Final Harvest

Another phenomenon that occurs in late summer is the bulb's natural response to the shorter days and cooler nights. In a short period (two to three weeks) the natural production of plant carbohydrates swings direction. From promoting foliage growth the subtle trigger of nature causes all carbohydrate  output to go back down into the bulb. Part of the "art" of farming is watching for this period and timing a harvest to take place just after this swing has finished. In the space of a 7-day period it is possible to see as much as a 1" expansion in the circumference of a bulb. That ultimately makes all the difference in final plant size and floral production.

The last journey the bulb makes is to the packing shed. In the field,  farmers are careful to choose the largest and most robust of bulbs. Bulbs that produce premature growth tips or bulbs judged to be inferior are eliminated. In the three years prior to harvest the bulbs are "rogued" which means that inferior bulbs are culled along the way.

Packing is the lily bulb growers' last goodbye to the product he's nurtured for the previous three years. And there are many hands necessary in that final goodbye. In the field, workers handpick the largest and most promising bulbs, now called "Commercials." In the packinghouse many hands clean, sort and hand pack cases of Easter Lily bulbs. Ranging  in circumference from 7" to over 10" these softball size pearly orbs are  carefully layered in between beds of moistened peat moss, about 125 bulbs to a box.

In another small twist, the boxes aren't true rectangles but built with shaped sides and extra spacers on the lids and bottoms to allow for good heat dissipation. These bulb boxes are built to anticipate where many of these bulbs are going next: cold storage. When cases of bulbs are stacked on a pallet, their angular design allows for air circulation. A final irony is that if left to its  own devices in a rectangular box at room temperature, the box will heat up on its own due to the energy stored in a bulb.

So what happens next? Bulbs by the caseload are trucked to various regions of the U.S. and Canada where they either remain briefly in cold storage to simulate a false winter (cold storage is necessary to trigger the next growth cycle) or arrive via refrigerated truck to a grower who  then immediately pots the bulb and begins the forced cycle of growth in time for  Easter.

On Easter Sunday your Easter Lily has truly risen again to provide a  profound and beautiful reminder of this most sacred Season.