Squirrels Love Protea Too!

Over the last few weeks, while waiting for our next crop of flowers to bloom, we have spent much of our time collecting cuttings to propagate into new plants. Summer is the perfect time to focus on creating new plants since the warmer weather makes roots appear and grow more rapidly. In addition, while collecting cuttings we are pruning older plants which will help them gain more vigor and produce more blooms.

However, during our last trip into the fields it became obvious that we weren’t the only ones pruning the plants and “checking out” the new blooms.  It appears the squirrels have discovered that small protea buds make a mighty tasty treat!  

Dealing with Squirrels in the flower fields is always a challenge.  These cute little creatures can be very destructive, destroying plants and many of their new blooms.  However, destructive they may be, there’s one thing we definitely have in common – Squirrels Love Protea too!
 

Summer's Transition

For us, summer is a season of transition, of constant change. It's the time of the year when some varieties of flowers and foliage are finishing in the fields and others are beginning to bloom. The colors, textures and sights of this season certainly warm the soul and delight the eye!
 

 

During the month of June our bouquets are filled with a wonderful assortment of pincushions,  leucadendron and grevillea foliage. 
 

Then as the month of July arrives, our bouquets and wreaths slowly shift to unique combination of pincushion, banksia, kangaroo paws and protea. 

Banksia mixed with kangaroo paws and leucadendron is another true sampling of July.

Finally, as August approaches we slowly transitions to bouquets filled with an amazing assortment of protea - a definite sign that fall is right around the corner. Have a great summer!

Five Great Reasons to Grow Kangaroo Paw

1. Kangaroo Paw plants produce velvety flowers in a rainbow of colors.

2. Kangaroo Paws add great color and texture to bouquets. 

3. Kangaroo Paw plants make wonderful landscaping. 

4. Kangaroo Paws add a touch of color to our summer flower fields.

5. Kangaroo Paws in my pickup truck make a picture perfect back drop! 

An Internship in Flower Farming

 

This summer Resendiz Brothers has the pleasure to host Pauline Nogueira, a French Intern and student of agriculture at Campus de Pouille in Angers. She will be spending the next three months learning all about the art of flower farming. 

Pauline's first week included a special tour of our flower fields, where she experienced firsthand what flowers are currently being harvested and how they grow.

Creating a beautiful hand-tied bouquet right in the field was the highlight of our tour!

In the packing house, it was time for Pauline to become acquainted with more of our flowers, and how they are prepared for packing and shipping.

In the nursery, Pauline assisted with the re-potting of young plants.

Finally, our 'thanks' to Pauline for preparing a special French meal, 'Blanquette de Veau", it was the "perfect way to end her first week!  Stay tuned for more on Pauline's flower farming internship.

A Lesson in the Vineyard

A few weeks ago I decided to take a short break from my normal routine in my flower fields and indulge in one of my favorite past-times - Cooking!  Yes, I love to cook, especially when the fruits and vegetable being prepared are grown in my garden or by another local farmer. So, I ventured off to The Ponte Family Winery for a Tuscan Cooking Class. 

The class was held in the Barrel Room, a special room Ponte Vineyard's designed exclusively for their Wine Club Members.

Chef Roberto Carboni our host and instructor, guided us through this savory Tuscana Menu: 

• Panzanella: A salad of tomatoes, bread, cucumber, olives, basil and red onion. 
• Pappardelle Al Sugo D' Anatra: Large pasta ribbons with white duck ragu. 
• Scaloppine Al Funghi: Veal with mixed mushrooms. 
• Dolce Di Ricotta E Mandorle: Ricotta and almond cheesecake.

 

Chef Carboni didn't just show us how to prepare wonderful meals; he was full of life, entertaining and even serenaded us in Italian.

My thanks to our Chef for a superb evening of food and wine! 

Great food, wine and "Flowers" - the perfect ending to a wonderful day! 

Hand-Tied Pincushion Bouquets

It's June and for us that means pincushions and weddings!  During the next few weeks pincushions will be the bulk of our harvest, our fields are still full of vibrant orange and yellow blooms just waiting to become someone's bridal bouquet.  Actually, leucospermum or as we refer to them "pincushions" are wonderful in all kinds of bouquets, arrangements and displays, but today we wanted to share a few pictures of our favorite hand- tied bouquets.

Get your hands on a few "pins" and enjoy these final days of spring!!!

Here We Grow Again

Those of you who've visited our flower fields in the last two months may have noticed the we've cleared several acres next to one of our waxflower and leucadendron fields. Someone asked me: "Why are you clearing this land, it seems really steep?" A little surprised, I answered: "This is going to be my newest protea field!  It's time to take another step and expand our flower farm."

So, over the last two months we've cleared this parcel of brush and cleaned up all kinds of trash, mulched and graded new roads. Now it is ready for the next phase, putting in drip irrigation and planting. I anticipate this second phase will take about two and half months. Next spring we may see a few colorful protea blooming in this field. No flowers will be harvested until probably spring of 2014, and by 2015 we will have blooms ready for Valentine's Day and Mother's Day. In the meantime, lots of care and patience are required as we watch this new flower field grow and mature!

 Our new field before we started to Grow again

Our new field nearly ready for planting!