Previewing the Season Ahead
Nearing the end of May, our growing season is in full swing, and we have some exciting crops planned. Like last year, we went big on dahlias, and we’ve just finished planting over 300 tubers — nearly a quarter of our growing space! We’re excited to bring forward some rare and coveted beauties for wedding and design work like Cafe Au Lait, Bloomquist York, Peaches N Cream, Crichton Honey, Caitlin’s Joy, Sweet Nathalie and many, many others (I can’t help myself when it comes to dahlias…. but that’s another story).
The lisianthus we seeded in February is coming along nicely in the greenhouse, and will be ready to plant in the hoop house within the next few weeks. If you haven’t worked with lisianthus, it’s truly the summer’s stunner, second only (in my humble opinion) to dahlias. Lisianthus have long, strong stems and silken blooms like roses (minus the thorns), and last 10-14 days in a vase — they’re among the most coveted blooms, earning their rightful place as some of the top flowers floral designers seek out and love working with.
We also have zinnias, sunflowers, calendula, amaranth, and cosmos on tap — all direct seeded — just starting to push through the soil as the temperatures continue to warm up. Soon we’ll be planting out basil, strawflower, and marigold starts, with some new perennials like echinacea and lavender also in the mix. One of our experiments this season is to work with drying flowers to be able to have some everlasting bouquets and arrangements available through the winter months. Stay tuned!
Our second-year peonies are still too young to harvest from, but we’re looking forward to seeing them grow this summer. Fun side story here: our irrigation failed last summer along the peony hedge, and in the chaos of the growing season, this was something that got missed. I assumed they were all dead, until, miraculously, I stumbled upon a tiny pink marshmallow-head bud on Mother’s Day no less (#plantmom) — and discovered that not only did most of the the peonies survive, but they are thriving after all this past winter’s rain.
Last but not least, we’re cultivating some fabulous fillers and foliage, having planted out bare root woody perennial plants like hydrangeas, lilac, ninebark, bush honeysuckle, and astilbe, to name a few. We’re excited to see these take root this season and track their progress over the summer months.
So much happening here, and we’re just getting started! Here’s to an incredible growing season ahead!
xo,
R