Ever wonder what happens on a flower farm during the winter? While we operate at a bit of a slower pace, there is still much to be done. From planning and planting to dreaming and designing. “A farmer’s work is never done!”
Tulip Time
In the late fall, as the flowers are sending out their last blooms and the fields are cleared and prepped for the spring, we turn our attention to spring. It's bulb planting time and the bulbs we ordered last April are arriving. Tulips in all shapes and sizes, fragrant specialty daffodils, alliums and so much more.
We grow our tulips as annuals and plant them close together (like eggs in a carton)...
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As the season shifts from harvesting and delivering flowers to preparing and planning for the next season, I scroll through my photos for inspiration. I am humbled by the shear beauty and joy I was able to share with my CSA members and bouquet recipients. One of the best things about local seasonal flowers is the unbelievable variety of shapes, sizes, and colors not available elsewhere. Here are just a few of my favorites.
Spring Season
Tulips are one of my all time favorite flowers. They come in the most glorious shapes, sizes, and colors, each with their own unique features. I completely understand how some people in the 17th century in the Dutch...
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Getting involved in the entire lifecycle of the flowers we grow…from pouring though reams of catalogs and choosing just the right varieties…to ensuring our bouquets are filled with the right colors, textures, and scents…
Spending most of our days outside
Walking the field at dusk and soaking in the utter beauty that surrounds our daily lives
Trying endlessly to get the dirt out from under our fingernails…but never quite succeeding…
Watching the farm mascot nap in the sun while the bunnies munch on the flowers nearby
Rolling with the punches when mother nature sends you 80+° days in April…forcing you to harvest all your tulips immediately or face losing them
Witnessing the inner workings of mother nature and...
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Flower trials are an important part of flower farming. Sometimes I test to see which flowers I can reliably offer during the season or push outside their normal limits. Other times, I grow new to me varieties or something unusual to see if its going to be a hit or a dud. It is a good thing I have limited space or I could easily get carried away with trialing new flowers!
Butterfly Ranunculus
I am intrigued by these flowers. Unlike the multilayered petals of a more traditional ranunculus, Butterfly Ranunculus remind me of the perennial Anemone hybrids with their single petal form. They have multiple flowers on each stem and the flower petals...
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Local Flower Journey
Today I am sharing a few tidbits of what I learned about the cut flower industry and its impact on the environment. I love some of the exotic flowers available in the global flower market (talking to you Protea). However, getting those flowers to my door comes with a significant environmental cost. I am not an expert in any of this, but found the following information impactful and a bit alarming. The graphic map is an illustration to show where our flowers come from. If you do not want to risk ruining the enjoyment of non-locally grown flowers, you might want to skip this post.
Imported Flowers
Do you know where your flowers...
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