A trip down serenity lane

As you might imagine, one of the many perks of working at a flower farm is getting to stroll through the flower farm once in a while. Immersing yourself in fields of flowers, foliage and berries makes you forget about ringing phones and unanswered emails for a bit. Everyday stresses just melt away and in flow feelings of calmness and tranquility.

And happiness. Let's not forget about happiness.

When you're waist-deep (sometimes over-your-head deep) in flowers, you basically feel every emotion we know cut flowers invoke in people - just a much larger dose.

For the readers who don't get to frolic through the flowers on a regular basis, I want to take you on an image tour of Willow Creek, which I visited for first time since summer the other day. Hopefully sharing these pictures can help you forget your daily woes for a few minutes!

The Farm

Three months ago, Willow Creek was sun-drenched valley laced with the
scent of roses and buzzing with bees. A couple weeks ago it was blanketed
in fog (as pictured here) and bursting with fall crops.



The view from above

The neighbors



Rosehips



Fog hangs over the Rosehip crop



A few rose bushes still have flowers, soon to be completely replaced by berries



Close-up of brilliant red, giant Rosehips

Cotinus

The Cotinus stands about 8 - 10 feet tall now.
I felt like Alice in Wonderland when I wandered past this crop!

 

The Cotinus was covered with droplets from the previous night's rainfall. The rain drops
looked like crystals against the dark purple Cotinus. What a stunning sight!



Close-up of rain droplets on Cotinus leaves



Physalis (aka Chinese Lanterns)

 

A field of Chinese Lanterns, nearly ready for harvest

 

Close-up of the paper-like Chinese Lanterns

Sun Valley team members - fully clad in waterproof gear to keep dry after
the rain - harvest a row of Chinese Lanterns



A tractor-pulled cart full of freshly cut Chinese Lanterns

Ilex Berries



Gold Ilex is just about ready for harvest



Red Ilex will follow the Gold and Orange harvest, just in time for Christmas!

Here ends my photo tour of Willow Creek in the fall. Hopefully it gave you a moment of peace during your busy day!

If you want to learn more about any of these crops click on the following links:

For more on Rosehips, click here for the blog post or here for the flower resource page.
For more on Cotinus, click here for the blog or here for the resource page.
For the Chinese Lanterns resource page, click here.
And finally, for the Ilex resource page, click here.

Also, check back in a few weeks for a post on Ilex and what this crop has in common with Degas' famous paintings of ballerinas!