"J Schwanke's Life in Bloom" is brought to you by the following... >> That flower feeling.
♪ At home.
♪ At work.
♪ Or anytime.
♪ CalFlowers is a proud sponsor of "J Schwanke's Life in Bloom," where flowers and wellness go hand in hand.
>> We have fresh in all our stores, from soups and steaks and all things flour to all things flowering.
Custom fresh arrangements designed by our in-store florists at Albertsons Companies.
>> With additional support from the following... Dollar Tree.
♪ >> Stock flowers -- also known as gillyflower -- take center stage in this episode of "Life in Bloom."
We'll visit a farm where they grow, show off all the colors, and conjure a cocktail with a similar spicy scent.
♪ ♪ I'm J Schwanke.
Welcome to "Life in Bloom."
♪ One of the most memorable experiences of my flower life was the day I visited a field of stock flowers in bloom.
Of course, the visual sensation of the rows of flowers, segregated by color, as far as the eye could see was something to behold.
But what what really got me was the cool breezes blowing that magnified the fragrance of the stock fields in bloom.
I was overcome with emotion from the experience.
It's so beautiful.
Truly, that's...
It makes me want to cry, John.
That's one of the prettiest things I've ever seen.
It's hard to get J not to talk.
That's... That's great.
It's so beautiful.
The experience elevated my awareness and appreciation of this amazing flower, and I'm compelled to share more about stock flowers with you today.
♪ Stock is a species of flowering plant in the cabbage family.
The scientific name of stock is Matthiola incana.
Common names include Brompton stock, common stock, hoary stock, ten-week stock, gillyflower, and perfume plant.
Its scent is described as both sweet and spicy, not to mention incredibly pleasant.
Stock is a cool-weather flower that blooms from early spring into summer.
Summer heat stops stock from blooming, as it needs temperatures of 60 degrees Fahrenheit or lower in order to produce blossoms.
The flowers range in color from basic shades of white, pink, lavender and rose, as well as coming in deeper jewel tones of red and purple.
Not only do stock flowers look excellent in a vase, the cut blooms continue to relinquish an amazing fragrance to enjoy indoors.
♪ Stock is one of my favorite flowers, mostly because of the incredible fragrance.
But the other great thing about stock is the tremendous amount of colors that it comes in.
A 10-stem bunch like this is perfect for several types of design projects.
So let's take a look at what you can do with a beautiful bunch of stock.
♪ We'll cut this at a nice 45-degree angle.
The great reason that we want to do that is because when we put it into the vase, it's gonna leave room for the water to travel up inside the stem.
The other thing we want to do is remove any foliage that might fall below the waterline.
So pulling off those extra pieces of foliage is important.
We want to leave some foliage at the top too, because it's the foliage that helps bring the water up the stem and hydrate the flower.
We'll cut that and place it into the water.
Notice that my leaves are well above the waterline and my arrangement is sticking outside of the vase.
Now, with a smaller vase like this, we can add four or five or six stems.
With the six that I have here, that's very striking.
I could actually even add a seventh right in the center, and that's going to fill out the vase perfectly.
The other stems that I have could be used short in a vase like this.
Again, we're gonna pull off the leaves and give it a short cut.
You'll notice that I'm gonna cross this vase with the flower stems.
That way, the stem and the flower help balance the flower into the vase.
Or we could use an entire bunch in a vase like this.
I look for vases like this that have a narrow neck and a wider bottom so that there's plenty of room for water at the bottom, and the flowers splay out naturally.
♪ ♪ Now, that was really easy.
Let's look at a couple more ideas that you can do with a 10-stem bunch of stock.
Our first one is created in foam.
Now, a lot of people get scared when we start to talk about foam.
But this is a great little container.
It already has a piece of foam ready inside.
And there's room around the outside to hold water.
It's the perfect thing for making a quick little arrangement for your table.
First, we soak it, and then we bevel the foam.
So I laid this into a vase of flower-nutrient water and allowed it to soak.
It takes about a minute or so, and then it's ready to go.
Don't hold it underwater.
Just allow it to float-soak naturally.
So in this case, we're gonna cut those stems very short.
And we're gonna go ahead and put those directly into the foam.
So cutting that stem short and then pushing it right down into the foam is going to allow us to create a wonderful little centerpiece.
You'll notice that I'm just gonna go back and forth with the stems, filling in between.
♪ ♪ Now let's take a look at a cube vase.
I wanted to share one more secret with you about working with a vase like this -- and it's clear cellophane tape.
We're using this clear, waterproof tape to go over the top of our vase, and we're creating a gridwork.
♪ ♪ And I'm wrapping the cellophane around the edges to make sure everything stays secure.
So now we have nine separate quadrants.
And then we just add our water.
Now we're ready to add our flowers.
♪ ♪ That trick is really easy, and it ensures professional results every time.
You'll be arranging flowers easily in no time using these great tricks.
♪ Let's visit my flower friend Joe Ortiz Sr. in Santa Paula, California.
Joe and his family have a reputation for growing beautiful stock and many other incredible flowers.
♪ How long have you been growing flowers?
>> 52 years.
>> What do you like best?
Which flower do you like best for growing?
>> The stock.
>> And you grow the stock in Lompoc as opposed to here.
>> I grow in two different places.
I grow in Lompoc, around Santa Paula, and Imperial Valley.
Imperial Valley is close to the Mexicali borderline.
>> The stock goes in as seed, and you keep them about 8 to 10 days apart.
>> Yes, mm-hmm.
>> And so we had one that's just started, and as soon as it starts to break the ground, then you come in and plant the next one.
>> Yes.
Yes.
When I finish my stock crop, we prepare the ground again, and we plant the wheat.
Then we chop them down, disk it under, and plow under.
>> Okay.
>> That is the way to prepare the ground.
So you keep your ground rich all the time.
♪ >> So, and with larkspur you can't plant there again.
>> No, you need to plant on new ground all the time.
You got to find new ground, new ground, new ground.
>> So it's about rotating your crops for the climate that you have at the different time of year.
>> Yes.
This is a bunch.
Ten stems.
>> Right.
>> Okay, the pickers, usually they put the stems -- I mean the Twist-Ems -- back on the pocket, right here.
The pull out one of them, put it right here, and twist it.
>> And spin it?
>> Yeah, twist it, twist it, twist it to tie the bunch.
>> Okay.
>> When they're finished, they put it right here, this way.
They go picking and picking and picking and picking.
And when they finish the row, the come in and -- you see the way over there?
Same way.
>> Stack them on their shoulder.
>> Stack them on their shoulders.
When the bunches, they get up here to the head, they start putting the bunch on top of their head.
>> Okay.
>> See?
>> And you said you limit them to 64 bunches.
>> No, this one is lighter.
>> Oh, this is lighter?
>> This is lighter.
>> So 64 bunches of stock.
>> They can carry 150 bunches, no problem.
>> 150 bunches of this.
No problem.
>> They are not heavy.
>> It's beautiful.
Beautiful larkspur too, though.
>> It is.
>> Yeah.
>> Nice color.
>> That color.
>> Mm-hmm.
>> So, Tony, you are second generation.
>> Yes.
>> What's it like being second generation?
>> Oh, it's different.
[ Chuckles ] >> Okay.
>> Technology has really changed the way we grow flowers versus my dad's old-school ways.
It's helped out a lot.
Keeps quality.
>> It's so clean.
I mean, the amazing thing is how clean everything is, how you take care of stuff.
And your dad said that you do so much stuff by hand.
>> Yes.
>> And that's like your secret.
>> Right.
You kind of have to baby the flowers and care for them in a certain way that you make sure that they come back fuller, greener, thicker.
Again, for the quality.
>> You're always planting.
>> Yes.
>> And so these are being prepped for the next crop.
>> Yes.
>> And you're always taking care of the soil, you're always getting it ready for the next thing.
He shared with us about the wheat and the other things you do to help have the earth be -- to rejuvenate it And you guys are caretakers of the land.
I mean, I think that that's the other thing that we don't understand is -- and we don't see as much.
>> Right.
>> So, now we're specifically in snapdragons.
>> These are my favorite, actually.
>> They are?
Oh, awesome.
>> I love snapdragons.
>> And you plant them -- you plant a section, so this section is coming into color, and then there's one next door that's gonna be in color in like a week or so?
>> Right.
>> And they're staggered every week.
>> Yes.
That way we don't have 20 different houses bloomed up and then we're just flushed with product.
So we have a nice consistent flow of snaps available.
>> Do the colors change?
Do you have them plotted that way so that you're different colors different times of year?
>> Right.
So the oranges will be coming up soon for the fall, whites for Christmas, reds for Valentine's Day.
So they do change with the season.
>> And so my grandpa, his name was "Carnation" Joe Green, but he was always telling stories, and he would go through there.
But the thing that he taught us was how, like, they can talk.
And so we would always get the snapdragons and we'd have them talk.
And then my sisters -- my sisters put them on as earrings.
They could put them on as an earring and do stuff like that.
But that's the other reason I love them is they look like a little talking, you know, snapdragon.
So, in Spanish, what do they call these?
>> They call these  perritos.
>> What does that mean?
>> That means the plant is barking.
So when you squeeze it together like that, it's... >> [ Barking ] Barking.
I like that!
Your dad built all this.
>> Right.
>> Yeah, I mean, he was just cutting flowers for somebody and one day said, "You know what?
I'll just build this whole thing."
>> Seeing his progression from a field worker to the warehouse to a tractor driver to supervisor to the boss is -- it's something to live up to.
>> It's amazing.
And you have so many crops.
You've got Delphinium, you've got green ball dianthus, you've got statice, you got snaps, you got Gypsophila, you've got Limonium.
It just kind of keeps going.
>> Mm-hmm.
Yes.
♪ >> Joe, why do you think flowers are important?
>> Flowers are very important because there's a lot of people that use them on weddings and funerals, and sometimes it's nice to take a bunch of flowers, give it to your wife or your family, to make parties.
I guess that's one of the most important on flowers -- for the people.
♪ ♪ >> The fragrance of stock reminds me of cloves, so that's a great ingredient for us to include in our cocktail.
We'll start by pressing our orange juice.
I love fresh-pressed orange juice.
It really adds another dimension to the cocktail.
We need about 4 to 6 ounces, depending upon the size of your glass.
♪ We'll fill our shaker with ice and also our glass with ice.
♪ We use 2 ounces of vodka.
And then clove bitters.
I'll put in a few drops.
You can include as much clove as you want.
If you want a stronger taste, add more.
We'll add our orange juice, and then we'll shake it up.
♪ We'll pour it over ice.
And you can garnish with an orange wheel if you wish.
The clove screwdriver, a refreshing cocktail, perfect for "Flower Cocktail Hour."
♪ ♪ During my visit to Joseph & Sons, I had the privilege to arrange with their beautiful flowers.
Let's start with this amazing red hanging Amaranthus.
It naturally cascades over the edge of the container.
And I'll highlight it with cherry-red stock flowers.
I'll add vibrant chartreuse green ball dianthus and accent the arrangement with a meadowlike flower -- Bupleurum.
♪ Then it's time for several orange snapdragons, or  perritos.
♪ ♪ ♪ It's a special treat knowing that all of these flowers were grown right here by Joe and his wonderful family.
♪ ♪ Not all of us have the opportunity to travel to California and walk through these amazing fields of stock.
But we can create an arrangement that's reminiscent of that.
It still has the fragrance, it will have the swaths of color, and we can pretend that we're there and bring a little piece of those fields directly into our home.
Let's make an arrangement with these beautiful fragrant flowers.
I've started by placing a layer of soaked flower foam down inside my container.
The foam sets about two inches below the rim of the container.
I'm using flower foam so that I can place the flowers exactly where I want them.
We have three different colors -- yellow, pink, and peach.
We'll place them grouped together because that's the way we would see them in the field.
We'll start with our pink stock blossoms.
We'll place them taller towards the back of the container.
♪ We'll add our peach flowers in a grouping off to the other side.
♪ ♪ Then we'll place our yellow flowers.
Those will be shorter and towards the front.
The yellow's a more dominant color, so keeping it shorter and in front creates a focal area for our arrangement.
♪ ♪ I've reserved three of my peach stock to put on the other side of the pink ones.
This makes it look a little serendipity, but it keeps the flowers grouped together.
♪ ♪ I'll cover up my foam by using fresh moss.
This is sheet moss that you can buy at a craft store or a florist.
I'm placing it in between the stems to cover the soaked flower foam.
♪ I like a green accent, and I want to fill in, in between the stock blossoms.
I'll use foxtail fern.
It's one of my favorites.
I like the apical shape.
It's shaped like a cone or a fox's tail, and it gives a great texture and contrast.
♪ I look at the way that those stems form, too, so I can add ones on the outside and also add the taller ones in between the other flowers.
♪ My final step is spraying an antitranspirant on these stock blossoms.
The flowers are like tissue paper, and that added assurance is gonna make sure they last a long time.
Now we've got a lovely bowl that looks like the stock fields in California.
It's gonna give off great fragrance.
♪ ♪ ♪ By removing the initial bloom from a stock stem, you force multiple smaller blooms to emerge, creating what is known as spray stock.
It's ideal for flower arranging.
Stem of spray stock has great value, and a few stems easily create a dynamic arrangement.
I've used curly willow for structure in vases, and then I slip the spray stock in between.
♪ ♪ Large chrysanthemums in coordinating colors help create a focal area and a textural contrast to the delicate stock blossoms.
♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Low and lush or tall and tapering, the colors of these flowers combine for a perfect pairing.
I hope you've enjoyed this episode focused on the flower known as stock.
And I hope you will seek it out to experience its sweet and spicy fragrance to enjoy arranging in your home.
For "Life in Bloom," I'm J Schwanke.
>>  Por favor.
>>  Por favor.
Oh, I do know  por favor,  yeah.
[ Laughs ] >> And then they tell you exactly where.
Tengo chile rellenos.
>> Okay, I got... >>  Tengo carnitas.
You know what means  carnitas?
>> I know  carnitas,  yeah.
>> Okay.
Tengo... >> So then I would choose one.
>> Yeah, choose one.
Tengo pescado.
>> Okay.
Carnitas.
>>  Carnitas.
You say,  "Carnitas.
Yo quiero carnitas."
Then she's gonna bring you a plate of  carnitas con tortillas,  chiles.
And you want to ask for beer, she's gonna bring you a beer.
>>  Cerveza.
>>  Cerveza.
[ Laughter ] >> I'm learning!
I want to take you along with me, Joe.
>> Let's go.
Let's go.
Right now.
>> [ Laughs ] >> "J Schwanke's Life in Bloom" is filmed in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
>> Visit J's website, ubloom.com, for flower projects and crafts, complete recipes, behind-the-scenes videos, J's blog, flower cocktails, and more.
♪ "J Schwanke's Life in Bloom" is brought to you by the following... >> That flower feeling.
♪ At home.
♪ At work.
♪ Or anytime.
♪ CalFlowers is a proud sponsor of "J Schwanke's Life in Bloom," where flowers and wellness go hand in hand.
>> We have fresh in all our stores, from soups and steaks and all things flour to all things flowering.
Custom fresh arrangements designed by our in-store florists at Albertsons Companies.
>> With additional support from the following... Dollar Tree.
♪ Closed-caption funding provided by Holland America Flowers.
♪ ♪