Author: Allie

I am Ready for March to Go!

March is never the easiest month to go through. The weather flucuations; the sleet, snow and rain mixed in with wind and possible chance of sun are taking its toll on my psyche. I just want sun, temps in the mid 40’s (don’t want to rush spring) rain at night, less gale force winds…you know, weather perfection. I know, this is March, and in reality, much of April as well. At least I have flowers to share.

This last week has been the first week that I have been able to totally circumnavigate the flower garden. I told myself I am not allowed in the garden until the snow is gone from that space. As you can see…

This promise to myself is driving me crazy. I am peering over the fence as much as possible, but in reality, not much is happening wether I am in the garden or not. Soon I hope, but until then, I just hang over the fence and look as hard as I can for signs of green. I do have shoots of narcissus showing up outside the garden though… and that helps. Sorta.

What I don’t have outside though I have happening inside. In the greenhouse I have cool flower seedlings, perennial seedlings, narcissus and the first round of ranunculus and anemone happening. It is getting a bit full in there at the moment.

Many of the seedlings will go into the tunnel in two? weeks, the crates of narcissus are ones that I wintered over between the tulip beds and have brought in to fill the floral gap,(that experiment seems to be working so far), and the first of the ranunculus and anemones have been planted out into the used tulip crates. I don’t have room for much else at the moment.

Tomorrow is the last batch of tulips to leave the cooler. If that isn’t a big yay I don’t know what is. That means that I have hauled 45 crates of forced bulbs in since the end of January. Thirty eight of them being tulips. The remaining have been dutch iris which I won’t do again, hyacinths and narcissus. The flower bunches for Easter will be stunning that is for sure.

What ever you do, don’t fret about not having tulips. The cooler is full of tulips ready to greet you each week well into May, and probably June when the peonies flower.

So I continue to seed, circumnavigate the garden multiple times during the day, harvest tulips, hyacinths and narcissus in small amounts, circumnavigate the gardens a few more time cause something might have happened in the last two hours when I was out there last and impatiently wait… and wait… and wait.

Meanwhile, next Friday and Saturday Garth will be here with his digger making more garden space for me for all the the plants I ordrered during the winter and that is very exciting. Also the chrysanthemum plugs should be sent next week…so I will soon be starting to get the fall crops ready…And, I have already gotten the tulips order forms for next year! Life of a flower grower is never boring.

So until next week, Allie. May this weeks dreams about flowers be less dramatic than last weeks flower dreams!

I heard an interesting quote this morning….

“Keep sowing seeds. It is a declaration of Hope.” Georgie Newbery.

I think it is entirely appropiate for our times. Growing flowers is looking towards to future and peacefuller times.

Allie

Typical March, every day is different weather wise. Not a bad thing because it keeps us on our toes, and April seems so far away, but the first day of spring is at the end of the week. Wonder what that will be like? Sunny, windy, rainy, snowy, could be all the above in one fine March day.

My most exciting news is that today I was able to take my first walk around the garden. Not that I was able to see much but stems and plant label stakes, but for the first time in months I was able to circumnavigate the gardens. Oh I was still walking in snow, but it was doable. Oh, and the path leading to the flower shed is completely open so unless we get more snow or it is really raining, snow boots won’t be necessary.

This week’s to do list? Besides hauling tulip crates and harvesting flowers, it will be to get the sprouting ranunculus and anemone planted in the empty bulb crates in the greenhouse. That is a biggie. I also need to get the snapdragons seeded and check what else I need to get seeded for this time of year. I also need to get the tunnel prepped for the transplants that I would like to get out sometime next week. I am waiting until the night time temps this week are a bit higher than 18. The frost covering helps but not quite as well when the temps are that low.

I am pathetic for tossing flowers when they go by. Mostly because many times the fading flower is so beautiful. Now Steve would say it’s laziness, but I love the senescene of the flowers.

This is one of my earliest tulips to bloom and I have to say many flower peoples’ favorite because it is just so stink’n beautiful any stage of bloom. The only reason I have them is because the bucket fell on the floor last Friday and they got damaged. Lucky me I guess.

The tulips last week were…Balroyal Pink, Delta Storm, Red Impression and Amazing Grace. Next week they will be slightly different.

Steve has returned so you will get his proofreading and entry ditty. Yay! So until next week,

Allie. I dream of flowers (and sometimes have nightmares about flowers), do you?

What a turn of weather! But that is March for you. Wintery crap on Wednesday and Thursday to today mostly sunny and temperatures in the mid 50’s. Talk about a radical change in just a few days. The driveway is mostly open again, the roof is clear of snow and rocks are appearing. Slowly.

The tulips harvest is going well. After tomorrows tulip pull into the dirty room I will have two more weeks of crates to go! Don’t worry, this is not the end of tulip season. From the time I pull the crates in it takes about four weeks to get them to bloom. This means that there will be tulips at least until the end of April if not longer, and those are just the forced tulips. Then we have the 2200? in ground tulips that usually bloom around mothers day, weather cooperating. So not to worry, there will be plenty of tulips through June and probably until the peonies bloom.

I have run out of places to put my seedlings. The rack is full but I am hoping that tomorrow, with the fine weather to lasting until Thursday when the nights begin to go below freezing again I can get some of the cool flower and perennial babies out into the greenhouse. They will have to have protection at night, but I am running out of options. Once the ranunculus and anemones sprout they will get planted into the used tulip crates and out into the greenhouse. Flower tetris at it’s best.

Soon I hope I can begin my multiple circuits around the gardens watching the evolution of spring but I don’t think that will happen for a week or two, but who knows. I am certainly ready to smell the damp earth and get my hands into the soil.

So I can’t pass you off to Steve tonight cause he’s in Austin TX, so you will have to put up with my proofreading and possible entry ditty.

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

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.