Grevilllea Hookeriana

Did you know the Australian genus of Grevillea consists of approximately 313 different varieties and 200 cultivars, and the numbers continues to grow? This amazing plant family was named in honor of the British patron of botany Charles Francis Greville, one of the founders of the Royal Horticulture Society in 1804.

Grevilleas are not only popular for their colorful spider-like flowers, the foliage is amazing as well. Yes, we’re all familiar with the fabulous Ivanhoe but do you know Hookeriana? This interesting cultivar, also called ‘Robin Hood’, is hardy, prolific and versatile. This lush plant which can reach heights of up to 7’ tall, has rich, green fern-like foliage with bronze tips and stems. Hookeriana adds incredible volume and texture to designs and it has a vase life of 14 days and longer.

The little cone buds and red tooth brush-like flowers, which are prominently displayed over the late winter and early spring, seem to turn this lush foliage into a fabulous filler flower!

Inspirational News: Certified American Grown Proudly Sponsors First Lady's Luncheon

The Certified American Grown program was a proud sponsor of the 2016 First Lady's Luncheon held May 12 in Washington, D.C. An annual tradition hosted by the Congressional Club since 1912 to honor the first lady of the United States, the luncheon is attended by over 1,500 people, including Congressional spouses, associates of members of Congress and cabinet members.

The Certified American Grown program worked with the Congressional Club’s First Lady's Luncheon Committee to help ensure that 100 percent of the flowers used during this year’s event were American Grown. With beautiful stems of flowers and greens from California, Oregon, Washington, Florida and Virginia, over 200 centerpieces and arrangements were created to fill the Washington Hilton Ballroom.

"This was a tremendous honor and opportunity for America’s flower farmers,” said Kasey Cronquist, administrator of the Certified American Grown program. “We commend the Congressional Club’s decision to seek and source blooms grown here in the United States for such a wonderful tradition of honoring our first lady.”

The bouquets featured beautiful American Grown roses, peonies, stock, tulips, lilies, protea, Bells of Ireland, alstromeria, bupleurum, dianthus, freesia, lisianthus, ranunculus, viburnum, waxflower, ferns, leatherleaf and curly willow.

The centerpieces were designed by Andrea Gagnon of LynnVale Studios, a Certified American Grown farmer, floral designer and American Grown Council member. David Beahm Experiences of New York carried out Gagnon's vision and provided logistical support for this large and prestigious floral installation.

Each year, the luncheon supports a nonprofit of the first lady's choice. Funds raised from this year's event will go to the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregiving, an advocacy, research, education and service unit that provides support for both professional and family caregivers. Centerpieces were purchased by attendees to help raise those funds.

Representing American Grown from left to right are Daevid Reed, Tim Dewey, Bill Frymoyer, Diana Roy, David Register, Lane DeVries, Kasey Cronquist, David Beahm and seated are Andrea Gagnon, Debra Prinzing and Rita Jo Shoultz

For more on the American Grown Flowers program, go to americangrownflowers.org.

Instagram: Photos We Dig

This month’s Instagram Inspiration features an intermingling of some of our favorite April blooms. 10 fabulous photos showcasing stunning kings, plush protea, amazing waratah, colorful leucospermum and leucadendron, grevillea flowers, berzelia and lovely filler flowers. We love seeing the flowers we grow here in Rainbow being mixed with roses, orchids, succulents, peonies, hydrangeas and more – Great recipes for any floral chef!

@mtlebanonfloral

@petaltothemetalreno

@mirianlarafloralboutique

@petaltothemetalreno

@stemsbrooklyn

@trfloraldesign2

@mtlebanonfloral

@swoonworthybridal

@mtlebanonfloral

@stemsbrooklyn

p.s. for more Instagram follow along with us @resendizbrothers and be sure to check out all the Instagrams above.

Spring Outing: In the Field with Taylor Morgan

On warm, sunny days we love heading up into the hills to share the beauty of flower farming with friends and acquaintances. For the ultimate April excursion, we teamed up with Taylor Morgan from Garden Collage, to forage through the fields in search of ingredients for an incredible spring bouquet.

Taylor writes for Garden Collage a new type of lifestyle gardening publication whose mission is to bring back the garden into peoples’ lives and inspire readers to incorporate a new, dynamic concept of “gardening” based on a collage of perspectives from a global community of gardeners. And, since we have a pretty amazing garden here in Rainbow we thought she’d enjoy a little of our perspective!

The perfect ingredients for our kind of spring bouquet – Enjoy!

In the Field: Grevillea Flowers

This month, we’ve been meandering through the fields enjoying the wonderful bounty of Grevillea Flowers. These gorgeous bottlebrush-like blooms are perfect if you’re looking for something a little unusual and screaming with color and texture. We'll be harvesting this bumper crop throughout the season.

Here are some of our favorites - We’ll kept it short and sweet since these blooms really speak for themselves:

Sylvia

Moonlight

Misty Pink

Superb

Robyn Gordon

Honey Gem

Peaches & Cream

Sandra Gordon

Banksii

A Field to Vase Celebration

A blissful welcome to the spring season, surrounded by a sea of gorgeous ranunculaus the Field to Vase Dinner Tour brought good cheer to The Flower Fields of Carlsbad. Clear skies and perfectly tepid temperatures greeted guests as they enjoyed American grown flowers while savoring an artisanal meal prepared by a local chef, Jeff Rossman, of Terra Catering. A skilled, self-taught Chef of nearly 30 years, Jeff helped pioneer San Diego’s thriving farm-to-table movement by purchasing fresh, organic produce from local growers before it was en vogue. Travelling to farmer’s markets before farmer’s markets were cool.

The dazzling floral décor was designed by Flower Duet’s sisters, Kit and Casey, who blended a bounty of locally grown blooms into each centerpiece and display. Kit and Casey discovered their love for flowers at a very young age thanks to their parent’s beautiful garden. Creating custom pieces for special events, they also engage in teaching flower arranging classes at their studio in South Bay of Los Angeles.

The idea behind this dinner series is to help people connect the growing “farm to fork” movement to flowers, and to share why the flowers on the dinner table should be as fresh, local and sustainable as the food on your plate. There’s no better place to celebrate the season and make that connection to flowers than in the breathtaking Flower Fields!

In the Field: Harvesting Leucospermum

With snow and rain still falling outside many of your windows, spring may still feel far away. To tide you over until you can spend more time outdoors, we're gathering some of our favorite Leucospermum ‘pincushions’ to brighten indoor spaces. Flame Giants, High Gold, Spider, Succession, Red Sunset, Hawaii Yellow and more - each stem like fireworks bursting with color and texture!