Snapdragon Spree

Snapdragon Spree

Baja cold-chain management geotropic snapdragons Sunflowers warm weather crops

Warmer spring weather means we get to talk about warm-weather crops! For this, let's take a little trip to our farm in Baja, California. We've talked about our Baja partnership with Roberto Gomez before, which began a little over 5 years ago in order to fulfill increasing demand for sunflowers in the market.  Now, I want to talk about our second biggest crop that comes out of Baja (second to sunflowers): Snapdragons.

Red Delilah Snapdragons

Our Baja farm did indeed begin as a sunflower-centric farm, but Baja's year-round idyllic weather prompted us to begin growing additional crops such as Bells of Ireland, Amazon Dianthus, Eryngium, Waxflower, Solidago, and, of course, the aforementioned Snapdragons.
 

Great weather isn't the only thing helping these snaps flourish.  Other added (and important!) benefits include shared knowledge, resources, experience, and equipment between all our farms.  Most importantly, our company's core values and commitment to quality ties us all together, so while our growing locations may vary (from Arcata to Willow Creek to Oxnard to Baja), our principles do not. For example, while our California farms are  Bloom Check Certified, our farm in Baja is Rainforest Alliance Certified (and is one of the few farms in Mexico with this certification). 

The bouquet features a combination of products from each of our farms: Sunflowers and Snaps from Baja, Matricaria from Oxnard, and Royal Lilies from Arcata

We work hard to ensure our Snapdragons achieve a desirable bud count, ideal plant height (24"-36" stems), and vibrant saturation of colors.  However, our care doesn't stop once the flowers are picked.  In order to add to the longevity and health of our flowers, we follow through with cold-chain management.  Cold-chain management means we take our freshly cut blooms from the field straight to our on-site, temperature-regulated warehouses. This regulated environment keeps the flowers in their fresh-picked state from field to warehouse and onward to a store near you or our SunPac Bouquet Builders.  In addition to benefiting from cold-chain management,  snapdragons are geotropic (meaning they will grow upward irrespective of the position they are in), which is why we pack and ship our Snaps upright. 

Improve and Innovate

No matter which crop we are growing or where we are growing it, our desire to always improve and innovate our operational practices remains tantamount.  This dedication has maintained our reputation for consistent, high-quality flowers since we began over 40 years ago, and continues with our newer crops  as well, with Snapdragons standing in as shining examples. 

If you want to experience the results of our flower love and dedication, give your sales rep a call today. Because whether it's an Arcata Tulip, an Oxnard Dahlia, or a Baja Snapdragon, you can be confident that we reach for the stars.

Top Five Stylish Halloween Flowers

Top Five Stylish Halloween Flowers

autumn Autumn Colors burgundy Cotinus fall Halloween Hypericum orange art tango lilies Rosehips Sunflowers z-callas zantedeschia

I love Halloween.  Not only is it full of mischief and fun, it has a style all its own.  As one of the first "events" of the 2016 fall season, Halloween is full of changing color, mystery, and delight.  Today, we're talking flowers with a focus on FIVE of the best seasonal blooms for all your spooky arrangements.

Orange Art Tango Lily

Orange Art Tango Lily bouquet featured in Flowers& Magazine

1. Orange Art Tango Lily

One of my favorite fall flowers is the unique Orange Art Tango Lily, a wonderfully bold Latvian Asiatic hybrid featuring saturated orange petals with thick brushstrokes of dark burgundy in the throat. It's a stunning flower by itself, and its dramatic color scheme can work in all styles of autumn-themed bouquets.

2. Sunflowers

The best Halloween colors are warm, saturated, and full of contrast. Sunflowers, of course, are solidly autumn. Their fiery yellow, red, and orange petals paired with giant black, green, and taupe eyes provide a distinctive textural juxtaposition. They're gorgeous, fun, singular, and perfect for Halloween.

3. Celosia

Other things to look for in Halloween flowers are texture, unusual shapes, and vibrancy. A perfect example is our line of Bombay Celosia, which comes in electric hues of orange, red, hot pink, yellow, and lime green. Their brain-like appearance is perfect for Halloween decor, but they can also lend an  elegant, inspired feel.  According to AIFD designer Walter Fedyshyn, its "velvety texture makes any arrangement look like a work of art."

Bombay Celosia

 4. Fall Berries: Rosehips & Hypericum

Continuing on the theme of texture, some excellent autumn berries which provide pops of colors and depth are rosehips and hypericum.   These focal points are tried-and-true fall favorites and come in a variety of colors to add just the seasonal touch you need.

Sunflowers with Pumpkin Hypericum and Red Rosehips (L-R)

5. Dark Purple Accents

Dark purple hues, such as burgundy and maroon, resonate with the naturally changing autumnal ambiance.  A great example is royal purple cotinus, whose dark, earthy leaves have a bright red, iridescent edging--it provides a great backdrop to warmer autumnal shades.   

Royal Purple Cotinus paired with Royal Sunset Lilies

Zantedeschia, or z-callas, also offer a great range of dark maroon and burgundy blooms.  They have an incredible vase life, look stunning on their own and also when paired with other autumn favorites such as brassica and bells of Ireland.

Burgundy Zantedeschia, on its own and paired with Bells of Ireland and Crane Red Brassica

Sun Valley's division of hand-crafted bouquet design, Sun Pacific Bouquet (aka Sun Pac), is answering the call of autumn with the use of some of these fall favorites.  Their 2016 Fall Bouquet Collection features flowers such as warm-hued lilies and sunflowers, backed by seasonal greens and burgundy hypericum and cotinus.

Wild Fall Bouquet and Black Spider Bouquet by SunPac

When creating your fall arrangements this year try your hand with some of these five autumnal elements; and of course, do not forget the best part of Halloween bouquets--spooky fun.

A Baja Vacation

A Baja Vacation

amazon dianthus asclepia Baja craspedia roberto snapdragons solidago stock summer flowers Sunflowers

As my co-workers leave for their annual summer vacations, I, too am taking a (mental) vacation  to Sun Valley's most southern-located farm in sunny Baja.  In this dream, the weather is balmy, and I'm sipping an ice-cold drink as I stroll through fields of growing sunflowers...

Reality is not too far from my dreams.  Our Baja farm is Rainforest Alliance Certified and is indeed a sunflower-centric operation; every year we continue to bring you the colorful classics--mahogany, teddy bear, black-eyed, green-eyed, and red sunflowers show their faces in shops, weddings, and arrangements across the country.

 

If sunflowers aren't enough to make you feel like you're on vacation, the colorful crops of Snapdragons and Amazon Dianthus (our second biggest Baja producers) sure will.  All of these, including the southern staples of Solidago, Stock, and Tissue Culture Statice, are firmly in our wheelhouse; we have offered these varieties as simple bunches and mixed bouquets for years now.

Snapdragons in Baja

What's really exciting about Baja is that while we continue optimizing our major varieties we have also been developing unique crops which naturally complement and add value to our sunflower-focused bouquets. 

These are floral pieces with gorgeous colors and interesting textures, such as Hypericum, Veronicas, Craspedias, Asclepia, Queen Anne's Lace, Eucalyptus, Chrysanthemums, Bells of Ireland, and Myrtle. With the combination of our experience, the climate of Baja, proper cold-chain management, and seamless transportation, we are able to grow and market these crops which are very complimentary to our traditional offerings. 

Clockwise from top left: Hypericum, Solidago, Eucalyptus, and Chrysanthemums

As the market demand for these varieties increases, Roberto, our Baja man-with-a-plan has been working with these specialty crops.  He and his team have worked really hard to open up our flower basket of varieties while maintaining the quality standpoint that Sun Valley is known for. The last few years have seen an increase in Baja hoop houses, desalination plants, and infrastructure in order to provide strong product types that fulfill both wholesale and mass market needs.

 So while we are adding new products, our farming standards remain the same.  The climate of Baja is similar to our Southern California farm in Oxnard, and many of the crops behave the same.  This gives us a "technical bridge," in which a transfer of knowledge, resources, and experience can easily pass from one location to the other.  We share our team members, equipment, and existing best practices at each facility--in this way, we have flexibility, but our fundamentals don't change.

Well, we've reach the end of this Baja vacation, and I'll admit, I'm a little bit sad--I was just getting relaxed!

However, with the expansion of these floral types, varieties, and bright colors, I know that every day is an opportunity to take a little trip to Baja. All I need are flowers.

Baja Specialties, An Interview

Baja Specialties, An Interview

Baja Lady Aster Roberto Gomez Sunflowers warm weather crops

The crop planners and flower growers here at Sun Valley are movers and shakers--meaning we have the resources and versatility to literally move our crops around.  Our diverse farm locations include cool, coastal Arcata, the nearby micro-climate of Willow Creek, the warmer temperatures of Oxnard, the easterly St. Catharine's farm, and the extra-long growing season south of the border, in Baja.  

These varied locations allow us to take advantage of the optimal growing conditions for any given crop, so while Northern California dips into shorter days and colder nights,  the balmy, long days of Baja continue on.  I got together with our Baja Ace, Roberto, to shine the spotlight on our warm-weather crops.

Sunflower field in Baja

First things first--how did you get involved with flowers? 

Well, my career began in the 90s when supermarkets started looking for farm-made, retail-ready products.  At the time, my own company was buying a huge amount of sunflowers for bouquets, but I was consistently disappointed in the quality.  So around eight years ago,  I looked to Baja as an excellent location to grow fresh cut sunflowers myself.

(L-R) Black Eye, Red, and Teddy Bear Sunflowers

And how did you end up joining forces with Sun Valley?

Four years ago, Sun Valley was also seeing demand from our current customer base for sunflowers and other warm weather crops, so we paired up! The product types, climate, costs, and seamless transportation allow us to grow and market crops that are very complimentary to traditional Sun Valley offerings.  This symbiotic relationship has been built on a deep interest in the science of growing, cold-chain management, and a commitment to quality. 

Lane at the Baja farm

  Can you tell me a little bit about the farm in Baja and its climate? 

One farm (54 acres) is located near Ensenada, 80 miles south of the border. Our other farm is smaller, around 19 acres, and is located at the southern end of the Baja peninsula in Los Cabos.  

Both farms enjoy Mediterranean-like weather, with lovely spring and summer seasons that boast daytime temperatures in the mid-70s, and low-60s during the night.  Winters, of course, are mild--typically in the mid-60s during the day, and occasionally dipping into the 40s at night.  During spring/summer we enjoy nice, long days of  12-13 hours of sunlight, which shortens to 10 hours during the winter.  

Stock growing in Baja

Because the southern-situated Los Cabos farm is closer to the equator, it will always have longer days, and warmer weather, which gives us flexibility as the seasons change.  For example, our ability to grow flowers in two Baja locations (Southern Cabo for the first half of the year, Northern Ensenada for the second half) allows for a continuity in weather that gives us a consistent supply of high-quality flowers. 

Stock closeup

 Sunflower is a major crop; what else? 

The whole operation did begin as a sunflower farm, but since then we have started growing Snapdragons, Amazon Dianthus, Eryngium, Solidago, Stock, Waxflower, and Eucalyptus.  These are used in Sun Pacific's beautifully constructed bouquets, but many are also available as simple bunches. 

            Waxflower

Pink Snapdragon

Can you explain what the Rainforest Alliance Certification means?

The Rainforest Alliance is a set of guidelines that direct our efforts of running a sustainable farm with respect to people, procedures, and resources (land, water, environment).  Eight years ago, we made the decision to embrace those principles as an operational philosophy, and we became certified.

 Any exciting things happening in the future?

The market continues to signal to strong demand for our product line, so we will expand in both overall volume and in variety of crops being produced.  We will continue to build sunflower-centric, hand-tied mixed bouquets as well as broaden our retail-ready consumer bunch assortments.  We are always adding new flower types and for 2016 we are looking forward to Aclepia, Zinnia, Gypsophilia, Tissue Culture Statice and Limonium. 

We have an excellent team in Baja, and it's great to have the backbone of Sun Valley behind our efforts, as it really shows in the final product.

Mahogany and Teddy Bear Sunflowers

Thanks Roberto!  

...There's nothing quite like having a bouquet of warm, bright sunflowers in your home when it is pouring rain outside.  We here at Sun Valley adore the additional colors and floral varieties taht are coming out of Baja, and we know you will too! Disfruta!