Most Read Posts from 2014 (and One Prediction for 2015)

Most Read Posts from 2014 (and One Prediction for 2015)

brassica Ice Cream tulips lonely bouquet Ornamental kale Women's Day 2015

One of the greatest rewards of writing this weekly blog is getting to feel the pulse of the flower industry. Based on the "reads" of our posts I can get sense of what is hot in the Sun Valley community.

Looking back at the 52 posts from 2014, the single most read post was about our stunning Ice Cream Tulips. These are those wild tulips that look almost like a peony, but more colorful and vibrant.

See you in Spring 2015!

We are pleased to announce we have a lot more Ice Cream Tulips coming for 2015, but you must be patient as we won't start to harvest for a couple months. Cool your jets!

Ice Cream Tulips look good enough to eat!

The second most read Flower Talk blog post focused on Woman's Day, titled Woman's Day Homecoming.  Sun Valley has been leading the effort to create awareness about this great floral occasion. The response from our readers, the industry and media; shows that this is a hot button topic that we'll hear a lot more about in 2015. Stay tuned!

Woman's Day 2015

The third most read post of 2014 surprised me, and like Woman's Day it is another emerging floral event. Lonely Bouquet Day has garnered a lot of interest across the world and the web, as people participate in this flower happening. The premise is that you take a bouquet out to a public place and leave it, with a note attached for someone to find. A stranger finds the bouquet, takes it home and shares on social media, so the person that left the bouquet can see where it ended up.

Our own bouquet department got in the Lonely Bouquet fun for 2014.

Lonely Bouquet Day 2015, is Sunday, June 28th. What a fun way to give out flowers, and we've also been hearing that florists are doing this year-round as a marketing effort. Fun, Fun!

Lastly, spoiler alert... the blog post that is still gaining the most reads is Ornamental Kale!

So you heard it here first, 2015 will be the year of Brassica (aka Cabbage, or Ornamental Kale)

Now trending! #AmericanGrown Brassica!

We are excited to jump into 2015 at Flower Talk, and continue, learning about flowers and the flower biz.

Happy New Year! ...and please make sure you subscribe so you don't miss a single week.

Ice Cream Tulips!

Ice Cream Tulips!

Ice Cream tulips

"I'm your ice cream man, stop me when I'm passin' by
See now all my flavors are guaranteed to satisfy"
                                                             -John Brim, made famous by Van Halen

Ice Cream tulips are hot, hot, hot right now. Honestly, our supply is getting sold out the moment they come on screen, but I wanted to make sure you saw these wild tulips that look more like a yummy dessert confection than a tulip. I can't guarantee we'll have these for you, but if you are persistent and lucky, I hope we can send you a bunch or two.

Ice Cream is technically a single late tulip, however, we classify the tulip as a Fancy tulip. This style of fluffy double tulip is often called a "peony tulip." We grow these outside in our Arcata hoop houses, and like all Sun Valley tulips, we grow in soil. The soil is Lane's custom blend of compost, sand, shredded Douglas fir and redwood bark and nutrients.

The biggest challenge in growing Ice Cream tulips is achieving a good stem length. We are seeing an average length of 14-16 inches, which is good for this variety. The growers are using some shade clothes and other techniques to encourage vertical growth.

Ice Cream is the WOW flower of this spring and we are working hard to procure as many bulbs as we can for the future. In the meantime, our production will be ebbing and flowing for the next few weeks, then they will be gone. So hopefully you get to enjoy a big scoop of Ice Cream.

Good luck as we roll into Mother's Day. Sun Valley is firing on all cylinders, working around the clock to bring you the highest quality American Grown flowers.