Author: Allie

I’m Back!

I wish I could say that I had been doing something exciting like traveling so I couldn’t post, but alas, my website decided to chuck it in. That is what happens when I tried to be proactive and update a plug-in. The website locked me out and since I had no idea what I was doing, and spent numerous hours with the webhost AI trying to help me, and it gave up, then a real IT person attempted to help me without success, and I had to wait until I could find someone local to unlock my website mysteries. I have a knight in shining armor, no, not Steve this time, but Matt H is my knight in shining armor so here I am.

l was not twiddling my thumbs in the meantime, but working like crazy to get as much done in the gardens as possible until the weather changed for the worse, or until my body gave out. So far, so good but I have been pushing the body pretty hard these last two weeks.

All of the tulips are planted!. The 1500 ground tulips went in last Tuesday and they are all safely tucked in until spring.

Meanwhile in the garden, all the annual beds have had leaf compost added, the dahlia beds are also done. I am starting the perennial organizing by putting like varieties together, weeding, digging out the perennials that haven’t earned their keep to make way for new perennials that will be shipped in the spring. The twiggery has had its final low mow and the spring bulbs have been planted. Thank you Suzie and Nancy.

Most areas have been blown and mown except the shade garden behind the garage, and the garden that is behind the cutting garden still need to be cut back and weeded. I am making progress and Steve has been a great help which I greatly appreciate.

I will be done harvesting the last of the chrysanthemums tomorrow come hell or high water. I am trying to get all the plants labeled so I know what is what in the spring. I am ordering four more varieties to round out the color pallete for next year. If you are looking for fresh flowers you can get them here by emailing me, or you can get them at Roy’s Market (Beth will be adding focal flowers to the bunches) or Sonder House and Garden also in Peterborough. Thanksgiving for me will be a true end of the garden.

When one thinks of it though, if all goes to plan, and I know I say that every year, tulips will be here by the last week of February. Dare I say a mere 3 1/2 months away! Crap, time goes by far too fast.

I think that that is about it for now. I will pass this off to Steve, my knight, and I will be back nest week.

Until next week Allie, I dream of flowers, do you? In fact last night’s dream so so real I really had to think about it. All about crop planning. Wild.

PS. my eye bubble is almost gone. Now that will be a celebration!

What at Busy Week!

It’s the last Sunday of October and the rush is on. I am not terribly worried that most important items on the to-do list won’t get done because I am ticking them off like a crazy person, but I am worried that all the niddly little things won’t get done because I am running out of steam.

With the now blacked dahlias from the last Saturday freeze, I cut back and dug the dahlias on Wednesday. All of them. All 54 varieties are now dug and in crates in my cave curing before I can ge them put away for the winter. There is no rush now because they are safe, but what a job that was. I couldn’t move much that night.

Then… I got notice that the tulips were finally shipped, only two weeks later than requested.

Thursday I dug and moved 30 peonies into their new bed as well as stowing the netting and stakes in the shed.

Friday we spent the morning doing my most dreaded job, putting away the irrigation lines. Ugh. Steve helped me with it this year and that made all the difference in the world. It took us only a half day instead a full day of just pure angst. He’s the best.

Then the long awaited tulips arrive.

So yesterday I crated up all said tulips. All 48 crates, all neatly labeled and stacked in the cooler now, chillin’ for 14 weeks before I can start growing them on. Seems like a long time I know, but by mid January I start pulling them for winter color! Yay

I started crating at 9:00 in the morning, and finished at 4:30 in the afternoon. Do I need to say I could hardly move?

So while we wait for spring tulips (only four months away) I still have some stunning chrysanthemums to be had.

I am harvesting these beauties daily it seems. If you are interested in a beautiful bouquet just let me know and I will have one for you. You can email me at flowersatlottarock@gmail.com. or text me. 603-933-2017.

My treat to myself is that I mostly took today off. I did my floral zoom class which was a lot of fun, and this is what I created.

On deck for this week coming? Get the daffs that I forced into the ground, along with the Dutch iris, plant the box of narcissus planted around the crabapples and lilacs in the twiggery, continue cleaning up the cutting garden and then if they are dry enough, start to tackle the dahlias, getting them ready for their winter hibernation. Dare I say, another busy week.

So I have to leave you with this photo taken this morning. Look what is blooming on the edge of my compost pile.

Talk about hardy souls. I should dig them out and keep them for hardiness, but at the same time I want to see how long they go for. I don’t know it they are still going because they are on the edge of the woods and sheltered, the heat from the compost of just hardy plants but damn they make me smile.

So, until next week, Allie. I will still be dreaming of flowers, but looking forward to a break come mid November? Fingers crossed.

Happy Frostmass!

And that my friends is a wrap for 2026. Well, not quite, because the mums are still coming in, but as far as the summer flowers and all the other flowers go, the season in over. I’m ready, to be honest. Not done by any stretch of the imagination, but getting closer.

The forecast did predict a freeze, not just a frost, but a freeze, and we bottomed out at 26 degrees F. This is early this morning…

Then as the sun hit the plants, we go to this…

As I went to cover the mums again just now for tonight’s lows the plants are giving off that rotting smell already. It’s kinda pleasant smell if you’re not overwhelmed by it.

The chrysanthemums in the tunnel and under the row cover seem to have come through pretty well. The evenings will all be around freezing but nothing big again till next weekend I think.

I am still waiting for the forcing tulips to arrive. I was hoping to have them crated up by now but patience. It really comes down to no tulips for Valentine’s Day, but hopefully before March? I am hoping they arrive this week. I have gotten the invoice, just no tulips. That’s OK, I still have plenty of things to do, I just want to get them crated and in the cooler so you all will have them earlier. Stay tuned.

Now that we have had our freeze, garden clean up begins in earnest. I plan on starting at the back, and work my way forward, after I do the dahlias. I have to at least get the short row cut and dug so I can get some of the peonies dug and moved. One move is always dependent on another move.

I did have a chance to play with flowers on Friday. My second time in two months? I have yet to post these on instagram, so you get the first look at.

Before the freeze, yesterday afternoon I went out and harvested the last of the dahlias for the year. I combined them with the last of the dahlias with Petals_603, and home_place-farm to combine for our last sale.

So. I do still have flowers, just not for an open shed day, so if you are interested, just reach out and I will make it happen.

I know, it’s sad, but also quite joyful to be running out of flowers. don’t worry, 2027 is looking equally abundant in flowers.

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

What an October so Far

The foliage has, or is, spectacular this year, the best we have had in years. We are officially no longer in drought, the flowers are still cranking out with no frost in sight for at least another five days and I got an all clear with the eye doctor. I can officially go back to gardening! And that my flower friends is the best news ever! That news comes at a particularly good time because as you know, October ramps up in what need to get done in the garden. Tulips, digging dahlias, harvesting mums, cleaning up the beds and hopefully prepping them for spring, and trying to eradicate the stink’n voles. Like I said, a very busy number of weeks ahead.

The dahlias are still cranking out amazing blooms. Maybe not as quickly as earlier in their season, but still lots of blooms, and check out these stunners.

The frost just needs to hold off just a little bit longer. Please. I have flowers going out at the end of the week for a wedding.

The chrysanthemums are coming on. Not as fast as I would like, but they are coming along. The first crates of tulip bulbs have been delivered and they are safely tucked in the cooler. Now that is a great story. With the arrival of the bulbs I wanted to lower the temp of the cooler to 45, not that it is 100 % necessary with the field grown tulips, but we did it anyway. Or tried to. The air conditioner that we had been nursing along for over a year decided it didn’t want to go that low. Luckily, I had a back up from when I thought it was going to crap out two years ago. So with my brother Charlie’s help, we were able to swap out the old, and put in the new and we are ready for the next shipment of tulips which should be really soon now. I figure it will all work out timing wise and not to sweat it. Out of my control.

While I am waiting for the frost, or really the freeze, I will resume weeding and organizing the cutting garden for next year, now that I m allowed to. Once the freeze happens the dahlias will get cut down and lifted, then I can move the peonies that are too crowded into their new place, then organize the dahlias and get them into storage, plant the tulips that are being forced and get ready for spring. I am hoping to get the garden finished up by mid November. Can I do it? Damn will try to.

I have done my first flower bouquet since my detached retina two months ago. I think it has turned out well. It was for a birthday celebration. And I celebrated that I felt confident enough to pull it off.

So there you have it. My one and only creation in the last two months.

The flower shed will be open on Friday… not sure for how much longer, but i will let you know in the newsletter or here, which ever happens first. I can still do special orders for a bit longer, probably into early November? We will see what the flower gods decree.

I will pass this off to Steve for proofreading and his little ditty. Until next week.

Allie. I dream of flowers, do you?

Here we are. October

I don’t know which season is crazier. Spring, where everything bursts on the scene, or Fall, where deadlines loom. Right now, I am feeling the rush of deadlines. Crazy I know. So bring it on.

The eight Cotinus quart pots arrived last week. October 1 to be exact. Are they planted? Nope, I have to do some serious jiggering in the twiggery. Where I was going to put them I decided not to, so now I have to create a new row, but before I create a new row, I have to shift some plants, and I need help with this project. Cue in Steve. It is a bigger project than a one eyed farmer can do right now. Hopefully it will be done this week. Because….

The first shipment of tulips arrives tomorrow. Unfortunately not the ones that get forced but the in ground ones, so they will just be stored in the cooler until I am ready for them. The forcing tulips hopefully will be here in another week so I can get them planted up so I will have tulips for Valentine’s day. If not, well, it would be the following week in February. I have cleaned all the crates that I will need for the forcing tulips and I think I am ready. Just waiting.

Meanwhile, a frost is in the forecast for Wednesday morning, so the next two days will be spent prepping for that. I do have elevation helping me, but I still have to be prepared. Getting the frost cloth out to protect the chrysanthemums, harvesting everything that is worth harvesting and seriously hoping for the best because I have some big flower orders going out in the next two weeks.

To be perfectly honest, this flower farmer is ready for the season to end. Well, sorta. I’m tired and my @$^*(! eye isn’t helping matters.

Here I am labeling the dahlias, on my hands and knees

because I really am not supposed to be upside down yet. I think I did OK. I think I only have two or three that are questionable, so they are labeled, unknown A,B and C. It was a beautiful day and it has to get done before the freeze turns everything to a black mush. Then I have absolutely no idea what is what. By they way, they are still looking absolutely beautiful.

Flowers operate on their own schedule, not mine so while I am madly waiting for my chrysanthemums to flowers, they are just taking their sweet time. In my opinion. But here is what I do have showing color and looking good.

Apparently I need to work better on my labeling system. I say this every year, and yet every year I wonder what I have. Ugh.

I still have beautiful flowers, the shed will continue to be open on Fridays until it isn’t. That date has yet to be determined. I am going to send this off to Steve and hopefully he will make sense of it.

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

A Rainy Sunday in September

Hello rain, and welcome to the garden. While the rest of the east coast is getting pummeled with a mighty nor’easter, we here are getting gentle waves of rain, which I am grateful for. The wind is blowing but so far for us this nor’easter is a calm one, which is good. I am just wicked grateful this isn’t winter and all this isn’t snow.

The gardens are looking good and that makes me happy. The dahlias are going strong, the asters are coming into flower and the chrysanthemums are in serious bud. There will be flowers well into October if the weather cooperates, and it looks like it will in the long range forecast.

It is going to be an interesting October this year. I have just spread a cover crop on the beds are are mostly clear of plants, yes, clean up is slowly happening. I am limiting myself to two to three hours in the garden until I get the “you can do more” on Oct 8. Keep your fingers crossed. I have eight quart cotinus arriving this week, and yes, I know where they are going. The tulips should be getting shipped in a week or two, Yay? Garden clean up in earnest after the freeze whenever that will be, everything goes on the compost pile. Dahlias cut back and lifted, twenty five peonies need to get dug and planted where the short row of dahlias will be vacating, the the tulips get planted, and the narcissus that I have forced the last two years need to go into the ground down by the new crabapples. I sure hope I get the “you can do more now.”

I still am not doing much playing with flowers because honestly I’m being challenged with the lack of light coming through the gas bubble and color, probably because of the same reason. I did make this bouquet at the end of the day Friday with the remaining flowers, which wasn’t many, thank you flower people. I think it turned out nicely, (from what I can see).

While I think of it, there are no more Tuesday flower shed until May? All depends on the flowers and spring, which I have no control over. Friday’s shed will still be open hopefully for another four to six weeks. I can still do special orders if you like.

I am going to pass this off to Steve, but before I go I thought you might like this photo.

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

Mid September, ish

Here we are at mid September and the flowers are still going strong. Not the flowers of high summer, but the flowers of late summer, and as of tomorrow, fall! Yikes.

As you can tell, the wagon load of flowers is very different from last month. Yes, there are zinnias and celosia, both high summer flowers, but going strong are the dahlias and the beginning of the chrysanthemums. Yes, right now the mums are just white, but very soon dark purple buttons will be joining them and soon after that, all sorts of mums. The amaranth hanging off the right side of the wagon is also going strong, so until we have a freeze, there will be flowers.

That being said, this Tuesday, Sept 22 will be the last of the Tuesday flower shed days until next June? Yes, there are still plenty of flowers but not enough to warrant being open on Tuesday. It is also because the daylight is rapidly decreasing and the light isn’t good enough to see the beautiful colors. If you need a special order, that isn’t a problem, it is just that the shed won’t be open on Tuesdays after the 22nd.

One of my fellow flower farmers has been harvesting flowers for the wedding she was doing. Since I couldn’t harvest that day, Beth harvested what she needed. This handful of amaranth is a bouquet in itself. I have been given the all clear from my Dr. for harvesting flowers now so I am a much happier flower farmer. Not easy with the vision, but at least I am allowed to harvest. I might be slower than normal but at least I can do it now. That, is a big yay!

I did my first creation in a month. It isn’t big or glam, but heck, I did it.

The pot is holding dahlias, celosia, zinnias, japanese anemone and some self sown ageratum.

I am going to give this to Steve now for some major proofreading. So, until next week,

Allie. I dream of flowers, do you?

PS.. Tuesday, Sept 22 is the last Tuesday flower shed. Sad I know, but Fridays will still be going strong until mid October.

The One Eyed Blogger

I am essentially typing this blog with one eye so pardon the typos. Hopefully Steve will clean them up for me.

It has been a whirlwind two weeks regarding the ole eyeball, Rushing here and there, but last Thursday I had vitrectomy surgery. So far things are good post surgery. I can see light, colors and shapes, mostly blobs but I think the most important right now is the light part. Recovery is going to be long, six to eight weeks. Ugh. At least after next Thursday I can lift more than 15 pounds. No gardening for a while, so it will be what it will be. Hopefully we will have a long indian summer so I will be able to get things done. At least the critical things like getting the dahlias dug and the tulips planted. My mantra now is patience, and don’t be stupid, Kerwin.

But to the most important thing that you want to know. The flowers, especially the dahlias are looking stupendous.

You know how I feel about dahlias. The are the swan song of the season. The most beautiful colors, shapes and forms, nothing is more beautiful. Except the tulips that enter in the season with their colors and forms. What better floral bookends can there possibly be?

Now I don’t want to give the chrysanthemums the short end of the floral stick because they are stunning in their own way, and may I just say that they are budding up beautifully. It is just the dahlias have a much bigger wow factor. They each have their own season though and that is what makes flower farming so interesting. Each major crop really has its own season.

The flower shed will continue with its summer hours for a few weeks more, then I think we will switch to late summer fall hours which will just be Fridays. This has nothing to do with my eye, it’s just that the flower variety will be a lot less and the daylight will be a lot less. I will let you know when that happens don’t worry. The weather looks as though we are going to be frost free for a few more weeks, fingers crossed, so there will still be plenty of flowers for you to enjoy.

I am going to stop here. Going a bit crossed eye. Just remember to tell me, patience, and don’t be stupid, Kerwin.

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

Happy September! Just can’t believe it.

I find it so hard to believe that we are in September but boy does it feel like it and sound like it. The swamp maples are starting to change color, the golds are becoming more prominent, the dahlias are going full tilt and the chrysanthemums are looking quite good.

The chrysanthemums are daylight sensitive so as the days get shorter, and they certainly are, the flower buds develop. Kinda like pointsettias, they also need short day length to redden the bracts.

I am already going through next year’s grow list, or what not to grow list precisely. On the chopping block, cosmos, I love them but… they are a pain. If I do grow them they will be started and planted out later and maybe fewer. Another one. Marigolds. I love them, and they do well, but as soon as the evenings start to cool and the morning dew gets going they turn to trash. That frees up some space for more perennials, not much, but some. I will probably plant more dusty miller, various basils and scented geraniums for filler/greens but out with the mahogany splendor. As much as I love its form and color it just doesn’t condition well. Period.

I get my best flower thinking time sitting on the tractor outside the garden, looking over the garden and making notes. And the view from there is spectacular as well, especially at the end of a long day in the garden. Since I never take time to sit in the gardens to enjoy them i find sitting in the tractor seat just as fine.

While I think of it, there is a slim possibility the flower shed will be closed or late on Tuesday but I wont know until it happens. I am just giving a heads up. I plan to be here, but I could be late.

Do come by the flower shed, the flowers are spectacular, if I must say so, and sit on the tractor seat for the view and relax. So until next week..

Allie. I dream of flowers, do you?

The Last Sunday of August

It is hard to believe that August is over after tomorrow. I wonder how that happened, but as I look out into the gardens I can certainly believe it. The late summer flowers are going crazy, as are the crickets.

The zinnias, celosia are also adding their bursts of vivid color and the chrysanthemums are budding up, hard to believe I know.

For those of you not in the know, I am going to give a quick little update here. On Tuesday Aug 18 I noticed something was off with my vision, so I called my optometrist who quickly made an appt for me at the local Medical Eye Center in Peterborough. Like an immediate appointment. Steve drove me directly to the office were I was immediately seen. Detached retina and tear. They immediately sent me to their office in Manchester where a gas bubble was injected in to push the retina back in place. I then had to spend the next eight days like this.

Then last Wednesday I had a laser treatment, very interesting as well, to stitch the retina back into place. So now, I can have my head upright in it’s normal position, but if I am resting, I need to have it sideways. All my remaining summer sports are done for the year. No swimming, no nothing. Rest is required. That means that no weeding, but I can harvest and create, so my world is still good. In three weeks I go back for a check up. The gas they injected should dissipate in another six weeks? Fingers crossed. It is also interesting, like looking through a big water bubble. Anyway, as long as I am mindful and don’t do anything stupid, I should be good to go and not require surgery.

So. Now back to flowers. Which are looking fantastic if I must say so. I mean just look at these.

I had a floral commission for this past Saturday for an amazing birthday celebration. These are just some of the many table flowers…

Then I was asked to make a posey as a gift to the same birthday girl..

To round out your viewing pleasure? The last photo is of the twiggery, looking up the hill.

I am going to send this off to Steve now for some massive spelling checks. I will be back next week to welcome in September. Yikes!

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