What Happens When Spring gets Super Fancy

What Happens When Spring gets Super Fancy

#americangrown #CAGrown #DLT #icecreamtulips #OriginMatters #superfancy Double Touch Pop-up tulips Queensland spring Sun Valley Tulips

It's that time of year again! Springtime has arrived and is getting all dressed up in its seasonal best. Trees, shrubs, and plants are showing off their colors everywhere, and even our tulips are getting Super Fancy.  

You may remember the celebrated variety of Ice Cream Tulips which made their Sun Valley debut around this time last year.  We sold out almost immediately. Though we are producing more bunches this season (and adding more varieties, to boot), their ever-increasing popularity is making these sweet visual treats disappear as quickly as you can murmur, "Wow."


Ice Cream Tulips are a very special Super Fancy variety, which growers and breeders know as DLTs, or double late tulips.  The "double" refers to the layers of white petals inside which slowly extend above outer pink petals, and eventually completely open to show off its full splendor.  Because of the sheer volume of petals, DLTs are also referred to as "peony tulips."




Some of the other Super Fancy varieties we have added this year are the breathtaking multi-fringed Double Touch and Queensland.  Check out those ruffled layers!

Triple-fringed Queensland

Multi-layered Double Touch

We grow all our Super Fancy Tulips in our Arcata Hoop Houses, which is necessary for two reasons: 1) The hoop houses provide plenty of natural light, which is needed to achieve those rich outer colors, and 2) The open sides allow the fresh morning air and cool evening breeze of the North Coast to circulate freely, which is necessary for proper growth of these babies.  We begin with low light in order to get these normally genetically short varieties to stretch to the desired 14-16 inch stem length.  Why are genetically short? Because most of the plant's energy goes into making those inside petals POP.

Due to the popularity of Super Fancies and how quickly they flew off our farm last year, we are pleased to announce that we will be offering more varieties like Ice Cream and Queensland--check out Pop-up Purple, Pop-up Yellow, Vaya con Dios, and Basita below.  If you happen to get a taste of  one of these bunches this year, consider yourself lucky; however, don't fret if you missed the boat--we'll be bringing these visual treats back next year.   

Pop-up Purple and Pop-up Yellow

  

Vaya con Dios and Basita

I'm proud to say that Sun Valley is on the forefront of production for these Super Fancy, Multi-Layered, Mind-Blowing Tulips.  Ice Cream, Queensland, and Double Touch will be in production until the end of May, and our hope is to continue to increase this program so that more and more of you can have these remarkable American grown tulips in your lives, so get 'em while they're hot outta the hoop house !  And remember--because these Super Fancy  tulips have really only come to market in the last few years, we are all part of forming their current story, but their future narrative is up to you.

Queensland growing in the Hoop House

Claire Underwood's Favorite Flower

Claire Underwood's Favorite Flower

House of Cards Tulips World Beauty

“How did he know…?”
       “About your vowes?”
“No, that I like tulips.”
                              -Claire Underwood

Spring is the time of rebirth and resurrection.  2015 has dealt much of the United States a pretty hard winter, so this spring will hold a special theme of rebirth.

Tulips are Claire Underwood’s favorite flower. Whether you love her, or hate her, her taste in flowers is outstanding. The theme of tulips running through the Netflix series, House of Cards is very interesting to speculate on.

Claire with a stem of "World Beauty"

The tulips Claire loves so dearly are perhaps the last vestige of hope she holds onto as her and her husband spiral downward in to the darkness of Washington politics. Tulips may also hold her key to redemption, for sins that rack her subconscious. It seems tulips are an emotional life raft which Claire is barely able to hold on to.

Our need for nature in the smart phone dominated world, is driving aspects of style, fashion and culture to reach back to a simpler time; at least for the parts of our lives that don’t require charging.

Flowers are straightforward and uncomplicated, and tulips capture the moment like no other flower.

Flower design trends right now are all about the “Field to Vase” esthetic. Natural form, an earthy feel and an un-manicured look are hot. Think lovely tulips reaching from the bouquet untethered by gravity, blue iris mirroring the deep blue of the sky after spring rain and greens that could have been just picked from freshly budded branches.

Our Blue Moon Easter Bouquet, featuring Telstar iris and Solidago.

The iris is a flower very close to people’s hearts. The fact they grow across the nation, perennially rising in spring, makes them almost like part of the family.  What was your mom’s favorite flower?  I‘d bet you it wasn’t a rose or carnation, it was likely an iris, planted in her own yard.

What’s your favorite flower?

American-grown tulips and Oriental lilies on trend for Valentine’s Day

American-grown tulips and Oriental lilies on trend for Valentine’s Day

AmericanGrown Lilies Tulips Valentine's Day

For Valentine’s Day 2015, the buzz is already about U.S.-grown flowers. Consumers are excited to learn where their food and flowers come from; they want to know the farmer who grew their veggies, the vintner who made their wine and the flower farmer who grew the romantic blooms that will be the centerpiece of their Valentine’s Day ritual.

Tulips On Trend

People are looking for domestic Valentine’s Day flowers, and of course they want reds, whites and pinks. The traditional roses and carnations are being joined by tulips and lilies as the trend-centric floral world rides the wave of the farmers market and locally grown aesthetics.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, there are currently 8,268 farmers markets in the United States, up from 3,706 in 2004. People are demanding access to fresh, seasonal and local foods — and retailers, farmers and all sorts of individuals are responding. The same trend affecting fruits and vegetables is finally coming to flowers.

For centuries the red tulip has represented love. According to the book, The Meaning of Flowers, by Gretchen Scoble and Ann Field, in ancient Persia to give a red tulip was to declare your love. The black center of the red tulip was said to represent the lover’s heart, burned to a coal by love’s passion. This speaks of the true essence of Valentine’s Day, and year-round domestic tulip production means these blooms will be available for the big day.

As Valentine’s Day shoppers look to impress, nothing in the flower world can touch the wow factor of an Oriental lily. The bold pinks and reds of Starfighters and Stargazers balanced with the purity of a White Cup or Gizmo white Oriental is a dramatic way to capture your customers’ attention. Did you know the Stargazer was bred in the small town of Arcata, CA, about 40 years ago?

Stargazers for Valentine's!

 The other lily making waves for Valentine’s Day is the Roselily series. These decadent double and triple-petaled lilies are stunning. They have been bred to have a softer fragrance than a traditional Oriental, and they are also pollen-free. These lilies are still relatively new to the market, so as Valentine’s Day approaches, demand for them will be growing. These are a premium item, but Valentine’s Day is a time when consumers focus more on the bloom and less on the price.

Valentine's Day on the Farm

This local flower trend goes by many names, such as slow flowers, field-to-vase and field-to-table flowers, but all these monikers reflect the consumers’ interest in knowing by whom and where their flowers were grown. It’s our job to tell them.

This article was previously published in The Produce News, written by Bill Prescott.

Is Giving Flowers in Your DNA?

Is Giving Flowers in Your DNA?

Flower DNA giving flowers Tulips Valentine's Day

I live about 9 miles from our flower farm. On the temperate California coast, winter is cloudy and rainy, and we only get a couple hard freezes a year. Even though I miss the snow, having grown up in Rhode Island, it's nice let the kids out into the front yard on a sunny day in January, with just a light weight coat.

#AmericanGrown tulips are the perfect Valentine's Day present!

I have a 15 month year old son, who is really the reason behind this post. Last week, he performed an act that really got me thinking.

My yard has few spots of clover pushing through the green grass. The clover was blooming in patches of little white flowers. I was sitting on the front steps, enjoying the sun and the peace of the neighborhood on a late afternoon.

My 15 month old boy, walked (barely!) over to the clover, sat down, looked at the flowers intently, then reached, picked one.

He held it in his hand as he laboriously stood back up, gained his balance, then walked straight to me, then held out the flower as an offering, along with a smile highlighting his 7 teeth.

As I accepted the flower, the purity of this action struck me. Flower giving is not learned, it is not dictated by marketers and ad campaigns, flower giving is as intuitive as walking or eating. Flower giving is a natural act that human beings are hard wired to perform.

As Valentine's Day approaches, don't fight it, giving flowers is in your DNA.

Thanksgiving Tulips

Thanksgiving Tulips

Els Teunissen. Thanksgiving Bouquets Thanksgiving centerpiece Tulips

It's officially December, and the holiday season is truly in full swing.

Our flower friend, Els Teunissen, shared some of the wonderful table designs she did for Thanksgiving featuring our tulips. Enjoy.

Tulips, Rosehips and Greenball

Yellow Tulips, Rose Hip and California Bay

A modern room, with modern tulips!

A traditional room, with traditional tulips!

Flowers Are Magnets

Flowers Are Magnets

Ilex PMA Fresh Summit Tulips

"When words escape flowers speak."

                                               -Bruce W. Currie

Our "Moments of Awe" Booth

One of the great parts of going to a trade show is the physical act of creating an entire floral environment as a booth. We bring thousands of stems to show off the amazing flowers we grow on the farm. Of course, in the floral industry most folks have seen these sort of displays at one time or another.

Flowers for the people!

However, at a trade show such The Produce Marketing Association's Fresh Summit, we see a huge spectrum of people from across the produce industry and associated technology companies. These people may be familiar with growing watermelons and sorting pears, but they are still in absolute awe of flowers.

Roselilies in mason jars

Even Miss Chiquita Banana came to experience our flowers!

Staying close to the booth for a few days, I was able to watch people get drawn in by the wild colors and fragrances of our flowers. We would watch people scanning the rows of booths then do a double take when they saw the huge amount of flowers. Their feet started moving in our direction before they were consciously aware of it. People started getting tunnel vision as they focused on a particular flower. For some it was our roselilies, for others; the thick blocks of tulips were like honey to a bee. Their senses directed them right to their favorite item in the display.

"World's Favorite" the perfect tulips for fall.

Then they have to explain...

"These Stargazer lilies were my Mom's favorite."

"We always grew iris when I was growing up."

"I had orange tulips in my bridal bouquet."

The sensory impact of the flowers touches people deeply. They start recalling memories and occasions. They remember weddings, they remember their grandparents, they remember happy times, as well as, sad. They remember loves lost and love found.

Ilex season is here.

Flowers speak a different language than other experiences in our lives. It is so great to watch people reconnect to their personal history through them. The flowers are magnets for emotions and memories.

This is a great reminder that growing flowers is a very important job.