4th generation Flower Farmer

4th generation Flower Farmer

4th generation ancestry flower farming history Holland kees nelis Lane DeVries tulip

 In 1984, Sun Valley brought its first tulips into the world.  The program was small, the plant sheets were handwritten, and the team was just a few...
 

Original Sun Valley Crew and Plant Sheets

That was thirty-two years ago, but the real heart and soul of Sun Valley began over 140 year ago, in Holland, with the birth of Lane DeVries' great-grandfather, Teun DeVries.   Teun was a vegetable farmer, the first in the family to fall in love with the tulip, and as history has shown, he wouldn't be the last.  

Teun started farming a small plot of rented land on the outskirts of Amsterdam.  He and his family planted, tended, and picked the tulips, loaded a wooden cart, and hauled them into the city.  He sold the tulips on a street corner, and soon developed a tribe of customers who, too, saw the beauty and life in a tulip.

The elder DeVries and his wife soon had a son, and that son followed him into the tulip fields.  The family tradition continued on through another generation, and then, Sun Valley's  Lane DeVries was brought into the world.  At the age of 10, Lane joined his father, brothers, and sisters in the tulip tradition--planting, picking, and delivering their baskets of color to the nearby Beverwijk flower auction.

Images of Beverwijk

The tulip was the DeVries Family world, and Lane carried the floral badge with fervor -- studying horticulture in Holland and eventually traveling to the US for "just a year" to grow Dutch tulips in American soil. That "just a year" turned in thirty-two.

Sun Valley 1989

Lane had found the perfect climate to grow his beloved, familial tulips in Coastal Northern California, and he didn't miss a beat in continuing the DeVries family tradition.  That first year, armed with eight tulip varieties, a Telex machine, and a century of experience, Sun Valley was born.  Thirty-two years later, our tulip program now involves over 200 varieties (keeping one of the original tulip varieties with us the whole stretch of the way--Kees Nelis).

Kees Nelis

Over the generations, a singular passion for growing the world's best tulips has been passed down from father to son again and again.   Tulip growing is not for the faint of heart, it is for tulips lovers only -- it requires a belief in the flowers and a discipline in the craft.  Only then, can one produce the world's best loved tulips.
 

Lane inspecting a bay of tulips

Because of one vegetable farmer's infatuation with the tulip over 140 years ago, we can now partake in a tradition that has been building since the invention of the automobile. Take home the living legacy of the DeVries family -- over four generations of exceptional tulip love. 

Sun Valley's Terra Machine

Sun Valley's Terra Machine

flower farming greenhouse soil terra international Terra Machine

As you know, we grow all our flowers in soil. This rich, organic matter--a special mix of our own compost, tree mulch, and some sand--is partly responsible for our strong tulips, big lilies, and beautiful irises.

Soil grown tulips

Because we are dedicated to planting all our crops in this nutrient-rich soil, you can bet this equals some serious heavy lifting.  The first step of the process is planting bulbs in soil-filled crates, and then we must lay out those crates in a line--typically thousands to one greenhouse bay.  We do this almost every single day, and, just as often, we are cleaning up rows of spent crates and picked-out flowers, preparing the bay for the next round of growing flowers.
 

Greenhouse bays packed with soil-filled crates

One crate probably weighs around a million pounds.  Okay, realistically, more like 25 pounds, but to me that might as well equal a million.  Luckily, in the last few years, Sun Valley has acquired our treasured TERRA MACHINE.

 
This machine picks up and drops crates in a straight line, which makes life a whole lot easier for our team of  crop-tenders.  As you can imagine, lifting and setting down crates full of soil for 8 hours a day is not a friend to anyone's body, no matter how strong or healthy they may be.

Inside the Terra Machine

How It Work : Planting

The Terra Machine is run by two team members who ensure it is operating safely and properly.  They set up the tracks it will move on, load the machine with ready-to-go crates, and start her up. Its first function is to "drop" the crates in an even line.

Terra Machine dropping sprouted crates of tulips

The finished greenhouse

How it Works: Clean-Up

Once we have harvested the flowers, the Terra Machine is brought back into the greenhouse, where the planting process is repeated, but this time in reverse.  The Terra Machine picks up those same crates so that we can collect the spent soil and steam and reuse it.

The Terra Machine picking-up spent crates

The Terra Machine is just one of the tools that we use in our efforts to continually improve and innovate.  The machine helps maintain consistent planting practices, which makes tending and picking the flowers easier and more efficient, all the while protecting the backs of our team members and, of course, providing the world that famous Sun Valley color. 

Just a little help from our Terra Machine.

Hope, Faith, and Joy

Hope, Faith, and Joy

christmas December flower farming holidays

Here on the farm, Christmas is a wonderful time of year.  We are busily sending out all sorts of colorful flowers and hefty bunches of greens across the nation to make everyone’s holiday extra special.

 Planting flowers involves a lot of hope. When you cover that bulb or seed over with soil, you get no guarantee that it will ever come up.

It takes faith to be in this business. Faith that nature and our own skills will nurture the flower to harvest. 

 When your hope and your faith are strong, you are rewarded with joy.  When the flower pokes through the soil and reaches for the sky, and when a person experiences our flowers in their home and shares them with their family. This is the joy we share as flower farmers.

 Flowers are the embodiment of hope, faith and joy. We sincerely hope your holiday season is filled with all three.



Merry Christmas from Lane and the Sun Valley Team.

The New Everlasting Colors of Hydrangea

The New Everlasting Colors of Hydrangea

everlasting hydrangea flower farming Growing Hydrangea hydrangeas Lady Aster new

A few weeks ago, we talked about what it takes to grow hydrangea.  Now it's time to let you in on Sun Valley's not-so-secret NEW varieties, how they're different from the old, and what it means for you.

Seeing purple.

Tim, our head agronomist and resident hydrangea expert, gave the Sun Valley Sales Team an in-depth tour last week; I tagged along, excited to take photos of our colorful crops and learn a little bit more about the new varieties.

Tim and the team examine a hoop of pink and purple hued hydrangea

 What did we learn? A lot.

The new varieties with which we are moving forward are hybridized for better performance.  The older varieties bloom every two years, but these new hybrid breeds give us high-quality flowers every year.  This consistency is a farmer's dream and allows us to improve growing practices and quality year after year.

One question the sales team kept asking was about size--"How big are the blooms?"

Sales Reps Doug and Debbie discuss bloom size.

Tim's answer? They're big (just take a look at the photos), though they're not as colossal as the older varieties.  So, instead of massive blooms the size of a baby, we now have a range of sizes, which gives buyers and designers plenty of options.  Not only that, we've found that the most in-demand attributes (as far as hydrangeas are concerned) are vase life and color. And since these varieties are bred specifically for the cut flower industry, their vase life is incredible.

"Just take a look at their names," says Tim, "Everlasting Amethyst, Everlasting Coral, Everlasting Diamond...these flowers are bred to last weeks and weeks after they have been cut. They're bulletproof."

What about color? How are we getting the beautiful mixed hues of blue, pink, purple, and green?

As we've covered in our previous hydrangea post, coloration of these plants is dependent upon their specific variety as well as soil pH. A pH of 5 or below produces shades of blue and lavender, while a pH of 7 or higher will give us hues of pink.  Depending on what we want, we feed the plants with water adjusted to a particular pH, which in turn, changes the soil pH and the blooms' color.

Everlasting Opal, slowly changing to dark purple (pH 7+)

 Blue Diamond (low pH 5-)

Emerald: This will change to a beautiful, pale green color in the fall.

Everlasting Coral (a beautiful pink/green combination)

Another new bi-color variety, Everlasting Amethyst

 
What about growing conditions?

Regardless whether our hydrangea is a new variety or old, temperature and light are still of utmost importance!  Hydrangeas like to keep cool, and they also need a little bit of shade.  We cover our open hoop houses with shade cloth, which gives the plants just enough sunlight to grow and develop, while also allowing the cool, coastal air to circulate freely.  This open and shaded environment encourages long stem length and vibrant coloring of the florets.

One crop tending practice we're doing differently is how we are feeding and watering the plants.  Before, we used well pumps to pump water into large barrels where we mixed in fertilizers and acids.  But now, we've brought our greenhouse irrigation practice out to the field, which uses computer-controlled, combined irrigation and fertilization--a process known as (and I didn't make this up) Fertigation.  Fertigation allows us to control the exact amount of nutrients each crop receives, helping us not only be more efficient with our natural resources, but also helping us control our resulting end product. 

New hydrangea rows under shade cloth

So what do you like? Large, medium, or small? Purple, pink, blue, white, or bi-color? (Let's not forget the future fall colors of Antiqued Hydrangea).  Here at Sun Valley, we have it all and will be in production through the fall--plenty of time to have fun with different color combinations, various sizes, and new floral designs.  We tried something new, why don't you?

Mature hydrangea in hoops

Irresistible Field Iris

Irresistible Field Iris

#americangrown #CAGrown #flowers4mom #OriginMatters flower farming Iris Mother's Day

I've been taking farm walks again.  In the morning I'll traverse the hoop houses, the greenhouses, and the cool, breezy fields. I've noticed we've begun planting our Summer Iris in the fields, and the spring crops that were planted weeks ago are revealing peaks of their blue and purple heads, swaying gently in the north coast breeze.  Now I see what the Chinese meant when they referred to Iris as the dancing spirit of early summer.

 
The long, sturdy stems of the Iris and its complex, mosaic blooms give it an air of tranquility and mystery.  One look at a vase of Iris and I am immediately transported to a quiet, sunny field caressed by a light breeze.

Lucky for me, a quiet, sunny field caressed by a light breeze is just a short bike ride away.  If you were to take that same ride, you would meet with one of our Iris Picking Team Members, who could tell you a bit about how the Summer Iris is grown and harvested here at Sun Valley.


The Cultivation of Iris

Unlike other flowering bulbs--which are stored cold--our iris bulbs are stored in heated rooms.  The heat keeps the bulbs dormant, and when we're ready to plant, we break their warm slumber with ethylene gas.  This is just another way we flower farmers mimic nature.  Ethylene is already present in all plants as a hormone and acts to stimulate the ripening of your banana, the opening of flowers, or, in our case, the waking of our sleeping bulbs.  But that's just the first step in planting.  Second, we must cool down the newly awakened bulbs, which encourages root development. 

As you can see, temperature is key when storing and planting iris bulbs.  Once awake and cooled, we plant our prepared iris bulbs in fresh, fertile soil in either hoop houses (fall and winter) or in open fields (spring and summertime).  Our cool and foggy Arcata summers create the ideal environment for cultivating field iris.  They are able to get sufficient sun during the day without the oppressive heat that can cause plants to go dormant.   From bulb to bucket, it takes 2-3 months before our irises are ready to be harvested and brought to you.

Once it is time to harvest, the hard work has just begun.  Our Iris Crew knows to pick these flowers when the heads become become "las llenas" ("full").  When the heads are full, it means darker color shows throughthe leaves fully from the base of the bloom to the tip of the flower.  The tip of the flower should still be sheathed by green, but containing color on the inside.  This is considered the window pane, when the iris is still closed, but ready to burst into color in a few days.  It takes an experienced eye to notice this change, and those who pick Iris employ some special methods of the trade to ascertain and and guarantee that our iris are picked at the optimum moment.  They must take great care to not wait until they are too full, or pick too early when the buds are green--which means we often pick two times a day.  Timing is incredibly important, because at this stage of growth, iris moves fast, but luckily for us, our dedicated Iris team moves faster.  Check out the beautiful and colorful "las llenas" below:

After the Irises are picked, graded, and bunched, they are hydrated overnight with a special blend of nutrients before moving on to their next destination: you!

Mother's Day Iris
As Mother Day approaches, consider giving your mother a bountiful arrangement of irises.   After all, irises are singular in color, graceful in shape, and oh-so-versatile in scope--a charming, natural embodiment of a loving mother.  Whether standing alone (as the Blue Moon Bouquet below) or in combination with our other complementary and contrasting blooms--iris is sure to make a lasting impression. Check out the iris combination bouquets we're offering just for Mother's Day. 

Blue Moon Bouquet

Mother Sensation Combo

Mother's Delight Combo

World's Best Mom Combo

Bloom on! 

 

Gambling, Flowers and the Weather

Gambling, Flowers and the Weather

Califonia grown Doug Dobecki flower farming gambling Holiday planting Iris Lane DeVries Lilies Matsumoto Asters Oxnard santa claus Tulips Valentines Day

“I don’t have to go to Las Vegas, I’m a farmer.” –Lane DeVries


While most of the nation is working on their list for Santa, stringing up lights on the house or preparing for Hanukkah, here at Sun Valley we are already looking ahead to Valentine’s Day. As flower farmers, we have to have our crops in the ground well ahead of any holiday event. Of course, Valentine’s Day is to flowers, what the Super Bowl is to football. You have to have your team functioning at the highest level and all systems must be “go”. All your training and sacrifice has been leading up to this moment for the wild ride which kicks into high gear just about on Ground Hog Day.

Baby Iris, these will be ready for Valentine's Day.

Now the gambling begins. Flower farmers have an extremely perishable crop, much more so even than food. We wager every time we plant a bulb, wagering that that flower will be sold, after we give it all the love, attention and resources a flower needs to grow. There is nothing sadder than tossing out a bunch of flowers which were grown, but never purchased. This is sad on many levels, especially the economic one.

We track Mother Nature’s cycles so we have a historical context to work with. Seeing how the weather patterns effect the flowers growth and harvest rates is a constant job. Anticipating the first frost, knowing when a big weather system is going to move in, planning ahead to know that the shorter days are going to create a need for more time in the ground for a flower to reach maturity, all of this is a science. However, Mother Nature is not a scientist. She is crafty, wily and always happy to throw a curve ball at you.

Walk onto any farm in the world and ask the simple question, “What is the weather going to be like tomorrow?” and prepare for an onslaught of information, debate, charts, Doppler radar print outs, almanac readings and a fair amount of superstition. In our office the weather guru is Doug Dobecki. Better have your facts straight if you are going to talk weather with Doug. If you didn’t notice that low pressure building off the Philippines which could bring rain to our Oxnard Farm or didn’t notice the cold front lingering in the Aleutian Islands that could set back our tulip production by a day or two next week, you are going to get a weather clinic. It is even rumored that Santa Claus calls Doug on the 24th of December to know how warm to dress.




Flower farming is a job done with two hands. One hand is harvesting the flower which will bloom today; the other hand is planting the bulb, which will bloom in the future. There is very little time for rest this time of year, as we harvest for the holidays and plant for Valentine's Day, in February we will be picking for Valentine's Day, while we plant for Mother’s Day. And so it goes, as the earth travels in its yearly journey around the sun.

We are about 11 weeks out from Valentine’s Day, so our enormous the lily crop is in the ground. A lily takes between 12-16 weeks to reach harvest, and what a beautiful flower for all you Cupids out there. Our iris crop is in the ground as well, since an iris takes about 14 weeks in the winter months to reach harvest. Our tulips are already rooted, and sitting in the cooler, waiting to be put into a warm greenhouse in the weeks just before Valentine's. Of course, all these numbers are just educated guesses, if there is a cold snap, the flowers will slow down and we will be sweating to get them to harvest in time, and vice versa, if it  suddenly gets unseasonably warm and sunny, then the flowers will be ready to pick in late January…uh-oh.


Soil grown Tulips in their early stage.

Another challenge our growers face is anticipating the color mixes needed. Using our stunning Matsumoto Asters grown at our Oxnard Farm as an example; here is what has to happen. A Matsumoto takes 14-15 weeks to reach harvest. For Valentine’s Day, we need to have almost the entire crop blooming in Red and Hot Pink colors for about 10 days. The weeks before and immediately after Valentine’s Day, the colors that are in demand for bouquets, weddings and such are purple, white and lavender. So it takes some serious forethought to make it all work out…luckily this isn’t our first rodeo, and Sun Valley is known for having the best year round flower availability in the industry.


Red and Hot Pink Matsumoto Asters will be ready for Valentine's Day.

Anticipating the color demands, matched with environmental conditions is just one of the interesting equations in the flower industry. Too bad they don’t have Powerball in California, with the odds we face every day, our growers would win.


Walking the farm with Lane and Gerrit this fall, I commented on how much I enjoyed seeing the crops in the ground, getting a different perspective on our Matsumotos which are an almost bush like plant. From my perspective, I enjoyed seeing the whole plant not just the stem with a flower on top. As I made this comment, both Gerritt and Lane stopped dead in their tracks, Gerrit politely said, “I like to see the flowers in a box.”

We turned and kept walking, a moment later, Lane added, “With a label on it.”

Such is the flower business, hoping against hope, stem by stem to get the flower to grow, to harvest, to market and to get the next bulb planted.