Springing Forward and Up

Springing Forward and Up

Around the flower farm California Flowers Freesia Iris Iris flower Lilies Love Lilies Royal Lilies

Today is the Vernal (or Spring) Equinox, meaning Earth's northern hemisphere is about to tilt towards the sun, thus prolonging daylight hours. In other words, we're leaving winter in our rear view mirror!

"Springing forward" brings on a few changes around our Sun Valley farms, as you might imagine. For example, longer daylight hours equate to less need for the use of growing lights in the greenhouses. More significantly, from today's Vernal Equinox to its counterpart (Autumnal Equinox), our core crops are essentially relocating from one California farm to the other.


Core crops are mostly grown in Arcata during the spring and summer

Over the next few months, our Arcata farm, nestled in the Pacific Northwest right in the heart of the Redwoods, will have an ideal climate for growing field, hoophouse and greenhouse crops, like Iris, Asiatic Lilies and Oriental Lilies respectively. Steady moderate temperatures, an abundance of moisture, and the right amount of sunlight are just what the farmer ordered this time of year!   

Most of the core crop production moves to Oxnard for the fall and winter

Alternately, the ever-warm and sunny - except for right now with the crazy weather patterns of late - Oxnard farm in southern California allows us to grow the flowers mentioned above during the winter, when Arcata tends to be under a constant blanket of rain clouds. Even with shorter days, the Oxnard farm gets plenty of sunlight and its winter climate is just right for crops that love a little warmth, like Freesia, Brassica and Dubium. (I'll be talking all about Freesia next week, so stay tuned!) 

Chasing the weather from our NorCal farm to the SoCal farm and back is one of the factors that allow us to grow our core crops year-round nearly seamlessly. (In case you're wondering, the other factors include ample cooler space and hardworking flower farmers!) Now that the days are getting longer than the nights, it's time for our flowers to head north!

(Note: the aerial pictures above are a little dated - I'll call them "vintage" - but they give you the general idea of our farms!)

Thanksgiving - Reflection on a floral education

Thanksgiving - Reflection on a floral education

California Flowers Growing Flowers Hydrangea Ilex Love Lilies Royal Lilies Soil Grown Tulips Sun Valley Thanksgiving

The turkey is back.

Without fail, the often grounded, gobbling bird returns year after year to remind us that it's time for a feast, football and most importantly, reflection. Thanksgiving is a holiday to, like the name implies, give thanks for the people and things that enhance our lives.

Since most of us won't be checking our emails tomorrow, I'm going to go ahead and share my personal Thanksgiving reflection with you today. Among the things I give thanks for every year - family, health, chocolate, The Beatles, etc. - this year I'm particularly grateful for the continuing floral education I've received from Sun Valley.

I've learned more about flowers in the past year at Sun Valley than I have throughout my previous 20-something years on earth. And I've had the pleasure of sharing it all right here on Flower Talk. The beauty of it is even though my floral horizons have been broadened so much already, there's still a huge world of flower facts out there for me to discover!

Until then, I want to share some of my favorite educational posts, ones I feel accurately represent my learning experience thus far. Without further ado...

1. Willow Creek Part 3 - In search of the "perfect Ilex"

I visited the Willow Creek farm with Lane a few months ago , and I learned a lot about Cotinus, Rosehips and Ilex, among other things. This post goes into detail about how our Ilex is grown and reveals one of Lane's greatest passions as a farmer.







2. Lily's Boots: Summer and... Cryogenic Freezing?

What do Sun Valley summer Tulips and Cryogenic Freezing have in common? One of our farm's main strengths is growing Tulips year-round. Learn how we're able to grow our Tulips in the summertime.







3. Hey Material Girl, Open Your Heart... to Hydrangeas

In light of Madonna's public denouncement of Hydrangeas, this post tells you all you need to know about how Hydrangeas are grown at Sun Valley.






4. Lily's Boots: The Path to Iris Enlightenment

I set out to learn all about Iris, and walked away a little more enlightened. This post is filled with fun facts about Iris and explores how this beautiful flower is grown and harvested.








5. Lily's Boots, Love and Royal Lilies - Part 1 and Part 2

You can't have one without the other! These posts go into detail about how we grow our Asiatic (Love) and Royal (LA Hybrid) Lilies at Sun Valley's Arcata farm. I got some fantastic hands-on planting and bunching experience - check out the video!




While there are so many other fascinating floral topics that I've covered over the last several months, I feel these posts provide a great example of the knowledge I've absorbed while working at the farm.

I'm very grateful to have been given the opportunity to learn so much about such a fascinating topic and to be able to share it with you. I'm also grateful that I get to continue doing so!


And now, for the first time on Flower Talk...
For a chance to WIN A FREE CASE OF MIXED CHRISTMAS TULIPS, tell me what you're thankful for this year on our Facebook page! (Click HERE for the Sun Valley Floral Farms Facebook page.)

Lily's Boots, Love and Royal Lilies - Part 2

Lily's Boots, Love and Royal Lilies - Part 2

Asiatic Lilies CA Grown California Flowers lily's boots Love Lilies Royal Lilies Sun Valley

Freshly harvested Royal Lilies

In my last Lily's Boots post, we followed Love and Royal Lily bulbs all the way from the bulb coolers to the soil, thanks to Tim, our informative tour guide. Today, we'll complete the journey from the sprout to the shipping cooler, thanks to a handful of knowledgeable Sun Valley Team Members.

Starting where we left off...

Once Loves and Royals are planted in the ground (which Tim and I got first-hand experience with), they take about 12 weeks to reach their blooming point, taking somewhat longer earlier in the season. Similar to Tulips, the Lily bulbs that hang out a bit longer in the coolers are the ones that hang out the shortest amount of time in the Hoophouses. Because they really enjoy the regular weather patterns of Arcata during this season and Oxnard during the alternate season, Royal and Love Lilies do not require a Greenhouse to grow in, unlike their Oriental Lily counterparts. (We'll explore Oriental Lily growing in the future.) For this reason, they're somewhat of a Grower's dream!

Although they're grown year-round between Arcata and Oxnard, we're in the midst of the peak planting season for Love and Royal Lilies since they provide a full spectrum of Autumnal colors. Also, because our Lily bulbs are used only once, as opposed to Gerberas or Roses, which grow from the same plant for three years, we are able to exercise a significant level of control over our Lily color programs. (Check out the range of Love and Royal Lily colors by clicking here and here.) So at any given time during this time of year, if you take a trip over to the Hoophouses, you can see the Loves and Royals being planted, tended to, and harvested - a whole life cycle happening right before your eyes!



At one part of the farm, a Team Member harvests Royal Lilies

Once the Lilies have been hand-cut by the Asiatic Lily Picking Team, they are wheeled a short distance over to a nearby Hoophouse, where they are bunched, sleeved and put into buckets of water. As it happens, I got a little bit of hands on experience with the sleeving the other day. I regret to inform you that I did not catch it on video, but here are some photos.

My bunching station: Grade 1 Love Lilies on the left, sleeves in the middle,
sleeved bunches on the right



Lily putting Lilies in a sleeve, taking about double the amount
of time as the Team Member to my left (not pictured), I might add

You might think that bunching and sleeving is as simple as putting a few stems together and sticking them into a sleeve, but the process is actually much more complicated. At least, I found it to be! For starters, each Lily has to be graded and then separated into its respective grade. The grading is made clear with color-coded rubber bands. Blue = Grade 1, and Red = Grade 6.



Blue and red rubber bands identify the Lily grades



Then each bunch of Lilies must go into its own sleeve. Every sleeve is coded with the brand and name of a Lily, and a color ring around the top of the sleeve indicates the color of the Lily - a helpful measure since we ship our Lilies closed.



"Santa Cruz" Love Lilies



"Champagne Diamond" Royal Lilies



"Tiger Play" Tango Lilies

Once the Love and Royal Lilies have been graded, bunched and sleeved, a Team Member ties them, trims them and puts them into a bucket of water on one of our Dutch auction carts. (You may remember the carts from IFE.) The team member carefully maps each cart to show exactly which variety or varieties are on the cart, how many bunches are in each bucket, and how many buckets are on each cart. This data is then entered into our computer system so the Packing Team in the Warehouse (the Love and Royal Lilies' final destination at the farm) will have an accurate inventory to pull from.



A Team Member ties and trims Love Lilies



Next the Team Member draws out a cart map by hand,
which he will later enter into a computer.



Finally, the Team Member wheels a full cart to the edge of
the Hoophouse where another team member will collect it
and pull it into the Warehouse.

And this completes our Sun Valley tour of the Love and Royal Lilies. The rest of the story, as you know, continues with a little Cold Chain Management, a wholesaler, retailer or florist, and ultimately, a smiling recipient of Loves or Royals.

The next time you're sticking an orange Love or a burgundy Royal into your cornucopia, you'll know exactly where your Lilies came from!

For even more information on Loves and Royals, visit this Resource Pages:
Love Lilies and Royal Lilies: http://www.thesunvalleygroup.com/thesunvalleygroup/pdf/SV_RP_LiliesRL.pdf
Love Lilies: http://www.thesunvalleygroup.com/thesunvalleygroup/pdf/SV_RP_LoveLilies.pdf
Royal Lilies: http://www.thesunvalleygroup.com/thesunvalleygroup/pdf/SV_RP_RoyalLilies.pdf

Lily's Boots, Love and Royal Lilies (Watch the Video!)

Lily's Boots, Love and Royal Lilies (Watch the Video!)

CA Grown California Flowers Lilies lily's boots Love Lilies Royal Lilies Sun Valley

Love and Royal Lilies fill out a fall arrangement (along with Tulips, Gerbera and Sonata Lilies)



This week, I spent some time getting to know some of the other Lily(s) on the farm - the ones that go by the names of Love and Royal, to be exact. (Love Lilies are Sun Valley's Asiatic Lilies, and Royal Lilies are our Asiatic Longiflorum Hybrid Lilies - LA Hybrids.) On Monday, I came to the realization that I knew quite little about the complete growing process of these flowers that share my name. So yesterday, I arranged to meet with Tim, one of our lead Growers. What I thought would be more like an informational interview turned into a full-blown tour of the entire Love and Royal Lily growing process, from bulb cooler to warehouse, complete with a hands-on planting experience! I captured most of the experience in pictures and video, so enjoy the tour!



Tim, the tour guide



We started our journey in the Lily coolers, where the bulbs, which come in from Holland throughout the year (but mostly in the fall), are stored in peat moss, which is a perfect medium for keeping the bulbs moist, but not too moist, and for keeping the bulbs oxygenated while they slumber in the winter-weather coolers.

Crates full of Lily bulbs in the cooler



Tim displays the bulbs in peat moss

Each week, the bulbs are pulled out of the coolers about three days before they are ready to be planted in Hoophouses so they can thaw. Royals and Loves love growing in the ground and have an affinity for warm days and cool nights, which is why they're grown in Arcata Hoophouses in the summer and Oxnard Hoophouses in the winter. These Hoophouses, called "Cold Frames" in grower speak, actually have to be "pre-watered" before the bulbs can be planted (more on planting in a minute). Tim can actually power the irrigation system from his phone, albeit not as easily as doing it in person. Ah, modern technology! 



A misty Hoophouse being "pre-watered"

Once the soil has the right level of moisture, the Love and Royal Lilies are planted right into the ground by quick-handed Team Members and the "Planting Machine." (We love our technical terms here at the farm!) As it moves along a pipe track, the machine drills a line of holes across the dirt, which the team members quickly fill with bulbs. A horizontal bar at the back of the machine sweeps dirt into the planted holes. This machine enables the Team to plant literally thousands of bulbs each day!



The "Planting Machine"



A Planting Team Member - ready for his close-up!


Always up for a challenge, Tim and I tried our hands at the planting machine during the Planting Team's break. You can see us in action in the video below!

It turns out I'm not quite as coordinated as I had once believed. (Nor was Tim!) It was a great learning experience nonetheless!

Finally, the Planting Team lay drip tape, which supplies an appropriate amount of water and fertilizer directly to the Lilies' roots systems, and then they lay a wire grid, which will be raised with the Lilies as they grow to help keep them growing tall and straight.


Baby Lilies peeking up through drip tape and wire


And that, my friends, is the first part of the Love and Royal Lilies story. At this point, you've probably got enough to go on for the weekend. Please check in next week for the rest of their journey at Sun Valley - growing, harvesting and bunching!