Month: July 2025

I find it hard to believe that this is the last Sunday of July. It has certainly felt like July, but the last Sunday? Woah.

But here we are, and the summer flowers are finally starting to come into their own. A few weeks late, but better late than not at I all guess. The zinnias, well, they have finally started to bloom. I wouldn’t call them abundant by any stretch of the imagination, but they are starting. The dahlias are starting to bloom which is very exciting, and the acidanthera, which I thought was going to be a complete crop failure because i stored them incorrectly over the winter may not bloom for me, but damn, they’re alive.

I also have to show you the sweet peas that I’m not growing this year. If you love sweet peas, whisper into my ear and I will cut you some, but they aren’t for general sale. Only for sweet pea lovers. The perfume of a jarful of sweet pea blossoms makes up for their short vase life, but oh, it is so worth it.

I heard a beautiful quote the other day from an extraordinary farmer florist in Belgium. ” I plant, and grow flowers to inspire creativity”. I like to think that is what I do, or try to do. I plant flowers that not only bring happiness, but to create creativity. That is one of the reasons that I have starter bouquets, and then buckets of loose stems, to spark your creativity. It certainly sparks my creativity, and having an interesting selection of blooms and foliage in abundance certainly helps.

I am trying to create at least three times a week now, and photographing my work. This is the only way I will improve. That and I am having fun. The first image I did on Thursday so I posted it on instagram, but these are not by the window frame, I am practicing with backdrops.

Then I did this one…

Besides creating with flowers I have been working on my to do list…one patch of yarrow has been cut down, don’t worry, there is still a patch of first year plants, and finally the dahlias have their second corralling. It looks like that rope game that we used to do as kids, or a spiders web.

Well I was hoping Steve would be back from his trip from Australia, but not so lucky, so I have my cheat sheet so I can get this off. Next week he will be back. Phew.

So, until next week, Allie. I dream of flowers, do you?

It is so hard to believe that it is already July 20, and more than halfway through summer. Time is going too fast. When one looks at the week number, which is what flower farmers do for scheduling crops and placing plug orders we are at week 30. The tulips bulbs are scheduled to arrive week 41, not that far away in the grand scheme of things.

Another shift of the flowers is happening. The garden phlox is coming in, the second crop of yarrow is looking full and some of the later perennials are showing color. The rudbeckias are just going gang busters and the summer annuals are just taking their sweet time. The dahlias are looking good and some are showing flower buds which is nice. There is plenty of assortment of flowers to be had that is for sure.

I have had a decent response about the flower arranging class so mark your calendars. I am offering one on August 20 at 10:00, and if that goes well, one on September 17 at 10:00. The classes will be $75 and will include all your flowers and instruction. If you have a special vase you want to use, by all means bring it, otherwise I will have vases available. Registration will be necessary so I know how many flowers to harvest. Email me and either send a check or Venmo me (Flowers at Lottarock) or when you come to get flowers, bring the money then. The most I will be able to do will be five flower lovers. Maybe get a group together and have a fun floral morning.

It’s the dog days of summer so flowers are just getting staked, weeded, deadheaded and harvested. I do have a beautiful crop of sweet peas though, the flower that I’m not growing this year.

I will leave you with last weeks #windowframethursday.

I just finished a lecture on photographing my flowers so you will probably be getting more practice shots as the season continues.

A big rain storm is on the radar, so I am going to try to get this off. Steve is away again, so I have my notes on how to post this.

Until next time, Allie. I dream of flowers, do you?

And Now Back to Our Regular Schedule

Thank you all for your patience for our last two flower shed Fridays. We are now back on schedule. Yay! We had a wonderful time at the wedding on the weekend, in fact, here is a photo you will likely never ever see again, Allie and Steve dressed up!

A great time was had by all and we are glad to be home for the drama that awaited us.

As you locals know, Hancock got hit with a rainstorm last night that dumped 4.1″ of rain at our house, to 6″ at the top of Prospect Hill. Route 123 is closed to all but local traffic, although no-one is paying attention to the signs. Big swaths of road were taken out as well as everything around our driveway.

DOT will be in the neighborhood for at least the next few days, I’ve got someone coming to look at the mess and hopefully make the drive safe soooo pay attention to the newsletter on Monday night. I will let you know if the flower shed will be open. The good news is that all the flowers are fine, just well watered.

I can’t leave you without any flower photos, I don’t have from last week, but I do have some from the wedding for you to enjoy.

The upside of this is I won’t have to water for a day or two, and the flowers are just fine.

Until next week, Allie. I dream of flowers, do you?

I Think We Can Say…

Summer is officially here! Yes, the temperatures and humidity is up there, but the summer flowers are just about here. And yes, it is exciting. Summer annuals and summer perennials converging for summer beauty.

The heat has gotten to the cool flowers in the tunnel, I will harvest what looks good, but it is the official end of the anemone, ranunculus, godetia, so they will all get pulled in the cool of the morning while the flowers that will take the heat can stay for the moment. I have some really nice annual phlox, the pansies are still doing well, but I need to do some work on them and the celsoia that I am trialing in there is going gang busters.

In the big garden the zinnias still look like crap, but this week there will be lots of annual color like cosmos, ageratum, celosia, lots of filler, and the perennials are also looking good.

Many of the dahlias are big enough now that I can do the first row of tying in, or corralling which is always a job, but not as tedious as it could be. Then there is also the weeding, staking and deadheading that always need to get done, or started.

I have not one but two floral displays for you tonight. The #windowframethursday and a Happy fourth of July

As you can see, I do have fun with the flowers that are available.

Don’t forget that the flower shed will be closed on Friday, July 11, but we WILL be open on Thursday, July 10 from 9-2:00 instead. I will send out a reminder on Wednesday night in the newsletter. We are traveling to the Cape for a family wedding. After this we will be back to our regular schedule.

Off now for Steve and his…

Until next week, Allie. I dream of flowers, do you?