Episode 106- Tulips: Year-Round Spring

International Viewers- watch video here!

Host J Schwanke shows you the storied history of the tulip, and how to get maximum enjoyment out of this beautiful flower with arrangements and tulip-inspired recipes.*Bonus Content in the Blue Links! Tulips have long fascinated the human race- and the Stories of Tulip-o-mania- are fascinating- March 1637- was the start of this phenomenon- where one Tulip bulb sold for over 12 acres of land... it's was truly a fascinating time in our history as humans on this planet- and how an entire culture was ruled by their obsession with Flowers- Tulips! I also understand that some folks traded 2 tons of butter for Tulips during Tulip-o-mania... I love my butter- and that's an amazing factoid!Learn more about Tulipomania here! For decades Tulips have been considered the Symbol of Spring- but today- Tulips aren't just limited to a few weeks in Spring. These amazing flowers are available year round- thanks to amazing innovation and technology- as well as global resourcing. Tulips are available 24/7 and 365 days a year- at Sun Valley Flower Farms in Arcata California.Lane DeVries - the owner of Sun Valley Flower Farms- used his 4th Generation Flower Farming know-how to create a formula- with the help of Coolers, Sunshine, and Bulbs from around the world- to develop a process that allows Tulips to be available year round! Lane is one of the Flower Friends I feature in my First Award Winning Book- Fun with Flowers - you can buy it here!Through a labyrinth of coolers- slight difference of temperature and constant monitoring of root production allows Sun Valley to offer the World's Finest Tulips (Soil Grown in "Humboldt Gold" Soil) ever day of the year. Lane searched to find the perfect geographical location for his tulip farm- and as it turns out- Arcata California is perfect with a mean temperature of 50-60F degrees ... all year long- and that is where Lane and the Tulips call home!Watch my entire visit to Sun Valley Flower Farms in Arcata- on uBloom.com here in my CA Grown Flower Documentary!Lane doesn't just grow tulips- he has another farm in Oxnard California- that provides a different geographic climate for specific crops... and I visited that farm as well... Join me on a tour of Sun Valley Oxnard- here in my CA Grown Flower Documentary!West Michigan - my home- is also host to the largest Tulip Festival in the USA... it takes place in Holland Michigan- the 2nd full weekend in May- and Tulip-Time is an internationally renowned festival- that attracts tourists from over 36 countries. I visit with Windmill Island Horticulture Director- Ad Vandenakker- on location at the festival.  You can check out my entire visit to Tulip Time and the full interview with Ad- here - on my uBloom website.Tulips are one of my favorite flowers to arrange- and they get featured in projects I create in my Weekly Video tutorials on uBloom.com - here's a few previews of Tulip Arranging Videos on uBloom.  I'd love to have you join in my Fun with Flowers Videos that premiere every week - I've been creating a NEW How-to-arrange Flowers Video each week since 2006... and you can access these premium videos- for only $3.99 a month- or you can purchase an Annual Membership with an Exclusive Discount for my "J Schwanke's Life in Bloom Viewers" use the Discount code FIFTYOFF (all caps and no spaces) to get 50% off your annual membership at www.uBloom.com/Join/Annual!How To arrange Tulips - from Flowerbud.com How to arrange Tulips on the Bulb!I also share a couple of my favorite Tulip Inspired recipes... Each year at Tulip-Time- there are many Dutch descendents that fix up a batch of Traditional Dutch Punch- to help celebrate Tulip Time- I've got the recipe for this Authentic Punch- that I garnish with Tulips - on the Tulip Episode of Life in Bloom. Click here for the Traditional Dutch Punch Recipe!The Traditional Dutch Punch- packs a punch- so it'a good idea to offer snicky-snacks alone with it... and my Herbed Goat Cheese recipe is easy to make- and looks Wonderful when you serve it on Organic Tulip Petals- and garnish with an open bloom- Find out more - and try out the Herbed Goat Cheese Recipe here!The Featured flower for this week is Parrot Tulips- these Fancy Varieties are actually infected with petal breaking virus that cause different coloring and actual mutations of the petals that make them seem more like Parrot Feathers- rather than smooth and circular. I also love that Tulips have a mind of their own- this makes arranging them so easy- and so rewarding.Here's another preview of my weekly DIY- How To Arrange Show- Fun with Flowers and J on uBloom- that is dedicated to Fancy Tulips!I love to arrange Tulips- and then watch them move, grow, open, close- and evolve during their time in the vase. I'm so thankful that Flower Experts Like Lane- have figured out a way for us to have Tulips all year long- it was the perfect opportunity for me to dedicate an episode of Life in Bloom to Year-Round Spring with Tulips!