Ilex in Autumn

Ilex in Autumn

autumn berries branches fall botanicals flame ilex gold ilex ilex verticillata Lane Orange ilex red ilex Willow Creek

Can you feel it? Halloween has passed, election season is reaching its apex, and pumpkin spice is everywhere—Fall is here in all its glory and you don't even need a calendar to know.  The same goes if you're a flower farmer...the flowers tell you.

Orange Ilex

Take ilex verticillata for example... our ilex season kicks off in early October with gold and orange berries which echo the changing seasons perfectly.  November brings an overlap of all the colors—gold, orange, and the brilliant red-orange variety, flame. November is also when we start offering our famous, cherry-red ilex, which we continue harvesting through December.

From left to right: Flame, Red, Gold, and Orange Ilex

 Ilex Farming

We grow ilex at our  Willow Creek Farm, located 40 miles inland from coastal Arcata in Northern California.  This canyon in the hills provides the perfect micro-climate for ilex—a long, extended autumn, mild weather, and rich soil.  These elements come together to help us produce our high-quality ilex, renowned for its long stems and large berries.

Our Willow Creek Team Lead showing off some ilex

Mature ilex plants produce berried stems every other year, which means they are a long-game crop that requires devotion.  And for the last three decades, devotion is exactly what they have been receiving from Lane.   Soil-grown tulips aside, ilex is one of Lane's favorite crops and growing and breeding them has become quite the labor of love.

As mentioned above, ilex is not a short-term project—over the last 30 years, as Lane found desirable characteristics in individual plants (such as strong stems, great laterals, and good berry density), he marks that particular plant, and later, cross-breeds them with others in order to produce the best of the best.  Lane has created some of the finest ilex in the industry this way—ilex that you cannot find anywhere else.


The leaves on ilex will naturally drop off as the season progresses; however, when demand is up, we employ a few natural tricks to get ilex to drop their leaves.  Ilex berries are a fruit, and like most fruits, they emit ethylene gas.  By covering up a cart of freshly picked branches with plastic and leaving it overnight, ethylene gas becomes trapped and causes the leaves to drop off, leaving us with clean, berried stems.  Once ilex has shed its leaves, it remains a sturdy, dependable product that can last the entire season.

  Ilex Design

Ilex branches add incredible lines, depth, and height, and their berries provide a powerful focal punch. The sky is the limit when designing with ilex.  Gold, orange, and flame-hued ilex make great additions to autumn arrangements, wreaths, and bouquets...and of course, there's nothing prettier than a vase full of ilex berries by themselves. Just check out the versatile and gorgeous combinations below: 
 

Orange and Gold Ilex Arrangements

 We sell cut ilex with stem lengths ranging from 16-32 inches, and also offer mixed color boxes, allowing our customers to choose what best fits their purposes.  Order now to get our range of autumn ilex, grown with love, and exclusively bred to be the best of the best.

.

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.

Guide to Antique Hydrangeas

Guide to Antique Hydrangeas

#mophead antique hydrangeas autumn Autumn Colors Autumn flowers fall heirloom marbled

I know you don't want to talk about it, but it's happening.  Summer is ending. It's as unavoidable as the, uh... passage of time.  Late August has arrived, foreshadowing cooler weather, vacation finales, and back-to-school advertisements. As we slowly and reluctantly start replacing our swimsuits with sweaters, let's focus on the positives of early fall: autumn ales, caramel apples, roasted things, antique hydrangeas....yes, while you can't eat antique hydrangeas, they are definitely as American and Autumn-themed as apple pie; plus, their kaleidoscopic palette is a great reason to look forward to fall.  Here you’ll find your guide to Antique Hydrangeas—the journey they take to become antique and the resulting kaleidoscope of colors and textures that are produced. 

The Process of Antiquing

First, antique hydrangeas are not a separate species from fresh Hydrangea macrophylla; in fact, they come from the same shrubs.   The only requirements for transforming fresh hydrangeas into antiques are time, proper care, and suitable atmospheric conditions.  Also critical is having the proper variety, as not all hydrangea antique as well as others...luckily, we have this dialed in!

So, as the days get shorter, the nights get cooler, and the air becomes drier, our hydrangea blooms start their metamorphic journey to become antiques.

Antique hydrangeas require that very weather change which comes with the end of summer.  It is this cool transition which allows them to establish their marbled coloring. No two antiques are the same, each change and morph in their own unique way.

Even as the temperature changes and the colors diversify, they aren't quite ready to be cut. We continue watering and feeding the shrubs, and by leaving the blooms on the plant, the passage of time and cool weather allows the flowers to harden, mature, and marble gracefully.  The shrub continues to provide nutrients to the flowers as they age. 

 
We have 2 gorgeous acres of these antiquing hydrangeas right now, and we will be continually offering Antique Hydrangeas for the entirety of the fall season, from now through November.

Blushing Autumn Tones and Textures

The colors of antique hydrangeas are like a dusky fairy tale—bewitching, prismatic, and a little psychedelic.  Their colors develop naturally alongside autumn, its blossoms changing from their bright summer colors into mingled layers of  muted greens, smokey burgundies, variegated hazels, shimmering blues,  and soft lavenders.


While the changing colors gives us some indication of when to pick, we really know they're ready by their texture—the hydrangea florets feels slightly rigid and resist a little when touched.  When the blooms become crisp to the touch, we are good to go. A nice firm bloom head means the hydrangea is ready to harvest, and at this point, an antique hydrangea will last virtually forever—its flowers will never wilt, droop, or die.

And, of course it wouldn't be antique season if we didn't roll out the legendary specter of "Hydrangea Jack" Some know him as a sales representative, to others he is a myth, perhaps waiting in the next row of antiques.

    

Antique Seascape

So, while the languid days of summer seem to be getting shorter, take heart! Technically, we still have a few more weeks of summer, and even with the seasonal change comes plenty of loveliness to look forward to. Enjoy yourself.

The Magic Behind Sun Pacific Bouquet

The Magic Behind Sun Pacific Bouquet

autumn custom bouquets fall arrangements Lady Aster Oxnard Sun Pacific Bouquet

Autumn began to reveal its colorful head a couple weeks ago, and now, after the official Fall Equinox, complete with a Blood Moon Eclipse, I think it is safe to say that the change in season is now in full swing!

To talk about how Sun Pacific Bouquet (aka Sun Pac) is answering the call of Autumn, I picked the brain of Rodi Groot, the head of our Sun Pac Division.  Located in Southern California at our Oxnard Farm, Sun Pac designs hand-crafted, farm-fresh bouquets, and Rodi was able to tell me a little bit about the creative process for their Fall Bouquet Collection.

Fall Sensation #3

First, they start with what is in-season, agronomically speaking, and then they explore what is in-season in the fashion world.  For this, he has assembled the Sun Pac dream team-- Melina, the designer du joor, Jennifer, their fashion and marketing expert, and Pam Smith, a strategy consultant with 30+ years in the floral industry.

Melina photographing new bouquets

 In their new office space, these folks are the creative force behind Sun Pac.  They begin by creating a "mood board" with a specific theme.  They then research the theme; collecting pictures, colors, and trends in order to create the "mood" they want the bouquets to reflect.  These boards will become a collage of inspired ideas--color palettes, fashion trends, printouts, patterns, flower combinations, and more.  These mood boards are very in-the-moment, very seasonal, and very trendy.

A Sun Pac Mood Board

For example, with the arrival of October, the Sun Pac team has created different mood boards for Oktoberfest, Halloween, Dias de los Muertos, Thanksgiving, among others.  The "feel" from these boards directly translates into what they use to build their seasonal bouquets.

Bouquet of the Month October

 This process is quite exciting! Where Sun Pac used to "market from the dirt," they now have the power to use what flowers they have in the ground in tandem with what the market wants.  The resulting products are original, super fresh, sense-filled bouquet arrangements.

Bouquet of the Month November

Not only that, Sun Pac also allows for specially made custom bouquets.  They invite wholesale and resale florists into the process, opening up the discussion for what their specific clientele likes and wants to see.  The process is the same, but personally tailored to the customer's taste, and highly targeted for their intended audience.  Both the standard and custom-tailored programs provide bouquets which are sleeved, bar-coded, and ready to go.

Fall Sensation #2

 As for the future of Sun Pac? This year they moved into a larger office, and Rodi hopes they continue to grow.  Since the Sun Pac Division is part of the greater Sun Valley family, they have a huge flower basket from which to pull, and they will always be distinguished by Sun Valley's high standards in quality, freshness and varieties.
 

So if you are looking for grower's choice or seasonal shorts, Sun Pac is the bouquet provider of choice.  Why not eat from the most colorful cornucopia you can find?

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!