Month: August 2021

So here we are, the last Sunday of August, and by my calculations, weather permitting, we have six more weeks of flower shed days. OMG, where has the flower time gone? It seems as though I was only just stating with tulips back in May but here we are, or here I am counting down the number of weeks left. That is good because I am about ready for a break, and that is bad because I just love my flowers and seeing you all.

But just because there is just six more weeks left, there is no need for panic. Your flower cards are good for two years. If you bought a flower card this year you are golden, if your card is from last year, 2020 and you have a balance left, you might just want to stop in and get some flowers because time is fleeting.

On to the exciting flowers though. There are still a lot of exciting and beautiful flowers to be had. The zinnias, annual asters, sunflowers, rudbeckia are all still going strong. They are growing faster and flowering faster than I can almost keep up with.

The glads and the beautiful fragrant peacock lily are trickling in as well. The perennial asters and soon the hardy chrysanthemums will be coming into flower, as well as the perennial grasses to fill out your flower selections.

I am starting the seeding of the spring hardy annuals this coming week, I have ordered 500 ranunculas, 100 anemones and 50 freesias to add to my early spring offerings, so fingers crossed, there will be plenty of flowers from mid April until mid October next year. I have been fretting about the tulips that will be arriving mid December that will need growing on so they will be available to you by early March. Our builder swears the garage will be finished by then which includes the bulb cooler and flower cooler. I am not as confident, but have come up with a solution, I hope. We will just build the bulb cooler in the corner of the finished basement and wing it with a hope and a prayer, and a good extension cord. Or a lot of prayers. Argh. Friggin’ building inspector.

Enough of that worry. I thought I would add a photo that Steve took on Friday of the “Flowers at Lottarock” so we could all see just how cool it all looks. I have to say, I am pretty damn proud of it. I only wish I was younger so I could really see my dreams from 30 years ago through, but hey, I think I am doing pretty stinking good, and I am my own worst critic.

I hope to see you all soon. I can not tell you how much I appreciate all you support and all your good vibes. Makes all those not so good gardening days worthwhile.

Till next time, Allie

Here I am on the screen porch writing this, hoping for the best outcome with tropical storm Henri. I am not worried about the structures, but I am worried about the strength of the stems with the wind if the wind speeds pick up to what they are supposed to do, 40mph+. So far, knock on wood, this isn’t any worse than many of the storms we have had this summer, but it is early yet, and the flowers are larger and the sunflowers will not like the heavy winds at all. All I can do is wait out the storm and see what happens. I have harvested all I can at the moment.

So besides Henri, you might ask what else is happen at the farm? I am harvesting flowers like a mad woman. The asters are blooming like crazy, singles, doubles, spiders, whites, purples, pinks oh my!

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The asters are only a smattering of the flower sheds offerings here at Lottarock. I have sunflowers, rudbeckia, zinnias, celosia, cosmos, monarda and so much more. Just look at what is in the cooler at the moment waiting for you all to stop by and get flowers.

I have ordered and received seeds for fall planting which I need to start now. ASAP if I hope to get them established enough and in the ground before I lose my overwintering planting window. Never enough time. I am trying to find flowers that will bridge the gap from tulips to peonies and then the next gap from peonies to the summer annuals. It is said that it can be done with the facilities I have, so what really do I have to lose right? I just need to get the lead out and do it.

At the moment I have two concrete walls for by bulb/flower cooler. I told Paul, our builder, I must have two more walls, a ceiling, a door and electricity by Thanksgiving or I am going to be on the hunt to find homes for 60 full bulb crates. He tells me “no problem Allie”. We will see Paul, we will see.

I leave you with photos of the flower garden, taken in the rain mind you, of what they looked like at the beginning of tropical storm Henri. Hopefully at the end, they will be looking the same.

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Until next time my flower friends. Allie

What an August this is turning our to be. Wow. Flowers are coming out of my ears! In other words, the flowers are producing like crazy. Almost all of what I have planted are blooming now, and I am just gob smacked by their beauty. Lisianthus, snapdragons, cosmos, zinnias, monarda, asters, rudbeckia and sunflowers…OMG. Did I add that the dahlias are starting as well? Almost too much for the senses to take in, trippin colors man. Oh to be a flower farmer with lots of flowers and flower people that just love flowers.

All you wonderful flower people that come to get flowers on Fridays know that as soon as the flower shed closes, well not as soon as I would like because there is still lots of work to do, but as soon as I can I hop in the car with my “go cup” of flowers to go to the lake for the weekend to decompress. To my bliss. So every Friday, my flowers and I go on a trip to the lake. And here we are Sunday, with Friday’s flowers at the lake.

Flowers just don’t have to stay home with you, they can travel with you as well. It is embarrassing to say but we were at a wedding two weeks back and yes, I took flowers with me to grace our room for the weekend. In a “to go cup”. Isn’t that the reason that DD and McDonalds make go cups to transport flowers to where you need to be? Works for me. and if you don’t know, I have a collection of “go cups” on hand to get your flowers from point A to wherever point B might be.

To all my flower people. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your support and for your love of flowers.

Here it is August. The rain seems to eased for a few days and the sunshine is making headway and the flowers are going gang busters because they have had more than adequate water and now sunshine. Buckets and buckets are being harvested every other day.

The sunflowers are starting in, and I have planted a really cool variety or two, They certainly aren’t your usual sunflower but they are interesting, and I will certainly grow variety if nothing else.

The other flowers that are starting to come in are the asters. So far the purples and pink singles, but others will soon start coming in in force. I should also start having a few dahlias rocking in soon. On Friday I had some that were just starting to show color. I can hardly wait to have some of their beautiful blooms to offer.

Despite the days getting shorter, the flower availability is still going strong. So strong in fact that Summerhill was gifted two buckets of flowers for the residents to make their own bouquets. Flowers make smiles and heaven knows that assisted living and long term care residents can use smiles.

As usual, I look forward to seeing many of you this week, and to you flower lovers that I don’t get to see, I miss you.

Till next week. Allie

Here we are. August. What happened to May, June and July? May and June were dry, dry, dry, and July was the wettest on record, and tonight, being the First of August, I will have to irrigate for the first time in a month. Even though showers and flash flooding are in the forecast, the plants are looking dry, so I will turn on the irrigation if only for half of the normal time.

The gardens are just growing by leaps and bounds. The zinnias are going full tilt, the cosmos are not far behind, the lisianthus are still coming in strong and I have the most unusual collection of fillers. I am loving the grasses because the add movement to the flowers and like a garden, a bouquet should have ‘movement’ in my humble opinion. I am growing at least three different types of annual grasses, brizia, green drops and feather top which is just starting to set seed heads, Then I have bubble grass, or bubble something that is a linum, but the flowers seed pods become like little bubbles. I have to read up on it to see when it should be harvested, but it looks as though it will be really cool as well.

The first batch of sunflowers are stating to be harvested, they are way cool as well and will add lots of interest to your vase, and mix them with some rudbeckia and grasses and viola’ a summer bouquet.

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I am off to see if the irrigation is working, so until next week, Allie