American Grown Mother's Day 2014

"Mama was my greatest teacher, a teacher of compassion, love and fearlessness. If love is sweet as a flower, then my mother is that sweet flower of love."
                                                                                     -Stevie Wonder

2014 marks the 100th year that Mother's Day has been celebrated in the United States. On May 9th, 1914, President Woodrow Wilson made the second Sunday in May officially "Mother's Day."

This is one of the busiest times of year on our flower farm, as flowers are the traditional gift to give your mom. Over the course of the year our Sun Valley team is training for this event, we focus on operational excellence year-round, however, Mother's Day is where the "rubber hits the road."

We are able to scale up our operations to meet demand due to a lot of planning and a lot of teamwork. At this time of year it's not unusual to see Lane DeVries on the "tulip line" laying flowers on the belt, which will get graded, sorted, sleeved and sent to mom's across the country.  It's not unusual to see Vince Thomas, our head of transportation and logistics, working on a shipping line in the warehouse. "All Hands on Deck" means literally "All Hands on Deck."

This type of leadership epitomizes the Sun Valley experience and it also embodies the American experience. Learning by doing and leading by example. This is why we are successful. As an American flower farm we face steep competition from flowers grown off shore. However, the tides are changing in our favor as consumers request American Grown flowers to share with their families and friends...and especially as the perfect gift for mom.

Much like Women's Day which we celebrate in early March, Mother's Days is distinctly an American holiday. You owe it to your mom to give her flowers grown right here in the United States...the same place where you were born and raised.

Doesn't this make sense?

The vast majority of folks reading these words grew up in the USA, making you just as American Grown as our flowers.

Even the White House is getting on board; did you see this outstanding article in the New York Times?

As our flowers get delivered to wholesalers, flower shops and stores across the country, we pass the baton onto the floral professionals that will make sure every mom has a wonderful day.

All the lilies in this post are test varieties we are growing in small quantities. If they pass the test, they may be available in the near future.

Good Luck and Thank You,