Month: July 2023

After weeks of extreme heat and humidity and rain we have today which is just about perfect. Clear blue sky, cool temps and a brisk breeze to keep the bugs at bay. And July still for one more day. Is this what August has in store for us? We will have to wait and see what Huey, the weather god brings us, but as we know, be prepared for anything.

We are truly in the thick of summer flowers now, zinnias, celosia, marigolds, rudbeckia, all the famous “dirty flowers”. Remember to change your flowers water daily if you can so the water doesn’t go skanky, and if you can’t remember to do it, add a drop or two of bleach into the water to act as a bactericide to keep your stems lovely. Shame on me on Friday with my flowers because this morning the water was peeyou. I changed the water, recut the stems, rinsed the stems, removed yucky stems and am enjoying the flowers again. It is also really good, in fact critical that your vases are clean. Don’t laugh but I wash my flower buckets and vases with a round toilet brush. It does a great job of cleaning the vases. If you are using an opaque vase, like this one,

remember to check the water levels as well. This is last Thursday’s #windowframethursday and when I looked at it this evening it was droopy. No water in the vase. Oops.

Your flowers are being harvested on Mondays and Thursdays so you have the freshest flowers when you come to the flower shed. They are cut first up in the morning before the sun hits the gardens, put immediately in water in the shade. Then after all is collected, into my cave we go where they are stripped of foliage, graded, put in fresh water and put into the cooler. I don’t think the summer flowers last quite as long as the winter and spring flowers and am happy if I get five days out of a bouquet as long as I do the proper steps, like changing the water daily.

The dahlias are coming, slowly. I have pinched them hard to slow them down, but I am ready for some wild color so harvesting flower stems when they happen is starting. Yay! The asters are showing buds, the fillers like the basils, scented geraniums and mountain mint are rocking on to give each bouquet a zing and the celosia, holy moly, do I have celosia. It has reseeded everywhere. I am not complaining mind you, but wow. Oh well. I can always dry it.

Speaking of drying, now that the humidity has vacated for the week, I have a bunch of peonies that have been in storage and other flowers that I am going to start drying for late fall and winter happenings. That is something to stay tuned for. Trust me.

So, this is a VERY COOL project that I am doing with my friend BJ. We are taking flowers, and pounding them onto fabric that has been mordanted. A very good upper arm workout, believe me.

I mean how cool is this. We are still in the trial phase, but I have plans. Oh BJ, are you reading this? I have plans and you are involved. As usual, I might add.

So I leave you with this, even though it is 90 degrees out, raining, snowing or tornado warnings I have flowers on open flower shed days. I have flowers by the single stem, by the bouquet and by the bucket. Yup. I have flowers. And to prove it, here I am in all my flower growing glory.

Or not.

Hope to see many of you soon, and until next week. Allie

Wow! We have had the sun out now for four days in a row! And not just a weak overcast sun, or a sun covered by smoke, but real sun. Let the watering commence. Although showers and storms are predicted for much of this week, that is OK. I have seen the sun.

The seasons are changing once again. I have been busy pulling out the cool flowers which included the bachelor buttons, the agrostema, most of the larkspur, bells of Ireland, and the clarkias. I have stopped watering the Icelandic poppies and it’s sad to say good bye to the sweet peas. That season had gotten off to such a good start but the wet, the heat and humidity just didn’t do them any favors so I cut down the first row. I would love to see if the re-sprout, who knows. The empty beds are being raked over and cover crop will be added until I am ready to get the seeded perennials and bi-annuals planted out later in September. So much work to do. It is hard to believe that in another 2 months the tulips will arrive. Yikes! So much bed prep to do!

The gardens and flowers are doing well, and lots of flowers are being harvested. The dahlias are setting bud and there is a flower here and there but soon, just soon there will be another explosion of color. I think dahlias rival tulips for color and style, and they are a great way to cap off the season that was started by the tulip explosion.

Just to show you the variety of flowers harvested last week, feast your eyes on these beauties.

Next week the wagon will look very different because every week new flowers come in, and old flowers go. That is what makes it so exciting.

So I will leave you now so you can dream of what to do with next week’s exciting floral selection. This is what I created with a handful of tiny stems or too weird to offer you, but I had a beautiful chance to be creative.

Until next week I will dream flowers and sunshine. Allie

Here we are. Mid July. Where is our hot and dry? Even hot and humid? This is stink’n hot and WET. I feel so far this summer that I am back living on Tamborine Mountain in Queensland. Holy Moly! Let the rain stop! I am grateful, oh so grateful that I am not a flower farmer in Vermont, or any farmer in Vermont, this is bad enough, but OMG, do they have it hard. And let’s just say that yes, crop insurance helps, but man dear, it doesn’t even come close. This flower farmer is so grateful that so far my flowers are standing, or rather leaning but we are good. This is this morning though. Didn’t know if I was going to have an open flower shed on Tuesday…

Yup, This is Stoddard Rd. Looking down the road from our driveway on the right, looking down the road from our driveway. All is good. It is safe. So the flower shed will be open Phew!

And the only reason I say phew is because I have flowers. Yup. Despite the rain, and the lack of sun, and the rain…I have flowers.

Squish, squish, squish as I walk around the property. My rain tanks are overflowing and have been for weeks now, the flowers are baulking and I can’t say I am blaming them. The non-stop rain is getting old, everything is damp, the weeds are OUT of Control! It’s a farmer’s life. We have no control, we just have to plan for the worst and hope for the best. The best? I have flowers. I am stink’n lucky. I am grateful for good drainage, good wellies and quick dry clothing.

And the flower life goes on. I am getting ready in my head for my next expansion. Lisa, don’t say anything. It isn’t going to be big, but as some of you know I am retiring from gardening for others at the end of the year and well, let’s just say that am planning on diversifying for my old age. I am prepping new beds between rain storms, and making lists. Then I will be done. Don’t say anything Lisa. I know.

Since I don’t have and #windowframethursday to amuse you with I will leave you with this I found on instagram. I love it. It speaks of so much. And only in the EU would you find this.

So until next week, when the sun shines, the breeze gently blows away the bugs and the moisture. May we all be grateful and enjoy flowers. Allie

So far this has been the yuckiest summer I have experienced in years. Hot and humid is one thing, that is to be expected because it is summer. But this rain? Holy crap! Enough for a week. Please! I am so glad I bought a water tank so I can keep everything watered throughout the summer. At least I know it works, I guess, and we have the system tuned I think. We haven’t needed it for a month now. At least we aren’t in fire danger, and I don’t have mold ruining my leather shoes and belts like when I was living on the mountain in Australia.

So what is new besides the rain? Well, the flowers in the tunnel have had about enough. Because of the high temps that we have been having, besides the rain which hasn’t been bothering them because they are under cover, the flowers have said, “You know what? This season is the pits, and we are done.” So, say good bye to the Icelandic poppies, the godetia and the clarkia till next year. The cosmos, zinnias are hanging on, the sweet peas are like outta here, and who knows, the sun could come out on Tuesday and we may not see another drop of rain until October. I would almost say wouldn’t that be great.

My other most exciting news of the week is this. Not!

You know what this is? Bear poop! Yup. found this “dainty” (8 inches in diameter) morsel on the path between the flowers inside the fencing and the roses. Now I know that bears don’t eat flowers, that is up to Bambi, who so far is disliking the Irish Spring soap, but honestly, I don’t want bears this close to the house and the farm animals. Hopefully, it was a juvenile just wandering through. That is why the donkeys have been so testy, I am sure. And you thought flower farming was just easy by putting plants in the soil and letting them go until they are harvested. HAH!

I read this on a flower site the other day. July. This month is American Grown Flowers Month. This is the month that all 50 states have flowers to sell, and the perfect excuse to buy flowers from a local flower grower and not from the supermarket. I know that I am preaching to the wrong crowd, right? But locally grown flowers are fresher than any flower than you can buy in a supermarket. Think about it…The flowers that you find in the big stores are harvested on a Monday morning, prepped, conditioned with floral preservatives, then sit in an airport, then fly to an airport then sit in a wholesalers before they get to you. Five days? Yes, they have a shelf life, but handle with care, don’t smell them, and I wouldn’t even compost them because of what is used to preserve them. Locally grown flowers? fresher, supporting a local farmer, yes you can smell and handle them with out fear and safely compost them. So, even if you love to buy flowers at the supermarket because they are cheaper, and last longer because of the chemicals…please buy local for the rest of the moth of July. doesn’t have to be from me, although I do appreciate it. Just buy Local flowers. Please.

So on to my next topic. I leave you with two flower photos. My annual 4th of July photo, and my #Windowframethursday photo. I hope they make you smile. They make me happy because I get to play with flowers in a creative manner.

The 4th is all red white and blue, and windowframe is what I had. I love the creative process and I hope you do as well.

Until next week, when hopefully the sun will shine upon the flower beds. Allie

Happy Summer. We have had two days of sunshine, Yay! Now today it is raining. As if we need it. The good thing is I don’t have to water the plants outside, but I do have to water the high tunnel. The plants in the garden that have a high leaf area are not happy and they will have very interesting stems if i don’t cut them down out of frustration. I am talking about you, bachelor buttons and cress. Anyway, everything else is getting well watered, but when it dries out will need a good feed I am sure.

Now that summer is here, the ranunculus and anemones are done for the year. I am sad to see them go because they are so beautiful, but they filled a floral gap, and now it is time for them to rest and recover and get ready for next spring.

Flowers come and flowers go as you know. The tulips are gone, the ranuncs and anemones are done, the camapanula are going full tilt, and I should have planted more. Feverfew, bulbplurum are being harvested by the armful. The godetia is looking good but coming to an end already. Note to self, plant more godetia and less clarkia. More stock, more phlox Creme brulee series, more dianthus. If the sun comes out, the zinnias and other hot summer flowers should start producing faster. The dahlias have had their pinch and are branching nicely, and Jager seems to have scared off the tunneling rodents for the moment. Things are looking good I think. The sweet peas are baulking. They are loving the cool but when we have those days are are hot, like in the eighties, they drop all their buds. So frustrating because I just love my sweet peas. The chrysanthemums are growing nicely and it will be interesting to see what I have out of the mystery box.

In case if you are worried, don’t be. I have plenty of flowers, and will have them until November, so all you needn’t worry. And they will be interesting, colorful, and plentiful. Can you say I have flowers?

On that note. For you locals, the flower shed will be closed this coming week. Tuesday is the Fourth, and Friday is because we have house guests. I will be at the farm on Friday working in MY gardens, so if you need an arrangement, or bouquet email me, text me and let me know and I will have them ready for you, but I plan to be upside down in my garden.

I leave you as usual with my #windowframethursday because I can….

Have a happy and safe fourth of July, remember if you want to have flowers on Friday, let me know and I will have them ready for you. Otherwise I will see you on Tuesday the 11th and beyond. Allie