Pieter Landman Video Series

Pieter Landman Video Series

Floral Design floral videos flower design Pieter Landman Tulips videos

"Use a picture, it's worth a thousand words."
                    -Newspaper editor Arthur Brisbane in 1911. This is the first recorded use of this adage.

Anyone who knows flowers, knows Pieter Landman. His designs inspire and delight audiences across the globe, and his style is refreshingly clean and simple.

When Pieter handles flowers you see a master at work, it's obvious Pieter has been working with tulips since before he could walk. There are even rumors that he was actually discovered as an infant curled up in the tulip fields on Holland.

We were lucky enough to have Pieter do a series of videos with our flowers. Learn from an expert, these 5 clips are full of tips, tricks and ultimately gorgeous flower design ...and don't forget we have a great selection of fall tulips, iris and lilies ready to work with after you get inspired!

Tulips, Telstar Iris and Greens:





Tulip Bouquet with Greens:




Parrot Tulips with Bear Grass:




A Posy Bouquet




Tulips, Asiatic Lilies and Telstar Iris:




Have we piqued your interest about Pieter? Read our interview with him from last year.

Enjoy, and be sure to Share!

Southern Hemisphere Tulips are Here.

Southern Hemisphere Tulips are Here.

#americangrown autumn fall flowers. Fall Tulips Tulips

"The tulip and the butterfly
Appear in gayer coats than I;
Let me be dressed fine as I will.
Flies, worms, and flowers exceed me still."
                                                                        -Isaac Watts

We are now harvesting the beginning of our Southern Hemisphere tulips. This will continue through the holidays, providing you with the best quality tulips available even though it is autumn.

How do we do this?  Its really quite simple to explain. We have a long standing partnership with some bulb growers in New Zealand. Here, they have been growing tulips for many years, and the tulips have naturally adjusted to the seasons being reversed from the Northern Hemisphere.

Tulips are the most expressive flower!

We pull the bulbs from the ground when they are dormant and ship them by boat to foggy, coastal California. When the acclimated bulbs wake up, they are bursting with spring time vigor even though in the United States it is almost the first official day of fall.

World's Favorite Tulips

We play a very good hearted joke on these tulips.  Over the summer in California, we simulate winter and spring in our coolers, creating a pretty impressive illusion of Mother Nature's work. This differentiates Sun Valley from other farms; since we are able to control the bulbs development and growth rate by controlling the environment. Then, we are able to carefully schedule when the crates of soil grown tulips are placed in the greenhouse. When the tulips go to the greenhouse, they take off growing...just like it's spring in New Zealand.

This system gives us unparalleled control over color mixes and varieties, so you can be sure we are heavy on fall colors.  

To walk out to the tulip greenhouses is to time travel six months ahead in time. The energy of all these tulips dedicated to the singular task of creating a big beautiful bloom is impressive. This energy combined with the flourish of activity from our awesome team members picking, planting and tending the tulip crop makes the tulip greenhouse one of the most lively places in our sleepy town perched on the edge of Humboldt Bay.

We have tulips in all the warm tones of autumn, so dig into these soil grown beauties, and share in the bounty of spring quality tulips right now.  It's Southern Hemi Tulip Time!

J Schwanke's New Video Using Our Hydrangea and Tulips.

J Schwanke's New Video Using Our Hydrangea and Tulips.

calla lilies Cotinus Field to Vase Blog Huffington Post Hydrangea J Schwanke Tulips zantedeschia

J Schwanke just completed a wonderful video using Sun Valley flowers. Our big beautiful hydrangeas and our long, elegant purple tulips are the stars of the show. J has a great way of simplifying an arrangement and explaining it, so even a rookie can create a beautiful flower design.

Check this out, and get inspired!




This week Sun Valley also made a splash on the Field To Vase blog which is a gorgeous flower site, curated by Christina Stembel and her team at Farmgirl Flowers.

And in case you missed it, there was an article in the Huffington Post talking about our "CAGrown" Cotinus, which is the perfect foliage to highlight your fall flowers.

...and I had a to share a few photos of our Zantedeschia, WOWZA!

Ok, quit drooling. Back to work!

 

Hyacinth Are Back!

Hyacinth Are Back!

Anne Marie Hyacinth Atlantic Hyacinth how to arrange flowers. Hyacinth Tulips

In purple silhouette a palm lifts from a vine-wreathed plinth
Against a sky whose cloudless calm is hued like hyacinth.
                                                              -Clinton Scollard

Hey flower lovers, good news at Sun Valley. The hyacinth crop is back in action.

Purple "Atlantic" and pink "Anne Marie".

Hyacinth are a classic bulb flower, and have a very passionate following. Why are they so special? I think it is because they have a very defined season so they don't lend themselves to be grown year round, unlike our lilies, tulips and irises.

The two varieties that are most in demand is the purple "Atlantic"and the pink "Anne Marie", we are seeing great length and rich saturated blooms. Last January we dug into the meaning and history of hyacinths in our post Hyacinth Heaven.

Yesterday I went out to peek at the crop. We have done a redesign on our hyacinth hoop houses, making the air warmer and moister. Its pretty intense stepping in to the hoop house. I was able to get a few exposures with my camera, before the lense and my glasses completely fogged up.

Steamy hyacinth

Welcome to the hyacinth jungle

We have created the ideal climate at our Arcata farm to grow these beauties. Their foliage is very green and the stem length is 12-14 inches.

One factor to always remember with hyacinth is that they have a different set of "Care and Handling Instructions" than any other flower. With hyacinth you want to keep the white basal plate at the bottom of the stem intact, don't cut this off! This will keep the nutrients flowing to the flower and lead to an excellent vase life. We even had special stickers created to keep everyone in the know.

Do Not Cut The Stem!

I grabbed a few stems from the cooler to make an arrangement or two. Taking advantage of their strong stems I filled a short 5 inch cylinder vase with some pebbles, then placed Atlantic and Anne Marie hyacinths around the outside, working my way to the center. I did this while they were still very fresh, so as they started to develop and really bloom they were snug in the vase. It was amazing how much water these drank the first day in the vase. To accent it all, I added a light blue ribbon bow, thinking this would be perfect for a baby shower.

Baby Shower Flowers

 Two flowers that go together very well are tulips and hyacinth. Their contrasting shapes really play off each other well. Here I combined our Atlantic blue hyacinth with our World Legend tulip. The tulips natural stretching was accentuated by stones in the bottom of the vase, so it looks like tulips with a hyacinth "collar".

Tulip and hyacinth arrangement

Hyacinths are really a fun flower to get up close and personal with...and I haven't even mentioned their scent.


I can’t turn a smell
into a single word;
you’ve no right 
to ask…

From Jo Shapcott’s  Rosa odorata

Let hyacinth warm up your winter, since we have a wonderful spring happening in our hoop houses, just for you.

Believe in Flowers

Believe in Flowers

#americangrown Candy Cane lilies Holiday flowers OT Hybrid lilies Tulips

My heart is a flower

That blooms every hour

I believe in the power

Of love

          -Amos Lee

Flowers cross boundaries. Whether you are a super cool, metro-sexual Manhattan hipster or an elementary teacher in Racine, Wisconsin, flowers can bridge the gap like no other. Have you ever gotten that present that apparently is the hot thing however, you can’t actually figure out what it is? Tis the season, and don’t be that guy or girl. Give flowers.

Flowers are the best gifts!

Everyone knows what to do with flowers. Sure an esoteric arrangement with ilex, curly willow and OT Hybrid lilies may be a bit sophisticated for some.  A rose, carnation, matricaria combo maybe too pedestrian for others, however, these share a common need for water and a place to put them. That’s it…maybe a vase, but what the heck, live a little, buy a vase.

You know what it is about flowers that make them the perfect gift?  They are classy.

Bring flowers to your holiday events.

By nature flowers are fresh, so the receiver knows that you were really thinking about them. Do people “regift” flowers, I think not. Flowers are temporal; the experience you share with them is singular. Flowers aren’t selfish, and they really aren’t just for one person, like most gifts. Flowers brighten up the room, enhance the spirit and warm up the soul of any person that views them or catches their wonderful scent.

Anyone with kids knows the time a few weeks after the holidays, when the shine has gone from the new toys and the kids fall back into playing with toys they had before Christmas, or settle into what their favorite gift received was. As adults, we do this same thing.  The new tie, is now just on a tie rack, the new kitchen appliance is getting its first taste of dust in a lower cabinet and maybe that cool new bike helmet is already heavy on the stink of head sweat.

Who needs jingle bells when you have these beauties!

You wanted the gifts, and if you were lucky you got what you wanted. But what about getting what you didn’t know you wanted?  

Ahhh, the realm of flowers. The bouquet you are still talking about a month after it’s gone to the compost. When you smile your first smile all day, after the flower delivery man manages to navigate through the office to your cubicle and place a bouquet of “Candy Cane" lilies right on your desk. The look on the face of your in-law that wears a lot of black, with thick black framed glasses holding  a bunch of ilex, curly willow and OT Hybrids, have you ever actually seen them smile before?  

The act of giving flowers is not only a classy thing to do, but it shows that you are a person who values something more than the mighty dollar or the plastic masses produced in some far off land.

Don't arrive empty handed, bring flowers.

A bouquet of California Grown flowers, paired with chocolate, wine, or coffee is the quintessential gift offering. One that is impermanent, yet stands the test of time.   

Flowers stand up for the notion that logic is over rated.

Believe in Flowers.

Paying It Forward With Flowers

Paying It Forward With Flowers

Arcata California Grown Flowers Iris Linda Stansberry. Tulips

“I used to jog but the ice cubes kept falling out of my glass.”
                                                                        Dave Lee Roth of Van Halen - 1979

As we careen into the holiday season just about every business is looking to make the next six weeks really count. Retail stores will be jammed, grocery stores will be packed and a table at your favorite restaurant may be tough. As Thanksgiving approaches the party circuit starts as well, when did the weekend before Thanksgiving become “the” weekend to throw a shindig?  Oh well, time to saddle up, assign designated drivers and ride into the parties…we’ll see you again late afternoon on January first.

A great friend of mine and fellow blogger Linda Stansberrysent me a note about a recent experience as a non-drinker in the season of eggnog, single malts and “Celebrator Ales.” It started as she was hosting a small get together at her cute cabin in the redwoods outside Arcata, CA. A friend called at the last minute asking if she could bring anything.  Linda was just having an epiphany that she was going to run out of Parmesan cheese, so she requested a wedge and went back to cooking.

Thirty minutes later her friend arrived, not just with the cheese but with a great bunch of flowers. The bunch was a simple consumer bunch of tulips and iris from the same market that sold the cheese. It was a very thoughtful item to ensure she didn’t show up with just the cheese and she didn’t want to bring the usual bottle of wine to a non-drinkers home.

Red Tulips and Blue Iris from Sun Valley

The flowers were an unexpected delight and Linda was thrilled to get a warm burst of color for her cozy home.  Since tulips respond so quickly to a warm room, she and her guests were actually able to watch the tulips dance and move throughout the leisurely northern California style dinner.

 

The party came off without a hitch, and when Linda woke up the next morning the iris had opened and looked spectacular.  It was one of those sweet gifts made even sweeter by their spontaneity.

Red Tulip and Iris opening.

The next evening it was Linda’s turn to be a guest at another friend’s party. This wasn’t dinner, it was later, with a band and hopefully some dancing.  Linda was in a dilemma, do you bring a bottle of wine or a 6 pack of micro-brew, even though you don’t drink? Then it struck her, FLOWERS!

Purple Passion bouquet from  Sun Pacific Bouquet

Linda arrived about nine o’clock with a beautiful west coast style bouquet of local flowers. The party was just starting to get rolling and the hostess was thrilled as Linda presented the colorful bouquet.  Ironically, the hostess popped the bouquet in an over-sized mason jar and used it to dress up the table holding the wine bottles and glasses.

 

After a night of dancing and fun Linda was on her way out, she looked back over her shoulder at the wine bar area.  All the bottles were empty, but the flowers had held their beauty all night, and certainly would continue to shine throughout the week.

Ories and Iris, a lovely combo.

Arcata is a pretty small town, nestled between the Pacific Ocean and the giant redwoods, our flower girl Linda woke up Sunday to an empty fridge, over the next few hours she made her way to coffee, breakfast and the grocery store to pick up a few items.  In the store, she bumped in to the hostess from the night before, with a beautiful Oriental lily bouquet cradled in her shopping basket. She was on her way to visit her parents, and the grand idea of bringing flowers had just occurred to her.

Do Flowers Make You Rich?

Do Flowers Make You Rich?

#americangrown Powerball Rutgers University Tulips Will Durant

“Civilization is a stream with banks. The stream is sometimes filled with blood from people killing, stealing, shouting and doing the things historians usually record, while on the banks, unnoticed, people build homes, make love, raise children, sing songs, write poetry and even whittle statues. The story of civilization is the story of what happened on the banks. Historians are pessimists because they ignore the banks for the river.

                                                                                              -Will Durant

Recently, I was talking with a friend who sells advertising for our local newspaper.  We were mostly talking about work, and as our discussion circled around to flowers he said what seemed like a simple statement, but it has stayed with me now for a couple weeks. 

 

He said, “Whenever I have fresh flowers in my house, I feel rich.”

I just love this thought, the fact that a $5.99 bunch of flowers can make someone feel rich. I asked my friend a follow up question,

“Rich like Warren Buffet or Bill Gates?”

He replied, “No, rich like my life is great.”

We continued to discuss how simply remembering to pick up a bunch of flowers at the market, snipping a few blooms from your yard or grabbing a bouquet as you pass by a florist can have a great impact on your personal outlook, as well as, on your family, friends and coworkers.

A few years back researchers at Rutgers University showed in a studythat fresh flowers make you feel happy. However, thinking about how flowers affect my friend, it is as if the flowers make him feel contented and wealthy in his soul.  Not affluent in financial terms, but in his heart.

I am one of those people that often day dreams about winning the lottery, yet never buys a lottery ticket. I would be a fabulous philanthropist and do all sort of cool things.  However, I know I don’t buy lottery tickets so these ideas are generally just my lizard brain getting in the way of actual work.

I do keep flowers around the house, and lately I’ve been thinking about all the millions of people who buy Powerball and Lotto tickets with the dream of striking it rich. What if all these folks just bought flowers instead? Many articlesand studies have also shown lottery winners aren’t as happy as one would think.

My recommendation is for everyone to take their weekly Powerball or Lotto budget and buy flowers.

With flowers you get a guaranteed return, you can smell them and touch them and watch them bloom.  Maybe not quite the adrenaline rush of needing one more "lucky horseshoe" to win twenty bucks on a scratch off ticket, but the fulfillment of experiencing flowers in your home or office is a much better bet in the long run.

Flowers are healthy, they don’t make false promises and they deliver nourishment to your soul. For the price of a fancy coffee drink, they will watch over you all week and remind you that no matter what your bank account says, you are rich.