Sun Valley Goes to the Rose Parade

This weekend will bring us all into 2017, which also means Pasadena, CA will be having its annual  Rose Parade on January 2nd.  This New Year's Day parade began in 1889 to showcase the floral bounty of California; today, 120 years later, it continues to do just that.

2016 Miracle Gro  Float

I first experienced the Rose Parade when I was 7 years old; my parents took my brother and me on a road trip to Southern California, where we camped out on the sidewalk with hundreds of other people celebrating New Year's Eve.  The next day we watched the parade, and I was fascinated with the elaborate, moving floats, completely covered in flowers.  To me, it was pure magic.

From the 2016 Rose Parade

In the parade's earliest days, the flowers came from the flower fields nearby.  The elaborately decorated parade carriages showed off the great variety of everything California soil and farmers could grow, even during the dead of winter.  Today, the celebration of California-grown flora continues with the annual Rose Parade, and also through the work of the California Cut Flower Commission (CCFC), which is dedicated to sharing and preserving the agricultural beauty of California.  Each year, the CCFC honors and certifies floats that keep the tradition of using local flowers alive.  

As a proud California-based flower farm, you can bet that our flowers will be there.  Every year our flowers are used in several of the floats and decor, but you can find the biggest concentration on the award-winning Cal Poly Float.  Cal Poly University is dedicated to educating the next generation of farmers and ranchers in California, and their support of  flower farmers is on fully display in the Rose Parade.

 Each year's parade has a theme; last year was "Find Your Adventure," 2015 being "Inspiring Stories," and this year will be "Echoes of Success." I can't wait to see what the hundreds of floats are stirring up this year!

Cal Poly's 2016 Float

Keep an eye out for our Green Ball Dianthus, Tulips, and Lilies on Cal Poly's Float this year, as well as four different varieties and shades of our Iris used in other elements of the parade.  But above all, enjoy the visual celebration of everything California, and have a great New Year.