Holiday Color Series: Essential Red

Holiday Color Series: Essential Red

Christmas flowers Holiday flowers ilex verticillata LA Hybrid red red flowers red holiday flowers red matsumoto asters red tulips Sumatra lilies

Welcome to Part Two of our Holiday Color Series. Now that we are fully in December, it is time to talk about the official color of Christmas: Red.  Not only is it adorning the windows of shops and the sweaters of my coworkers, I can also see it appearing more and more in our greenhouses, fields, and shipping coolers. 

Origin of Christmas Red

The use of red at Christmas has its history rooted in both pagan and Christian beliefs, tracing back to the Middle Ages, when using red and green symbolized the end of cycle and the beginning of a new one—typically around the winter solstice.  Christians associated red with this tradition as well, but they used it to indicate the sacred color of Christ's blood.  They celebrated the change of season with medieval miracle plays about the story of creation and Adam and Eve, featuring a "paradise tree" hung with red apples.  The holly berry, too, became associated with Christ's blood, along with the red robes of church bishops.  All these uses preceded the red of Santa's suit (which was actually made popular by artist Fred Mizen and Coca-Cola in the 1930s).

Regardless of the origin of using red with Christmas, it is here to stay.  All the better, I say, as there is a wealth of holiday flora that come in that nostalgic and symbolic, Christmas Red.

Red Matsumoto Asters

Matsumoto asters cheer up grey, winter skies with their warm and vibrant colors. They are especially fitting for the holiday season, as they come in that bright, enviable Christmas red.  Their soft petals gather tightly around a golden center, illustrating the Latin root of their name, which means “star."  Their lengthy stems and long vase life make Matsumoto Asters an essential addition to any Christmas decor.

Red Ilex

Ilex Verticallata (also known as winterberry) is the quintessential winter botanical.  We are unabashed ilex devotees here at Sun Valley, and as explained in Flower Talk before, it's because our ilex program has been hand-picked, bred, and cultivated by Lane DeVries for decades, and his long-term dedication to grow the best ilex is evident in what we offer today.   Have a look at these lovely greenery enhanced bunches below.

(Top L-R) Ilex Enhanced Bunches with: Cedar, Tulips and Cedar, Ilex M, Princess Pine

Also, the singular beauty of ilex displayed by itself is an arrangement that should not be overlooked.  The effect is both stunning and graceful.  Below are some gorgeous holiday ilex displays found on Pinterest, and there are hundreds of more ideas!

Red Tulips

We are also unabashed tulip lovers at Sun Valley! Tulips were one of our original bulb crops, and for the last thirty years, we have been working to provide high-quality, soil-grown tulips all year long.  During winter, we use bulbs from our Southern Hemisphere suppliers in order to have a fresh and timely supply of tulips during the "off-season." Red tulips pair amazing with all kinds of holiday greenery--cedar, pine, or fir, it doesn't matter--they all provide a great backdrop (and holiday scent) to bright red tulips. 

(From L-R): Rococco Red Tulips with Eucalytpus and Fir, Red tulip enhanced bunches with holiday greens

Red Lilies

Sumatra

Looking for a deeper red this holiday season? Consider Sumatra lilies, which have Bordeaux petals intensified by dark burgundy brushstrokes, ruby freckling, and a thin white ruffle at the edges of its petals.  Because they are part of the Oriental Lily family, Sumatra blooms are quite large and very fragrant.  If you're looking for an elegant and fragrant red flower for this holidays, try the dark hues of the Sumatra Lily.

LA Hybrids

LA Hybrids are perfect for those who want a long-lasting, red holiday lily with no fragrance. LA Hybrids fulfill that scentless need, making them a great option for those who have floral allergies or for those who want the notes of gingerbread and apple cider to reign supreme.  We've branded our LA Hybrids as Love and Royal Lilies, and they come in a range of red hues to fit any kind of holiday theme.   Their petals are velvety and strong, and their long vase life will help them last through the holiday season.

Some of our red-hued LA Hybrids

In case you need a re-cap of our list of Essential Red Flowers, I've rewritten a one a holiday classic to help you remember, called The Five Days of Flowers.

On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me - an ilex verticillata..
On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me -two LA Hybrids, and an ilex verticillata.
On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me - three red tulips, two LA Hybrids, and an ilex verticillata.
On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me - Four Sumatra Lilies, three red tulips, two LA Hybrids and an ilex verticillata.
On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me - Five Red Asters, Four Sumatra Lilies, three red tulips, two LA Hybrids, and an ilex verticillata.

Happy Holidays.

Tricked by a Tulip

Tricked by a Tulip

Hans Meester pink red trick Tulips

It is impossible to stroll through our Arcata Greenhouses without running into our Resident Tulip Expert, Hans Meester, who may have very well been born from a tulip bulb.  This guy eats, sleeps, and breathes tulips, and right now, there’s one particular variety he can’t stop talking about.  We asked him to write down his experience with this tulip, in his own words.  So Ladies and Gentleman, may we present,

  The Trick Tulip

I thought I had seen it all. I have been working with tulips all my life. Growing, forcing, scaling, beheading, planting, harvesting, peeling, preparing, washing, watching, counting, researching and, most of all, talking about them. I used to visit every show there is to see the newest varieties and trends and to talk about tulips, because that’s what tulip people do. We also love to talk about tulips with a good glass in hand and small blocks of cheese to snack on. Here at Sun Valley Farms in Arcata I found a perfect spot to do all of the above. What more can a Dutch tulip grower want?

So I thought I’d seen it all. I was wrong. This February I got Tricked. One of our bulb suppliers sent us a variety that I had seen before and had not yet impressed me, called Trick.
 
A regular red with a tinting on the leaves. Nothing special. We planted it, grew it in the greenhouse, and then the first surprise came—no tinting on the leaves. Are we talking about the same Trick here? The second surprise was the length. Nice, beefy stems and at least 17 inches tall. The buds were as I knew: pointy and pink and a very nice presentation in the bunch. But the Trick didn’t stop here. As I said the buds are pink, so how to categorize this variety? I shrugged and said it’s a red and it is, but it is all in the eyes of the beholder.
 

Some said it was pink, some said red and there were even colleagues that called it a bi-color. It was like the blue/gold, silver/white dress: everybody sees something else. This is where it gets interesting. Do we have new marketing tool here, or a new line of tulips: the surprise line?

I decided to take a bunch home and surprise my wife. She loved those big pink (!) flowers and gave the bunch a nice spot in the living room. Then we got tricked again. The next day the flowers opened up completely into a sea of bright red tulips with black hearts....they were practically luminescent.

So no longer pink, but red. In the evening the flowers closed up again into their pink bud stage and the only hint of red was shown on the edges of the petals, justifying the bi-color opinion. Amazing!

These tulips definitely played a Trick on me. ..a nice Trick at that.



Hans Meester
Tulip Grower
Sun Valley Farms

The Spectrum of Valentine Flowers

The Spectrum of Valentine Flowers

Hyacinth Lady Aster Lilies pink purple red Tulips Valentine's Day valentine's day colors Valentine's Day Flowers

It may seem too early to start talking about Valentine's Day, but here on the flower farm, we have been acting on it since last fall. We planted our Valentine lily and iris crops in October, and two short months later, we brought our tulips out of the coolers and into the greenhouse, ready to complete their growing cycle.  Looking into the future, what kinds of flowers and flower hues will be in demand this Valentine's Day? Let's find out...

Pink Hyacinth + Red Tulips = The Perfect Valentine's Day Combination

The Color of Love: Flowers

The colors of Valentine's Day haven't really changed since its inception--Red, pink and white reign supreme, representing a combination of passion, wealth of love, and purity of heart.  However, we mustn't forget the dark horse of Valentine's Day--Purple.  From dark purple to light lavender, this lovely spectrum symbolizes enchantment, originality, and love at first sight.  Very appropriate and in-demand. We, of course, have the gamut of colors in a range of floral varieties--the reddest of reds and the pinkest of pinks and everything in between.

Soil-grown tulips in all the romantic colors

The Reds

When I think about red flowers, I think of the tulip.  The red tulip is a chic and romantic Valentine's Day flower--lore tells us the tulip's dramatic black eye represents a lover's heart deepened by passion, a perfect symbol for this love-centered holiday.  How red you want to go is up to you; this primary color is represented by the bright orange-red vermilion, to the darker bluish-red crimson, all the way to the darkest burgundy (and we have soil-grown tulips in each and every hue).  Of course, lighten the shade of red and we get "baby red," better known as that other popular Valentine color, PINK.

Red Tulip Eye (photo courtesy of Veggie Plot)

The Pinks and Whites

Now, when I think about exceptional pink flowers, I think of the lily. My first thought goes to the iconic Stargazer, as its time-honored speckled pink face and signature scent is a perfect Valentine choice.  But then I think of ALL our Oriental lilies--all are veritable floral powerhouses which come in all of Cupid's colors and whose star-shaped blossoms are befitting for any romantic celebration.

A Pink and White Lily Collection

Oriental lilies' range of pink shades begins on the dark side with intense maroon (ie: Sumatra, above photo, center bloom).  Lighten it up to a still-saturated pink hue like Dynamite.  A little lighter, and a variegated pink shines through, such as with the candy-pink Sorbonne.  The hues get lighter and lighter--I especially love the pink edging and white ruffled petals of Hotline.

Clockwise from top left: Sorbonne, Dynamite, Stargazer, Hotline

We cannot talk about pink Valentine lilies without mentioning Roselilies.  Their growing popularity and lush double-petaled heads guarantee that they will sell out this Valentine's season, so get these decadent, premium, and romantic blooms while you can!

Roseliles L-R: Belonica and My Wedding

And of course, at the end of the red, pink, and white spectrum we get the beautiful pure white of White Cup lilies, Clearwater tulips and more. Their clean coloration signifies pride and devotion and never fails to put on a celebratory show.

Clearwater Tulips

The Purples

Ah, purple, how do we love thee? I consider purple to be the middle child of Valentine's day, always included but never talked about. By definition, purple is a range of hues between red and blue, and is often associated with royalty, mystery, and magic.  When combined with pink, it is associated with femininity, seduction, and eroticism (if that doesn't scream Valentine's Day, what does?).  If you want to think outside the box, yet remain romantically relevant this Valentine's day, think purple, lavender, and violet.  Mix purple with pink and you have yourself an extra special mix, my friend.

Valentine's Day marks the start of the Floral Industry's 5-month Holiday Season, and soon, we pass our flower baton to all the other flower professionals who are going to keep the V-day train running all the way through to the end. Now that you know what to expect....are you ready?