O Canada, a look at our Canadian Farm

What comes to mind when you think of Canada, our fine neighbors to the north?


Hockey, Labatt’s, universal health care, funny accents, incredible musicians and snow….lots of snow, these are what used to come to my mind, however all that has changed in the last week.

Canada now means Tulips, Lilies, Sunflowers and Celosia along with fruit crops, wine and wildlife, sorry Joni Mitchell and Neil Young, the parties over.




Since 2010 when the Sun Valley Floral Farm expanded operations into St.Catharines, Ontario, this area has been producing some of the most beautiful soil grown cut flowers available anywhere. The farm we purchased was actually a former orchid farm; however, we did some retrofitting to make this complex of greenhouses a perfect spot to grow Tulips, Lilies and Celosia. We also grow big beautiful Sunflowers outdoors in the summer. In 2013, we will be running a test crop of Peonies…so keep your fingers crossed.

The St. Catharines region is about 30 miles north of Niagara Falls, NY, and has some really unique geography which has created a microclimate that makes growing everything from peaches to grapes very successful. The part of this geography that most Americans have trouble coping with is the fact that Niagara Falls is pointed north, the Niagara River flows north bringing water from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. The raging Niagara River is also the border between Canada and the United States.

I repeat, Niagara Falls flows north!

The area around Niagara Falls is on the top of a large escarpment, aptly named the Niagara Escarpment. Lake Erie is at a higher elevation than Lake Ontario, so the Niagara River flows north. Our St. Catharines Farm is at the bottom of the escarpment, next to the shores of Lake Ontario. These unique geologic features create a stunning microclimate that has turned this area into a “Fruit Belt” as well as a great wine producing and flower growing area. Peaches, cherries, apples, apricots and grapes all grow very well in this area, and there is at least one thriving banana plant.

This banana tree is in the very good care of our National Sales Rep., Cathi Ling. Cathi and her husband Wayne, have actually harvested bunches of bananas from their backyard. The tricky part is “wintering over” the banana tree, since it still gets pretty chilly in winter. Last winter they wrapped the unsuspecting plant in 50 feet of bubble wrap, while adding 12 cubic feet of mulch, and last summer they harvested bananas! Here is a picture from last summer.

Bananas growing at Cathi's house.

When Cathi isn’t taking care of her banana plant, she is selling flowers. From the St. Catharines Farm we ship our flowers to accounts around north east Canada, including New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. A large amount of the flowers also cross the border, to service our accounts in the northeastern United States. Being this close to New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, Cleveland and even Chicago gives us a great competitive edge in the industry.

Taking advantage of Sun Valley’s bulb stock, growing experience and transportation expertise, this farm has achieved high quality results in a very short time.

Our Canadian Tulips.

St. Catharines is a very close knit community of farmers. There is a real sense of camaraderie among the farms, many of which are family run, and have been for generations. Our flower farm fits right in to this patchwork of fruit tree orchards and wineries.





St. Catharine's Celosia will be ready in late spring.

This area is an up and coming wine production area. According to Cathi, the specialty of the area is “Icewine.” To make “Icewine” sounds pretty intense. You leave the grapes on the vine and wrap them up to keep them from molding. Then you wait until the first freeze, this is the rough part… at 2 am picking crews set out huge lights across the vineyards and pick the grapes, ensuring they stay completely frozen. The water in the grapes freezes, but the sugars do not. They press the frozen grapes, squeezing out a concentrated and very sweet juice which in turn becomes a delightful gourmet desert wine.
Mmmm, Canada is sounding pretty tasty right about now. Here is more info on the process of making Icewine, it sure would be nice to try some of this yummy looking stuff…Cathi?…wink, wink.

Our greenhouses allow us year round production through winter, since the light levels and temperature can be controlled. Right now we are harvesting tulips and lilies, and the celosia will be coming on at the end of spring. Our lead grower at St. Catharines is Bart van Haaster. Bart was “born under a tulip bench” in Holland, and cut his teeth at our Arcata farm before heading up our Canadian operation. He brings a passion for growing and a serious dedication to the fine art of flower production.


Bart van Haaster with his soil grown tulips.

We also uphold the same environmental standards at this farm as we do at our California farms, check out these amazing photos taken by Cathi during her lunch break on the farm.
Do they have National Geographic in Canada?


Snowy Owl with Mouse, by Cathi Ling.



Perched male Snowy Owl at our St. Catharines Farm, by Cathi Ling.



We couldn’t be more pleased with the fine quality flowers coming out of St. Catharines and the great work our team is accomplishing. We are excited to start spreading the word to our customers and potential customers in the region, if you need big, bold soil grown tulips or any of our dramatic Royal or Oriental lilies, give Cathi or your usual Sun Valley Sales Rep. a jingle.