Month: June 2022

Welcome summer! With spring’s chilly exit last weekend the summer temperatures are here, and that means goodbye to the spring flowers, the tulips, anemone and ranunculus. Hello Icelandic poppies, corncockle, clarkia, bachelor buttons and many perennials. Soon they will be gone and the summer annuals will be here. What makes flower farming so interesting is that every week there is something different in the offerings, and sometimes a special floral treat. It can be a couple of stems of delphinium, a stem or two of the stately foxtail lily, bundles of lavender. One just never knows.

The lovely, dainty sweet peas are here. Yes, the ones I wasn’t going to grow. They will be offered in bundles mixed with other dainty flowers to round out the bouquet. Yes, I know that they are short lived in the vase, maybe 4 days, but honestly, how can one pass up on the beauty and the perfume? Makes me swoon. This is when you get to use all the little vases you were wondering why you were keeping. It is for the sweet peas.

I still have peonies to offer. I only recut and condition what I think I can sell on open flower shed days. I don’t want to say that I am parsimonious with them, but I don’t want their beauty to go to waste. I should have them to offer until mid July and they should last in your vase for at least five days.

More sunflowers are being planted for another week or two yet and the dahlias have all emerged and some have even had their first pinch. Ranunculus corms are being dug up, washed and dried to be stored for next early spring planting, and that includes the anemones as well. Crates are being emptied and on the next wicked hot couple of days they will all be disinfected for the next batch of tulips in October and so on and so forth. Everything is looking good I think and I am staying our of mischief. Well except I am going deep down the peony selection hole. I think I can fit another 12 plants in….then thinking about adding bearded iris to the mix to round out the offerings. I know, Call me crazy.

I leave you with these images to see what the possibilities are. I think it is worse than a candy shop.

As you can see, lots of very cool flowers to be had.

So until next week, may you dream of the floral bouquets that you can create. Allie

On Tuesday it will be the summer solstice and summer will have officially arrived, and I can almost say, almost, say that the summer flowers aren’t far behind. Hard to believe that soon we will be halfway through the year, and flowers will still be available until October 15th. Well that really depends on Mother Nature, and seeing that I am rugged up in a heavy wool jumper who knows what she will have in store for us. But, wait until you see what I have in store for you this week coming. Have I got some beauties.

The peonies are almost done being harvested but have no fear, I have them all stored safely in the cooler so before each flower shed day I will have new ones available that will be recut and conditioned for you. So here is the question. Are you ready? Is it crazy for me to want to plant more peonies? I have the space. I feel as though I need more varieties, not that the ones I have are boring by any stretch, but I would like to mix it up some more. Am I crazy? What do you all think? If I get more this fall, I won’t be able to really harvest from them for 2 years and I will be…don’t go there Kerwin. It’s flowers. How can I say no to flowers? I am thinking about adding iris this fall as well. Not tons, just a few varieties, just to add more floral interest for you all.

All the dahlias are planted and all but a few are sprouted so those rows the irrigation is now on. The two flats of sunflowers that I was hardening off before planting the chimpmunks enjoyed, so only about half of those were planted out today. More will go in by the end of this week, then one or two more sunflower sowings and everything will be planted. Now is time to start seeding next years perennials and bi-annuals so they will be ready for next year. More foxglove, astrantia, campanula, geum. Hmmmm, I might be running out of space soon…

I am changing the open flower shed hours. Tuesdays will now be from 2-6 and Fridays will stay the same at 9-2. I think that this will be easier for everyone to remember, including me. I was having the hardest time with Tuesdays hours in my mind. I hope that this change will make it easier for you to come and visit, and for me to remember. I am generally here anyway so why not?

As always, I look forward to seeing you. I miss you when you don’t come to visit. It’s a floral social fix for me as well…sounds corny, but true. Your enthusiasm for what I do makes it so much more. In so many ways.

So. Until next week. Allie

So here we are at nearly mid June. Where has the time gone? I have been selling flowers now for five amazing months and although the flower journey is only about half way through, I keep getting the question, for how long will I have flowers? And the plan is until the killing freeze sometime in October so don’t wish my floral life away. I will have plenty of flowers for plenty of time yet.

The peonies are still happening, and I have harvested plenty that are in the cooler waiting for you. I have some that are still tight buds so….I would say peonies will be available for a few weeks yet. Meanwhile, the ranunculus that I planted directly in the high tunnel are going really well. The ones that got us until now that I had planted in the crates are done for the season, but the ones in the high tunnel are looking really, really good. On the other hand, the anemones that had been doing so well have decided that they have had enough for the season. I might get a few more stems, but it is time for them to take a rest until next spring. But, that is the beauty of flower growing locally. There is truly a flower season to understand and enjoy. Yes, I can get the flowers to come in a bit earlier by using a tunnel, and yes, I can hold them a bit longer with the cooler, but the flowers and the weather really dictate what happens on the flower farm as far as availability, and that is what makes it exciting.

Speaking of exciting, look at what i found this morning as I was checking how the irrigation was working.

The first sweet pea of the season! What a surprise that was. That was like walking into the barn one morning and finding twin baby goats!

So what do I have on offer this week coming. Peonies for sure, orlaya, stock, the best I have ever grown by the way. I don’t have much stock but I will make sure I will next year for sure. Icelandic poppies, ranunculus, and I will just have to wait and see what else happens.

The gardens are almost all planted now. I have a few gaps to fill, another sowing of sunflowers to be seeded and some just about ready to be planted out along with the last sowing of cosmos. The dahlias are starting to emerge….and I am still as busy as ever.

As always, I look forward to seeing you all, you certainly make all this worthwhile. Your joy with my flowers makes this so worthwhile.

If you haven’t sent a “hi” return email back to me so I know that you are receiving these blogs and you are on the mailing list please do so. Many of you have email me back and that is great but I haven’t heard form many of you so I am just hoping that this isn’t going into your spam box. Returning just a ‘hi ‘shows the email server that you want these missives and not to put me in the spam or promotions folder.

So. Until next week. Think flowers. Allie

Here we are already in June. Am I excited? Am I overwhelmed? Am I exhausted? Yes, to all of the above. The good news is that now that June is here, just about everything is in the ground. I have another sowing of the late blooming cosmos to seed yet, and a few more sowings of sunflowers to do, but the main push, to get all of the summer annuals in the ground is complete as well as getting all the dahlias planted. Now, I have no idea how many I planted, just a lot. But really who can say no to purchasing dahlia tubers in the winter months of January when one so wants their vibrant and intense color of summer. Shopping cart full. Guilty.

Jager has been hard at work trying to get the destructive rodents. He has been working so hard he has rubbed off his eyebrows and now has big scars. Silly dog. Gotta love him though, but to be honest, clawless Mikey is a far better hunter. Thank you Joyce.

The peonies are slowly trickling in. I should be able to harvest a lot this week with the warmer temperatures. A couple shot open this weekend while we were at the lake so they will just add beauty and color to the gardens. I can even view some while I am typing this. They are so beautiful. If I harvest them at the correct stage, I can hold them for weeks so you all will have an extended peony season, versus what you would normally get if you were to pick them out of your garden. Yay for my amazing flower cooler!

One of the best things about being a small flower grower is that I can grow some of the really unusual things that might not be seen at a regular flower shop or even a farmers market. The Fox Tail lilies are sending up their shoots and I have even one showing color. These are perfect as one stem in a wine bottle, they are that stunning, so you need to keep stopping by. The campanula I started by seed this spring are showing some beautiful buds, the shrubs and vines are making very interesting filler, and I am having a blast making bouquets. I can be creative and I am loving that. That being said, I will have bouquets available on open flower shed days and you will still be able to buy by the stem so you can create your own masterpiece.

Any yes, I still have tulips and they are still on sale. They are still looking absolutely stunning, and will have beautiful bouquets with the oncoming peonies and the other flowers that are rocking in.

What else do I have to say? Hmmm, not much, but hope to see you all at the flower shed soon.

Oh yeah, and if you can, could you just send me a simple “Hi” return so I know that you have received this. Some of the blogs and newsletters are going into the spam boxes, and just saying Hi back to me lets me know that you are good to go. Many thanks.

Until next week. Allie