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End of January Polytunnel Update
I swear, January always feels like the longest month ever. There’s nothing really actively growing, and it’s usually too cold to go outside and have fun. So I end up stuck inside under my blankets waiting for the sun to come back out. Luckily, the month is almost over and it’s time to take a peak at what’s going on inside the hoophouse. We recently passed 10 hours of daylight. Right on cue, it seems that the anemone coronaria plants have started to send up flowers. None of them have bloomed yet, but I guess it will be any day now – depending upon how warm the temperatures are, of…
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December Hoop House Update – Hardy Annual Cut Flowers
It hasn’t been long since I transplanted the hoop house. At the time, I was feeling pretty pessimistic. I was nearly certain that the things I planted wouldn’t grow. Now that it’s December, it’s really interesting to see just how much things have actually grown. The flower beds are filled with a random assortment of flowering hardy annuals. In the photo above, you can see some calendula (top) and tricolor salvia (front, textured leaves). The row on the left side is pretty unorganized. This is mainly because I direct sowed most of these plants. The flowers on the right are planted much more neatly. Whoa! Look at all those bells…
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November Hoop House Update – Hardy Annual Cut Flowers
To say that the weather over this past month has been wacky would be an understatement. It was less than three weeks ago that I was complaining about temperatures in the 90s – and now, it’s snowing and in the teens! With such a wide fluctuation in temperature, I’ve not done a very good job at planning and getting the seedlings into the hoop house. Alas, I’ve finally completed the process. Let’s take a closer look at what’s growing. I’m experimenting with growing freesia again this year. I have some in the ground, as well as in pots. I’ve read that they’re hardy to zone 8, so in my mind,…
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DIY Hoop House for Cut Flowers – Year 2 Update
One of the most game changing aspects of the garden for me has to be the addition of the unheated hoop house. I constructed this one made out of pvc last fall. I’m happy to say that the structure survived the summer, and it’s now time to cover it for another growing season this winter. Being totally honest, there are some parts of the structure that look pretty rough. Specifically, I’ve gone through and secured all of the pvc joints with tons and tons of duct tape. It’s not glamorous, but we’re on a budget. It might not be the prettiest thing ever, but as long as it gets the…
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Pre-Sprouting Ranunculus and Anemone Corms for the Spring Flower Garden
Ranunculus corms have arrived! To say that I’m excited may possibly be one of the biggest understatements of the century. This year, I was able to purchase some really beautiful varieties of both ranunculus and anemones. I was so thankful to have been able to place an order from Italian Ranunculus with the help of some flower farming friends. I also ended up buying a bunch of “traditional” colors from retailers online. Here in my garden, it is imperative that I start both ranunculus and anemone corms in the fall and let them overwinter. If I plant them in the spring, my summer temperatures simply get much too hot too…
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Seed Starting Tips: Soaking and Stratification for Better Flower Seed Germination
It’s nearly October, and that means one very important thing – it’s time to begin preparing for the spring garden. While I know it seems somewhat odd to start preparations this soon, it’s actual crucial in terms of creating the best garden possible. After all, now is the time to start planting fall flowering bulbs, planting biennial flowers, and sowing hardy annual flowers. Many hardy annual and biennial flowers are unique in their ability to grow well during the coolest portions of the growing season. This is especially surprising here in zone 6b/7. I feel that my garden receives fairly cold temperatures in the winter, so I’m always surprised to…
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In Bloom: White Ranunculus Flowers
I know that it is not exactly a secret, but I absolutely love growing ranunculus. In fact, they may be my favorite flower. I love how luxurious the blooms look. They make me feel like I’m fancy, even though I am the exact opposite of that. White ranunculus were the only corms that I grew this year. When planning the garden, I was on a tight budget in terms of both money and space. I chose white because I knew that they would “match” whatever else I managed to grow. The plan worked really well, as I’ve been able to make many lovely flower arrangements this spring. I planted these…
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Agrostemma and Ranunclus Spring Cut Flower Arrangement
When it comes to making flower arrangements with the cut flowers in my garden, I’m very much a novice. I have absolutely no floral training, and I’ve never really made bouquets aside from family and for friends. So, when new-to-me flowers are in bloom – it’s the perfect opportunity to try to learn more about putting them into cut flower arrangements. For this arrangement, I wanted to start out with some base flowers of alyssum and mint. The main reason I chose the alyssum is because of its beautiful, sweet smell. The mint also adds a really nice hint of green. The next flower that I wanted to use was…
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Tulips, Ranunculus, and Icelandic Poppies – Oh, my!
This growing season I’ve been really pleased with my progress in growing new things. Though ranunculus and tulips are garden favorites, other things like the Icelandic poppies are in full bloom. This year I grew a mix of colors, but these white and champagne colored blooms have quickly won my heart. Today, I wanted to quickly show you guys a recent flower arrangement that I made.
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Spring Bouquet with Ranunculus and Icelandic Poppies
At a certain point in my gardening career, I started to realize that much of your success is simply related to what types of flowers you have available and whether or not you have access to an expensive camera. After years and years of blogging, I’ve learned to grow a lot of flowers and I’ve finally upgraded my camera. The more experience I get, the less I’m impressed with the the false realities created on the internet. Here’s a bouquet that I made recently on a whim. Despite my complete novice flower arranging skill level, it still turned out beautiful. I hope you like it. The peachy salmon colored poppies…
