Sailing through the garden on the good ship 'Rain Again'

Sailing through the garden on the good ship 'Rain Again'

gardening Humor spring

Dear Olive,

Greetings from the good ship 'Rain Again'.

We've had quite the journey through Spring so far. We've sailed along with six or more inches of rain in the last ten days or so, depending on which rain gauge you believe. My garden is thoroughly and unequivocably saturated from it all.

The cruise director on the good ship 'Rain Again' has kept me busy, more or less, while we've been

This Spring Weather is Not Going to Rush Me!

This Spring Weather is Not Going to Rush Me!

spring weeds

With temperatures barely reaching 60ºF after much warmer days the week before, I suppose you could call yesterday our dogwood winter.

That's what the old timers call a cold day in the spring when the dogwoods are in bloom.  Since I just called it that, does that mean I'm an old timer?

Perhaps.

Regardless, it was a chilly day.  I did go out long enough to find a clematis in bloom.  I don't

Perpetual Spring

Perpetual Spring

spring

Windflowers bloom as irises fade

"Hurry or you'll miss it!"

How does that sound for a rallying call for spring?

New flowers are coming up just as other blooms are fading and I'm running around trying to take it all in, begging Mother Nature and all the garden fairies to slow it down a bit.

Then I pause and remember I am planning and planting my garden to provide a perpetual spring and if I

Women's Day 2017 for Women by Women

Women's Day 2017 for Women by Women

International Women's Day spring Womens Day 2017

Over the last century, women and men have marched, demonstrated, and protested for women's rights in the workplace, home, and government.  Women's Day is a celebration of all that has been accomplished with women's rights, with a nod of respect to the past, and an encouraged look to the future.   

When the first Women's Day took place in 1909, women had very few rights.  They weren't guaranteed equal protection under the law, they couldn't vote, own property, choose a career, sue or be sued. Since then, things have changed here in the United States -- let's look at what women have accomplished in the last year:

•  In January, Women's Marches were collectively held in over 673 cities, with an estimated 4.9 million participants.
• The number of women world leaders—presidents or heads of state—have more than doubled by last year, according to the Pew Research Center.
• U.S. Women were the biggest winners in the 2016 Rio Olympics.  
• Movies about or by women in 2016 saw more nominations across the board than ever, including Hidden Figures, The Eagle Huntress, and the Ghostbusters.
• An article in Floral Management Magazine, entitled Daughters of the Revolution, revealed that "Nearly 52 percent of managerial or professional positions are now held by women."  This shouldn't be surprising -- according to Census data, since 1996,  young women age 25 to 29 have had higher college attainment rates than young men,  and now, the rate of women college graduates in now higher than men. Not only that, more women are getting MBAs, and this generation will be entering the job market as leaders.

While income parity and other rights are still being fought for in this country, and while women in abroad are still fighting for basic rights, we should be proud of what we have accomplished in the United States thus far, and we should honor those efforts and support our international sisters.  Celebrate what we have accomplished, and embolden each other for the future. Honor and hearten women in your life with a symbol of strength, beauty, and fortification.

In spring, flowers are the first to break through the cold, hard ground.  With beauty and grace, flowers lead the way out of winter.  Use flowers to honor the women in your life. Celebrate any woman who has inspired or encouraged you in the special way that only a woman can.

Happy Women's Day, and fight on.

Garden Fairies Cancel Celebration of End of Winter

Garden Fairies Cancel Celebration of End of Winter

garden fairies Humor spring

No one knew who put up the sign, but when the garden fairies woke up shivering, they saw it, set at an angle so the snow stuck to it.

Honoria Hellebore wiped the snow off and read it to everyone gathered around.

"The celebration of the end of winter has been cancelled due to snow."

When word of the cancellation reached Granny Gus McGarden out in the Vegetable Garden Cathedral, she nodded

In the spring, I need to see every flower

In the spring, I need to see every flower

bulbs spring

In the earliest spring days, which is really the last winter days, I need to see every flower. Yes, I feel like every flower that blooms needs a personal visit from me.

I need to see them all. I cringe at the thought that one of the many flowers that lies dormant in a bulb in the ground for almost a year since it last appeared should not be properly greeted when it blooms.

I worry that if I

Crocuses and Snowdrops

Crocuses and Snowdrops

books bulbs spring

I'm still on the look out for a good chocolate cupcake with chocolate frosting, one that is good enough to spend the time, money, and calories on.

But alas, the garden calls with more warm days in February than I ever remember, and I am of the firm belief that one ought to answer any call from one's garden. Therefore, the idea of the cupcake is on hold for now.

My snowdrops are blooming. I

Pansies in February

Pansies in February

annuals spring

I wanted a chocolate cupcake with chocolate frosting. Or perhaps sea salt caramel frosting.

I'd been wanting one for days, thinking about it off and on whenever I either drove by a cupcake shop or was breathing.  Just one cupcake. It would be a treat. One.

Then I saw on Facebook that a local garden center had pansies for sale. On February 17th. This is unusual enough for our gardening zone

What is a Z-Calla?

What is a Z-Calla?

calla lilies hoop houses spring z-callas zantedeschia

Many people are well-acquainted with the Calla Lily (Zantedeschia aethiopica)—its white trumpet bloom and long, dark stem marks the beginning of spring in many gardens.  Many people are also familiar with Mini Callas (or, colored callas) which are often referred to simply as Zantedeschia.  "Mini callas" come in a much wider array of colors than their big, white sister, and include: rose, yellow, orange, red, flame, white, dark purple, bi-color, and even black. Now, what are Z-callas?

Gorgeous, dark maroon z-callas

Z-Callas 

Technically, Z-Callas are "mini-callas" but the ones we grow are not miniature by any means. Their trumpet-shaped blooms are sized around 4 inches with stem lengths of 20" to 30."  How do we grow them so large?  It's not crazy hormones or fertilizers...it's all in our methods. 

How to Grow Z-Callas

Over the last few years, we've been doing different tests with our Z-Callas: growing some in greenhouses, others in hoops, trying out different varieties, playing with light, dark, warmth, and cool. You name it, we tried it—and the research paid off. Once we found our stride with Z-Callas, we continued with what worked, and kept our practices consistent; now, every spring through fall we can provide florists, stores, and individuals with large, color-saturated zantedeschia.

What we found is that Z-callas need a combination of diffused UV light and cool evenings to really color up and stretch.  To obtain properly diffused light, we grow our z-callas in hoop houses which are covered in milky-white plastic.  While UV light can still pass through the plastic, the opacity diffuses the sun's rays and allows the light to wrap around z-callas big upper leaves and reach underneath to the dark underbelly.  This is key, as z-callas need as much light on as many of their leaves as possible in order to grow tall and color up. 

The second part of this equation is cool evenings, as a little bit of cold stress helps z-callas stretch to their elegant length while also infusing their blooms with intense color.  If z-callas are kept at a balmy temperature all day and all night, the intensity of their colors will be reduced.  Again, hoop houses help with this, as they're open-ended, allowing for cool, evening air to circulate freely.    Consistent, cool evenings are what really make the colors of our orange "flame" varieties so vivid.

Super vivid "flame" z-callas

Z-callas are irresistible and their popularity is huge—you can't open an industry publication or peruse Pinterest or Instagram without seeing their colorful heads and trademark shape.  In addition to their iconic elegance, they are particularly sought after for their remarkable vase life (3-4 weeks). We grow them from spring (just in time for wedding season!) and continue rolling out new colors and varieties all the way until fall.

So, when you want to add some intense color to your long-lasting arrangements, don't just ask for mini-callas, ask for Z-callas!

Viburnum Spring Snowballs

Viburnum Spring Snowballs

CAGrown Green viburnum Lady Aster short season crops Snowball spring Viburnum Willow Creek

In the Sun Valley Flower World, it ain't spring until we have Viburnum.  And ladies and gentlemen, do we have Viburnum!

Viburnum is extra special because its growing season is one of the shortest--we start picking at the end of March (when their many-flowered heads are nice and full) and we are usually done by the end of April  You may hear Viburnum blooms also referred to as Snowballs--this is because their mass of tiny blossoms give each bloom-head a spherical, puffy shape.

Viburnum is also known for its color change during the season (which we'll talk about below).  They first bloom in a vivid lime green color and then turn to ivory-white puffballs as they mature in the sunshine.  

Early-Season and Late-Season Viburnum

Willow Creek Canyon

We grow Viburnum at our inland farm (a mountain canyon better known as Willow Creek) whose micro-climate provides the perfect conditions to produce this fantastic spring show.  

A rainbow beckons in Spring to our Willow Creek Farm

We plant viburnum in both open fields and covered hoop houses--the hoop houses hold in heat, contributing to a faster growing rate.  This simple trick allows us to extend the normally super-short viburnum growing season.  We can stagger our picking schedule, starting with early-season hoop houses and ending with their open field-grown counterparts.   

Here is the progression of growth over 6 weeks from dormant stems to super green foliage and blooms

 Viburnum Green-to-White

Viburnum is famous for its color change from green-to-white, which signifies the progression of the season. For example, right now, the crop is a charming green color.  This fresh look is known as early-season viburnum; it looks stunning on its own (a veritable spring forest with long stems and full, lime-green heads), and also works wonders as a focal piece in spring bouquets, adding color and a field-to-vase aesthetic to any home or bridal arrangement.

 

Late-season viburnum is another visual treat.  As our crops mature and the open-fields get a few weeks of full sunshine, our young, green viburnum develops into a brilliant white.  We still pick while it's mostly green, just like we do with our iris, tulips, and lilies.  This guarantees a longer vase life and you can watch it color up beautifully.

White snowball viburnum has an exquisite and classical appearance--its long stems and multiple florets still brings the wildflower aesthetic to arrangements like early-season green viburnum, but it also boasts an elegant cleanliness that can only be achieved with white. 

Regardless of whether you opt for early-season green or late-season white, this heady bloom and its wonderfully long, wooden stems makes it the perfect floral complement for wedding bouquets, Mother's day arrangements, or any quintessential spring gathering.  But you better hurry, like spring, viburnum season passes in a beautiful flash.

Green Viburnum and Tulips make the perfect Spring Statement

Flowers for Easter Renewal

Flowers for Easter Renewal

Easter flowers Easter lilies Holy Week Hyacinth Palm Sunday Persian New Year rebirth renewal spring Tulips white lilies

"Easter spells out beauty,
 the rare beauty of new life."
S.D. Gordon


I write this in the middle of Holy Week, a week which begins on Palm Sunday and concludes 7 days later with Easter Sunday. In the Christian tradition, Easter represents the resurrection of Jesus, a day filled with hope, celebration, and renewal--how appropriate that this day is accompanied by the arrival of Spring.

 After all, Spring is THE season which represents dawn after darkness, sunshine after rain, life after death.  Spring and Easter are inextricably linked, both embodying resurrection of growth and being. 

Lily sprouts ready to go after a long winter in the ground.

 Even if you do not celebrate Easter as a religious holiday, there is an undeniable sense of wonderment and collective reverence for the day.  Yes, the world is coming alive again after a long and dark winter.  Just take a look at the secular images of Easter: fertile rabbits, baby chicks, eggs, and flowers, flowers, flowers. They are all related to life and rebirth.

 What flower reminds you of the hope and renewal of Easter?  

 A lot of responses here on the farm included the tulip, which comes as no surprise as this flower is firmly associated with Spring.  The other popular response was the hyacinth, another classic spring bloom, which comes in all the Easter colors.  Not only that, blue hyacinth is the flower of the Persian New Year, which also marks the first day of spring. 

 

Spring-hued blue and lavender hyacinth

However, the most favored response was the white lily.  White lilies are ubiquitous during Easter; in fact, the white lilum longiflorum is officially known as the "Easter Lily."  For centuries, this white lily has been used as the floral symbol of the resurrection.  Moreover, legend has it that white lilies sprung up where drops of Jesus' sweat fell as he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, the night before the crucifixion.  Talk about hope, renewal, and rebirth!

However you choose to celebrate Easter, we here at Sun Valley wish you a lovely one--may it be filled with the promise of new life, new flowers, and hope for the future.

"I think of the garden after the rain;

And hope to my heart comes singing,

'At morn the [lily]-blooms will be white,

And the Easter bells be ringing!"

-Edna Dean Proctor

Flowers in the Lawn

Flowers in the Lawn

bulbs lawn spring

Glory-of-the-snow in the lawn

Would you like to have flowers in your lawn in the springtime?

Of course you would!

And you can.

It's easy.

Just order some corms for crocuses, Crocus tommasinianus is preferred over other crocuses, and some bulbs for glory-of-the-snow, Chionodoxa luciliae.  I like to order them as soon as they start selling them in late spring, early summer.  I usually don't

Secret sources and mysterious methods for early spring blooms

Secret sources and mysterious methods for early spring blooms

bulbs spring

Iris reticulata

 Iris reticulata is my favorite early spring flower, this week.

It's a resilient little bloomer, able to handle the cold and a bit of snow, which it did a few days ago.

Those who don't garden much are surprised to see them this early in the spring, too.

They recognize them as "irises" because of their distinctive flower form, but scratch their heads because they only know

Enjoy the flowers

Enjoy the flowers

bulbs spring

As soon as the weather warmed again, the crocuses returned.

And not just the crocuses.

The bees showed up, too.

They seemed almost frantic as the went from one flower to another, grabbing all the pollen they could.

And I'm sure I looked a bit frantic, too, as I went from flower to flower trying to take pictures of all of them.

Honestly, I looked like I had never seen a flower before.

Crocuses Bless the Garden in Late Winter

Crocuses Bless the Garden in Late Winter

bulbs spring

When Carol returned home on Friday and looked out the back door at the garden, she gasped audibly.  Were those crocuses blooming already on February 5th?

She flung open the door and rushed across the patio to the lawn.  Yes, those were crocuses blooming.

In the fading light of the day, she took pictures of the buds and marveled at how early the blooms were.

The next day, Carol's first

What Happens When Spring gets Super Fancy

What Happens When Spring gets Super Fancy

#americangrown #CAGrown #DLT #icecreamtulips #OriginMatters #superfancy Double Touch Pop-up tulips Queensland spring Sun Valley Tulips

It's that time of year again! Springtime has arrived and is getting all dressed up in its seasonal best. Trees, shrubs, and plants are showing off their colors everywhere, and even our tulips are getting Super Fancy.  

You may remember the celebrated variety of Ice Cream Tulips which made their Sun Valley debut around this time last year.  We sold out almost immediately. Though we are producing more bunches this season (and adding more varieties, to boot), their ever-increasing popularity is making these sweet visual treats disappear as quickly as you can murmur, "Wow."


Ice Cream Tulips are a very special Super Fancy variety, which growers and breeders know as DLTs, or double late tulips.  The "double" refers to the layers of white petals inside which slowly extend above outer pink petals, and eventually completely open to show off its full splendor.  Because of the sheer volume of petals, DLTs are also referred to as "peony tulips."




Some of the other Super Fancy varieties we have added this year are the breathtaking multi-fringed Double Touch and Queensland.  Check out those ruffled layers!

Triple-fringed Queensland

Multi-layered Double Touch

We grow all our Super Fancy Tulips in our Arcata Hoop Houses, which is necessary for two reasons: 1) The hoop houses provide plenty of natural light, which is needed to achieve those rich outer colors, and 2) The open sides allow the fresh morning air and cool evening breeze of the North Coast to circulate freely, which is necessary for proper growth of these babies.  We begin with low light in order to get these normally genetically short varieties to stretch to the desired 14-16 inch stem length.  Why are genetically short? Because most of the plant's energy goes into making those inside petals POP.

Due to the popularity of Super Fancies and how quickly they flew off our farm last year, we are pleased to announce that we will be offering more varieties like Ice Cream and Queensland--check out Pop-up Purple, Pop-up Yellow, Vaya con Dios, and Basita below.  If you happen to get a taste of  one of these bunches this year, consider yourself lucky; however, don't fret if you missed the boat--we'll be bringing these visual treats back next year.   

Pop-up Purple and Pop-up Yellow

  

Vaya con Dios and Basita

I'm proud to say that Sun Valley is on the forefront of production for these Super Fancy, Multi-Layered, Mind-Blowing Tulips.  Ice Cream, Queensland, and Double Touch will be in production until the end of May, and our hope is to continue to increase this program so that more and more of you can have these remarkable American grown tulips in your lives, so get 'em while they're hot outta the hoop house !  And remember--because these Super Fancy  tulips have really only come to market in the last few years, we are all part of forming their current story, but their future narrative is up to you.

Queensland growing in the Hoop House