Season of Wonder, Part 2

 Last week you heard about Lane's Journey to find "the Wonder Flower"--the dearly beloved Ornithogalum (aka Star-of-Bethlehem), and now we will share how it lives up to its name. 

Our Ornithogalum color collection

In addition to the dazzling, super-saturated orange Ornithogalum dubium, we also offer a creamy yellow blossom (pictured top right) as well as a pure white variety (bottom right).  Regardless of color, all of Ornithogalum's delicate looking blooms are surprisingly tough and resilient. 

Ornithogalum's long-lasting flowers and robust stems give it an incredible vase life.  Its star-shaped, silky florets bloom in stages all the way to the top of its flower head, a process which can take a few weeks, which means it will look fantastic for at least a month.  The one-two combination of a prolonged vase life paired with incredible presentation creates an overall rewarding experience for the purchaser.

Growing Practices  

The enjoyment of these Stars-of-Bethlehem begins with our growing practices.  Because of their Mediterranean origin, these flowering plants are accustomed to warm weather with minimal rain--they're genuine heat-loving children of the sun.

We begin by planting bulbs in our Southern Californian hoop houses  around September.  We give the early developing plants plenty of light and wrap the hoop houses to keep them warm.  Once they begin to flower, we modify their environment to make it a little bit cooler and a little bit darker, while still providing plenty of light. The key here is timing and finding the perfect equilibrium between warm and cool, light and dark, because an imbalance between these elements  will cause the blooms to stretch along the stem instead of gathering beautifully near the top as pictured below.

Snugly gathered head of blooms

Throughout production, Ornithogalum needs some special attention so that their long, leafless stems continue to grow tall and straight and not become tangled.  The end goal is to have a crop with 40-cm long (or longer!), strong, thick stems with flowers blooming in a gathered circle around the head.  The long stems will always have a natural movement and curve to them, which has often been described as a "designer's dream." 

After a few months in the hoop houses, we can begin to harvest.  We pick the seasonal Ornithogalum from March until May, and then process the bulbs in order to thrust them back into dormancy.  In this way, the bulbs rest through the summer, and we are able to reuse them once more for the following fall, which makes production of the incredible (but challenging) Ornithogalum much more feasible. 

Freshly harvested yellow Ornithogalum--check out those long stems!

Because these wonder flowers are a seasonal crop, you'll want to get these colorful, room-brightening beauties while they last!   The season of wonder has begun, why don't you pass it on?