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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?

The Last Sunday of October

Well here we are at the last Sunday of October. Week 44 in the flower farmer’s calendar. Yikes. Just where has the season gone? Or should I say seasons.

It has been as busy week here. All of the forcing tulips are crated and in the cooler. So we went from this

It took me 1 1/2 days to get all of these tulips planted, plus which you can’t see, the hyacinths and iris. It will be a beautiful March if all goes well with the new bulbs. It will still be a beautiful March and April and all of the rest of the months next year.

I have almost also gotten all of the dahlias sorted today. So last week it looked like this…to this

The good thing is that is another big tick off the to do list. The in ground tulips have been shipped and I am expecting them any day now, so getting these two big projects done will make things a bit easier. The beds for the in ground tulips is ready for them, which is also huge, so planting the 2000 should only take the most of one day, fingers crossed.

The flower shed is now officially closed for the season. If you have a special order let me know and I will see if i can do it. I still have flowers, just not enough for open flower shed days.

It is a good thing for the heavy duty frost cloth because it sure is being used on these cold nights.

Just because the dahlias and part of the tulips are done it doesn’t mean that the flower farmer can rest yet. I still have a few things that need to be transplanted and divided, then once the mums are done everything will get cut down, irrigation pulled and garden hopefully mulched. I figure, or rather hoping everything will be wrapped up by the middle of November.

I did have time to do my #windowframethursday so here it is.

Before I send you off to Steve for proof reading and his little entrance ditty I want to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart for all the support you have given me through out the season and for that matter all the years. It means everything to me that you love my flowers and continue to support me from buying flowers, emails of encouragement and by your smiling faces when you come to the flower shed. Thank you.

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

Well. Last Week was a Week to be Sure.

What a ride this past week has been! We had frostmass the previous Friday which, as you remember, wiped out all the the dahlias and the summer annuals. And it has been non stop since. You might also remember that I was slowly entering panic mode because the tulips were supposed to be shipped on Oct 6, or week 41.

I called the bulb company on Tuesday morning having not heard anything about my order. They were sounding shall we say a tad bit stressed, running behind schedule. I was told that my order had been pulled which means that it is now in the warehouse waiting packing. When I receive the invoice it will be shipped. OK. I get that, so I spent the week getting all the dahlias dug and put in crates safely in the cave until I can deal with them.

The garden is looking very different now. All the dahlias are dug, all the annuals are cut down and soon the rest of the garden will get cut down.

BUT!

Friday morning in my email at breakfast I got an invoice for my tulips so I thought super, they should arrive Tuesday or Wednesday. Nope. Around 3:00 the Fed Ex truck drives in the driveway and low and behold, tulips! So I put aside the dahlias for a few minutes, to take care of the tulips, which are all now safe in the cooler starting their chilling requirements. Phew. I still won’t have tulips to offer for Valentine’s Day but I will have them before March.

This week’s project is to get the crates sanitized and hopefully by the end of the week planted. The cooler is going to be a very busy and full cooler by November. After all the tulips and dahlias are taken care of, then the rest of the garden can be addressed. It isn’t going anywhere.

What do I have to do for that? Well, the landscape fabric has to be pulled and folded, the irrigation lines need to be rolled up and labeled, compost needs to be added to the beds and the remaining perennials need to be cut down and added to the berm. Oh, and I still have nine peonies to plant, another 2500 tulips to plant and I am sure I am forgetting things.

I did have time to create two table pieces for a celebration of life this past week though. The colors are very autumnal, large enough to make a statement, but small enough not to overwhelm the buffet tables.

As you can see, I have been a busy flower farmer.

Before I forget, this week coming will be the last week for the open flower shed. The flowers are still beautiful, but I just don’t have the selection and volume. Don’t fret though, I will still keep you entertained with the flower farm goings on.

I will pass this on to Steve so he can write his ditty and get this published.

Don’t forget to stop by the flower shed and say hello! It will be the last open shed until February 2026!

So until next week. Allie. I dream of flowers, and sometimes they are nightmares!

Frostmass has Arrived

Well it happened. Last Friday morning we had our hard freeze. There is nothing like going from the 80’s the week before, to a hard freeze the next week. Not only is it a shock to the plants but the poor flower farmer. At least we had been given a heads up a day earlier so measures could be taken.

The Thursday that the warnings were coming through I harvested flowers three times. The first pass was in the morning before the sun hit the flowers, then again after lunch, then again around 4:00. I think four or five buckets of dahlias were harvested, all the cosmos, zinnias, a bunch of chrysanthemums that I couldn’t get under cover so by Thursday night the flower cooler was full of beautiful flowers.

I am glad I harvested and I also covered the chrysanthemums that I had started from cuttings, the others I left to chance and they all came out beautifully. Yay.

The next morning, we had this.

Despite the summer flowers being smelt, the autumn flowers sailed through the freeze and we should have flowers for at least the next two weeks. Hurrah! Everything is safely tucked in the cooler staying “warm” and I say that because most mornings now the cooler is warmer than the outside air.

Last week was week 41 in the flower farmer’s world, and I should have received my first shipment of tulips. Nothing. I sent an email to the bulb company wondering where they are. No panic yet. The worst thing is I probably have tulips available for Valentines week…but we will still have them when we need them the most which is February, March, April and May. I will let you know when I start to panic.

I have gotten confirmation that the narcissus that I couldn’t resist, iris and hyacinths for forcing have been shipped as well as nine more peony roots. I thought I had only ordered six, apparently I got slightly carried away. Hard to believe, I know.

Other happenings on the farm? The last of the dividing of the perennials, dividing and planting the plants for the shade flowers, finish cutting down the summer annuals and digging the dahlias. Not all will get accomplished this week by any means, but it is on the to-do list. And when the tulips arrive, get them crated up ASAP so they can go into the cooler.

I am enjoying tonight’s rain and sitting by the wood stove, first fire of the season. I will leave you here so Steve can finish up and get this published.

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