LOMPOC

Population. 44,200 Elev. 88' Info: (805) 736-4567

Valley of the Flowers or Lompoc Valley is 9 miles from the Pacific Ocean along scenic Pacific Coast Highway 1 and Highway 246."Lompoc" (pronounced lom-poke) is a Chumash Indian word meaning lake or lagoon and was named by the region's early settlers whose history dates back 10,000 years.

According to our local friend who is a member of the Lompoc Mural Society, Lompoc was the mustard capitol of the world in the 1920's. The mustard was cut and sent to France where it was turned into many varieties of edible mustards. Today, the hills on the edge of town are still covered in mustard in spring time.

In the 1930's, Lompoc was the apple capitol but flowers gained control of the valley and have reigned supreme for over 50 years. Grown primarily for their seeds, the flowers are colorful and fragrant and are celebrated in annual festival in which the city heralds their arrival with a parade and flower, covered floats, a chili cookoff, a carnival and concerts. The event is one of the city's most popular and is held at the Ryon Park.

The flowers are grown for seed to be sold in markets and catalogs throughout the world. Busy harvesting the crops, the workers retrieve plants by their roots, gather bundles of same colored plants and line up at a table where one person stands and cuts the roots off. The cutter tool looks like a paper cutter only it has a larger, sharper handle. The flowers are then placed in buckets or into open air flower carts in trucks. Once filled, the trucks drive off to a processing area.

While flowers are seasonal, murals are something you can see all year long. Lompoc has long been known for its colorful and historical murals painted on buildings around the city. The murals are increasing in quantity and are becoming a year round attraction, thanks to the efforts of a local group called the Lompoc Mural Society. See several at the links below, or better still, visit the city and see them in person. Some are educational, some are whimsical and all are certain to delight even the most discriminating artist.

(Article located on the Internet at http://www.beachcalifornia.com/flowers.html)