lengthy, sturdy stems paired with layers of long-lasting, soft flowers.  And I mean soft.  Rub-your-face-in-them-soft.   I’ve taken a bouquet to brighten up my winter hovel, and its presence has inspired me to step outside and explore this cheerful flower’s origin.

This flowering plant has an incredible height range, anywhere from 10 inches to 4 feet.

The history of this long-stemmed annual is noteworthy—it is native to the eastern regions of Asia, and the name Aster hails from the Latin word for “star,” while its scientific name, Callistephus, comes from the Greek word for “beautiful crown.”  You can see why agronomists of old named it as they did—the flower’s snugly packed, thickly fringed petals that surrounds its rich, yellow center strongly resembles a star as well as a crown.  It’s enough to make me want to fashion a star-flower tiara for myself and parade around the farm, Queen of the Asters.

Matsumoto asters in various stages of bloom.

We grow these beauties in our sunny farms of Oxnard, where the naturally cool, coastal climate keeps the flowers happy and on-schedule, even during the colder months of winter.   Normally, asters are a strict late summer/early fall variety, but with our carefully organized hoop house program, our blooms are able to flourish year-round.

Unlike our bulb flowers (tulips, irises, and lilies), asters are grown from rooted seed, which requires no pre-cooling before planting.   Even without that additional cooling cycle, the entire growing process from seedling to flower takes approximately 10-15 weeks to complete. For more on how we grow Asters, see our interview with Sun Valley’s Aster Master, Gerritt.

Asters showing some color in the hoop houses of Oxnard

Asters show full color when they’re ready to be picked, providing us with some great eye candy.  Walking through the hoop houses in Oxnard, it is easy to feel lost among the sea of long-stemmed red, hot pink, pink, purple, lavender, and bi-colored blooms.

My favorite for this holiday season are the scarlet red asters—their brightly layered petals and gold centers are a cheery addition to any environment.

Freshly picked!

Asters bring liveliness and vibrancy to any flower arrangement, but they also shine brightly on their own.  Arrangement ideas include adding them to large holiday bouquets, or placing them in a tall vase on their own as a simple and happy floral piece.

So go on, check out our bouquets full of stars to brighten your day and add a touch of fun and whimsy to your holiday season.

Believe in Flowers

Believe in Flowers

#americangrown Candy Cane lilies Holiday flowers OT Hybrid lilies Tulips

My heart is a flower

That blooms every hour

I believe in the power

Of love

          -Amos Lee

Flowers cross boundaries. Whether you are a super cool, metro-sexual Manhattan hipster or an elementary teacher in Racine, Wisconsin, flowers can bridge the gap like no other. Have you ever gotten that present that apparently is the hot thing however, you can’t actually figure out what it is? Tis the season, and don’t be that guy or girl. Give flowers.

Flowers are the best gifts!

Everyone knows what to do with flowers. Sure an esoteric arrangement with ilex, curly willow and OT Hybrid lilies may be a bit sophisticated for some.  A rose, carnation, matricaria combo maybe too pedestrian for others, however, these share a common need for water and a place to put them. That’s it…maybe a vase, but what the heck, live a little, buy a vase.

You know what it is about flowers that make them the perfect gift?  They are classy.

Bring flowers to your holiday events.

By nature flowers are fresh, so the receiver knows that you were really thinking about them. Do people “regift” flowers, I think not. Flowers are temporal; the experience you share with them is singular. Flowers aren’t selfish, and they really aren’t just for one person, like most gifts. Flowers brighten up the room, enhance the spirit and warm up the soul of any person that views them or catches their wonderful scent.

Anyone with kids knows the time a few weeks after the holidays, when the shine has gone from the new toys and the kids fall back into playing with toys they had before Christmas, or settle into what their favorite gift received was. As adults, we do this same thing.  The new tie, is now just on a tie rack, the new kitchen appliance is getting its first taste of dust in a lower cabinet and maybe that cool new bike helmet is already heavy on the stink of head sweat.

Who needs jingle bells when you have these beauties!

You wanted the gifts, and if you were lucky you got what you wanted. But what about getting what you didn’t know you wanted?  

Ahhh, the realm of flowers. The bouquet you are still talking about a month after it’s gone to the compost. When you smile your first smile all day, after the flower delivery man manages to navigate through the office to your cubicle and place a bouquet of “Candy Cane" lilies right on your desk. The look on the face of your in-law that wears a lot of black, with thick black framed glasses holding  a bunch of ilex, curly willow and OT Hybrids, have you ever actually seen them smile before?  

The act of giving flowers is not only a classy thing to do, but it shows that you are a person who values something more than the mighty dollar or the plastic masses produced in some far off land.

Don't arrive empty handed, bring flowers.

A bouquet of California Grown flowers, paired with chocolate, wine, or coffee is the quintessential gift offering. One that is impermanent, yet stands the test of time.   

Flowers stand up for the notion that logic is over rated.

Believe in Flowers.

2012: The best floral year ever?

2012: The best floral year ever?

Holiday flowers New Year Flowers New Year resolutions Sun Valley

Photo courtesty of newyearseve.com

With New Year's Eve a day away, we're all thinking about what we'd like to do differently in 2012. I've heard more than a couple people say that 2012 will be the best floral year EVER, and I wonder what we, as a collective floral industry, will be doing differently to make this happen. There have already been a lot of fantastic floral changes in 2011, such as uBloom2.0, the creation of the first FloralApp, the 1099 repeal, California Cut Flower Comission's election of Lane DeVries as Chairman, and so much more. Now I'm anxious to see what 2012 has in store for us!

Here's a sneak peak at what Sun Valley has in store for you in 2012:

New varieties 

Whether they're new to the market or simply new to our growing regimen, we've got a few new flower varieties in the 2012 pipeline. I can't reveal much now, since we're still in the testing phase for many of these crops. But feel free to ask your Sales rep throughout the year what new goodies we've got for you!

(Also, if you're not already aware of our new varieties of 2011, you should get a first-hand look at the fragrant, double-petaled Rose Lilies, the Lilytopia varieties, which feature stunning, enormous blooms and long, sturdy stems, and the delightful, sea anenome-like Sea Star Asters. You'll be glad you did!)

Easy-to-get flowers

We've taken a lot of steps to get our flowers to customers in every corner of the country.

Every. Corner.

With our St. Catharine's, Ontario farm about to celebrate its first birthday and distribution centers in Chicago and New Jersey, it's easier than ever for our East Coast and Midwest customers to get fresh Sun Valley Tulips and Oriental Lilies. On top of that, our Transportation team is constantly working to find the best routes possible to reach customers throughout the country.

So, if you thought you couldn't get our flowers before, just ask us. We can get them to you. It's easy!

Sun Valley Quality

I know this isn't a change for 2012, but I feel it's important to mention that no matter what new frontiers Sun Valley ventures into, we always maintain the high quality standards that our customers have come to expect. "A commitment to be the best in the industry" is one of our Guiding Principles (core values) - we have to!

More posts from Lily!

As Sun Valley makes changes or simply does what it's always been doing, I'll be trying to learn as much as possible and write about it here on Flower Talk. Even though I've been posting on Flower Talk for almost a year, I've still got so much more to learn, which means you do, too! Stay tuned!   

In the meantime, enjoy the New Year's Eve celebrations and try to stick to some of those resolutions! And let's make this coming year the best floral year yet!

Also, I'm curious to know: What are your floral New Year's resolutions? Tell me in the comments!

Christmas in July

Christmas in July

CA Grown Christmas greens Christmas in July farmer's market flowers for delivery Holiday flowers Redwoods

Since the first ray of bright sunshine hinted at the the start of summer, all I've been thinking about (aside from flowers) is barbecues, sunscreen and swimming. But as it turns out, I should have been thinking about Christmas, of all things. Mind numbed by a warm weather-induced mental vacation, I turned to my team members last week for interesting topics to write about (they came up with a lot!), and someone mentioned the Christmas Greens industry gearing up for the holiday... in July. Aside from the Christmas Planner in Florists Review, I didn't know much about this at all. So, I sat down with our West Coast Evergreen division's greens expert extraordinaire Debbie to learn a bit more about the scent-astic world of Christmas evergreens.


Cedar

The very first thing I asked was "Why Christmas in July?" (Seemed like a good place to start.) She said it boils down to basic preparedness. Think of it this way: Remember Tickle Me Elmo? (Maybe there's a more recent example, but I'm not up on my must-have toys these days.) If you didn't get to that guffawing Muppet in time, you were going to have deal with some serious frowny faces come Christmas morning. Well, it happens pretty much the same way with Christmas Greens. While there sure are a lot of fir, pine and cedar trees out there, they're still a limited resource. The sooner you get to them, the more likely you are to get dibs on the primo varieties. This being Sun Valley, the Pacific Northwest greens we offer are the Tickle Me Elmos of the greens world, the premium stuff. Booking now equates to less frowny faces (read: more smiley faces) among your florist friends!


Douglas Fir

"What are Christmas Greens?" This is pretty basic, but I certainly would not have been able to give you the simplified answer before, which is incidentally Fir, Pine and Cedar. These three greens are the key ingredients that give us the signature smells and textures of Christmas. You could try lighting a candle to get those scents, but honestly nothing but the fresh greens themselves will give you the unique and special aromas. And you certainly won't get the symbolic meaning (evergreens are widely regarded as symbols of "eternal life") from an air freshener!

Our greens come from close surroundings, since our Arcata farm is essentially located in the heart of the Evergreens. Given our prime location, we're able to focus our energies on selecting the best greens available - the quality is based on color tones (we like the blue-green varieties), texture and vase life (it better last through the holiday!). Our close proximty to the product also allows us to obtain the greens when they're at their peak in the growing cycle.


Princess Pine

"How do we get our Christmas Greens?" The gathering of our Christmas greens depends on the season (obviously) and the elevation (interestingly). A general rule of thumb is that Christmas green collecting starts at low elevations, and as the season progresses, the elevation increases. So, right now our greens gatherers are scouting for the best trees, getting the required permits renewed, and collecting Pine Cones. Makes sense since the cones are the lowest to the ground! Juniper is foraged earliest in the season. Further up the hill, Cedar is gathered when its tips set (meaning new growth has stopped) just before the winter chill sets in. Once the first cold snap occurs, Noble Fir is ready to gather. Finally, Pine and Douglas Fir, which pack the most powerful scents, are brought in from the highest elevations until access is restricted due to the mountain snow. 

"Who's bringing the green?" The people gathering our West Coast Evergreens usually consist of families who have been foraging for years. The trade is passed down from generation to generation, which means these folks are incredibly experienced. They have to be, since it's no cake walk getting to some of the greens, especially at high elevations. They must have a profound love of being in the woods as well, since they're spending a good portion of their time among the trees.

"How do you keep the greens green?" This may be common knowledge, but greens in general are the longest lasting part of an arrangement. The same is true for Christmas greens. Before they are ready to be made into wreaths or arrangements, they like to stay in their boxes in cold temperatures (not just cool; their natural environment is cold, so the colder, the better). To prolong their display life, your best bet is to keep them moist - use a spray bottle to give them a light mist. This also gives them a nice sheen. When they're part of an arrangement and the other flowers fade, the greens themselves can be kept and displayed on their own, or just add more flowers for an entirely new arrangement. No matter what, you'll be able to enjoy that fabulous smell throughout the holidays!

After learning a bit more about what goes on with our West Coast Evergreen division this time of year, I'll be thinking of Christmas scents and Santa in addition to sunglasses and sand. If you're already starting to tackle your Christmas list, make sure you put Cedar, Douglas Fir, Princess Pine and Noble Fir at the top of your priority list. Like the Xbox 360 of 2009 or Furbies of 1998, these greens won't be on the shelves long!

And for more ways to enjoy your Christmas greens, check out some of these enhanced bunches:



Red and Green Supreme (Ilex with Cedar)

  

10 stem Tulips and Douglas Fir

 

3 stem Orientals and Cedar

Please visit our resource page to learn more about West Coast Evergreen: http://www.thesunvalleygroup.com/thesunvalleygroup/pdf/SV_RP_WestcoastEvergreen.pdf

And to learn more about our Holiday Tulip Enhanced Bunches, please visit:
http://www.thesunvalleygroup.com/thesunvalleygroup/pdf/SV_RP_HolidayTulipsECB.pdf

Lily's Boots: The Chill from LAX to MIA

Lily's Boots: The Chill from LAX to MIA

Floral industry Holiday flowers

As promised last Friday, I am going to share a little ditty about my adventures in the Miami heat. Except I came to find that "Miami heat" may not be the best way to describe my adventures...

Last weekend, I left sunny Southern California for sunny Miami, from Bouquet Land to Flower Inspection Central. I traveled from arid heat to intense humidity to help inspect floral products going in and out of Miami, and here's what struck me as odd: I was cold. The whole time.


Cold weather boots

I needed a hoodie in the Sun Pacific Bouquet Department, and I added a jacket, gloves and warmer boots when I got to the distribution center in Miami. Fully swathed in cold weather gear, I worked with a team of floral reps to inspect flowers coming in from all over the globe, especially Colombia and Ecuador, and of course from Sun Valley. We spent a few hours opening boxes and pulling out bouquets, bunches and greens to inspect for quality issues, such as mold or bortrytis. I'm happy to report that we found nearly zero, nada, zilch issues with the products, which were most likely destined for deserving mothers. I'm also happy to say that we were able to take a few breaks to get out into the Miami sun, as we were downright cold in there!

Yet it turns out that being cold is a very, very good thing. For flowers, that is.

Just like a wheel of Gouda, flowers greatly benefit from staying cold from their inception to their reception. Playing it cool from farm to shop shelf ensures longer vase life and better floral quality, ultimately resulting in higher consumer satisfaction. This is why you'll hear phrases like "cold chain management" and "refrigerated trucking" a lot when listening in on a conversation about flower distribution. It's also why you'll find yourself in a chilly warehouse working in a Bouquet Department or in a nearly freezing DC inspecting floral products.

It's one thing to talk about cold chain management in theory, but it's quite another to actually experience two crucial (and chilly) steps of the process in person. My boots and I flew from one coast to the other to do just that.

Which is why I was so cold. The whole time.




For more information about cold chain managment click here.

Got a story about how cold chain management has affected your floral business (either positively or negatively)? Share it in the Comments!

Lily's Boots (or Flip Flops): Lily Wonka and the Bouquet Factory

Lily's Boots (or Flip Flops): Lily Wonka and the Bouquet Factory

Around the flower farm Flower arrangements Holiday flowers

This week, I traded in my boots for a pair of flip flops. No, we didn't have a heat wave in Arcata - I travelled down to our So Cal counterpart to experience this side of Sun Valley's operations. So, over the hills and through the fog to the Oxnard farm I went... and what an amazing journey! 

When I arrived at this truly sunny Sun Valley, I immediately found myself immersed in the Sun Pacific Bouquet Department, which is in overdrive during this busy time of year. The department operates out of a large warehouse filled to the brim with buckets upon buckets of colorful flowers, brightly colored packaging, and a multitude of cutesy, classy, fun, funky, earthy and mirthy flower containers. Not to mention the Team Members working diligently to transform single stems into magnificent masterpieces. One gets the feeling of being in a certain chocolate factory around here... 

Here are some of the magical things I witnessed in the Bouquet Factory...

"Lemon Drop" Tulips, "Violet Mint" Matsomotos and "Cotton Candy" Lisianthus...

Carts full of "Bubblegum" Gerberas...



A flaming red "Fireball" Gerbera...



Team Members using "Secret Recipes" to make our Bouquets...



"Jawbreaker" Seasonal Surge Bouquets, ready to be packed...




A "Gumdrop Sea" of Papella Bag arrangements...



"Candy Button" Take Me Out arrangements...



Finished product rolled on carts to the Packing and Shipping area...

The buzz in the Bouquet Department never died down throughout my entire visit, not even for a minute. And that is just one component of the farm. For this reason, I wasn't able to pay a visit to the other areas of the farm on this trip. One would need a Glass Elevator to see it all. Due to my lack of said elevator, I'll save the rest of the journey for a later date.

For now, I'm off to the other side of the country to inspect product and observe just a small part of the floral trade from the Miami perspective.

As the ever-busy Willy Wonka said, "So much time and so little to do. Wait a minute. Strike that. Reverse it."

Look for a recollection of my adventures in the Miami heat next Friday!

The candy names below pictures are not actual product names. Contact your Sales rep for product details: (800)747-8700... And please don't ask for Mr. Wonka!