Past their prime... but more on their way

I know these flowers are past their prime and are starting to fade... especially the phlox... but even spent flowers can bring me joy.

But not to worry, the garden is recovering from this week's harvest and more are on their way.... yesterday's rain will help too.

My first statice...

Cosmos!

Celosia

Zinnias

Dahlias, dahlias and more dahlias...

First Wedding Flowers

Today I delivered our first flowers for a wedding - 12 mason jar arrangements as reception table centerpieces at Harvest House at Lost Creek.  It was an absolutely gorgeous day - about 80 degrees, sunny, slight breeze, low humidity - perfect day for an outdoor wedding.  I realized I should have taken photos of where the ceremony was setting up in a beautiful glade down the hill from the main house and reception venue.

When I met with the bride and we talked about style and color - "rustic" and "pops of color" seemed to resonate most.  Hopefully these made her smile.  Here are the arrangements on our kitchen table as we were getting ready to transport them.

And below are a few photos from the venue - they were just setting up as I arrived so my flowers were the first things on the table!  There were table numbers and wine bottles with sprigs of baby's breath also prepped to go on the tables and I can't wait to see pictures of the final setup.

Most of all, I hope she is happy.  I started to get teary-eyed as I thought about the wedding day and just how beautiful weddings are - full of hope and promise.  And of course, I was thinking about my darling husband who did so much to help me get these flowers ready - mostly by keeping our two young boys away as I harvested most of the day on Friday and arranged all Saturday morning.  Oh - and he figured out the perfect way to transport these arrangements - in cut down wine bottle boxes!

All my best to the bride and groom and their future!

Where has the time gone?

This Spring and Summer have been full of flowers and all sorts of growing... mostly in terms of learning about HOW to grow flowers.  I have been so delighted with what has been growing, but also surprised by what is not growing so well.  All sorts of lessons learned that will be applied to the next seasons.  I guess the main lesson is that this is farming and it is difficult... but oh my is it rewarding!

Below are just a few happy pictures of the bounty!

Can I please just get a day in the garden?

Well it is officially the First Day of Spring!  We've had some pretty major ups and downs temperature-wise and I know a lot of folks in the area have been worried about their early flowering plants... either I'm a little cooler where I am or I put stuff in the ground late last year and that is why they are late.  I suppose we shall see next year what schedule they are on.  I have been able to pick some daffodils and they make me so happy!  Just sunshine in a little cup!

I also went up to my local nursery and picked up (finally!) a forsythia and a flowering quince.  I did receive some gifts of each of these from my aunts but they don't seem to have fared well so I'm starting from scratch.  It is so nice to see those bright flowers in the garden while everything else is still brown, though with a bit of green poking around at the bottom of some of the plants.

Because of our temperature swings, I haven't cleared out the garden yet, basically wanting the old plant matter to provide some additional protection from the high winds and cold temperatures.  It looks like in the next 10 days we have one more night that might get to the 20s but everything else looks like 30s, 40s and even 50s as low temperatures.

These two little ones, in between eating dirt and who knows what else, smacking each other upside the head and picking up things that they're not supposed to... they make it a little hard to get anything done.  But, guess what, they did help me plant a rose bush last night... they dug their little holes and I dug mine and they helped me cover it up... progress!

And, of course, my Mike... who puts up with me as we both are trying to figure out all of this and try to get it done right... or just get it done!  He made the planting template so now we just need to get the landscape fabric situated on the beds and Thursday night I am planting my first seed block transplants!!!  I am so excited!  They are probably hating me right now because they should have been planted weeks ago and are getting to such an overgrown state that I'm not quite sure how many I have.. but, whatever, they are going in the ground!  I have some snapdragons too and they might just end up in the same bed as the stock because they are so few (maybe 6).

I have been losing confidence in my Green Thumb abilities with soil blocking... but I have my third round of seed blocks going and I MAY have gotten it right.  The first set was too wet and cold, the second too hot and dry... and this third... not dry... maybe a little too warm... but it's looking okay at least.  Anyhow, I guess some plants are better than none and I've noticed that when I give up on snapdragon seedlings... then somehow those trays start to show a little life.

So I really don't get much time in the garden, and last night I came home from work, kicked off my heels and threw on my boots and went out to the garden... dress and all.  I know my neighbors must wonder what I'm up to but I just needed to get out there and changing clothes takes time.  So, in this cute little number - ha! - I planted two rose bushes, three heleobores, got my dress caught on a raspberry vine and tried to keep the boys away from daddy who was setting up the drip irrigation.  But can I please just have a day in the garden?

Is this Spring?

We've had such a strange winter... or lack thereof, that I think the plants and all of us are a bit confused.  I've had cheerful little crocus heads peaking up at me in the morning in all of their yellows, purples and whites.

As I head off to work I check on the daffodils and the tulips to see how much they've grown (and if the bunny rabbits and/or deer are continuing to munch on the tulips).  I saw life from a peony that I had long ago given up for dead and was just overjoyed to see it poking it's funny little purple/red fronds up.

We go from 70 degree days to 40 degree days within the same three-day span and while I'm excited to see all these signs of Spring, it comes with worry that it comes too soon.  Technically we have seven weeks to go before our official last frost date of 18 April and I wonder if some of these plant babies are going to make it through the temperature swings that are ahead of us.  

I'm continuing to work on my seedlings and soil blocking.  I've already learned some "what-not-to-do's".  Basically, it seems that where I was starting my seedlings was a little too cool and I had quite a bit of damping off.  I also over-watered which didn't help anything.  We went out and purchased a $40 space heater and it seems to have done the trick (along with the 70 degree days).  So, I've rescued what I could of the snapdragon seedlings (oh, I might have five left...) and the stock (these did much better) and am at a point where I need to get them in the ground.  Here they are hardening off on the front porch.

We are a little behind on getting our beds going... but the boys are enjoying their makeshift sandbox!

In the background you can see the original three beds we prepared.  Two were planted with a cover crop of clover.  I've heard that the benefit really comes from letting them flower before you turn them over, but I might just bite the bullet and turn these into the bed for the seedlings I have that need to go in the ground now.  The third bed was planted on 3 October with cool flowers and they are continuing to flourish.  In this photo you can see dill and larkspur that will need to be thinned once they get a little taller.

The next projects are to get the beds on the other side of the house prepared and outfitted with drip-tape irrigation and landscape fabric (to cut down the need for weeding).  The longer term plan is to hook the irrigation up to rain barrels but we may initially hook it up to our regular hose-bib with Town water until we can get all of our barrels in place.  Lots of projects ahead, but also hopefully lots of flowers!  I can't wait... and maybe Spring isn't going to wait either...

Patience...

This winter has been all about dreaming and planning and preparing.  I have ordered seeds and soil blocking equipment and have started to develop my spreadsheets of what I will plant where and when.  And I have created an impromptu filing system for my seeds with notes on when I will plant, how many, etc.

Every now and then I go out and peak under the row covers to check on the tiny little bed of hardy annuals I planted back in October... they are still there which means the bunny rabbits have somehow stayed away!  I suppose I can uncover them, but since we are about to get another cold snap next week it won't do any harm to keep them covered.

And I have just completed my first bit of soil blocking.  Thank you Lisa Mason Ziegler for your videos and generosity in sharing your expertise!  Oh how I love playing in the dirt!  I have a seed starting area set aside in one part of my basement.  An old folding table serves as the main work surface where I mixed the soil and water and created the blocks.  My husband thinks they look like little brownies and I have to admit that they do.  Of course my two year old heard that and now I won't be surprised if I find him nibbling on one in the near future...

For my first foray into soil blocking I started with snapdragons (some from The Gardener's Workshop and some from Floret) and stock since both are hardy annuals that I should be able to put out in the garden before the last frost date has passed.  It was fun making the little blocks and honestly somewhat zen-like using the seed pan and toothpick to put the seeds on the blocks.  Although I was zoning out while doing that, I was also comforted by the sounds of all my boys in the next room:  my husband playing the guitar and the two year old and baby running/crawling/scampering around.

And this morning I went in to check on the little blocks... and now patience as it should take 3 to 7 days for the snapdragons to germinate and 7 to 14 for the stock... patience, patience, patience.

That must be Katie's house with all the flowers...

We have so much planning and work to do that sometimes I get discouraged.  We're starting so small that this may not be viable and may not translate to a larger property/project later on.... the more and more I get interested in this and am looking around for ideas... I find more and more folks doing the same thing I want to do... IN THE SAME AREA.  But I take heart in a few things:

1) I am genuinely excited about the possibilities ... it's fun to think about and plan out the nitty gritty details!

2) There ARE other people doing the same thing I want to do... in the same area.  That means my ideas must be on the right track!

3) The local community and the larger community seem welcoming and it makes me think about something that Doug Fabbioli (Winemaker at Fabbioli Cellars) posted recently... "Call me crazy but I love to see people happy and succeeding.  Life is a journey, not a competition."  Doug has done much to foster this sense of community around Loudoun County and Virginia winemaking and I know it has had a positive effect on other industries as well.  I will take this to heart as we venture into the local flower farming movement and will endeavor to learn and grow and contribute to the overall sense of community.  Above all, I want to feel a part of something larger than myself and something that I'm passionate about.

A friend of mine came to visit us recently.  I really haven't seen her as much as I would have liked over the last 20 (gulp!) years but we are forever bonded by our high school experience.  We went to separate colleges and now live across the country from each other and although we knew each other really well as young adults, we might not know each other as well now that we have become adults and parents and all the other changes that life brings.  But the first thing she said to me as I met her in the driveway was that as she and her family were driving up our street, she told her husband, "That must be Katie's house with all the flowers..."