Aromatherapy and Oriental Lilies

Aromatherapy and Oriental Lilies

#Smell aromatherapy Flowers and Scent Oriental lilies OT Hybrids Sonata Lilies Stress

Have you ever noticed your bouquet of Stargazers or White Casablanca lilies smelling more sweetly in the evening as you relax? That's because of a fragrant compound called linalool--most lilies emit linalool, and often more intensely in the evening.  This little fragrant compound is extra-special because it is one big way we can decrease stress and increase feel-good feelings.

The Aromatic Oriental Lily

Our sense of smell can trigger neurological and chemical responses in the body; a single scent can make us feel calm, help us tackle a stressful task, or energize a lethargic day. And this kind of aromatherapy isn't just a placebo effect--there is scientific evidence to back it up and show how the fragrance of flowers can have a positive effect on moods.

Oriental Lily

Enter linalool. A 2009 study published in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry shows that the floral-scented compound, linalool, has a positive effect on stress-related changes in the body.  In the study, the inhalation of linalool not only reduced chemical changes to stressed-out immune cells in the bloodstream, it also calmed more than 100 genes which tend to go into action during stressful situations  

Dynamite Oriental Lily

Now, let's talk flowers.  Another study published by the American Society for Horticultural Science showed that lilies, especially the aromatic Oriental Lilies and OT Hybrids, emit large amounts of linalool.  In fact, linalool is one of the lily's major scent components. This isn't so odd, considering that researchers say the inhalation of fragrance from certain flowers is a practice that has been used to reduce stress, fight depression, and induce sleep for centuries. Apparently people have been using flowers to feel better for a long, long time.

It gets better...not only do lilies aromatically soothe, they also come added benefit of being visually pleasing.  And, according to a study conducted by Harvard Medical School, this adds to their overall positive effect on our well-being. The study found that the simple presence of flowers in the home could affect a wide variety of emotions— such as less anxiety and depression, enhanced relaxation and energy, and compassion at work. Lead psychologist Dr. Nancy Etcoff states, "We didn’t know that spending a few days with flowers in the home can affect a wide variety of feelings."

Sonata OT Hybrid Lily

I've always loved the look and smell of Oriental lilies, and even more so now that I've learned about their aromatherapeutic benefits.  Yet another great reason to buy myself flowers--what a beautiful way to calm down and feel better!  Next time you or a friend is feeling stressed out, try a big bouquet of Oriental Lilies--sit down, relax, and smell the flowers. 

Starfighter Lilies

 

A Lily Scent Guide by Lady Aster

A Lily Scent Guide by Lady Aster

#AllLiliesDon'tSmell #americangrown #CAGrown #lilies #Smell Asiatic Lilies LA Hybrid Lilies lilyguide Oriental lilies OT Hybrid lilies Roselilies

Welcome our newest flower connoisseur, Lady Aster, we will be sharing her view of the farm on occasion. Enjoy.

“Smell is a potent wizard that transports you across thousands of miles and all the years you have lived.”
               -Helen Keller

The body is a wonderful mechanism.  Our sense of smell, perceived in our olfactory bulb, is part of the brain’s limbic system—an area so tied with memory and feeling that it has been nicknamed our “emotional brain.”  A single smell can call up long-forgotten memories and powerful emotional responses in an instant.  Pretty great stuff, if you like what you smell.  Everyone is different and some people do well with strong scents, while others’ olfaction may be easily overwhelmed. 
   
So what about Sun Valley’s Oriental Lilies? Do these inspire good feelings or aromatically overwhelm?  The answer can be both—while our aromatic lilies may smell amazing to some, others with allergies or sensitive noses may find their scent overpowering.   Luckily for them, not all lilies smell.  It’s true; some lilies boast a fragrance that will fill a room, but other varieties have little to no scent at all.  If you are one who has an aversion to strong-smelling flowers, but still love the presence of gorgeous blooms, this is the post for you. 

I took several of our lily varieties home to test the “smell phenomenon,” placing each variety in a different room for a clear distinction of scent. Here, I provide you with a short-but-sweet summary about which lilies to choose for your all your scented (or non-scented) needs. 

High-Level Smell:
The lily with the strongest fragrance comes as part of our Orchid Lily Line—our well-known Starfighter Lily.  Its colorful blooms and sweet smell brings a bright and lively presence to any room.  I placed a bouquet in my living room, and every time I entered the room I was reminded of stepping off a plane in a tropical paradise, the air heavy with honeyed smells.  If you are one who loves powerfully fragrant flowers, opt for our Starfighter Lily; or, if you prefer a less provocative scent, try our other Orchid Lilies, such as White Cup, Sorbonne, or Curie.   All lilies of the Sun Valley Orchid variety have graceful, arching petals and range in color from pure white to warm hues of pink and red.  

Our famous Starfighter smells how it looks—vibrant!

Mid-Level Smell:
These beauties still have a fragrance, but it is less direct than our Orchid varieties.   These slightly sweet flowers include all varieties of our Sonata Lilies, whose upward facing, 6-inch blooms boast an intensely delicate scent with a light citrus-green background.   The smell of these lovely lilies is subtle, only coming to the surface when you stick your face in them and take in a big, deep breath.   Sonatas are a hybrid of both Oriental and Trumpet Lilies, giving us the best of both worlds in terms of satin-like colors, longevity of life, and light, pleasing scents.

 These Sonata Lilies exhibit a subtle scent to match to their soft, silken colors, this is Time Zone.

Low-Level Smell:
Roselilies (which are part of our Specialty Lilies collection) are lush, double-flowered, gorgeous blooms that demand attention with their appearance, while offering a soft and delightful fragrance. Because their layered blooms are pollen-free and their aroma light, they are a great choice when wanting to visually “wow” your audience without triggering any floral allergies or scent sensitivities.  

One of my favorite Specialty Lilies, Belonica, has giant double blooms that will tickle your fancy, not your nose.

No Smell:
For those who would like immense flora with low-to-no smell, our Love Lilies and Royal Lilies are the blooms for you.  These Asiatic and Longiflorum-Asiatic hybrid lilies are well known for their strong stems, smooth petal forms, long lasting blooms, and, of course, their lack of smell.  Their petal texture is thicker than other lily varieties, which means a longer vase life and their colors range from richly saturated hues to soft, pastel-like shades.  If you suffer from floral allergies or simply don’t like fragrant flowers, check out the large selection of Love (Asiatic) and Royal (Longiflorum-Asiatic) Lilies for a beautiful, verdant display without any additional smell.

A colorful combination of our odorless Love Lilies.

A close-up of one of our long-lasting, no-smell Royal Lilies, this is Royal Bach.

 I hope you enjoyed our walk-through scented science experiment. Regardless of your preference of smell or no smell, all our long-lasting lily varieties will be sure to offer a visual experience like no other.  What do you think? Are you a fragrant flower lover or do you prefer beautiful bouquets without, ahem, a strong bouquet?

Grow Lights in Humboldt, California

Grow Lights in Humboldt, California

#lilies grow lights Oriental lilies

"Yours is the day, Yours also is the night; You have prepared the light and the sun."
                                                                                                                      Psalms 74:16

On a recent rainy, foggy morning while driving into work at 5:30 AM, I noticed the light from our greenhouses reflecting off the heavy moisture in the air. it was a very beautiful sight. I decided to hike out in the pre-dawn darkness to the lily greenhouse to see what it looked like up close. The farm can be a little spooky this time of night, a stray cat or bold raccoon, can put your senses on high alert.

I found rows of Oriental lilies all bathed in a warm orange, reddish light. Weirdly serene, with the quiet buzz of the filaments echoing through the greenhouse.

Baby "White Cup" Orientals.

When I got back to the office I decided to check in with our head grower, Tim Crockenburg, for an explanation of our lighting system.

Our Orientals and OT Hybrids need a solid 16 hours of light a day. As the days get shorter, our lights compensate for the lack of daylight. They are actually on timers that adjust to the sunrise and sunset, so the lilies get the light they need, and we don't waste electricity.

The Edge, these will be ready for Valentines Day.

The lilies would still grow beautifully without the lights, however, this boost of light keeps them growing perfectly on schedule. Our goal is to bring them to harvest in 16 weeks, and this would  not be possible without the lights.

We use 430 Watt Son Agro high pressure sodium lights. These lights are ideally suited for growing flowers, since the orange and red light spectrum is exactly what the flowers need to encourage budding.

Got Lilies?

I also asked Tim, if we use these same lights on the lilies at our Oxnard farm, surprisingly the answer is no. Check out this chart, it shows the difference in daylight hours at our to location. Arcata is about 750 miles north of Oxnard, but the daylight hours and seasonal changes are very different.

This interesting mix of science and nature leads to phenomenal lilies. Flower farming requires a significant background in science. When I started asking Tim questions, he immediately produced a text book about plant physiology, and referred me to several pages, which he knew by heart.

 Who would have thought that flower power required so much thinking?

Ho! Ho! Ho!

Ho! Ho! Ho!

#stargazer Christmas Stocking Oriental lilies

Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love - Hamilton Wright Mabi

Let Christmas not become a thing Merely of merchant's trafficking, Of tinsel, bell and holly wreath And surface pleasure, but beneath The childish glamour, let us find Nourishment for heart and mind. Let us follow kinder ways Through our teeming human maze, And help the age of peace to come - Madeline Morse

Everyone at the Sun Valley Floral Farm wishes you a Happy Holiday Season,
Cheers,

Lily Talks Lilies (Part 2)

Lily Talks Lilies (Part 2)

#CAGrown Broadway greenhouses Julia C.R.Dorr Lane DeVries Oriental lilies Sumatra

O my garden! lying whitely in the moonlight and the dew,

Far across the leagues of distance flies my heart to-night to you,

And I see your stately lilies in the tender radiance gleam

With a dim, mysterious splendor, like the angels of a dream!

                                                                            Julia C.R. Dorr

Pink Oriental Fields Collection from our Bouquet Department

Welcome back to Part Two of our “Lily Talk Lilies” post. When you enter the Dutch glass greenhouses you notice how tall they are, certain varieties of our lilies grow upwards of five feet, but the height of the greenhouse seems like overkill.  What’s the deal? The reason the greenhouses are so tall is to have plenty of air in the lilies atmosphere.  More air equals a more stable environment, meaning less temperature swings and more consistent humidity levels.  Oriental lilies like stability, they are creatures of habit.  They like 16 hours of light every day and they like the temperature to stay at a constant 60 degrees Fahrenheit. This is in sharp contrast our LA Hybrid lilies that we grow out in hoop houses; they like hot days and cool nights.

Lilies just before harvest.

A big factor that differentiates our lilies from all others is the abundant availability of crystal clear water.  As much of the nation simmers under drought conditions, Humboldt County is blessed with plenty of water…this is a nice way of saying that it rains a lot here.  Our farm has several wells on it from which we draw the water for our crops.  In tests we have found that the electro-conductivity of the water on our farm is very low compared to other flower growing regions of the world.  I know, what’s electro-conductivity?  It is the amount of salt in the water, salt conducts electricity and according to our head lily grower, Tim Crockenberg, lilies and most other plant don’t like salt and history shows this is true.

So our lilies grow tall and the blooms reach epic size, then our great picking teams harvest them at just the right time.  They are bunched by variety, then put in buckets, here they have a special post-harvest drink.  I asked what it was, and suddenly the usually very chatty growers clammed right up.  We do have proprietary information of the farm, so this will remain a secret to our success.

Lane inspecting a current crop of Orientals.

One aspect of Sun Valley’s growing operation which I think often gets taken for granted is our experience.  The methodical nature of Lane is instilled in our team of growers.  Lane carries a little note book with him wherever he goes, and if you pay attention on a farm walk you will see him jotting down extremely specific notes about the crops.  All these notes, based on specific batches, blocks of plantings, weather conditions and a host of other factors are cataloged and organized on spreadsheets.   This scientific data base has been building since the early 80’s.  This knowledge base shows in every stem we pick.

Our Lilies reach for the sky!

The post-harvest teams grade and sleeve the lilies, then they are "cart mapped" and sent to the coolers, where they await transport to their final destination.  Each cart holds a set of buckets, and the contents of the buckets are all accounted for on the cart map.  The Cart Map has information such as the flower variety, the grade, in some cases the specific customer, when they were picked and how many stems are on the cart.  The Cart Maps all have bar codes on them, so every cart can be scanned and tracked.  The organizational effort behind an operation like Sun Valley is pretty vast, the Cart Map system is one of the most reliable and dependable systems we have in place to make sure you get the right batch of lilies.

A Cart Map.

At the end of the day, an inventory crew goes through all the coolers and makes sure that the physical inventory matches the inventory our sales reps see on their computer screens.  When you call and request ten boxes of pink Orientals, and our sales rep says, “Today I have 9, I will have more tomorrow.”  These figures are amazingly accurate. 

A Broadway, Sumatra and Bear Grass combo...#CAGrown.

Obviously, we are proud of the lilies we grow at SunValley.  The vibrant colors, the great vase life and the consistent supply we offer point to a bigger issue.  We believe in high quality flowers, there is nothing worse than a consumer taking home a bunch of lilies which doesn’t perform at its best.  Many farms have similar rigorous procedures in place to insure the optimum quality; we applaud these efforts from our fellow growers.  High quality flowers that “Delight and Amaze” customers are the key to return sales and increasing flower consumption.  There is no short cut.

Lily shadows on canvas

  

Lily Talks Lilies (Part 1)

Lily Talks Lilies (Part 1)

#americangrown #CAGrown Curie Oriental lilies Stargazer lily Sumatra lilies

Beauty is silent,—through the summer day Sleeps in her gold,—O wondrous sunlit gold, Frosting the lilies, virginal array! Green, full-leaved walls the fragrant sculpture hold, Warm, orient blooms!—how motionless are they— Speechless—the eternal loveliness untold!
                                                                                                           -George E. Woodberry

If you know Sun Valley and Lane DeVries, then you know his favorite flower is a soil grown tulip.  But I have a confession to make… my favorite flower is an Oriental Lily, sure “Lily” is my name sake, however it is more than that.  Ories achieve the epitome of what a flower should be; big, colorful, fragrant and absolutely beautiful.

Sun Valley Lilies: Sumatra in center, Marmara at the top and Curie at the bottom.

If you had to stand out on the roadside and stop traffic using only a 10 stem bunch of flowers, what variety would you pick? 

Our Sales Assistant Robin, stopping traffic with a 10 stem of Curie.

One of our Guiding Principles is “Always remain humble and gracious.” Our lilies certainly are gracious as they perform stunningly for our customers, but they are not humble.  Our lilies are the rock stars of the flower world, sure they have an ego, sure they are flashy, but as Muhammad Ali said,

“It’s not bragging if you can back it up.”

So why are our Orientals Lilies superior to others on the market?

It starts in the ground; Lane’s soil mix provides the perfect environment for the bulbs to grow.  It is a mixture of redwood, Douglas fir and other local wood fines, compost, sand and love.

“Operational Excellence” is one of our hallmarks on the farm, and the steps involved in the early stages of our lilies development are a testament to this goal.  The bulbs are hand planted in black crates, then brought into the Rooting Coolers, this is a step many growers are unable to achieve. In the Rooting Coolers we simulate early spring, creating a chilly and moist atmosphere which signals the bulbs that it’s time to grow.  The bulbs start forming a strong root base for the flower to use as it's support system; the bulb will sprout out of the soil in less than two weeks.

It's always spring in the Rooting Cooler.

Two weeks doesn’t seem like a big deal, however, it is a HUGE deal.  We are able to have these lilies growing for the first two weeks of their life cycle before we put them in the greenhouses.  Lilies take between 12-16 weeks to come to harvest, so this two week stretch gives us the ability to have a huge inventory of Oriental Lilies for Valentine’s Day, as well as Mother’s Day.  At big floral holiday times, space is extremely limited inside the greenhouses, so two weeks in the rooting cooler gives us room to breathe, and you get a steady, year round supply of lilies even at peak times.

Lily roots, the newest growth is coming out of the top.

Strong roots lead to big blooms, with superior vase life.

The oriental Lilies grow in a bit of an unconventional way.  The new roots actually grow out of the top of the bulb, then reach down to the soil. As our lilies grow we help support them, using a wire frame which we raise incrementally as the lilies reach skyward.

The metal bar is raised as the lilies grow.

Our California farms are blessed with consistent light levels and cool nights.  Both these factors contribute to our lilies’ quality.  Most people think flowers need bright light and hot temperatures to bloom; this is actually not the case.  Ironically, we prefer nice steady light levels, and we use the shade cloth in the big Dutch greenhouses more often than not. The cool nights that come with our Pacific coastal climate also help our lilies.  The chilly nights lead directly to bolder, more vibrant colors in the bloom.

Chilly nights make the colors POP!

Oriental Lilies are all about purity of purpose.  They are meant to be divine and ethereal.  The lily possesses an unending sense of wonder, even before the flower opens; the stage is set for greatness.  Once opened, the lily commands your attention and thrills your senses. 

 

Tune in next week for part 2 of Lily Talks Lilies. 

   

Lilies at Home, a Meditation

Lilies at Home, a Meditation

CA. California Grown Flowers Eureka CA Oriental lilies Sun Valley Lilies

Maybe I'll go to Amsterdam
Maybe I'll go to Rome
And rent me a grand piano
And put some flowers 'round my room
                                  -Joni Mitchell, from the song “Cary” off the “Blue” release

Sometimes I think we forget the simple beauty embodied in a few flower stems placed in a vase, nothing fancy, no pruning or preening, no dramatic color combinations or multiple varieties. The exuberance of a few stems of our Sonata Lilies resting in a couple inches of water can’t be under estimated.

Yellow Concador Lilies at home in Eureka, CA

As the scent continues to mature and the blossoms continue to evolve, it becomes a daily meditation on beauty and grace. With one variety of flower placed throughout your home, you get to truly experience the flower. Visually, the elegant minimalism dresses up your counters and tables, yet doesn’t demand attention or overpower your own style. Enjoy its’ scent without other varieties muddying the bouquet. Walking by them many times a day, you find the sweet rich fragrance of an Oriental Lily pulling you from your daily routine. It makes you appreciate the moment, look up from your cell phone, tune out the TV and maybe even quiets the buzz of your family. It is just a passing second as the aroma connects you back to the moment, back to the beautiful transcendental nature of cut flowers and the inherent joy of “now.”

The value in a bundle of stems is huge. When you insist on California Grown Flowers you can rest assured that you are getting the freshest flowers available and that they are grown to strict standards for esthetics as well as, for the environment.


Yes, that is my retro blue sink...and yes the yellow lilies compliment it perfectly.

 I like to put a few in the kitchen and a few in the bathroom…on occasion I even put them in the laundry room, why not? It takes but a moment to slice the green ends off the bunch as you return from the flower shop. Grab three or four small vases and split them out, a couple in one, 4 in another, and the last couple lilies sitting as single stems. Placing them around your living space gives you a great opportunity to get to know the variety. Since you have a few here and few there, you will often see the blooms from different angles, perhaps the sunlight will touch the flower, showing the transparent edges of the bud in a beautiful warm light. Of course, everyone tells you to keep cut flowers out of the direct sunlight. I say “live a little” and let the sun bring out the detail and the stunning color of the flowers even if it leads to a quicker end to the show. This is another advantage of spreading the bunch out; it is a chance to have more fun with where you put the blossoms.


Stash a lily in an unsuspecting spot!

The temporal experience of a cut flower, whether from a florist, local market or cut right out of your own garden is truly one of the little treats we can do for ourselves. It helps us stay in the present and leads to a richer, more vibrant life.

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-Lily
“The earth laughs in flowers.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson