Spring Flower Series: Hyacinth

Spring Flower Series: Hyacinth

Hyacinth on the bulb spring flower series Spring flowers

Ah, Spring--a Flower Farm's favorite season! The soil is warming, the bees are buzzing, and the Northern California coastal rain is finally beginning to abate. To commemorate this lovely season, we have put together a three-part Spring Flower Series to honor a few of our seasonal specialties. Welcome to Part One--Hyacinth.

Hyacinth is a spring bulb flower through and through.  Each stem has rows of intricate blossoms saturated in hues commonly associated with Easter and springtime, such as blue, violet, white, pink, and yellow.  When a hyacinth first begins to bloom, it produces a light floral aroma, but once the flowers fully open up the scent becomes intoxicating and powerful.  Each color is paired with its own unique fragrance. 

Hyacinth Colors: Antarctica,  Blue Giant, Alladin,  Atlantic, Ann Marie, Yellowstone

We offer six colors and grow 10 different varieties.  These are the "early" and "late" varieties of each color, which ensures we are growing the strongest hyacinth throughout the season.  This little detail is important, since the typical flowering season for hyacinth is spring, but we grow them from January until May.

Farm Fresh Hyacinth

As soon as we receive the bulbs from our Dutch partners, we plant them in soil-filled crates, which are then placed in a climate-controlled rooting room.  There, the bulbs stay for 16 weeks, as we simulate winter and prepare them for their "spring" ahead.  When we are ready for our first round of Hyacinth, we transfer some of these crates into a warm, humid hoop house, and then cover them with cloth.  The trifecta of warmth, darkness, and humidity work together to stretch the hyacinth to a length of 12-14 inches.  Soon after, we remove the cloth, and photosynthesis does its magic to pump color into the hyacinth's leaves, stems, and florets.  Now, the hyacinths are ready to be pulled.

Left: Hyacinth gaining color | Right: Freshly pulled Hyacinth

The entire plant is gently pulled out of the soil, leaving the bulb attached.  Then, we core it. The outside of the bulb is cut off, keeping the center, or "core" intact.  The bottom of this core is the basal plate, which works as the flower's point of entry for nutrients. You don't want to  trim the ends of hyacinth like you would with other flowers--be sure to keep the basal plate intact so the hyacinth can continue absorbing nutrients.  This simple trick will double its vase life!


Hyacinth is an incredibly versatile plant with regards to floral design.  It stands strong on its own, and can be elegant or rustic, chic or whimsy, or a combination of them all!

Hyacinth also pairs beautifully with the other spring darling (which we grow year-round), the tulip. Their contrasting shapes and textures play well together and the variety of color combinations is limitless.  We offer tulip and hyacinth mixed bunches, available in a slew of colors and an array of stem counts, so you can order pre-made bunches, or make your own!

Tulips and Hyacinth

Hyacinth on-the-bulb


One of our special offerings is our hyacinth on-the-bulb, which is something you won't find anywhere else! We package it in a clear bag tied with a raffia bow, providing window to the hyacinth anatomy: roots, bulbs, stem, leaves and, of course, the dense cluster of blooms.  Hyacinth on the bulb is a charming and unique way to bring the farm to your table! 

Place on-the-bulb hyacinths in a tall clear container,  or in a low bowl with rocks to anchor.  Add about an inch of water.

Hyacinth season ends in a couple short months, so get your food for the soul while the hoop house is hot!

 "If of thy mortal goods thou art bereft,
And of thy meager store
Two loaves alone to thee are left,
Sell one, and with the dole
Buy hyacinths to feed thy soul."

-The Gulistan of Saadi, 1270

Flowers for Easter Renewal

Flowers for Easter Renewal

Easter flowers Easter lilies Holy Week Hyacinth Palm Sunday Persian New Year rebirth renewal spring Tulips white lilies

"Easter spells out beauty,
 the rare beauty of new life."
S.D. Gordon


I write this in the middle of Holy Week, a week which begins on Palm Sunday and concludes 7 days later with Easter Sunday. In the Christian tradition, Easter represents the resurrection of Jesus, a day filled with hope, celebration, and renewal--how appropriate that this day is accompanied by the arrival of Spring.

 After all, Spring is THE season which represents dawn after darkness, sunshine after rain, life after death.  Spring and Easter are inextricably linked, both embodying resurrection of growth and being. 

Lily sprouts ready to go after a long winter in the ground.

 Even if you do not celebrate Easter as a religious holiday, there is an undeniable sense of wonderment and collective reverence for the day.  Yes, the world is coming alive again after a long and dark winter.  Just take a look at the secular images of Easter: fertile rabbits, baby chicks, eggs, and flowers, flowers, flowers. They are all related to life and rebirth.

 What flower reminds you of the hope and renewal of Easter?  

 A lot of responses here on the farm included the tulip, which comes as no surprise as this flower is firmly associated with Spring.  The other popular response was the hyacinth, another classic spring bloom, which comes in all the Easter colors.  Not only that, blue hyacinth is the flower of the Persian New Year, which also marks the first day of spring. 

 

Spring-hued blue and lavender hyacinth

However, the most favored response was the white lily.  White lilies are ubiquitous during Easter; in fact, the white lilum longiflorum is officially known as the "Easter Lily."  For centuries, this white lily has been used as the floral symbol of the resurrection.  Moreover, legend has it that white lilies sprung up where drops of Jesus' sweat fell as he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, the night before the crucifixion.  Talk about hope, renewal, and rebirth!

However you choose to celebrate Easter, we here at Sun Valley wish you a lovely one--may it be filled with the promise of new life, new flowers, and hope for the future.

"I think of the garden after the rain;

And hope to my heart comes singing,

'At morn the [lily]-blooms will be white,

And the Easter bells be ringing!"

-Edna Dean Proctor

The Spectrum of Valentine Flowers

The Spectrum of Valentine Flowers

Hyacinth Lady Aster Lilies pink purple red Tulips Valentine's Day valentine's day colors Valentine's Day Flowers

It may seem too early to start talking about Valentine's Day, but here on the flower farm, we have been acting on it since last fall. We planted our Valentine lily and iris crops in October, and two short months later, we brought our tulips out of the coolers and into the greenhouse, ready to complete their growing cycle.  Looking into the future, what kinds of flowers and flower hues will be in demand this Valentine's Day? Let's find out...

Pink Hyacinth + Red Tulips = The Perfect Valentine's Day Combination

The Color of Love: Flowers

The colors of Valentine's Day haven't really changed since its inception--Red, pink and white reign supreme, representing a combination of passion, wealth of love, and purity of heart.  However, we mustn't forget the dark horse of Valentine's Day--Purple.  From dark purple to light lavender, this lovely spectrum symbolizes enchantment, originality, and love at first sight.  Very appropriate and in-demand. We, of course, have the gamut of colors in a range of floral varieties--the reddest of reds and the pinkest of pinks and everything in between.

Soil-grown tulips in all the romantic colors

The Reds

When I think about red flowers, I think of the tulip.  The red tulip is a chic and romantic Valentine's Day flower--lore tells us the tulip's dramatic black eye represents a lover's heart deepened by passion, a perfect symbol for this love-centered holiday.  How red you want to go is up to you; this primary color is represented by the bright orange-red vermilion, to the darker bluish-red crimson, all the way to the darkest burgundy (and we have soil-grown tulips in each and every hue).  Of course, lighten the shade of red and we get "baby red," better known as that other popular Valentine color, PINK.

Red Tulip Eye (photo courtesy of Veggie Plot)

The Pinks and Whites

Now, when I think about exceptional pink flowers, I think of the lily. My first thought goes to the iconic Stargazer, as its time-honored speckled pink face and signature scent is a perfect Valentine choice.  But then I think of ALL our Oriental lilies--all are veritable floral powerhouses which come in all of Cupid's colors and whose star-shaped blossoms are befitting for any romantic celebration.

A Pink and White Lily Collection

Oriental lilies' range of pink shades begins on the dark side with intense maroon (ie: Sumatra, above photo, center bloom).  Lighten it up to a still-saturated pink hue like Dynamite.  A little lighter, and a variegated pink shines through, such as with the candy-pink Sorbonne.  The hues get lighter and lighter--I especially love the pink edging and white ruffled petals of Hotline.

Clockwise from top left: Sorbonne, Dynamite, Stargazer, Hotline

We cannot talk about pink Valentine lilies without mentioning Roselilies.  Their growing popularity and lush double-petaled heads guarantee that they will sell out this Valentine's season, so get these decadent, premium, and romantic blooms while you can!

Roseliles L-R: Belonica and My Wedding

And of course, at the end of the red, pink, and white spectrum we get the beautiful pure white of White Cup lilies, Clearwater tulips and more. Their clean coloration signifies pride and devotion and never fails to put on a celebratory show.

Clearwater Tulips

The Purples

Ah, purple, how do we love thee? I consider purple to be the middle child of Valentine's day, always included but never talked about. By definition, purple is a range of hues between red and blue, and is often associated with royalty, mystery, and magic.  When combined with pink, it is associated with femininity, seduction, and eroticism (if that doesn't scream Valentine's Day, what does?).  If you want to think outside the box, yet remain romantically relevant this Valentine's day, think purple, lavender, and violet.  Mix purple with pink and you have yourself an extra special mix, my friend.

Valentine's Day marks the start of the Floral Industry's 5-month Holiday Season, and soon, we pass our flower baton to all the other flower professionals who are going to keep the V-day train running all the way through to the end. Now that you know what to expect....are you ready?

Hyacinth Season is Here!

Hyacinth Season is Here!

Basal Plate CAgrown Americangrown Hyacinth Lady Aster Spring flowers

The month of January beckons one of our favorite flowers out of the ground and into the market. Here in Arcata, hyacinth season has begun.  

Purple "Atlantic" and Pink "Ann Marie" Hyacinth

Hyacinth are a classic bulb flower with a very passionate fan base (myself included).  They are a fascinating bit of flora--each stem has rows of intricate blossoms saturated in deep shades of blue, violet, white, pink, and yellow, each hue paired with a notable, super-heady fragrance.  When a hyacinth first begins to bloom, it produces a light floral aroma, but once the flowers fully open up the scent becomes intoxicating and powerful.  To walk into a room that contains a vase of hyacinth smells like walking into a flower shop, or arriving on the tarmac in Hawaii, or entering an English garden full of sweet flowers--absolutely heavenly.  

Purple, White, and Pink Hyacinth look great combined in a frosted vase

Now, to get to the vase full of intoxicating fragrance takes a little bit of work (on our part).  It all begins with the crop plan--which varieties get planted and when.  Almost all our favorite varieties are part of the "A-line" (with variety names such as: Atlantic, Anne Marie, Antarctica, etc).  We also stagger the plant dates--we have "early" varieties and "late" varieties of each color, which ensures that we are growing the strongest hyacinth for every season.

The "A-line" plus Blue Giant

Once we receive the hyacinth bulbs, we immediately plant them in rich, soil-filled crates, which are then placed in a climate-controlled rooting room.  There, our newly planted bulbs sit in the dark for 16 weeks, as we simulate winter and prepare them for their "spring" ahead.

Hyacinth sprouts (look for the tiny florets developing within the leaf structure)

Once the bulbs have had their winter, their root structure will be fully developed and they will have started shooting their yellow-green sprouts skyward.  At this point, we move the crated baby hyacinths into a specially designed warm, humid hoop house.  We cover the sprouts with a cloth, which maintains the warm, moist environment--the heat, dark, and humidity work together to stretch the hyacinth stems to an enviable length of 12-14 inches.   

Within one short week of being moved from rooting room to hot hoop house, the hyacinth foliage will be dark green, their clusters of bell-shaped flowers will be showing color, and they will be giving off their signature pungent aroma. They are now ready to be "pulled."
 

"Pulled" hyacinths, still on the bulb

 You'll notice I said "pulled," not "picked."  Our team gently pulls out the entire plant, making sure to leave the bulb attached. We also do this with our soil grown tulips, but it's a little different with the hyacinth, because we core the outside of the bulb off, and keep the center.  The bottom of this white bulb is called the “basal plate,” and when left on, it allows nutrients to continue flowing to the flower, strengthening it and doubling its vase life.

Hyacinth Basal Plate--freshly cored

Hyacinth Inspiration 

The bright, saturated colors of a hyacinth's blossoms and its rich green foliage will brighten any room.  One can get lost in the intricacies of its densely packed flowers as well as its distinctive floral scent.   

Intricate hyacinth florets

 They look great on their own, whether as a simple, single-color bouquet or combined with other colors.  Hyacinths also look fabulous in mixed bunches.  A flower that it complements really well is the tulip. Their contrasting shapes and textures  play well together and the variety of color combinations is limitless.  Below, you can see a few simple, yet impactful, tulip and hyacinth arrangements we made earlier this week.

Purple Atlantic hyacinth paired with orange World Favorite tulips

Pink Anna Marie hyacinth paired with yellow Strong Gold tulips

A simple and elegant Valentine's day arrangement: Red tulips and a single pink hyacinth

Do you know why you love hyacinths yet? Is it because of their multiple rows of intricate blossoms?  Is it because they are the "official flower" of the Persian New Year? Or is it their strong, ambrosia-like fragrance? Or is it because their season is limited to winter and spring, making their appearance extra-special?  If you are not yet familiar with these unique blooms, give them a try, let them charm you, and let us know why YOU love hyacinths.

And remember, for excellent hyacinth vase life, follow their special Care and Handling Instructions: Keep the white basal plate at the bottom of the stem intact--don't trim them!

Hyacinth Are Back!

Hyacinth Are Back!

Anne Marie Hyacinth Atlantic Hyacinth how to arrange flowers. Hyacinth Tulips

In purple silhouette a palm lifts from a vine-wreathed plinth
Against a sky whose cloudless calm is hued like hyacinth.
                                                              -Clinton Scollard

Hey flower lovers, good news at Sun Valley. The hyacinth crop is back in action.

Purple "Atlantic" and pink "Anne Marie".

Hyacinth are a classic bulb flower, and have a very passionate following. Why are they so special? I think it is because they have a very defined season so they don't lend themselves to be grown year round, unlike our lilies, tulips and irises.

The two varieties that are most in demand is the purple "Atlantic"and the pink "Anne Marie", we are seeing great length and rich saturated blooms. Last January we dug into the meaning and history of hyacinths in our post Hyacinth Heaven.

Yesterday I went out to peek at the crop. We have done a redesign on our hyacinth hoop houses, making the air warmer and moister. Its pretty intense stepping in to the hoop house. I was able to get a few exposures with my camera, before the lense and my glasses completely fogged up.

Steamy hyacinth

Welcome to the hyacinth jungle

We have created the ideal climate at our Arcata farm to grow these beauties. Their foliage is very green and the stem length is 12-14 inches.

One factor to always remember with hyacinth is that they have a different set of "Care and Handling Instructions" than any other flower. With hyacinth you want to keep the white basal plate at the bottom of the stem intact, don't cut this off! This will keep the nutrients flowing to the flower and lead to an excellent vase life. We even had special stickers created to keep everyone in the know.

Do Not Cut The Stem!

I grabbed a few stems from the cooler to make an arrangement or two. Taking advantage of their strong stems I filled a short 5 inch cylinder vase with some pebbles, then placed Atlantic and Anne Marie hyacinths around the outside, working my way to the center. I did this while they were still very fresh, so as they started to develop and really bloom they were snug in the vase. It was amazing how much water these drank the first day in the vase. To accent it all, I added a light blue ribbon bow, thinking this would be perfect for a baby shower.

Baby Shower Flowers

 Two flowers that go together very well are tulips and hyacinth. Their contrasting shapes really play off each other well. Here I combined our Atlantic blue hyacinth with our World Legend tulip. The tulips natural stretching was accentuated by stones in the bottom of the vase, so it looks like tulips with a hyacinth "collar".

Tulip and hyacinth arrangement

Hyacinths are really a fun flower to get up close and personal with...and I haven't even mentioned their scent.


I can’t turn a smell
into a single word;
you’ve no right 
to ask…

From Jo Shapcott’s  Rosa odorata

Let hyacinth warm up your winter, since we have a wonderful spring happening in our hoop houses, just for you.

Hyacinth Hallucinations

Hyacinth Hallucinations

#Scent Fever Hallucinating Hyacinth Schartner Farms

One of the great benefits of working at Sun Valley is all the flowers you end up getting to take home. Last Tuesday, after doing a photo shoot with some very fancy Hyacinth in a range of colors (purple, pink and blue) I took home the subjects of the photo-shoot. Hyacinth are a flower that I am still learning the intricacies of, their long rows of bell shaped blossoms, their bright strong presence and of course, their heady fragrance which reminds me of another time or place in my life, which I haven’t yet pinned down. Somehow the smell of a hyacinth has been imprinted on my subconsciousness. I wonder when I had this experience, I think it must have been as a child, but it is somewhere in the floral ether.




Our "Atlantic" Hyacinth

 The power of scent is one of the more hard to control and hard to define elements of our five senses. The memories that can be released by the mere whiff of a flower, a perfume or a seasoning in the kitchen can often catch a person off guard. The scent can also be closer to a “smell” such as stale moldy room that reminds you of a sleep over at your best friend’s house as little child, or that smell of patchouli and burning incense that brings you back to a college dorm room.

I took home these Hyacinths, with the plan to get deep into my own psychology and figure out where buried in my subconscious these memories stemmed from (no pun intended!). In a painful and unfortunate turn of events though, I came down with the flu. Not the sit at home sip on some tea and watch some movies flu, but the, Oh my God. Are my affairs in order? I may not live another day flu.

I was quickly quarantined from the family as my temperature soared. Laid up, confined to bed, no movies, no desire to eat or drink. Just a puddle of suffering as this diabolical flu bug took it's course. In a dark room, aching all through my body, suddenly there was a light as my spouse brought in a pitcher vase full of hyacinths.

“Here, these will make you feel better.”

Their bright color and rich green foliage seemed to perk up the room with their very presence. I watched them with one eye, as it was two painful to have both eyes open at once. What an intricate flower a hyacinth is. There is so much detail to take in, even without a fever, they really have a lot of bang for the buck. The pink especially, is so rich it could be like 60 mini lilies strung up the stem. Our hyacinth reach tall out of the vase, as I wrote about growing them in a recent blog post, I didn’t realize the expertise needed to achieve the results we consistently get.

Currently on my porch, in a pot packed with odd bulbs, and I have some hot pink hyacinth blooming. However, this garden variety of hyacinth doesn’t shine anywhere as bright as Sun Valley hyacinth. The ones growing at my house are blooming at the ground level, and don’t possess nearly as many rows of blooms as Sun Valleys. I am a decent gardener, but it looks like Lane, Antoon and Tim may have greener thumbs than me, although this hot pink color is pretty spicy!



Amateur Hyacinth

I tried to enjoy the smell of the hyacinths and convalesced with some whimpering. I slipped in and out of sweaty fever dreams that now took on a floral twist.  Hallucinating like I hadn’t done in more than a few years; it was a little dicey there for a couple days, luckily the fever finally broke.



 My sanity started to return, and I could move without it hurting. I realized something good had come from my quixotic visions. I had managed to inadvertently figure out where my connection to the hyacinths smell had come from.

Way back in about 7th and 8th grade while living in Rhode Island, I worked at an elaborate farm stand called Schartner Farms. They grow fresh veggies and “pick your own strawberries”, have a yummy bakery and a decent greenhouse complex, where they grow everything from geraniums to tomatoes…and in one of them they were growing hyacinth. Out in Greenhouse 4, a few romances were hatched and an unequal amount of hearts broken. All that time of intrepidation and youthful passion managed to connect itself to the strong fragrance of the hyacinth.

Years later that smell had such a powerful connotation it actually took a fever dream to divine the meaning in that scent.

Yes, flowers have this power.



Special Valentine's thought from Lily

Special Valentine's thought from Lily

#tulips #Valentine's Day Hyacinth

Valentine’s Day has a really strong power. It is the power to remind people of the joy flowers bring. Many people only give their spouse or partner flowers this one day a year. Yet scratch their heads the rest of the year with what to grab on the way home from work, or how to express the inexpressible. Flowers are so much more a deep experience than can be explored in a single day, once a year. Watching a bouquet of flowers develop and change over a week’s time is an exercise in slowing down this hurried world in which we live. It returns us to wonder, it returns us to the details, to the small picture, to what is happening at our own dining room table. By combining different flower varieties through different seasons, across a year’s time, you build a tapestry of emotion and memory that affects all our senses. It makes you rich.

As sweethearts and families celebrate Valentine’s Day, let’s hope that after the red foil wrappers are tossed and the fancy dinners eaten, that the flower’s enduring natural beauty and the kinetic bliss which they possess will lead to keeping that vase full all year round.