Getting Daffodils To Play Well with others

If you ask me what my favorite flower is most of the year I would tell you it is the flowers that are blooming right in front of me. This time of year narcissus are beginning to pop up joyfully everywhere, singing the announcement of Spring’s arrival . Strolling through them as delightful scents of their fresh Spring perfume wafts up to greet you is intoxicating. Their bright joyful colors are so welcome after a long winter. For the most part they are the colors of sunshine , and with the fancier corals, pinks, and orangie peach varieties, they are the color of a soft blazing sunrise that lights up the sky. Did you know that these joyful flowers do not play well with other flowers?

The narcissus emit a sticky jelly like sap when cut that can irritate the skin. Where gloves when harvesting to avoid the sap from getting onto your hands. I find that reaching to the ground level and pinching them off at the base with my fingers gives the longest stems and helps with some of the sap as opposed to snipping them. When placed in a vase with other flowers, this sap leaks out and clogs the stems of the other flowers, preventing them from water uptake, thus significantly shortening their vase life . There is a simple solution to help daffodils play nice with others by conditioning them properly before they are placed in a mixed arrangement. Once cut , place daffodils into a vase of fresh water for several hours (3-6 ish) , to let the sap drain out and stems scab over . They can then be safely arranged with other flowers in a vase with fresh water . Recutting the stems at any point will have to go through this conditioning process again.

As our first “Daffodil Days Club” bouquets are delivered this week, I am so excited for this season to begin. This week they were paired with our lovely Hellebores which are in peak right now. “Daffodil Days” Memberships are now sold out, but there are just 3 spots left for the “Early Spring Bouquet Club” Membership that will start in a just a few weeks! You can click on link below to see all of the details .

Happy Spring Flower Friend!

xo

Shari

not Yet, But soon

Not yet but soon. Underneath blankets of snow and sheets of ice, I know you are there, waiting.

Walking out this morning wasn’t just simply cold, it was a frigid negative 3 degrees F. I have lived here in the Mid West for over 20 years, (transplant from California), and I still do not know how that is possible. Natives laugh, but it is just something my head won’t wrap around even now. What I do know is thankfully there is quite a bit of snow covering the garden and it’s insulating everything from this cold deep dive. All the hard work and planting done in the Fall is there gathering energy , holding on, as am I. This won’t last, and while it does I stay warm inside without liking it. I draw plans, and then draw them again. More plans, more dreams, of how the garden will evolve this season. In January it could be anything that I can dream. Books of great gardens past and present scattered around me. Bookmarked and poured through a million times. I look outside and see the garden there sleeping. It can be still be anything in January. It’s the moment to plan and dream.

Moving Forward, A Look into 2024

Underplanting of Wall Flowers surround the peonies

Hello!

Well here we are at the end of December and I cannot wait for Spring 2024! I have been excitedly planning out the 2024 growing season since way back in August of this year, which may seem pretty early, but when working a flower business with just a little over an acre, maximizing the growing space for cutting becomes really important. The first year we were on the property I had these huge, wild, over the top ambitions, to complete everything in just one season, two at the most. I don’t know how I pictured myself, and hubby on his day off, as a gardening army capable of achieving this but quickly, and laughably, that proved not to be an option. I learned (and am still learning), how to be patient and let the gardens evolve a little more slowly, rather than telling nature what to do. I realized that it was benificial to wait a while and live with my surroundings a bit more before trying to make something work that maybe wouldn’t be the best option both for the space or for what I needed from it. This coming season we have increased the annual cutting garden 56% and more than tripled the perinnial bed space. Sometimes it is hard for me to see all that I have done, because I constantly compare it to what I still want to get accomplished. So many flowers planted this Fall. I am like a child at Christmas, only I am waiting for Spring.

The Allium in Spring

Our Spring 2024 bouquet subscription membership is now available with a limited number of slots available! This year again we will be delivering within a 12 mile radius in Cincinnati/NKY area. You can see all the details HERE. Anderson Township customers please choose the Anderson membership. We would love to welcome you as a member of our flower farm family.

xo

Shari

Fall, the end or just the beginning of a garden

Some of the most brilliant colors of the season happen in Fall when mother nature is preparing to power down . Like a huge firework finale, the garden does not go quietly. Everyone takes notice as she leaves the room.