Thankful for Tulips!

Thankful for Tulips!

California Flowers Christmas flowers Sending flowers Soil Grown Tulips Sun Valley Tulip festival

Last week I asked Flower Talk readers and Facebook fans to tell us what they were thankful for this Thanksgiving holiday for a chance to win a free box of mixed Christmas tulips. We got a handful of responses, some funny ("I'm thankful for Conor Maguire. The best sales girl ever.") and some that tugged at the heartstrings. I'm thankful that they shared with us!

The Sales team and I decided to select TWO lucky tulips recipients, one from our local community and the other a valued customer. Because it was so much fun last time we used video for a raffle, we're doing it again!

Click on the video below to find out who won the Christmas tulips!

(My sincere apologies if I pronounced your name wrong!)

If you have trouble viewing or hearing the video, here are the names of the winners:

1. Sarah Michel
2. AllisonWard

Congratulations!!! We hope these tulips bring you much joy this holiday!

I will be contacting the winners on Facebook soon for shipping details.

Fall is here! Shhh... don't tell the Tulips

Fall is here! Shhh... don't tell the Tulips

CA Grown Fall Flowers Soil Grown Tulips Sun Valley Tulip festival Tulips

Kees Nelis Tulip, in season now

Whether or not you're ready to put your flip flops and beach towels into storage, Fall is officially upon us. It's time to rake leaves, visit apple orchards, dress in layers, watch football, carve pumpkins, stuff turkeys... and harvest Fall Tulips, if you're part of the Sun Valley team. And it's time to write about them if you're me.

Remember when I told you about Ice Tulips a few months ago? Well, store that away with the zinc oxide. Fall Tulips are a totally different story.

Fall Tulip sprouts planted in soil,
growing in the greenhouse, Sept 28

The Fall Tulips tale is more like that of those Easter and Mother's Day favorites - Spring Tulips - just on opposite schedules. We buy the bulbs around six months before we intend to grow them, plant them in soil and store them at wintery temperatures in our coolers. When their growing season starts, we put the crates full of Tulips in soil right into the Greenhouse week by week, which allows us to do two things: control the color mix and provide a continuous supply of Tulips throughout the season. All the same as Spring Tulips.

Q: So what makes Fall Tulips different from Spring Tulips?

A: Their bulb origin.


Abba Tulips, a Fall variety

As you may already know, our Spring Tulip bulbs come from Holland. Our Fall Tulip bulbs, on the other hand, come from the opposite end of earth - New Zealand. (As it turns out, the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy isn't the only great gift the Kiwis have given us.) Using southern hemisphere bulbs allows us to grow Tulips during the North American Tulip downtime. Looking at the bigger picture, this allows us to do one of the things we do best at Sun Valley - grow Tulips year-round.


Bulbs from the Netherlands in the Northern Hemisphere (top arrow)
and New Zealand in the Southern Hemisphere (bottom arrow)
allow us to grow Tulips year-round 

So, even though Fall is here with in all its crisp, fallen leaves glory, the Tulips we're growing are convinced it's Springtime.

Let's not tell 'em.



Check out the Fall Tulips we have in season now by clicking here! 

Do you QR?

Do you QR?

CA Grown farmer's market Floral industry Gerberas Lilies QR Codes Sun Valley Tulip festival Tulips

I spend a lot of time talking about our flowers, how they're grown, their vase life and that kind of thing, but I'm switching gears today. I'm talking about the phenomenon that occurs when flowers, which have been around since the dawn of time, meet cutting-edge, "futuristic" technology. I'm talking QR codes.

Quick Response codes, called QR codes by those in the know, aren't really the latest technology out there today by techie standards, but they're still taking some time to infiltrate into everyday life. Sun Valley used the nifty matrix barcodes for the first time at the IFE trade show in June, and now we're looking for new ways to implement them. That's why I want to know a few things from you:

Let's start simple. Do you know what a QR code is?
For those who don't, here's what it looks like...




For more information on QR codes, scan the image above (you need a smart phone to do this). Here's how:

1. Install a QR reader app on your phone, which you can search for in your app store by typing "QR reader" 2. Scan the code above by holding the phone up to it (you have to be in the app when you do this)
3. See where it takes you!

Moving on...

Do you scan QR codes?
When you see them in magazines, on posters, or on packaging, do you feel the urge to scan them to see what they're all about?

Do you use QR codes?
For those of you in the flower business, do you use them in any of your promotional materials? What kinds of things do you link them to? Do you find them useful and/or successful?

What can our QR code do for you?
If we were to stick a QR code on, say, a bunch of 10 stem tulips, what would you want it to link to? For example, do you think your customers would be interested in learning more about our farm by watching our uBloom videos (Arcata and Oxnard)? Or what about linking them to an informational page (Tulip Care Tips or Tulip Resource Page)? How about coupons or contests? Any other suggestions?

The graph below shows the most common reasons consumers scan QR codes, according to a recent study by MGH.


(Source: MGH 2011)

I would really apprectiate some feedback on these questions. If you've got any input, please leave it in the Comments, or talk to your sales rep about it. Until then...



Fun facts and clever uses for QR codes





Qr code stats revealed (MGH Study 2011)

 



Lily's Boots: Tea for Tulips

Lily's Boots: Tea for Tulips

Flower arrangements Rain Boots Tulip festival Tulips

This week (and the end of last week) officially kicked off the "Preparation for IFE Madness" for me, so I haven't traveled too far (aside from all over the farm to make sure we're on track!). But I did find a little inspiration while kicking my boots up at home...  

I am definitely no floral designer, but I had a lot of fun with arranging my flowers in unusual containers. Of course I've been taking pictures of my creations, as I have developed this not-so-humble suspicion that I might be some kind of creative floral arranging genius! Okay, maybe not. But here are a couple pictures of my latest "masterpieces." I'll let you decide on the whole genius thing.



I put about about ten Tulip stems in the opening of this little black
tea pot. The Tulips looked simply stunning against the shiny black
 "vase." My favorite part is the Tulip coming out of the spout!



This arrangement made my coffee table! I love the contrast
between the white tea pot, the black table and the red Tulips.


I'm sure I'm not the first person to ever stick a flower in a tea pot, but I do think that putting flowers in unexpected places is an eye-catching way to make a well-known flower seem like a novelty. For example, single Gerberas in votive candle holders make portable little pops of color for any room of the house. Got an empty honey jar? Fill it with a small, summery bouquet. What about encompassing a red bud in a wine glass? So many ways to do flowers differently!

I guess these simple ideas might not earn me flower arranging prodigy status, so I'll settle for the title of simply "creative," in lieu of "creative genius." But I intend to keep searching for new ways to put my flowers on display. After all, flowers are fantastic tools for self-expression!

What unique containers have you used in your floral arrangements? Share them here with links to the pictures (if you've got 'em)!