http://www.riverandseaflowers.com/

River and Sea Flowers, 4362 Tamboline Road, Delta, BC (2025)

12/22/2024

Happy Solstice! We’ve now passed the shortest day of the year, every day will get longer and brighter for the next six months.
The farm is just now orbiting into a much slower and quieter time. We’ve spent the last several weeks tackling lots of fall tasks and now that they’re complete the whole team is taking some well earned time off.
There are lots of spring blooming plants sinking their roots in and growing slowly. As the days get longer and longer they’ll grow faster and faster until we’re harvesting piles of buckets of flowers again.
Us humans are also sinking our roots in for the coming year: resting, planning, organizing and dreaming for a floriferous 2025.
🌙🕯️☀️

12/14/2024

We made ya some wreaths!
We made the bases from ninebark branches on the farm, sourced some greenery and berries from both off farm and around the farm’s hedgerows and gardens, rustled through some dried flower stashes, and gleaned some interesting crunchy botanical bits from the frosted flower field, and then topped them off with ribbon.
They’re a mix of big full wreaths, some smaller ones, as well as some partials and half moon ones like this. Find them and the very last of the eucalyptus at the this weekend from 10:00-3:00 both days.
Come grab some seasonal magic for your doorstep!

12/07/2024

These blooms are not in season! We’ll be waiting almost 6 more months till the peonies bloom again. But if you want to make sure you don’t miss em, (they’ll be here for a good time, not a long time) you can join our Peony Club!
It’s our new CSA (community supported agriculture) program. We’re shaking things up a bit for 2025 and are only offering ONE CSA program next year. I’m telling you all this now because we’ve just launched sign ups for the Peony Club. I figure it’ll make an excellent treat for a flower lover or for you if you are gaga for peonies yourself.
It’ll get ya a big bunch of luscious blooms for three weeks in a row, starting sometime in May when Mother Nature decides its go time for this bodacious crop.
Can you wait till May? It’s a practice in patience!

11/30/2024

Saturday is our last market of the year!
We’ll have heirloom chrysanthemums, eucalyptus, a few other blooms and our natural dye flowers.
Thank you for coming out rain or shine to support us week after week. It’s been a whirlwind of a season and we’re looking forward to a shift in pace for a few months.
There’s still a few key tasks to wrap up in the next few weeks at the farm and into the new year but the flower harvest is pretty much finished for the year.
See you at Riley Park market on Saturday or in the spring!

11/23/2024

The weeks have been flying by and somehow we’re getting close to the end of November already!
While the flowers have been slowing down, there is still lots to do at the farm before winter sets in. Field clean up, dahlia digging and starting thousand of plants for spring blooms (and prepping beds for them all) needs to happen in the next four weeks.
We’ve been dodging storms to make it all happen and it looks like we’re in for some good sunshine next week to finish off the month.
We only have a couple of farmers markets left in our season, so come by the Riley Park market this Saturday to catch us with heirloom chrysanthemums, eucalyptus, our natural dye flowers and a few other bits.
Farm stand folks coming out to Westham Island, we have some mum bunches for you this weekend!

11/16/2024

We were so grateful for the sunshine today! We’ve had above average rainfall for over three months now and it kinda puts a damp-er on things. (Excuse the pun 😂, maybe my brain is a bit waterlogged at this point.)
We’ll be back out in the liquid sunshine on Saturday at the Riley Park Winter Farmers Market. We’ve finally dipped into the eucalyptus patch and have tucked a few stems in the mixed bouquets this week. We’ll also have a few loose stems for you to add to your bouquets or to just grab a handful to enjoy on their own.
Also coming along to market: piles of our heirloom chrysanthemums, a few marigolds, snapdragons, gomphrena and some amaranth. And our dye flowers are making their first appearance at market this week too!

11/09/2024

Another week down! How did it get to be so far into November already?
This week we’ve put some serious time into cleaning up at the farm as well as starting the Big Dig. The Big Dig is where we dig, wash, divide and store our dahlia tubers so that we can plant them again next year. We started in the wettest part of the field and unfortunately we’re finding some rotten tubers. Hopefully they look a bit better as we go.
The good news is that the heirloom mums are still putting on a show! Every variety has a different blooming period so some new varieties are starting this week as some others are finishing up. This red one really pops!
You can find us with mums, the very last dahlias and a few other flowers at the Riley Park farmers market on Saturday. The is stocked with mums for the weekend too.

11/07/2024

Today is certainly too early for winter holiday stuff in my books BUT it’s not too early to sign up for our wreath making class in Ladner Village next month!
I’ll show you how to make a seasonal wreath using locally sourced natural materials from the field and forest.
Grab a pal and come and make a wreath, then go for lunch in our cute village, browse the local shops and come out to Westham Island for some farm veggies.
Sunday December 1st 10:30 to 12:30.
Who’s ready for some holiday plans? 🎄

https://vincaskitchen.ca/products/wreath-making-with-rachel-dec-1

11/02/2024

This is a wagon load of magic! It’s taken years of trial and error and crop failure from pests and too much neglect to get to the point where we can fill a whole wagon with a harvest of these heirloom chrysanthemums.
We’ve been sourcing mother plants for at least 5 years. Since then we’ve learned how to propagate them, found the time to take care of them and get them planted during the busy early summer season when other crops seem to take priority, and given them some good crop support so they don’t get out of control and flop over. Now at last we’re harvesting them by the armload and wagonload.
We’ve kept at it because there are some really special shapes and colours in this crop, they’re a long lasting flower in the vase and *especially* because they bloom well into November.
We’ll have these beauties at the first Winter Riley Park farmers market in Vancouver on Saturday as well as a few other blooms. Yes, the dahlias are still going! The farm stand on Westham Island will also have dahlias and heirloom mums available (new fall hours are 10:00-3:00 Sat and Sun).
Hope to share some of these seasonal blooms with you soon!

10/26/2024

The heirloom chrysanthemums are blooming well now! These flowers are pretty special and it’s nice to have a new crop starting so late in the season.
We managed to miss a frost this week which means that the dahlias in the field are still blooming, which is pretty nice as they started their season so late for us this year.
You can find both these wonderful blooms as well as marigolds, strawflowers and a few other types of blooms this weekend at the Riley Park and Trout Lake farmers markets. It’s the last Trout Lake market of the year so don’t miss it! Next weekend winter version of Riley Park will start up with an expanded market.
We have the farmstand stocked on Westham Island as well if you’re coming out pumpkin picking or if you’re just looking for some veggies and flowers out this way.

10/19/2024

These are quite possibly the last of the field dahlias for the season. It’s been a good but short dahlia run this year!
This weekend’s storm combined with a pretty good chance of a frost next week means these blooms’ days are numbered.
Will you miss them?
You can find these last buckets this weekend at Trout Lake, Riley Park and Kitsilano farmers markets. Also coming along: a tiny teaser of the first heirloom chrysanthemums, strawflowers, gomphrena, ornamental pumpkins, and lots of other bits and pieces. And some beautiful moody fall toned mixed bouquets!
Come to markets (or the ) for some delicious ingredients to make some soup and grab some flowers to brighten your table too.
Don’t forget your boots!

10/12/2024

Happy weekend!
We’re trying something new this Saturday at the farm stand on Westham Island. We’ll be setting up a stem bar (like the ones we have at markets) so you can make your own custom bouquet! We’ll have pre-made ones available too, if that sounds a bit daunting to you, but we’ll be there to help and coach you a little if you’d like. Swing by Saturday from 10:00-2:00 for the stem bar, but we’ll also have flowers out all day both weekend days available by the bunch and bouquet.
And customers! You can find us at Riley Park and Trout Lake markets this weekend with the stem bar, piles of mixed bouquets of various colour palettes and sizes as well as single type bunches and ornamental pumpkins.
It’s going to be a beautiful day to come by the market to pick up some delicious veggies and other tasty meal ingredients, and we’ll be there for the floral eye candy you need to grace you table too!

10/05/2024

October dahlias, they’re pretty special! We’ll be picking them until the frost takes them, which is usually sometime this month. The field is slowly declining, as wet and windy weather take their toll on the plants and rough up the remaining blooms as they open.
It gets harder to find the good ones in the field but they’re still out there! And we have a few tucked safely inside the tunnels too.
I suppose my train of thought is that we need to savour them now before they’re gone till next summer.
Find us this Saturday at the Riley Park and Trout Lake farmers markets till 2:00pm in Vancouver. We also have a few bunches at the if you’re out near Westham Island.
At markets, besides dahlias, we’ll have several types of dryable flowers to enjoy through the winter as well as the very last sunflowers, some marigolds, snapdragons and a few other goodies.
And pumpkins! A few types of ornamental pumpkins are coming long to markets as well, in case you’re looking for some fall vibes for your dining table or doorstep.
See ya out there!

10/03/2024

The light these days is so beautiful! As we slip into more rainy days, these sunny ones are all the more magical. This week we’re labelling all the dahlias that we need to dig this fall, saving seeds, picking pumpkins, taking care of odd tasks that have been on the back burner for far too long, and of course harvesting piles of blooms.
These cosmos are coming to an end, as well as a few other field flowers. But we’re still scheming for a good Thanksgiving floral spread for you next week!

09/28/2024

It was a beautiful day today! Blue skies with sunshine is an excellent way to end a busy week. The dahlias are slowing down with the shorter days and cooler weather, but are still as beautiful as ever! We picked the dahlia patch clean today to bring along to markets Saturday.
Find us at Riley Park and Trout Lake farmers markets this week. The is also well stocked for the weekend.
Blooming now are dahlias, zinnias, sunflowers, marigolds, strawflowers and plenty more! We also have some lovely fall toned mixed bouquets for you this week. And it’s the last week for our Dahlia Lovers’ CSA too.
Hope to see you out this weekend!

09/21/2024

Ready for the shift? It’s officially the first day of fall on Sunday. And even though it’s still summer on Saturday (and I really want to hold onto that!), we’re bringing along the first ornamental pumpkins of the season to markets.
Just a few to get used to the idea for now, but there’s more coming!
Even though the season is shifting, there are still many weeks of flowers left before Mother Nature shuts the door on our farm for the year.
This week, besides these pumpkins, we’ll have sunflowers, strawflowers, snapdragons, amaranth, zinnias and piles of dahlias, amongst other beautiful blooms.
Find us at Trout Lake and Riley Park farmers markets on Saturday till 2:00 pm. The is stocked for the weekend as well, but pumpkins will be another week away there.
Now go soak up those last hours of summer!

09/20/2024

First celosia pick of the year!
It’s been a long time coming, usually we have celosia to pick by mid August. Some weather inconvenience combined with wayyy too big of a to do list at the beginning of the summer resulted in a smaller and later crop this year.
Why it’s great: it dries very well, lasts pretty darn well in the vase, comes in some fun colours and comes even more fun forms (spikes, brains and feathery plumes).
Three cheers for celosia! 👏👏👏

09/14/2024

This week’s mixed bouquet has a good dose of moody along with some softer touches. Like it or not we’re sliding into the next season where the temperatures are a little cooler, we get a little more rain and… the dahlias really start to shine!
We picked ya piles this week so the dahlias are on sale, come find us at markets or the for good September blooming bounty.
We’ll be at Trout Lake 9:00-2:00 and Riley Park 10:00-2:00 on Saturday and SURPRISE: we’ve picked up a spot at the Kitsilano market on Sunday, so we’ll be there too from 10:00-2:00. Probably not in our usual spot, so keep an eye out for us.
Coming to market: a bazillion dahlias, some marigolds, sunflowers, zinnias, cosmos, strawflower, statice, the last asters and last agrostemma and plenty more.
See ya there!

River and Sea Flowers