California Grown Flowers Month

Spread the word…. June is California Grown Flowers Month!

For the seventh year in a row, the California Legislature is honoring the state’s flower farmers and recognizing their contributions to the state’s economy and workforce by declaring June as California Grown Flowers Month. The resolution highlights California’s leading role in flower-farming and the economic impact it has on the floral industry.

The industry has blossomed since its inception back in the late 1870s. Statewide flowers are grown across 701 million square feet, spanning the distance from San Diego through the Inland Empire to Carpinteria and north all the way to the Oregon border. California farmers produce three-quarters of the cut flowers in the United States, provide over a 100,000 of jobs and account for a total of $12.2 billion in economic activity every year.

Share the LOVE....California Grown!

It’s Not Always About the Flowers

Step aside flowers. The most interesting designs do not always rely on beautiful blooms to grab our interests. Instead, it is the foliage that win the applause. 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 fabulous foliage.

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

Hello Yellow

Yellow is upbeat and modern, shining with optimism and joy, the color of gold, sunshine and energy. Bright yellow is psychologically the happiest color in the spectrum. Yellow advances from surrounding colors and enlarges any space. It mimics a sun-filled space, creating feelings of liveliness and good cheer.

It's pincushion season here on the farm, and we're putting the spotlight on some of the beautiful new yellow varieties being harvested. To help you distinguish between the infamous High Gold and the newer cultivars, we put together this handy chart and some close-up shots to view below.

High Gold

Jacqueline

Conocarodendron

Yellow Goldie

Hawaii Yellow

Yellow has historically been used to kindle joy and inspired positivity.

Best in Show: Brandi dela Cruz

It’s that time of the year when our pincushion fields high up in the hills of Ranibow start to look like firework displays that were pulled right out of the sky and tossed onto the steep hillsides. And when it comes to the ‘Best in Show’ display, there is no doubt Leucospermum Brandi dela Cruz takes the gold for its dazzling carpet of color and texture. A field full of blooms in rich golden-yellow with orange tints and each flower, large with a diameter of almost 6 inches. Breathtaking! This gorgeous variety is mostly a mix of Leucospermum reflexum and lineare parents...quite a stunning conjugal to say the least.

These fanciful blooms atop sturdy stems create colorful focal points not only in the field but when displayed in floral designs.

Awe-inspiring Orange

“Orange is red brought nearer to humanity by yellow.” - Wassily Kandinsky

A delightful blend of red and yellow hues, the color orange oozes with happiness. Overflowing with energy and warmth, orange is commonly associated with sun and outdoor settings. That is why tropical surroundings are often immersed in orange hues. From its playful shade to its inviting comfort, orange emits a calm yet spirited essence.

Orange is considered a fun color with scrumptious and delicious qualities. It boosts the oxygen supply to the brain and kindles mental activity. As a citrus color, orange is associated with healthy food and it fuels the appetite. If you love having friends gather around your dinner table, orange makes guests more social, encourages conversation and extends the mealtime.

In color psychology, orange is hopeful and uplifting. In fact, orange is so optimistic and uplifting, that we all should find ways to utilize small orange items such as a pen or mug in our day-to-day routines to help promote the positive effects of the shade. Orange adds spontaneity + a positive way of looking at life. Representing adventure, freedom, risk-taking and individuality, orange is uniquely its own.

There is so much to LOVE about this color!

Creating the Perfect Ambience: Flowers & Candles

What do you get when you pair gorgeous proteas and the warm glow of candles? The perfect ambience, of course. Together, they evoke not just elegance and romance, but they unite the powers of the mind, body and spirit. The leucospermum's textural styles and the leucadendron's colorful bracts add an interesting contrast to the subtle lighting created by candles. Plus, there's a seasonal seduction, too. When you use an array of spring proteas, like waratah, isopogon, banksia, leucospermum and dryandra you're celebrating the glories of nature. And spring scented candles provide floral and herbal aromas that enhance your mood and feelings of calm and tranquility.

No matter what season of year… indoors or outdoors, striking candle centerpiece casts a lovely light over the table.

Banksia Coccinea

There are certain things that exemplify Australia, that are true icons of the amazing Land Down Under and there is no doubt that the Banksia is one of them. Banksia have earned a place on this list as they can be found all over the country. Many varieties have names that describe a certain physical characteristic, like the Banksia coccinea… or also known as the Albany banksia, the Waratah banksia or the scarlet banksia. Native to the coastal sand dunes or the southern edge of Western Australia, Coccinea is considered the most picturesque, though by far not the biggest of the banksia flower spikes.

The blossoms of the scarlet banksia illustrate the signature qualities of this protea genus, a barrel-shape inflorescence with hundreds of tiny flowers mounted on a woody cone in corn-cob-like rows. The male flower parts are the white and the longer female ones are intensely red. A general reluctance to reflex keeps these structures or pistels looped back in on themselves until they are finally released at anthesis - the period during which a flower is fully open.