Tiptoe through the tulips

Day 2 of Valentine's Day shipping...

If there's one thing I know already about the floral industry, it's that I never know what I'll be doing from one day to the next. One day I'm riding a bicycle through the iris fields, and the next day I'm sleeving bouquets in Oxnard. Yesterday, I found myself dodging tulip carts in the tulip greenhouse, where production is at one of its annual peaks (the other major peak being Mother's Day). I've been through the coolers, greenhouses and bunching rooms dozens of times by now, but these places are really something to see when operating at full capacity.

If you haven't witnessed this spectacle before, here's what it looks like (from my iPhone's point of view):



Ile de France red tuilps just peaking up through the soil



A row of tulips mid-growth



Rows of tulips nearing harvest time



When team members harvest the tulips, they put them on these hanging carts, which slide down rails as the team members move through the rows of tulips.



A freshly loaded cart of tulips



Tulips are harvested with the bulb still intact. This provides nutrients to the flower longer, thus lengthening its vase life.



Although this tulip is lovely, it won't make it past the greenhouse since we ship all product closed for maximum freshness.

Freshly harvested tulips go straight into coolers. As they are needed to fill orders, they are pulled into the tulip bunching room, where the bulbs are removed and the tulips are sorted and graded.



Several experienced team members work the tulip bunching lines this time of year. There are A LOT of tulips to grade!

 

The line leader ensures the tulips are graded correctly, then puts the completed order on carts designated for coolers in the warehouse



Freshly bunched white tulips in buckets on carts


French tulips have a similar story to standard and fancy tulips, but they are grown in hoophouses, and there is a special section of the tulip bunching room designated for Frenchies. It makes sense, when you consider their enormous size!



Maureen Frenchies just started to sprout up



A hoophouse full of French tulips, nearing harvest time



Like standard tulips, French tulips are placed in crates when harvested and whisked to the bunching room



French tulip bunching area. The tulips are graded and placed on those metal trays (which are extra long for those long stems!). They are sleeved in the area on the left side of this photo. 

Thanks for touring Sun Valley's Valentine tulip production with me today! Stay tuned on our Facebook page for videos of tulip bulb planting and grading!