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.
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).
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| 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.
