What a ride this flower growing season is becoming. The weather certainly is flukey, hot, cold, hot, cold but I am learning slowly to take deep breaths and it will be what it will be. Far easier to say than to be calm but I try.
My high lite for the moment is that the garden is planted. The last of the summer annuals were planted out on Friday. That is a huge yay. So far they are looking good. I have done the pinch on the cosmos and marigolds, tomorrow the zinnias get pinched. If you don’t know, pinching removes the apical meristem that makes the plants grow tall on a single stem, and with this removed the plants will now branch and I will have multiple stems per plant. Harvesting flower stems also does this but this gives me more stems right off the bat.
All of the chrysanthemums have been planted out in their crates, and the last batch of cuttings are being rooted as I type. They are all looking good and by August they will be moved into the tunnel to finish off their growth and flowering.
The 2026 tulips year is officially over, YAY! As much as I love the tulips they make me very anxious. It is an expensive crop to grow, with the increasing cost of the bulbs and growing medium but I still feel as though it is a good crop to grow. Even the outside grown tulips have their risk and their high waste factor but who doesn’t need fresh local flowers in February, March and even April when the weather is so yuck. That being said, I am beginning to pull my thoughts together on next years outdoor tulips so if you have ones from this year that really struck you as a keeper please let me know. I will be honest my note taking was a little sparse on my favorites and the duds.
OH! I guess I should say that the peony season has started. That is right. The peonies have started. Not as rapid as the demand, but it has started.
So now that everything is planted, the chrysanthemums are planted out all I need to do is keep everything weeded, fed, harvested and happy.
Here is part of Saturdays flower harvest from the tunnel. The anemones are coming in strong as are the amazing pansies.
Because I finished getting everything planted out on Friday I gave myself time to play with flowers. More photos of it are posted on instagram if you want to check them all out.
Steve is off on a road trip out west taking photos and having fun so you will have to put up with my editing, or lack thereof. I hope you all have a good week, and until next week,
Allie. I dream of flowers, do you?