Wax On! Now Harvesting Waxflower

"One could almost wax poetic, but we will keep such ambitious ideas for a future day."
                                                                  -Sir Henry Morton Stanley, 1872.

Even though Valentine's mania is in full swing, we are going to take a few moments to "wax poetically". We will be waxing with lovely waxflower, which we are harvesting right now at our farm in northern Baja.

Lovely Waxflower.

The plant is endemic to western Australia and the scientific genus is Chamelaucium. The flowers are small and have five petals and ten stamens. A large amount of blooms grow on each woody stem, making this one of the ideal filler flowers for the floral industry. Over the last 30 years or so waxflower has adapted to the Southern California / Baja growing climate. The development of additional varieties that start the season a bit earlier and extend the great quality a bit later are now able to provide a substantial filler and scent for winter and spring vases.

If you look in the center of the blooms you see a little cup of fragrant wax. It smells kind of pine-y and waxy, and in nature this is used to attract pollinators. For floral professionals this scent is a great bonus, since many filler items don't have the added dimension of scent. 

Our Sun Pacific Bouquet Division is using it in some wonderful Valentine's Day arrangements, there are several featuring waxflower, but this one is my favorite.

Pretty Lady Bouquet

"Pretty Lady" Grande featuring our LA Hybrid royal lilies, one Oriental lily, Matsumoto asters, matricaria, snapdragons, seeded eucalyptus, salal and of course waxflower.

So where did the expression "Waxing Poetically" come from? It actually has nothing to do with waxflowers, according to The Phrase Finder "to wax" is another way of saying "to grow" and waxing isn't used that much anymore for anything but the moon, which waxes and wanes.

Our waxflower supply is waxing, so order a few boxes and get your hands on this great crop.
  
What do you use Waxflower for?