Beating the Winter Blues

“I must have flowers, always and always,” said Claude Monet.

We can’t agree with him more! Especially in January, at the cusp of winter, when we’re all slowly coming out of a ‘Christmas Greens Coma’ and suffering from the 'Winter Blues'. But that’s not to say the Monets among us are out of luck. As the season settles in, we find ourselves shifting back to more traditional florals, and it dawns on us that winter is a choice.

One trip into the fields and there’s no doubt in our minds. As the weather gets colder, the colors become brighter and more intense. Leucadendron seemingly ‘wake up’ and make superb winter flowers in a variety of colors and textures. The Inca gold turns a bright yellow color with a touch of red on the tips. And the Safari Sunset, which is typically a red or burgundy hue, lives up to its name in winter as it changes to ‘Tricolor’ with lovely multicolored bracts in hues of maroon, green and gold.

With a few stems of beautiful protea, sprigs of sweet scented waxflower and plenty of colorful leucadendron, you can design a winter bouquet that takes the chill out of the season while providing inspiration for the next. Actually, we’ve found the trick to beating the ‘Winter Blues’ is to surround yourself with vivid color and pretend it’s almost spring.

Protea Susara

Protea Pink Mink

Protea Liebencherry

Protea Silvertips

Protea Coronata

Hybrid Waxflower

Leucadendron Inca Gold

Leucadendron Safari Tricolor

Seasons Greetings

As one season transitions into another the colors that dominate our daily harvest shift as well. The crimson, fuchsia and cream protea of winter give way to the orange, red and yellow pincushions of spring. Summer’s greens and pink protea become the saturated leucadendron and banksia of fall. Even in the nursery where seasonal changes are not as obvious the passage is visible in the angle of sunlight and feel of the air. This helping hand from Mother Nature offers us the opportunity to continually change the colors and textures found in our wreaths. In our opinion, there’s no better way to roll out the welcome mat and start a new season than with a gorgeous Protea Wreath!

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!