October Articles of Interest

Petals by the Shore: American Grown at Home

Part Four of our Six-Part Series on
New Floral Marketing Models and Platforms

Wedding and event florist Kelly Shore, owner of Petals by the Shore in Damascus, Maryland, has spent the past five years educating herself about domestic flower sourcing. She began in her own backyard, motivated by a desire to support flower growers in her area, many of whom she originally purchased from through local farmers’ markets.

Read more here.
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California Farmer Mel Resendiz

As we celebrate California Grown Farmer and Farmworker month, we want to highlight some very special farmers. First up, meet first-generation California farmer, Mel Resendiz.

Following a Dream of Farming

To Mel, being a farmer is more than just a job, it’s the fulfillment of a dream. “Being a farmer means that I have been able to achieve the American Dream.” said Resendiz “To own a business, own land, create jobs for family and others in the community, and to wake up every day doing something that I love doing.”

Read more here.
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Sustainable use of land vital for fynbos protection

As the world looks for ways to tackle both an unprecedented health crisis and the ongoing climate crisis, the Flower Valley Conservation Trust in the Western Cape is working hard to bring to light the importance of fynbos protection through sustainable land use.

Established in 1991, the Flower Valley Conservation Trust is making sure that it creates a fynbos-filled future for life and livelihoods. The trust is a non-profit organisation based on Flower Valley Farm, just outside Gansbaai. It focuses on fynbos protection in natural landscapes and improving livelihoods across the fynbos biome.

Read more here.
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The 62 Best Wedding Bouquets

A bride's floral arrangement is arguably the second most important part of her outfit, ranking immediately behind the wedding dress. Therefore, we encourage you to a put a lot of thought into the flowers you carry down the aisle! If you're wondering how to make your bridal bouquet extra special, it helps to turn to some inspiration. Luckily, we've got you covered with our all-time favorite arrangements. The bundles here feature some of the most creative shape, memorable shades, and beautiful flowers out there.

Read more here.

Arroyo Seco Weekend

The inaugural Arroyo Seco Weekend wrapped up on Sunday. Goldenvoice, the promoter of the event called this two-day festival “multigenerational,” geared toward families and folks in their mid-30s and up, rather than the typically crowd packs these gatherings. It was a festival where someone can go with their grandma, mom, sister or toddler and enjoy rock, soul, jazz, funk, and blues acts.

The Pasadena event took over the Brookside Golf Course at the iconic Rose Bowl Stadium setting up three stages for the line-up of talented musical artists and turned the rest of the grounds into an al fresco picnic and lounge area. Arroyo Seco estimates there was a modest crowd in the range of 25,000 attendees.

With June being California Grown Flowers Month, we thought this event would be the perfect place to continue the celebration. California flower farms teamed up with JetBlue and Muir Ranch for a “Flowers On Your Head” activation. Teams of photographers were scattered around the grounds and in the JetBlue Lounge capturing pictures of the thousands of people with CAGrown flowers on their heads. The crowd loved it… men, women, teens and toddlers alike joined in on the fun.

Celebrating CA Grown at the Library of Congress

The Library of Congress, built in 1897, is the nation’s first established cultural institution and the largest library in the world, with millions of items including books, recordings, photographs, maps and manuscripts in its collections. The Library provides visitors with a rich, diverse and enduring source of knowledge to inspire and engage them and support their intellectual and creative endeavors.

This beautiful Library has also become the home to the annual Wine Institute Reception where Members of Congress, staffers and other DC leaders gather for an evening of wine tasting. The Wine Institute is the voice for California wine representing more than 1,000 wineries and affiliated businesses from throughout the state.

For the last three years the California Cut Flower Commission has teamed up with the Institute to provide flowers for this very popular Capitol Hill reception. California farmers from across the state eagerly provide the beautiful flowers that adorn this event. The flowers not only spread good cheer throughout the Library, they celebrate the amazing bounty that comes from California’s flower farms.

Special thanks to Andrea Gagnon from LynnVale Studios for doing the wonderful design work for this prestigious affair

A Gift of Flowers

Between soil and sky - That’s where you’ll find Muir Ranch Director, Mud Baron and his student farmers on any given day! Muir's mission is to teach their students important business and life skills, provide them with meaningful employment, and improve access to fresh, locally-grown produce and flowers! Currently, Muir Ranch employs dozens of students year-round. These are jobs which have been made possible via community support, donations, special events, farmers markets and fund raising.

So, this Valentine's Day with flowers being top of mind, Resendiz Brothers and several of the neighboring farms decided to give a gift of flowers to Muir’s student farmers. We literally stuffed the school van! Everything from ranunculus, to protea, waxflower, heather, acacia, boxwood and more were donated so the students could create Valentine’s bouquets and arrangements to sell in Pasadena and the surrounding communities. Needless to say, the flowers sold out and all the proceeds raised will be used to fund more student farmer jobs! Awesome!

Many thanks to Mellano & Company, Obra Verde Growers, Rainbow Protea, Protea USA and Sandoval Farms for their generous support!

CCFC Launches BloomCheck

In the fall of 2012, the California Cut Flower Commission (CCFC) embarked on the journey of designing and implementing a sustainable flower farming program for California Cut Flower farmers. This month after concluding a successful pilot project, the CCFC’s sustainability certification program, BloomCheck, launched. This program is the result of a comprehensive study, and contributions from the California flower community as well as a two-year Specialty Crop Block Grant that was initiated to help better position California’s flower farming practices as the sustainability standard of choice for consumers and the industry.

“Consumers across our country understand the high standards and the strict oversight that is involved with growing anything in California,” said CCFC's CEO & Ambassador, Kasey Cronquist. “BloomCheck was developed to make sure our farms were provided with the credit they deserve for the work they do to meet and exceed the high bar involved with growing flowers in California.”

The foundation of the program is a self-assessment workbook that addresses all of the important production issues facing cut flowers and greens farmers in California. The workbook has multiple benefits. It helps farmers identify strengths in their flower production operations. It also helps them identify areas where improvements can be made, as well as provide information on practices that can be implemented to make these improvements.

BloomCheck is certified by Protected Harvest, a third-party certifier and auditing company. Farms are encouraged to log in to the BloomCheck online self-assessment program at www.SustainableFlowers.org, complete the self-assessment and encouraged to go for their certification.

Resendiz Brothers Protea Growers is very proud to be one of the first adopters of this new program!

Cal Poly Rose Parade Float: Aims to Inspire Learning

This year students from Cal Poly Pomona and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo will celebrate the power of reading and imagination with their 2015 Rose Parade float design.  “Soaring Stories” portrays a fairy tale castle and a mythological griffin emerging from the pages of storybooks.  It reflects the 2015 parade theme, “Inspiring Stories.” 

Some float construction work has already begun on both campuses.  Cal Poly San Luis Obispo students are expected to move their half of the float to Cal Poly Pomona in mid-to-late October. Construction typically continues until right before Christmas. Students and volunteers then spend the week between Christmas and New Year decorating the float with California Grown Flowers. 

"This project is the epitome of Learn by Doing,” said Cal Poly President Jeffrey D. Armstrong in a recent university newsletter.  “It also demonstrates working across disciplines.  There are all types of majors working here, from both campuses. And it brings together the whole Cal Poly community — students, parents, alumni, people who have been involved for years.” 

This year Cal Poly is once again committed to source at least 85 percent of their float décor from California flower farms and be recognized as "California-Grown Certified".  During the last few years this project and the 'Learning by Doing' has expand beyond the campuses. Students and administrators are touring the farms that donate the fresh cut flowers and greens in order to meet the farmers and see where and how the flowers are grown. 

This weekend Resendiz Brothers had the pleasure to host some of the Cal Poly Float Team as well as Amanda Lee the Decoration Chair and their Advisor Greg Lehr.  It was fun getting to know these designers while sharing a little of our 'Flower World' with them.  First off, a stop in the cooler to see what's being harvested - Protea, Banksia, Grevillea, Leucadendron, Eucalyptus and more.

Time for a quick photo and then off to the hills!

Without a trip up into the hills of Rainbow it's difficult to understand how our flowers are grown, the terrain, the climate and the vast layout of the land.

Oh yes, Silver Tree - definitely the first time this group has seen this fabulous foliage outside of a bucket or glued to a float! 

Finally, a quick lesson on growing and propagating Proteaceae.

Our Thanks to Cal Poly Float team for their commitment to learning about and supporting California farms and their flowers!