Summertime in Willow Creek

Summertime in Willow Creek

Cotinus fuji golden spirit Rosehips royal purple cotinus summer flower farming summer flowers Willow Creek

The last time I was in Willow Creek it was winter.  It was cold and the majority of the farm was pruned, flat, and waiting...But now, smack dab in the middle of summer, our Willow Creek Farm is crawling with activity, growth, and color! 

Willow Creek: Winter to Summer Transformation

So, what's hot in Willow Creek? Well, right now we are pulling in tons of our Fuji rosehips, whose berries resemble small green apples with a little bit of red, hence the name, Fuji. Designers love these red-and-green-hued rosehips which are perfect for the summer color palette. 

Fuji Rosehips in Willow Creek

Rosehips develop after their wild, pink flowers are pollinated and the petals drop off.  Once the bloom is gone, the seed pod (or hip) begins to form.  The species of Rosa we use are specifically bred to create big, beautiful hips, which is why regular rose bushes will not produce anything quite like them (to learn more about how we care for Rosehips, click here).

Rosehip Flower and Subsequent Berries

As the season progresses, so will the Rosehip's color, transforming from the fresh, summertime green-red combination into an autumnal reddish-orange hue (perfect for fall!) and finally, developing into a saturated cherry red.  What's really cool is that their changing complexion stays in line with each season's color scheme, keeping rosehips in high demand for fashionable, seasonal arrangements. 

Rosehip Field

So, now is the time to act on the Fuji variety; soon, the berries will morph into autumn's red-orange hue, and as the foliage drops off, the berries will turn to red, and before we know it, the magical rosehip season is over for yet another year.

Seasonal Rosehip Color changes

And what else is happening in our Willow Creek Fields besides the Rosehip Harvest?  One of my favorite crops to explore is our plots of ten-foot-tall Cotinus.

Ten-foot-tall Cotinus

The Royal Purple Cotinus in Willow Creek has grown well over my head and towers above its neighboring rosehips.  Its burgundy-purple sheen absolutely glows in the afternoon sunshine and its height makes quite the impression.

 While the upper side of each leaf is a bright burgundy, the underside is a muted silver-green (as you can see in the photo to the right).  Each leaf is framed by a bright red, iridescent edging, giving the entire branch a unique, dramatic, and contrasting presentation.

And how it loves to grow! Royal Purple Cotinus is drought-tolerant, extremely resilient to pests and fungi, requires minimal fertilization, and performs magnificently!  We start harvesting the stems around June and continue to pick through summer, usually stopping by the end of October. 


...and it gets better.  In the last couple years Sun Valley has added a new Cotinus variety, Golden Spirit, which I like to call the "wicked green Cotinus," and taking a look at the photos, you can see why.  This variety of Cotinus is brilliantly colored and gorgeously green.

Golden Spirit Cotinus

They act similarly to the Royal Purple cultivar, though because they are so light in color, we have had to make a few practical changes.  Royal Purple Cotinus is grown in open fields, allowing its dark leaves to really soak up the sunshine.  But, like any fair-skinned friend, Golden Spirit needs its complexion protected with shade cloth, otherwise the leaves will burn.

 

Golden Spirit Cotinus under Shade Cloth

Last but definitely not least, I took a peak at our extensive Ilex crops which are well on their way.

Come September, our orange and gold varieties will be ready to rock fall floral arrangements; followed closely behind by the harvest of our red Ilex (perfect timing for Thanksgiving and December Holidays).  Stay tuned, as we'll be giving you another Ilex update as these "winterberries" start rolling in the following months.





But, wait! It's still summer!  And while Fall and its autumn-hued Rosehips and Ilex are around the corner, 'tis the season for fresh Fuji Rosehips, giant Royal Purple Cotinus, and glowing Golden Spirit.

Until next time, this is Lady Aster signing off in beautiful Willow Creek.

 

A Baja Vacation

A Baja Vacation

amazon dianthus asclepia Baja craspedia roberto snapdragons solidago stock summer flowers Sunflowers

As my co-workers leave for their annual summer vacations, I, too am taking a (mental) vacation  to Sun Valley's most southern-located farm in sunny Baja.  In this dream, the weather is balmy, and I'm sipping an ice-cold drink as I stroll through fields of growing sunflowers...

Reality is not too far from my dreams.  Our Baja farm is Rainforest Alliance Certified and is indeed a sunflower-centric operation; every year we continue to bring you the colorful classics--mahogany, teddy bear, black-eyed, green-eyed, and red sunflowers show their faces in shops, weddings, and arrangements across the country.

 

If sunflowers aren't enough to make you feel like you're on vacation, the colorful crops of Snapdragons and Amazon Dianthus (our second biggest Baja producers) sure will.  All of these, including the southern staples of Solidago, Stock, and Tissue Culture Statice, are firmly in our wheelhouse; we have offered these varieties as simple bunches and mixed bouquets for years now.

Snapdragons in Baja

What's really exciting about Baja is that while we continue optimizing our major varieties we have also been developing unique crops which naturally complement and add value to our sunflower-focused bouquets. 

These are floral pieces with gorgeous colors and interesting textures, such as Hypericum, Veronicas, Craspedias, Asclepia, Queen Anne's Lace, Eucalyptus, Chrysanthemums, Bells of Ireland, and Myrtle. With the combination of our experience, the climate of Baja, proper cold-chain management, and seamless transportation, we are able to grow and market these crops which are very complimentary to our traditional offerings. 

Clockwise from top left: Hypericum, Solidago, Eucalyptus, and Chrysanthemums

As the market demand for these varieties increases, Roberto, our Baja man-with-a-plan has been working with these specialty crops.  He and his team have worked really hard to open up our flower basket of varieties while maintaining the quality standpoint that Sun Valley is known for. The last few years have seen an increase in Baja hoop houses, desalination plants, and infrastructure in order to provide strong product types that fulfill both wholesale and mass market needs.

 So while we are adding new products, our farming standards remain the same.  The climate of Baja is similar to our Southern California farm in Oxnard, and many of the crops behave the same.  This gives us a "technical bridge," in which a transfer of knowledge, resources, and experience can easily pass from one location to the other.  We share our team members, equipment, and existing best practices at each facility--in this way, we have flexibility, but our fundamentals don't change.

Well, we've reach the end of this Baja vacation, and I'll admit, I'm a little bit sad--I was just getting relaxed!

However, with the expansion of these floral types, varieties, and bright colors, I know that every day is an opportunity to take a little trip to Baja. All I need are flowers.

Everlasting Summer : Hydrangeas

Everlasting Summer : Hydrangeas

fertigation fresh hydrangeas Hydrangea new varieties summer flowers

In the cool northwest, summertime means hydrangeas; and boy, do we have hydrangeas!

 We've been growing hydrangeas (H. macrophylla) in our coastal Arcata fields for over a decade, and in the last few years we've planted new hybridized varieties.  These are bred for better performance, allowing us to bring some amazing hydrangea attributes to the cut flower market: manageable bloom heads in a range of sizes, strong stems, amazing vase life, and of course, a gorgeous array of color.

Shadow

Noblesse

Revolution (in Pantone's Color of the Year, Rose Quartz and Serenity)

The color variations we are producing are off-the-charts.  Coloration of these plants is dependent upon their specific variety as well as the acidity of the soil or water.  A pH of 5 or below produces shades of blue and lavender, while a pH of 7 or higher will give us vibrant pinks.  Just take a look at the different colors we get by changing the pH of Everlasting Opal:

Everlasting Opal, from pink to blue

I love walking through the hoops just to see the range of colors within one variety. One of my favorite varieties right now is Amethyst, and looking at its kaleidoscopic coloration, you can see why:

Blue/Green and Lavender/Green Amethyst

Pink and Green Amethyst

Growing Practices

Soil pH aside, the most important element to growing long-stemmed, colorful blooms is temperature and light.   H. macrophylla is native to the maritime climate of coastal Japan, which means they love our coastal setting here in Humboldt County where the ever-present ocean breeze dissipates the heat.  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 coastal air to circulate freely.  This environmental setting encourages long stem length and complete coloring of the florets.  In winter, we keep the dormant plants uncovered, where the Humboldt rainfall nourishes the shrubs for production the following spring.

Green Emerald

White Emerald

We've seen a lot of success with one crop-tending practice in particular, known as Fertigation.  We inject fertilizers and soil amendments into our irrigation system, distributing the enhanced solution among the crops using a computer program.  This allows us to regulate the amount of nutrients each variety receives, helping us to be more efficient with our natural resources while also controlling the resulting end product.

Lavender Opal

Blue Opal

Pink Opal

Antiqued Hydrangeas

Our hydrangeas are ready and will continue to be in production through the end of the summer;  then, fresh hydrangeas will give way to the gorgeous, marbled tones of  Antiqued Hydrangeas.  



Thanks to both innovative plant breeding and the growing techniques of our knowledgeable flower farmers, Sun Valley continues to bring improvements and advancements to the Hydrangea Cut Flower Market.  By exploring new varieties and analyzing our growing methods we naturally follow one of our guiding principles, "Continuously improve and innovate."  And what a wonderful world of color this practice has brought to both us and you!

Year of the Delphinium

Year of the Delphinium

belladonna blue flowers delphinium field july flowers sea waltz summer flowers year of the delphinium

The National Garden Bureau has declared 2016 the Year of the Delphinium. I absolutely adore these rich, blue, bell-shaped blooms and am thrilled that it has been chosen as the flower of 2016.

Delphinium is the birth flower of July

Delphinium, also known as larkspur, are stately spikes of eye-catching blossoms in astounding shades of blue.  Because they are one of the few flowers that are naturally blue (in addition to iris and hydrangea) they are especially unique and eye-catching.  The name is derived from the Greek word delphis (meaning dolphin) for its resemblance to the bottle nose of a dolphin.
 
Delphinium is native throughout the Northern Hemisphere; historically, it was used by Native Americans and European settlers to make blue dye, and across the pond it was the primary source for ink--seems like even the earliest humans couldn't resist delphinium's true-blue color.
 

Growing Practices for Delphinium

We grow delphinium at our farm in Oxnard -- the Southern California weather supplies us with the perfect warm-weather conditions so that we are able to grow these gorgeous, tall beauties year-round.


The two varieties we grow are Belladonna and Sea Waltz, both offered in shades of dark blue and light turquoise.  The difference between Belladonna and Sea Waltz are minor, but they do play a part in our growing practices.

Belladonna is known for its hardy nature.  We grow it outside in the field year-round, because it can handle all kinds of weather conditions -- sun, fog, rain, heat -- bring it on.

While Sea Waltz has thicker, stronger stems than Belladonna, it's more sensitive during the growing period.  It requires shelter and a little bit of babying, which is why we grow it in hoops under protective plastic half the year, and then, during summer, we take off the plastic and let the warm, Southern California weather do the work for us.

Light Blue Sea Waltz in Hoops || Light Blue Belladonna in the Field

Delphinium can be susceptible to spider mites, which can cause severe damage to plants by piercing their leaf surface and extracting leaf cells and fluid.  To prevent their presence, we treat our delphinium crops with beneficial insects, known as Amblyseius californicus.  Californicus are effective against several types of spider mites, more resistant than chemical pesticides, and better for the plant and the environment overall.

Freshly picked Delphinium

Delphinium plants can grow to be 4-5 feet tall, and we harvest when the flower stems are at least 36 inches long.  This maintains the dramatic, tall beauty of the flower which adds a wonderful bold, vertical element in cut flower arrangements.  Their florets open progressively along the stem, creating an ever-evolving show for you to enjoy.

Delphinium Design

Delphinium is a very versatile flower.  It looks great in wildflower, au natural arrangements; its framework blends well with pastoral design and its blue hues highlight focal yellows and muted whites beautifully.

 Its long stems also work well in elegant, polished arrangements.  There is a showy vitality to delphinium, and it brings graceful luxury and an exquisite boldness to centerpieces.

And, of course, these tall beauties look absolutely stunning gathered together in monochromatic bunches.

Add true blue novelty and vibrant celebration to your life with Delphinium, the 2016 Flower of the Year.