Summer Essentials: Foliage

Foliage is trending this summer, from leafy garlands, to lush wreaths and verdant displays. We love the remarkable array of shapes and sizes that are found in nature, from long, thin, oval, round, lacey, feathery and serrated. These wonderful botanicals add volume, texture and height to decor. And when it comes to color, most foliage is green, simply because all photosynthetic plants rely on chlorophyll for energy. Green is considered a neutral color and can often be left out in planning a color scheme. There are many different shades of green - from light and dark hues, blue and silvery tones, as well as variegated varieties. Matching the right foliage to colorful flowers can have a subtle but very powerful impact.

Today, we’ve embracing summer essentials.

Australian Pine

Banksia Integrifolia

Causurina

Diosmafolia – Honey Myrtle

Eucalyptus Blue Gum

Eucalyptus Silver Dollar

Grevillea Ivanhoe

Grevillea Hookeriana

Hakea

Honey Bracelet

Olive

Pepperberry

Wooly Bush

Behind the Scenes: June Farm Tour

Farm tours are a wonderful way to celebrate the season, especially in June… California Grown Flowers Month!

The last six months, we’ve had the pleasure to exhibit in several Garden shows and to do Protea presentations for local horticulture clubs. These events provided us a welcome break from our normal farm activities and gave us the opportunity to explore the community. So, naturally when our friend, Ed Fitzgerald, Program Chair of the MiraCosta Horticulture Club, asked us to put together a farm tour for his group we were delighted to open our farm gate and show them around. After all, Ed was an amazing host when we visited the Alta Vista Botanical Gardens and MiraCosta College earlier this spring.

We luckily picked the perfect June morning for the tour, blue skies and 75 degrees… a relief after several days of our typical ‘June Gloom’. We started off by providing the group with a little ‘insider information’ on our farm and what we’re up to this time of the year. Then off to the greenhouse and nursery we went to see where everything begins, sprouts and develops its roots here on the farm. Next stop, the packing area and cooler to watch as our crew prepared the daily orders. Finally, for a little ‘hands-on’ the group observed as we created a protea bouquet and then, it was their turn to create a bouquet of their own. We had a terrific morning sharing our farm and flowers with so many friends, and it was the perfect way to help celebrate California Grown Flowers Month!

June is California Grown Flowers Month

Did you know that June is California Grown Flower Month?

This week, California Sen. Mike McGuire took to the floor of the Senate to urge his colleagues to support California’s flower-farming families by passing Senate Concurrent Resolution 58 declaring June “California Grown Flowers Month.”

In presenting the resolution, McGuire acknowledged California’s hardworking flower farmers for the beauty, variety and economic value their flowers bring the Golden State.

“Today, we are recognizing California as America’s best source for high-quality cut flowers,” Senator Mike McGuire said. “The industry has blossomed since its inception back in the late 1870s. California flower farmers, distributors and florists generate thousands of jobs and drive $12.2 billion in economic activity every year. Our own Humboldt County is one of the largest flower producers in America growing more fresh tulips than anywhere else in the nation.”

As part of the announcement, each senator received a bouquet of California Grown Flowers from McGuire to help commemorate the occasion.

“The month of June is the perfect time to celebrate the beauty and bounty of what our farms grow in California,” explained California Cut Flower Commission (CCFC) CEO & Ambassador Kasey Cronquist. “The resolution helps to remind people that the origin of your flowers does matter and buying California Grown Flowers does make a difference – not only in the quality of the flowers, but also by helping the state’s economy.”

So, the table is set and it’s time to celebrate!

In the Field: Banksia Baxteri

We’ve long admired the powerful Banksia. Strong, resilient and bold, this spiny protea is far from a delicate flower—and yet when it blooms, it blooms with the best of them. From long, distinctive cylinder-like flowers to petite round blooms, there’s over 75 diverse species to choose from. And unlike many of the Australian Proteaceae, the main flush of Banksia come not in spring but in summer and autumn.

Like clockwork… just before the summer solstice, we’re seeing Banksia Baxteri in full bloom with their lengthy stems reaching high up into the sky. The squat, lime-green buds have fully opened to form globe-shaped flowers surrounded by unique, deeply serrated foliage. Baxteri is also referred to as Bird’s-Nest Banksia, Baxter’s Banksia or in Hawaii, where it is fittingly known as ‘Summer Lime’.

A refreshing and revitalizing hue indeed… zesty yellow-green reminding us of Greenery, this year’s Pantone Color of the Year. These nest-shaped blooms offer a whimsical flair to bouquets and arrangements and the color, mixes well with a combination of green hues or a profusion of bright colorful tones.

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Baxteri are not only gorgeous fresh from the field, both the blooms and foliage dry beautiful and they can even be tinted for an extra splash of lasting color.

Field to Vase: American AgCredit Customer Appreciation Dinner

The Temecula Valley is Southern California’s Wine Country. Over 30 wineries populate the region’s rolling hills and sprawling valleys producing a variety of wines. It’s no surprise that this region has become a popular event destination.

This month, American AgCredit held its annual Customer Appreciation Dinner at Avensole Winery and Resendiz Brothers was asked to provide the flowers. We were excited to be able to use an assortment of beautiful protea that we don't often have available all at once, and we loved the idea of adding yellow callas to the mix.

The colorful combination of ivory, yellow, orange, pink, green and silver was a treat to work with and a feast for the eyes.

On ivory linens with burgundy napkins the centerpieces blended perfectly. Displayed in rustic whitewashed wooden containers we mixed an assortment of protea, pincushions, banksia, leucadendron, berzelia, brunia, eucalyptus and callas. Each centerpiece was unique and creatively designed adding a special ‘field to vase’ touch to this lovely vineyard location.

Mel and I enjoyed wearing our flower-farmer hats while creating these special arrangements.