>> "J Schwanke's Life in Bloom"

is brought to you by...

Albertsons Companies...

with additional support from the

following...

CalFlowers...

Dollar Tree...

Sunshine Bouquet.

♪

♪

>> Fields of flowers are the

focus of today's

"Life in Bloom" --

from the spectacular,

world-famous fields in

California to smaller fields to

grow in your own garden,

to hang on the wall,

even on a field of flatbread.

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I'm J Schwanke.

Welcome to "Life in Bloom."

Who hasn't dreamt of roaming

through fields of flowers as far

as the eye can see?

Hundreds of thousands of people

have visited the

Carlsbad Flower Fields in

California to live out that

particular dream.

And we'll take you there in this

episode.

But we'll also take a look at

ways to create our own fields of

flowers -- literally and

figuratively.

Why limit the imagination?

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Together, let's cultivate our

own field of flower dreams, on

today's "Life in Bloom."

♪

How large are the flower fields?

>> We farm approximately 40 to

45 acres here in the flower

fields.

We're a little limited because

obviously development has come

in and kind of crept up on all

sides.

Fortunately, this land is

protected.

The city of Carlsbad, through

the landowner, us, the growers,

and the city of Carlsbad, this

is protected to continue to be

the Flower Fields.

So, we're very fortunate to have

this location here.

>> How many stems of flowers are

we looking at?

>> You know, I couldn't even

answer that question.

We pick about 5 million stems

because we produce about

500,000 bunches out of these

flower fields.

We don't even touch 10% of what

is here in the fields.

So, to calculate what's actually

out here, in terms of stems of

flowers, your guess is as good

as mine.

♪

So, what we're looking at today

is probably a hundred years in

the making.

In the early '20s, a man by the

name of Luther Gage moved to

Carlsbad, and he was a traveler.

He loved plants.

He loved flowers.

And in his travels through Asia,

through Europe, he had become

familiar with the ranunculus and

got some seeds.

So, he came here to Carlsbad and

planted the seeds and fell in

love with his ranunculus crop.

His next-door neighbor was a

vegetable grower, and they were

the Frazee family.

And the Frazee family had a

young son, a teenage son, named

Edwin, and Edwin loved these

ranunculus crops that his

neighbor, Mr. Gage, was growing.

And so, he would go over, and

Mr. Gage would teach him about

selecting seed and growing the

ranunculus.

Edwin had to drop out of school

and take over his father's farm

after a while, and ranunculus

became his signature crop.

The ranunculus didn't look back

then as they do now.

And, really, what the ranunculus

looked a little bit more like

was more like a poppy, and you

can kind of see in this flower.

This doesn't really look like

the ranunculus we're used to

coming out of this field.

There's less petals, kind of

more of that poppy look.

So, over the years, what

Mr. Frazee would do is he would

basically select a nice flower

and grab seeds from there.

And little by little, he would

find fuller flowers.

Mother Nature would provide to

him maybe a flower with an extra

layer of petals.

And so, over the years, through

this sort of selection, he

produced a much fuller

ranunculus.

So, the other thing that

Mr. Frazee had to work with was

less color.

There were just some shades of

red, some shades of yellow, and

some shades of white.

Again, through selection, he

created color.

So, a lot of the colors that

you're seeing today was thanks

to selections that he made.

So, you're really seeing many,

many, many years in the making.

What's different about these

fields than most flower farmers

is you get to see the color, and

that's because most flower

growers are growing the crop for

a cut flower.

Our ranunculus fields are a

little different.

Our crop are the bulbs.

And so, what we're doing is

we're planting these fields from

seeds.

We're letting the flowers bloom.

They're dying back, and we're

digging up the bulbs.

Most flower growers would cut a

flower before it's really open

because it has to go through the

process of the cold chain to the

wholesaler to the retailer into

the client's home.

Here, we're not so worried about

that.

It's the bulb that is the crop.

♪

>> Why do you think the flower

fields are so popular?

>> People love coming to be part

of it.

And here, part of the community,

people just get to come, walk

around, and enjoy it, whether

it's a bunch of schoolkids

learning about it.

We have a ton of neighbors here

in the community that come daily

and do their power walking, and

it's a beautiful thing.

Not very many people get to see

fields of flowers like this,

especially in southern

California.

You kind of picture that being

in Amsterdam or being, you know,

so far away.

And here we get to have it right

in our very own backyard.

♪

♪

>> Who could resist arranging

with ranunculus after a visit to

those fantastic fields?

I had just the opportunity

inside the

Los Angeles Flower Market.

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How about a flower field inside

a glass?

This cocktail's ingredients

include elderflower, lavender,

and rose.

We'll start this cocktail with a

shaker filled with ice.

We'll add 2 ounces of

lavender-infused vodka.

Then, we'll add 2 ounces of

elderflower liqueur.

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We use an ounce of rose

simple syrup...

and half of a freshly squeezed

lemon.

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We'll shake this and then pour

it into a glass with

flower-filled ice cubes.

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We'll finish it with tonic

water.

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It's aromatic, slightly sweet,

and refreshing.

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Here's a fun project using

vintage flower pins, or more

formally called "brooches."

I found a deal on this

collection online, but maybe you

have your own collection,

or perhaps you know someone who

is looking to rehome a

collection.

There are pins on the back of

all the brooches.

So, what I did was I used a

wire cutters and cut off those

pins so that the pins would lay

flat.

♪

Then I laid them out on the

background to see exactly where

I wanted them to go.

I'm using a shadow-box frame

because of the dimension of the

pins.

I painted the background so that

it would match my ribbon.

Then I started at the top,

gluing the individual flower

pins into place.

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I have this wonderful plastic

rhinestone ribbon, and I split

it so that I had single,

individual strands.

It's gluable, and it's plastic,

and it's never gonna tarnish.

So, it's great for this process.

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The process takes a little bit

of time, but it's just like

flower arranging.

It can be very relaxing, and

it's fun to craft with flowers.

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I also found some butterfly

pins, and this beautiful bee pin

was a gift from a friend just

for this project.

I'm using a low-temp glue gun

because I don't want to burn my

fingers.

But, also, it makes some webs,

and I try and take some of those

webs off with a bamboo skewer as

I'm working along.

I'll remove as much as I can,

but then I'll go back in with my

heat gun.

A blow dryer works great, too,

set on high.

The heat melts down those glue

webs, and they completely

disappear.

It's a great trick for getting

rid of glue webs when you're

crafting.

This is a beautiful dupioni silk

ribbon, and I'm just gonna make

two loops and glue it where the

streamers come together.

Then we slip it into our frame,

and we have a wonderful keepsake

for years to come.

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Sometimes, we can bring the

field of flowers to our table,

with an arrangement.

The container we're using today

is a wedding basket, and it was

sent to me by a friend.

She apologized because most of

the silver plate had worn off.

But what I did was grab some

gold paint and painted over it,

and I have a brand-new container

that's repurposed.

It's a simple way to repurpose

and recycle a container.

So, for our arrangement today,

we're gonna use different types

of flowers, and when I think

about fields of flowers, I think

about the greenhouses that were

outside our home.

And those greenhouses had roses

and carnations and

chrysanthemums that grew inside

them.

We had fields where we grew

hydrangeas and other types of

field flowers that we could use

in arrangements.

So, this arrangement is inspired

by those fields of flowers.

We're gonna make it in

flower foam.

So, I've soaked a piece of

flower foam.

And I'm gonna bevel the edge.

I always do that, because

beveling the edge makes it

easier for us to insert flowers

all the way around.

It's a lot easier with those

smooth surfaces than trying to

go into a hard, fast right-angle

corner.

We're also gonna use some

ninebark.

This is from my local field of

flowers, right out in the

backyard.

And it'll be a wonderful foliage

to go with these other flowers.

♪

I grew up in a house next to our

family's greenhouses.

That meant I could run through

the flowers every single day.

We also had lots of land, about

seven acres.

And everywhere you looked, there

were flowers.

Even in the winter, I had the

luxury of the hidden meadows

inside the greenhouses.

In the summer, the back lot,

which you couldn't see from the

street, was filled with flowers,

too.

So, this bouquet reveals the

memories of those secret flower

fields around my house.

♪

Many of the flowers I'm using

today, like the alstroemeria

or the chrysanthemums or the

mini carnations, have long

laterals.

What that means is, each

individual flower has its own

stem.

So, cutting those apart allows

me to place them individually.

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In this arrangement, I was able

to group the specific flower

types together.

That way, when you're looking

over the arrangement, it's like

you're viewing a field of

flowers with different

plantings.

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Today, I'll show you how to use

flatbread as a canvas to create

your own field of flowers.

So, I did my flatbread the easy

way.

I used a packaged mix, and I got

it all laid out in my pan.

And now we simply need to

decorate with our vegetables.

We'll use chive as stems and

grasses.

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We'll use scallions as fatter

leaves.

♪

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And we can even place a whole

scallion on as a stem for one of

our flowers.

We can use a whole onion to

create a rosette shape.

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We can use a pepper

as a flower.

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We can use a black olive as the

center of our flower.

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Put some mushrooms growing along

the bottom.

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Then we can take our tomato.

We're gonna make a ribbon by

peeling it.

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We can take our ribbon...

and we'll coil it into a

rosette.

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You can also use little

tomatoes, then split them in

half...

and put an olive in the center

as a bud that's just starting to

open.

We can also make pebbles out of

our peppers.

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Use olives to make a little

black-eyed Susan.

♪

We can also use fresh stems of

basil and add them right into

our field of flowers.

You might clean up your

vegetables more, but all of this

is organic produce.

So, I left the skin on the

outside of my onions and the

roots on the bottom of my

scallions.

That's fiber, and it's all

edible because everything's

organic.

So, now we're ready to go into

the oven and bake it for 35 to

40 minutes.

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I love how everything got more

texture and dimension as we

baked it.

It's a wonderful way to turn

your flatbread into a

field of flowers.

♪

Almost anyone I meet is

transfixed with the idea that I

must have these incredible

gardens at my home.

While I've curated some pretty

incredible plants and flowers

for my gardens, the gardens

themselves might not live up to

those dreams.

Here's why.

I'm constantly cutting the

blooms and greens to create

beautiful arrangements to enjoy

inside my home.

That being said, here are some

of my favorite flowers and

plants for a cutting garden.

I live tiger lilies, and these

little guys are getting ready to

bloom real soon.

Tiger lilies is the lily that my

grandmother was named after.

She was definitely a tiger.

These are great additions to

your flower arrangements,

whether it's a tiger lily or

an Asiatic lily or an

Oriental lily.

Any of the lilies work great for

flower arranging.

♪

Lilac -- nothing compares to the

scent of fresh lilacs.

And remember to leave the leaves

on the stem when cutting.

The leaves aid in hydration.

This means the leaves help

create photosynthesis that

stimulates water uptake to the

flower.

Leave the leaves when it comes

to lilac.

Hydrangea -- everyone loves

hydrangea.

Whether pink, blue, lavender, or

white, these big, voluptuous

flowers help fill a bouquet with

color and texture.

Yarrow -- a hardy late-summer

bloomer.

These golden flowers can be

dried and used for both fresh

and preserved bouquets.

Peonies are a great addition to

a cutting garden, and I do

different types of peonies.

I have tree peonies.

I have single blooms.

And I also have the doubles.

But I love that there's a

gradation in open blooms.

Tree peonies come first.

Singles are next.

And then I have these larger

ones.

Peonies are a perfect option for

a cutting garden.

Zinnia.

Zinnias are pollinator magnets.

And there's a seemingly unending

range of colors, shapes, and

sizes.

They're easy to grow, and here's

a secret.

The more flowers you cut, the

more the plant makes.

Dahlia.

These mesmerizing blooms come in

small to extra large, called

"dinner-plate dahlias."

Cut early in the morning, this

is another plant that will make

more flowers after you harvest.

Iris.

Bearded iris, swamp iris, mini

or maxi, many varieties bloom

several times, and the unique

and interesting colors include

peach, brown, black, and

variegated.

Allium.

Many say it's a Dr. Seuss flower

because of the perfect ball of

blooms atop a single, slender

stem.

Allium add a fantastical flair

to your cutting garden.

Dianthus, or carnations, one of

my favorite flowers.

A cutting garden isn't complete

without a few carnations.

Long-lasting and fragrant,

they're a classic.

The joy I've acquired by

planting flowers and plants

suitable for cutting and

arranging is incredible.

And I hope that you'll

experiment with your own garden

and carve out a space for a

cutting area so you can

experience the joy of arranging

flowers from your very own

garden.

♪

I hope you've enjoyed our visit

to the Flower Fields and that

you're inspired to create your

own version to enjoy whether in

flowers, artwork, food, or

beverages.

For "Life in Bloom," I'm

J Schwanke.

>> Mr. Frazee told a lot of

stories about how neighbors in

this area would come and walk

the fields, and he didn't really

care because, again, the crop

was just growing and dying back.

Unfortunately, as usually

happens in situations like that,

too many of the neighbors

started coming and taking

advantage of the field, picking

flowers, and so, he would tell

some really great stories of

while he was in his fields

working, his wife would sit off

in her little beach chair and

read her book or take care of

bills.

And if there just got to be too

many people coming and taking

advantage, she would just turn

the sprinklers on.

So, that was their old way of

security, of keeping people out.

♪

♪

>> "J Schwanke's Life in Bloom"

is filmed in Grand Rapids,

Michigan.

>> "J Schwanke's Life in Bloom"

is brought to you by...

Albertsons Companies...

with additional support from the

following...

CalFlowers...

Dollar Tree...

Sunshine Bouquet.

♪

Closed-caption funding provided

by Holland America Flowers.

♪

For everything flowers, recipes,

projects, and more information,

visit ubloom.com.

♪