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And knowing March, who knows what we are going to get thrown at us weather wise. Today was beautiful even if it didn’t get above freezing, tonight down to 0f, tomorrow well below freezing, but then looking at the week ahead, temps don’t look too bad. We will see. Maybe all the snow will be gone by the end of the month so Garth will be able to stay on schedule to get the next expansion phase done. After that, no more expansion. No comment from you all who know me so well.

The snow has been melting slowly here though. Rocks still haven’t appeared but I can tell it’s melting. This is what I had at the beginning of the week.

After a week of getting my WP Mail SMPT sorted out by their technical staff, who couldn’t be more helpful by the way, even though it took a week, I believe we are up and running. I didn’t get the newsletter sent out the night before the first flower shed of the year, but I did manage to get something mailed out on Friday morning. It has been such a long time since I mailed out a newsletter I have that learning curve again, but just saying, the flower shed will be open on Fridays now from 10:00-2:00. I will try to get the newsletter out as a reminder. The tulips are looking beautiful and seriously needed for not just their beauty and needed color at this time of year, but because we all need joy.

The dirty room is maxed out space wise and I still have baby seedlings to transplant and the ranunculus and anemones to soak and sprout. I am already using the top of the dog crates for tulips…this is going to be a challenge for me this month.

It is too cold to put these babies in the greenhouse right now…I will figure something out I am sure. Might have to use the basement for sprouting the ranuncs and anemones…

I can say one thing for sure, from Mid January on it is never boring here being a flower farmer.

Until next week may our snow begin to melt gently so it goes into the ground to fill the water table, may we enjoy the much longer days, and may we enjoy fresh locally grown flowers.

Allie. I dream of flowers, do you?

That is right. You have read correctly. The long awaited tulips are here! And boy are we going to need them with tonight and tomorrows Nor’easter. A little bit of color will go a long way now that is for sure.

It is a good thing the tulips are here because I don’t know if the dirty room could hold another four crates of tulips. Now it’s crates out, crates in. The flow has begun. Yay! And now that the flow has begun I am going to start bringing in some different spring flowers to mix it up a bit, maybe some hyacinths? Certainly some narcissus. As always, I will let you know when they are ready.

One of the many things on my todo list this week is to start transplanting the cool annuals and perennials that are ready to be bumped up. For this I make two inch soil blocks for the each seedling to be planted into and where they will stay until they are planted out into the garden in the spring. I also need to get the first soaking of the ranunculus claws and anemone. These are soaked for about three hours, then they will be planted up and sprouted on until they will be far enough along to get planted out in the tulip crates that are now being emptied. See how this all works?

Many of you, if not all of you received a lovely spam invitation from me to an event here. Hopefully most of you are clued in enough to know not to open it. I have gotten two of them, both from friends and one of these infected my mailing list. This is a very popular spam, everyone wants to get invited to a party right? If you ever get another one from someone you know put it in your junk folder. Call or text the person who sent it to confirm it is legit. More than likely it isn’t. Bummer I know. If I am going to have a party I will send out real paper invitations!

Now. The most important thing. The flower shed will be open now on Fridays from 10-12. This is so the temperatures have a time to warm up so the flowers can be in the flower shed and not here in the house, and until noon because I know the tulips will go fast. If you think you will be late, text me or email me to let me know and I will put a bunch aside for you.

I leave you with a floral gift that went out last week.

I hope to see many of you on Friday from 10-12. I will also put it on instagram and hopefully a newsletter, but that is another story.

Until next week, Allie. I dream of flowers, (and no snow) do you?

It might be 32 days left until spring but do you think I will be seeing a snowless garden? That is the question. I have lots of plants starting to rock in by the middle of March….It is a good thing I have a lot of tulip soil to pot up the perennials because I don’ think I will be planting outside by then (I knew that when I ordered so I am prepared).

But spring is happening here in the dirty room. S-L-O-W-L-Y. I am harvesting the first crate of tulips, and I have others on their heels. Not as quickly as I would like, or for that matter any of my flower people would like, but nature can’t be rushed as much as I would like it to. That being said, I am hoping I will have enough tulips to offer on Friday…it’s still five days out….stay tuned.

The seedlings are looking really good. They had their first feed yesterday making the house smell a bit like low tide. Some of them are getting their true leaves so I will be able to transplant some soon and then hope to get more cool flowers seeded and the sweet peas.

When I was down in the cooler yesterday I noticed that I had shoots coming up on the Muscari that I thought were goners. Now that is exciting! I had written them off but hadn’t gotten around to dumping them. It is a good thing I didn’t, I guess.

This time every year I always worry about the season and how it is going to go. Weather is always forefront, never knowing what we will get and when but also will I have too many flowers? Not enough flowers? I am looking forward to this year’s expansion with more woodies and perennials and my collaborations with others as well as some possible design work thrown in to keep that creative energy going.

I have a couple of thoughts brewing in my brain so stay tuned to see what I am thinking of. Nothing will start until I have flowers though, and plenty of them so I have plenty of time yet.

Stay tuned to the newsletter for the flower shed details. If you don’t think you get the newsletter and want it you can sign up on my website. Also check your spam on Friday. If you haven’t received a newsletter on Friday, sign up or let me know and I will add you. This give you all the most up to date flower shed details. Check your spam folder first though. I will also post on Instagram on the night before an open flower shed, if that works better.

So, I think I have covered everything this week so I will pass you off to Steve for his entrance ditty.

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

Who ever said flower farming was easy weren’t flower farmers, or gardeners for that matter. No pacing the gardens for this flower farmer. Although… I did walk some of the gardens at the beginning of the week…

So as you can see, not much is happening here outside. I know, I know, it is only the first week of February….but with the daylight getting longer it is hard not being able to be in the gardens. All I can do is stand on the plowed verges and plan. And order more plants for the spaces I don’t have.

While there isn’t much happening outside, there are things happening inside. Again, not fast enough. God I’m impatient.

Lets start with the tulips. Not happening fast enough. But in reality they aren’t scheduled to happen for another week. Nature can’t be rushed. Patience, Kerwin, patience. (although Steve here proofreading this thinks that Patience Kerwin has a nice colonial ring to it) So this is where we stand right now in tulip world.

So you can see, things are progressing, just now fast enough. I have had many questions of when the tulips will be ready. I know, we are all ready for locally grown tulips….I am hoping for Feb 20th? I will keep you posted through the newsletter (which is separate from this blog) and instagram if I can get my act together.

The perennials that I seeded on Monday are happening. Again, patience. The seedlings that have germinated are out in the fresh air now, still on heat but that is because of the dirty room needing to be kept cool because of the tulips…you see how this goes?

I will say, although I am not a huge fan of the snow I am so totally grateful for it this year because it is protecting the plants from this brutal cold. I will stay positive that all the rodents that are living off my perennials and shrubs under the snow are frozen and I will have plants in the spring. That that is just another flower farmer’s worry, ugh.

So I will leave this on a happy note. Have you noticed how much longer the days are? Let me see if I can find a beautiful photo for you of things to come….

Until next week, stay warm, enjoy the longer days and I will have flowers as soon as I can.

Your flower farmer Allie. I dream of flowers, do you?

The big question is will the groundhog see his shadow tomorrow and when will spring come? Well, whether Mr Phil sees his shadow tomorrow or not, I know that spring will be here in a few more weeks. The tulips are looking good, more crates get pulled tomorrow along with a surprise crate of another spring flower. I can hardly wait, but you probably know that by now.

The other more exciting thing about tomorrow is the day length is now officially 10 hours and now I can start my seeds. The cool flowers will be started and all of the perennials. The dirty room is getting full. I made space today for tomorrow’s crates, and tidied up the space so I have room to move, but it’s going to be crowded and dirty now until May.

i spent three amazing days in Portland Maine for the Flowering in the North conference. My brain, along with everyone else’s brain attending was crammed full of information from growing and everything associated with that, social media, connection with other flower growers, marketing and so much more. I feel as though I am still digesting all the information I crammed in my head. I did get some really cool seeds from a flower grower in VT that has been doing some really cool seed selections and I am looking forward to seeing them in real life. Something you all you local people to look forward as well.

I don’t know what posessed me the other day to look at the temperature in the bulb room, maybe because of this never ending cold stretch but OMG, the temperature wasn’t pretty. Not that it would hurt the bulbs, but I am storing the dahlias in there as well and I don’t want them below 35f. The temp was 36.4. The heater was on, but I just don’t think it is able to keep up so I cranked it up a bit and all os fine at the moment. Then I saw this!

Ice crystals! I re-stacked, or rather stacked the dahlias to be almost under the heater, and I think all is fine. They look good and feel good and that is the important part. I need to check the remote sensor more frequently when we have such a prolonged cold I guess.

I read an interesting article this morning about imported flowers and the few people I forwarded it onto suggested I post the link so here it is.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/jan/11/theres-a-dark-side-to-floristry-are-pesticides-making-workers-seriously-ill-or-worse

This makes it all the more important to know where your flowers come from. Most small to medium US flower growers are organic growers or follow organic practices but it never hurts to have a conversation with your flower grower. The same for your vegetable growers. Start a conversation with them. We will be happy to share. I, for one, am not certified organic but certainly follow the organic practices. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask.

I leave you with this image of what is to come. The tulips came from Emily Von Trapp’s flower farm in VT. (she forces 200,000 a year) following organic practices.

So until next week I will continue top dream of flowers. Allie

Now, off to Steve…

There is nothing like starting the first of the season’s blog with a massive Nor’easter in our midst. Well if nothing else it might whet our appetites for spring even more.

That being said, the first four crates of tulips were pulled on Monday and tomorrow’s crates were pulled today. I honestly don’t think a day will make that big a difference and it was a lot easier moving them without all the snow that is predicted to tomorrow. For those of you not in the Monadnock region, we are to get 18-24 mere inches of very fluffy snow. We are also having arctic chill this week so with no sun in the dirty room and the temps are hovering around 58 degrees. Not bad for tulips, not great for us who are battling the added cold in the house. When the sun reappears the open shut door game will resume. The tulips need to be kept at no higher than 65 degrees so even if it is 20 outside and the sun is out, the dirty room needs to be vented. The joys and challenges of forcing tulips.

I am off on Tuesday for two days of flower learning. This program is put on my the University of Maine and is called Flowering in the North. I went seven years ago and was blown away by the amount of info. I am going with a fellow flower farmer so Steve gets to stay home and manage the tulips and not listen to me going on for hours about all the possibilities I could do. (Not that I need any more possibilities).

February first I begin seeding all the perennials, bi-annuals and many of the cool flower crops. Ah yes, now the pace picks up. Not as fast as March, April and May, but still…it picks up. I for one am so excited.

I think, I am done ordering for the 2026 year. I think. It is a good thing I tentatively have Garth (one of the best with a backhoe) booked in for the end of March cause I have a lot of bare-root material ordered. Plus the perennials I have ordered, which I do have space for, but it will be nice to have the twiggery finished.

Finished. I wonder if that word is truly in my vocabulary/lexicon. Hmmm, I use that word quite frequently but never seem to get the true meaning of finished. What do you think? Yup, that is what I thought.

Critters are in the barn, dinner is about to be started so I will pass this off to Steve for his edits and comments.

I will be back next week so brace yourself.

Just in case you are wondering, we should have flowers by Feb 20! if all goes to plan.

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

Well here it is January first and I am getting itchy to start having flowers again.

Lots of new and exciting for projects for the farm will be happening this year. I am having the last of the space cleared this spring to accommodate more shrubs for cutting and creating a diversified hedgerow along the edges. New seeds are going to be tried for the annuals and I am going to expanding the perennials all of this in the current space, some additions, some deletions.

I am getting the rest of my seed and plant orders in this first week of January, and in another two weeks the perennial seeds will be started. On the 19th the first of the tulips crates will be pulled into the dirty room and before you know it flowers will be back with us again.

I know it is going to be an exciting year here at Lottarock and and I can hardly wait to see you all again.

Stay tuned to this and the newsletter filling you in with everything that happens here. The good the bad and the ugly in my flower world. I will return here in three weeks.

Till next time, your happy flower farmer, Allie

and yes, I do dream of flowers.

And That’s a Wrap

The end of the flowering season for here at Lottarock is officially done for 2025. And what a year it has been! From the first of the tulips in mid February until the beginning of November with the mums, you all have supported me by stopping by and getting flowers and bouquets, to sending along email and texts of support. I thank everyone of you for supporting me with my flower passion. I am ready for a break though, to be honest. That is a long flowering season for one person, and I have loved almost every minute of it, but the body is looking to doing some other things for the next two months.

The orchard, willowry and twiggery have all be mowed. The orchard has been mown short so the spring bulbs will have a chance, and the others are just shorn because spring comes fast. Well, sometimes not fast enough but there is always far too much to do then. All the rain tanks have been drained, including the huge one behind the garage and Steve and I, mostly Steve, were able to spin it so the drain is on the low side so when we power wash in insides in the spring it will drain out. Yes, we will have to extend the gutter going into the tank, but that is for next year.

I did make a #windowframethursday in my “spare time”. The fingers were not happy working with cold wet stems, and I had cleaned up the cave and dropped the tarp so ugh, the photos were dark until I turned on the light. Duh Kerwin. Anyway…

I have one task yet to do yet…clean up the flower/tool shed. It has been a dumping ground for the last month and I need to get it organized so I can find things in the spring.

There isn’t going to be much going on here in the flower department until mid January so I am going to take a short vacation from writing until things start happening. Seeding begins mid January and the first crates of tulips will be pulled, and from there it’s floral chaos, but in a good way.

Have a wonderful December, may it be filled with friends, cookies, family and locally grown flowers. Yes, they are out there. Until January..

Allie. I dream of flowers, do you? ( And I will really be dreaming of flowers!)

There is no Doubt it is November

With the time change and the November weather time in the garden is getting limited. That isn’t to say that I have been lounging eating bon bons, but there is more time certainly inside now than out.

Accuweather says snow tomorrow night. I am not expecting much of any, but i will take this as an omen that the flower days will be done for the year. I will harvest anything that can be harvested. I still have chrysanthemums that are in tight bud, I will cut them because who the heck knows…they will join the rest of the remaining flowers in the cooler. It is sad, but you know, it is also time. I have stretched out the season this year until the end of November, about a month longer than any year before and that I am proud of. I already have plans for next year on how to hopefully have chrysanthemums for Thanksgiving.

But you know that saying, one door closes and another door opens? Well, spring is on our doorstep. Only 14 more weeks until the first of the tulips arrive. In the grand scheme of things that isn’t very far away. I mean how did we get to November already?

The last of the spring bulbs have been planted. All of the extra bulbs I ordered are safely tucked in and the in ground tulips have all been planted.

All of the gardens have been cut back now, except for the mums, and that will happen this week. I have started spreading leaf mulch on the beds, after re-aligning the rows. It is amazing how out of whack they become in a season or two. I have also started to put woodchips on the paths. What I get done this month will be less that I will have to do in the spring when it is still too wet to be in the gardens.

I did manage to get a #windowframethursday out this week. The arrangement I did two weeks ago is still looking good so I wasn’t going to because how many flower arrangements can one have in their house. Me, I can never have enough flowers, but that is besides the point, so here we go.

I will continue working in the garden until the 15th then I am going to hang up my trowel until January when it starts all over again.

There will only be a couple more letters to you…I am giving you notice so you can get ready for your withdrawal.

I am passing you off to Steve and I am going to go and get the goats and chickens in.

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

Welcome November

Well it might be November but I am as busy as ever, but the good news is that things are getting checked off the list. My goal? To have everything done that needs to be done finished up by the 15th of the month. Can I do it? We shall see.

All of the gardens in the fenced area, save the magnificent chrysanthemums has been cut back.

Most of the irrigation has been pulled, labeled and stowed for the winter. The plants outside the fence are on my list for this week coming, as are getting the 1800 tulips planted in the boxes in the garden you don’t see. This is how it goes. I am reading a writer/gardener on Substack and she was talking about alliums, so I ordered just a mere 150(?) of three different varieties. Always looking for expanding the flower varieties and I also just love having small flowers for the early spring posies.

The chrysanthemums that you aren’t enjoying this year, but hopefully will next year because I will have more available, are just amazing. They are nothing like the mums that you get at Trader Joes or the supermarket. No, these are just amazing. They have movement! Next week I will take photos so you can see them. I am going to turn you into floweraholics!

I normally take down the remay and store it in the shed when we have a few days of above freezing, (it protects the mums) so the other day when I was trying to fold it up to store my garden buddy Jager was the best help…

I know the flower shed is closed, but if you need a floral pick up let me know. I do have some stunning flowers. Just shoot me an email or text me and I will have an arrangement for you. It isn’t a problem because I do have flowers going out Wednesday, Thursday and Friday that are standing weekly orders so the flowers are there hopefully until the middle of the month.

That is about it for this week. With the time change the dogs are antsy to get chores down so they can have dinner. I will pass this off to Steve.

As always, Allie. I dream of flowers, do you?