Everything You Need to Know About Holiday Greens

Everything You Need to Know About Holiday Greens

christmas Christmas greens holiday greens holiday season pacific northwest greenery seasonal greens West Coast Evergreens Western greens winter

It isn't quite the holidays without the sights and smells that make us feel as if we're on a tree-covered mountaintop.  Greens such as pine, cedar, and fir are the aromatic beauties that let us know that the holiday season has truly begun.

L-R: Underside and top of Pacific Silver Fir, Noble Fir, and Mountain Hemlock

Lucky for us, our Arcata farm is located in the Pacific Northwest where the world's old-growth redwoods and evergreens reign supreme.  Our West Coast Evergreen Division, spearheaded by our resident expert, Debbie Hartman, brings the forest to you with Seasonal, Western, and Christmas Green selections.  Debbie and her team of foragers have been working with Northwest flora for over 35 years--their knowledge, respect for the forest, and responsible foraging provides us and our customers with high-quality greens season after season.

Christmas Greens Mixed Box

According to Debbie, "the backbone" elements of our Christmas Greens are Fir, Pine, and Cedar.  These three greens give us the signature smells and textures of Christmas, and pair nicely with other winter classics, such as juniper berry, white heather, and autumn huck. 


Firs

Firs are high-elevation greens and are very fragrant with beautifully shiny, compact needles. Three holiday favorites are Pacific Silver Fir (also known as White Fir), Noble Fir, and Douglas Fir. 

From L-R: Silver Fir and Noble Fir

Pacific Silver Fir (pictured above on the left) is known for the silvery-white underbelly of its needles, and Noble Fir (pictured on the right) has blue-green needles, with a bluish underside.  Douglas Fir, below, is similar in shape to Pacific Silver and Noble, but ranges in color from light to dark green.  All are very popular Christmas branches which are easy to work with and recommended for beginner and advanced floral projects.

Douglas Fir

Pines

Mountain Hemlock, one of our most exciting offerings this year, is found in the high elevations of the Northwest.  Mountain Hemlock is blue-green in hue and prized for its long, shapely boughs which work well in elegant holiday arrangements such as wreaths, garlands, swags, and centerpieces.  Once exposed to warmth, the needles spread out and separate, providing a nice, full appearance.  It holds it shape well, lasts for weeks, and looks fantastic on a mantelpiece! Its shape and colors contrast especially well with Silver and Noble Fir, as seen in the first photo of this blog.

Mountain Hemlock boughs

Princess Pine (also known as “Western White Pine) is another high elevation pine.   As you can see in the photo below, it has lovely long, blue-green needles and a soft texture.   Pictured to its right is a favorite of the San Francisco Flower Market, Shore Pine, aptly named for its low-elevation setting near the ocean shore.  It features dark green needles on branches which are sometimes dotted with small pine cones.

L-R: Princess Pine and Shore Pine

Cedar

Port Orford Cedar is a versatile holiday green with lovely long stems and flat, lacy foliage.  While its filigree tips give it a delicate appearance, it is quite hardy, maintaining its color and vitality for weeks and weeks. 

Specialty Greens

Two hot items this year are our Incense Cedar (also known as Yellow Bloom Cedar) and Berry Juniper. I love the colorful gold tips and blue berries on these branches.  They both have great focal texture and punch when combined with other greens.

It can be difficult to find nicely yellow-bloomed incense cedar during heavily coned seasons, such as this year.  However, the experience and hard work of our team of foragers paid off as they found a great supply of densely bloomed cedar.  We are thankful for the additional pop of color this product brings to our Christmas greens assortment.

Seasonal and Western Greens
 

L-R: White Heather and Blue Prince Holly

Heather is here and we will have it for Christmas and beyond!  Heather has needle-like green foliage with clusters of tiny white and pink flowers.  Heather works well as a soft filler in arrangements, providing a delicate and ethereal look.  Also available now is our Willow Creek-grown Ilex M (aka Blue Prince Holly), a beautiful dark blue-green branch with serrated edges and incredible lasting ability.

Want more greens? Check out our other seasonal and western greens, including fragrant California bay leaf, red-tipped European holly, spiral-shaped autumn huck, lush salal, and lengthy beargrass and ponytails, which can bring depth, color, or height to any kind of holiday arrangement.  Many of these are available in Pacific Northwest Greenery mixed consumer bunches.

Seasonal Greens Mixed Bunch

Greens are known for their lasting ability, but to keep them in their best-looking condition, be sure to store them in their boxes in cold temperatures before using them.  Once you’ve made your wreath or arrangement, keep it looking fresh by using a spray bottle to mist it with water. Evergreens absorb water through their needles, and misting will keep them looking lively and fresh.

Wreath made from mixed greens

Right now we are filling the wonderful world of wholesale with our holiday greens, and now is the time to buy! This winter season, bring the smell and look of the Pacific Northwest forest home with you.

Your Guide to an Evergreen Christmas

Your Guide to an Evergreen Christmas

#CAGrown christmas Debbie Hartman Holiday flowers holiday greens Lady Aster West Coast Evergreens

If you are familiar with Sun Valley, you know that our Arcata farm is located in the Pacific Northwest, in a region that has been rightfully dubbed, "The Redwood Empire." Here is where the world's old-growth redwoods--along with Fir, Oak, Spruce, and Cedar—reign supreme.  These aromatic beauties stretch up the coast and inland to the mountains, providing us with an unbelievably gorgeous landscape as well as beautiful greens—West Coast Evergreens, that is.

Our West Coast Evergreen Division brings the forest to you.  Our resident greens expert, Debbie Hartman (Queen of Greens!), has been working with Northwest flora for almost 35 years and has built valuable relationships with those who gather our greens.  These are generations of foragers who know and respect the forest, so between them, our location, and Debbie, we have all the resources, wisdom, and experience we need to offer you a wide variety of quality Seasonal, Western, and Christmas Greens.

As you can imagine, the Christmas season is when our greens department really shines. And now, as the holiday season descends upon us (can you feel it?) West Coast Evergreen takes the reins.  Right now we are filling the wonderful world of wholesale with our Christmas greens (now is the time to buy!), and we are also supplying the good stuff for Sun Pac’s Winter Bouquets, as well as our own Enhanced Seasonal Bunches.
 

This Ilex, Lily, and Cedar bunch is one of the seasonal favorites around here. 

Before you pick up the phone and call your rep, I’d like to give you a chance to meet all our evergreen friends and learn a bit about where they're from and what they can do for you.  So put on your best Christmas sweater, grab a cup of hot chocolate (or spiked eggnog) because it’s time for Sun Valley’s annual Christmas Greens Meet and Greet!

If you want them all, check out our Mixed Greens Season's Greeting Box

The main stars of our Christmas Greens are Fir, Pine, and Cedar, though Christmas really wouldn’t be complete without a few other special players.  However, these three kings greens, are the ones that give us the signature smells and textures of Christmas, the ones that make us feel as if we're on a mountaintop even though we’re warm and toasty inside.

THE FIRS:

Pacific Silver Fir and Doug Fir (L--R)

Firs are high-elevation greens, very fragrant and have beautiful shiny, dark green needles.  The Pacific Silver Fir (see photo above) is known for the silvery-white underbelly of its needles.  Its  cousin on the right, Douglas Fir, is a very popular Christmas branch that easy to work and highly recommended for DIY projects for beginner and advanced floral enthusiasts alike.   

Noble Fir

Another favorite branch, the Noble Fir, is similar in shape to the Pacific Silver, but has blue-green needles, with a bluish underside.  Debbie said that many people can get the two mixed up, but all you have to do is take a peek at their backsides to see what is Silver and what is Noble.

THE PINES:

Princess Pine

Next up in the meet and greet are the Pines.  Pictured above is the high-elevation Princess Pine, also known as “Western White Pine.”  As you can see it has lovely long needles and a soft, interesting texture.  Pictured below is the Shore Pine, aptly named for its low-elevation setting.  It is a local pine, found near the ocean shore, with dark green needles and small pine cones.  Debbie said this had always been a favorite of the San Francisco flower market, and still is.  

THE CEDAR:

Our next featured Christmas Green is one of my favorites, and according to our Queen of Greens, Port Orford Cedar is the Queen of Cedar!  It has lovely long stems, 24-inch branches, and beautiful, lacy tips.  It is also the best holder of all the greens, maintaining its color and vitality for weeks and weeks.

Port Orford Cedar

THE SPECIAL PLAYERS:

Two low-elevation must-haves for Christmas décor are our Berry Juniper and Incense Cedar.  I love these specialty Christmas branches—they both have great focal texture and look amazing in wreaths. The gold tips of the incense cedar and the berries on the juniper really pop and add depth. 

Incense Cedar and Berry Juniper

Close-up of incense cedar tips

Our seasonal greens, such as California bay leaf (great for wreaths!) European holly, red huck, blue prince holly, and heather are beautiful holiday fillers.  Woodwardia (pictured below) is an excellent branch that designers absolutely adore--it has a rich, dark color, very tall stems (up to 4-6 feet long), and its dramatic shape looks amazing with other flowers and in large displays..

Woodwardia with orange for scale

CHRISTMAS GREENS TIPS AND TRICKS:

Greens are known for their lasting ability, but here are some tips to help keep these long-lasting branches looking green and lasting even longer—before you add them to your arrangements, be sure to store them in their boxes in cold temperatures (the colder the better).  For example, Port Orford will last 3-4 months in a 34 degree cooler!  This is because cold is their natural habitat (up on the mountaintop), so they respond well to it.  Once you’ve made your wreath or arrangement, keep it looking fresh by using a spray bottle to mist it with water. Since evergreens absorb water through their needles, your misting will add life and sheen.



This holiday season, bring the mountaintop home with you, and have a lovely Evergreen Christmas.

Ilex M: The Blue Prince has arrived!

Ilex M: The Blue Prince has arrived!

blue prince holly christmas holiday greens Ilex Ilex M Lady Aster meserveae

By now, if you've heard of Sun Valley, you have most certainly heard of our Ilex Verticillata (aka Winterberry) Program, which our own Lane DeVries has been breeding and perfecting for well over a decade.


...But have you heard about our Ilex M?  

Ilex M and Ilex V together at last!

Ilex M (aka Blue Prince Holly) is an evergreen shrub, and was developed by crossing Ilex with other holly types (in this instance, meserveae) in order to create a cold-hardy plant with attractive foliage. 
 

The end result? Beautiful greenery.  Ilex M features lustrous, elliptical-shaped leaves on blue-purple stems.  The shiny, serrated leaves are dark green with a bluish tint; hence its common name, Blue Prince Holly. 

Growing Blue Prince Holly

This shrub likes full sun, which is why we grow the crop 40 miles inland from Arcata, at our farm in Willow Creek.  This micro-climate in the hills gives Blue Prince Holly exactly what it wants.  According to grower Tim, the adaptable shrubs are happy as can be out there.  They are a dream to grow, needing very little in the way of environmental interference--no pesticides, no fertilizers, no problem. 

Our Willow Creek Farm

Tiny, whitish flowers appear in spring (a sign of its pollinating power), and they're gone by harvest time in September.   An interesting fact about Ilex M hybrids is that they are dioecious shrubs.  This means that they have their male and female reproductive organs (stamen and pistil) on separate plants.  Blue Prince is the male plant, and Blue Princess is the female.  Those who want their Blue Princess shrubs pollinated have to have a Blue Prince nearby.  

Using Blue Prince Holly

Blue Prince Holly provides excellent texture and its serrated edges lend an elegant feel to any arrangement.  It is a lovely dark piece to work with, and helps lighter-hued flowers really "pop" when paired with its shimmering, waxy foliage.

Blue Prince Holly, white roses, and gypsophila (by Helen Jane Floristry)

It also resonates perfectly with both red and white flora and really lets them sing. Below you can see it paired with 20 stems of Sun Valley tulips. 

In addition to its attractive foliage, this branch boasts some other great specs--unlike other types of holly (which are short in stature), Blue Prince branches grow up to 32 inches, giving you flexibility and versatility in design. They are also incredibly long-lasting--if you were to bring some home today, it will easily last until the end of the year.  

White Oriental Lilies paired with Blue Prince Holly

Your Blue Prince has arrived, and although he’s not on a white horse, this handsome specialty branch will be available until the end of December.  We are now offering Blue Prince holiday consumer bunches; as well 5-stem simple bunches for your own fairy tale creations. 

Meet the Queen of Greens

Meet the Queen of Greens

Bear Grass Christmas greens holiday greens Horsetails Port Orford Cedar salal seasonal greens weber parrot tulip West Coast Evergreens

The Queen of Greens, holding a bunch of our Port Orford Cedar.

Meet Debbie Hartman, the Queen of Greens. Debbie is not just the manager of Sun Valley’s West Coast Evergreen Division; she is our resident expert on Seasonal Greens, Western Greens and Christmas Greens. Her experience comes from literally growing up in the evergreen business. Debbie is a huge asset to Sun Valley, since we are one of the few farms which can easily add a wide variety of seasonal greens to bunches of our flower crops.

Years ago her parents owned a meat trucking company, driving meat from San Francisco 5 hours north to Humboldt County. On the way to San Francisco they loaded their truck with evergreens picked by the West Coast Evergreen company which was originally started in 1951. They delivered the greens to the SF flower market as well as flower growers in Watsonville, CA. In 1973, the owners of West Coast Evergreen were having a generational change in the business and the younger set did not want to continue the business.

Debbie’s dad purchased the company for a small sum of money since it’s only real assets were a beat up pick-up truck and the name. The real assets of the company were in the relationships with the people who picked and gathered the greens out in the country side.  Since we live in a temperate rainforest here in Humboldt County, we have an amazing amount of botanicals growing in the mountains and timberlands surrounding us.  Pickers traditionally get permits from the Six River National Forest to pick greens, they also pick on timberlands and other private holdings.  Many of these arrangements have been in place for years, often the deal being sealed by a handshake.   At the time Debbie’s dad was also farming daffodils on a small plot of land he named "Hartman Farm" in McKinleyville, which is about 10 miles north of our Arcata farm.

Shore Pine

Acquiring the greens business to accent his daffodil business seemed like a slam dunk, however, after seeing (and experiencing) all the work that went into the greens business, he was starting to have second thoughts. This was when a Debbie stepped into help as a young woman. She learned the business from the ground up, gaining knowledge and building relationships as she went. Often times it was her clients and pickers teaching her the business. She truly learned from experience and gained a wealth of knowledge while building the business and becoming skilled in buying greens.

In 1995 she took over the company 100%, and continued on. In the mid 2000’s, she was faced with a decision. She had to decide whether to continue on independently and find a new facility, or to sell the business. Debbie was struck by a great idea. She would offer the company to her biggest customer, the Sun Valley Floral Farm, who was buying about 20% of her inventory. In the deal, she would stay on with the company and work for Sun Valley, since the evergreen business has always been about the relationships with the pickers throughout northern California and southern Oregon.  It also requires an extremely specialized knowledge of local plant species.

On January 3rd, 2005 West Coast Evergreen became a division of Sun Valley and the rest is history. Debbie is now our resident greens expert and an important resource to the company. When asked what her typical day is like she says it’s all about resourcing greens and knowledge, then dispersing them to the right people. She also spends a lot of time creating new samples of interesting product combinations and figuring out the pricing.

The Queen of Greens with Princess Pine.

Her favorite thing to do at work is sales. She loves talking to her customers, many of which she has known for years, and also connecting with the Sun Valley Sales Department to assist them in showing their customers a new green option or arrangement. When she’s not at work, her favorite thing to do is to play with her 3 granddaughters, who somehow manage to outshine our Decorative Greens Bouquet.

Everyone in the floral industry has a favorite flower, some more esoteric than others. Asking this question of Debbie, I was intrigued by what her answer would be. Debbie had a two part answer, before and after Sun Valley. Before Sun Valley her favorite flower was greenish burgundy Orchid from the local Orchid growers here in Humboldt County, Sequoia Orchids, of course this orchid was set with greens which complement the orchid. After coming to Sun Valley her favorite flower became our Weber Parrot Tulip, which also looks amazing with greens. She continued to explain how she really fell for tulips here at Sun Valley. The huge amount of colors, shapes and sizes make them such a lovely and cheerful flower.

Debbie's Favorite flower, The Weber Parrot Tulip.


This season Debbie says the two hottest items at West Coast Evergreens available right now are Super Bear Grass and Horsetails. Super Bear Grass is 40-48 inches tall and available only at Sun Valley.  Our Bear Grass grows under the redwood canopy, surrounded by giants.  In the dark of the forest, the Bear Grass must reach tall and straight to reach the limited light which filters to the forest floor. Also, our Horsetails are the highest quality she has seen in years, Horsetails are another unique item, since they grow in the wet forest bogs along side the beautiful rivers of our region.  On the opposite side of the spectrum, the drought in the Pacific Northwest has really hurt the salal crop, also known as "Lemon Leaf". Salal only grows in a small bio-region and yet there is huge demand worldwide. We currently have salal in stock, so keep your fingers crossed!

Teri, the Greens Team Leader, and Debbie holding bunches of fresh salal.

 As the Queen of Greens I asked Debbie for some tips that our readers may not know and she had a couple great ones. First, for the flower pro, did you know your Port Orford Cedar will last 3-4 months in a 34 degree cooler. This means you don’t have to worry about over stocking, especially now at the holidays. And secondly, this is a tip I will be using today, as I just hung a wreath on my front door. To keep a wreath fresh and alive, use a mister to spray water on the greenery. Since evergreens absorb water through their needles, your misting will add life to that holiday wreath or decoration.


A box of Holiday Joy!



Debbie loves the floral industry, she can’t think of a job she would rather have. “Flowers are so full of positive energy, sharing flowers promotes joy and brightens everyone’s lives.”

We couldn’t agree more, Debbie, and thank you for sharing your story with us.

In closing Debbie adds as she looks at a good looking bunch of scotch broom,

“Weeds are just unloved flowers.”



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