The Highland Flower Garden (2024)

13/06/2023

Highland grown peonies, rescued from the rain deluge.
Nothing else to say.

04/09/2022

Move over dahlias the chrysanthemums are coming. This year I'm delving a bit deeper into growing chrysanthemums. This is salmon allouise and is a beautiful light toffee colour. Definitely growing this one again.

30/03/2022

Inside one of the first of this years anemones.

25/03/2022

Early spring flowers fresh from the garden. They're hydrating in the shade for a wee while.

Stay tuned for more posts on what we've been doing so far this year and what we have planned for the year ahead.

21/11/2021

We've been very quiet in here for a while, but we've still been doing stuff. Some of the rannunculus are in and doing well (trying out this year as a time saving way to suppress weeds), scabious seedlings have been enjoying the mild weather, and some early sweet peas are growing away. We've got lots of other lovelies growing which I will share with you soon. This time of year is always a challenge!

08/09/2021

Things are all getting a bit autumnal here.

20/08/2021

Picked this morning, fragrant locally grown Sweet Peas at Contin VIllage Store Contin Village Stores

A lovely wee gift to someone or yourself. Pop along before they're gone!

18/08/2021

Oh my! The Rudbeckia have just started flowering and I'd forgotten how much I love them. Beautiful tones. This one, with many other of its friends, is heading to tomorrow morning.

16/08/2021

Strawflowers ready for drying. Love these beauties. They're great fresh or dried and come in some lovely colours too.

01/08/2021

FLASH HONEY SALE!

The bees are having a bumper year due to the recent warm dry weather. They've been feeding on cornflowers, lavender, larkspur, dill, poppies, sweet peas, achillea and many of the other flowers we are growing. We always leave some for the bees so our blossom-honey tastes amazing. Photos show them on allium and echinops this weekend, which also happens to be Radio 2's big bee challenge weekend!

If you'd like a jar of runny blossom-honey from the bees in our flower garden then message me. We've limited jars so sold on first come first sold basis. £6.50 per jar.

18/07/2021

HONEY for sale. If you'd like a jar of honey made by the bees in our flower garden, please send me a message. Collection only please. £6 per jar. 🐝🐝 🍯

17/07/2021

Lavetera trimestis "silver cup". The markings on this beautiful flower are exquisit. First year growing it and I think it will be on the list for next year.

03/07/2021

Inspired by I have tried to dry some ranunculus this year. I hope you agree it has worked. I love them. I hope you do too.

19/06/2021

Lovely flowers for a lovely lady.

11/06/2021

at Village Store TODAY. I was too busy to take any photos of the bunches, but my stories over on Instagram today show what's in them. I hope you like them...no air miles, seasonal, grown locally, compostable packaging, no chemicals and they smell lovely, like real flowers should. Enjoy x

30/04/2021

Today, at Contin Village Store, seasonal, locally grown flowers with no air miles or plastic waste. Pick up a lovely gift of spring flowers including tulips, ranunculus and scented narcissus all grown within a few miles of the shop.
Contin VIllage Store

07/04/2021

The dahlia potting marathon has begun!

I've been putting this off as it's been -5C, windy and snowy... but I have to get going otherwise we'll have no gorgeous blooms in late summer. Finger crossed they don't mind cold compost too much!

24/03/2021

Anemone number 1.

A week earlier than last year.

22/03/2021

Things are beginning to move in the garden. Leaves are thinking of emerging on the trees. New growth can be seen on perennials and over wintered annuals. Very few things are actually in flower, apart from crocus, snowdrops, winter heather, mahonia, early narcissus and of course hellebore. I don't have many hellebores at the moment, but I'm hoping to bulk up stocks for next year. For now, there's only just enough for me.

09/03/2021

We have some of last season's honey for sale at £6 a jar, available for click and collect from Marybank. Made by the bees that live in our flower garden. They forage within about 3 miles radius from here.

Did you know that honey from the Inverness region has the same beneficial properties as manuka?

If you'd like a jar then please send me a DM and I'll send you a payment link etc.

08/03/2021

Honey Bees. Its always good to see the honey bees come out in early spring, a sign that they've survived the winter. But the danger is not over; they could still not survive as there is very little food available for them this early, and flying uses vital energy. Food sources include crocuses, hellebores, snowdrops, mahonia and winter heather. Look out for honey bees on these early flowers.

24/02/2021

HAPPY 10TH BIRTHDAY

Hard to believe that there are now over 1000 members, and all thanks to one woman's vision 10 years ago. Thank you Gill Hodgson for starting all this.

Today's virtual conference was brilliant. Thanks to all the organisers and contributers who made it so worth attending.

01/02/2021

Happy Imbolc everybody!

What am I on about? What's Imbolc? Imbolc is an ancient gaelic festival that marks the beginning of spring. It's also known as Brigid's day or St Brigid's day. It lies midway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox and traditionally was held on 1st February. It celebrates the start of the lambing season, seed sowing and blackthorn coming into flower. It's all about the lengthening of days and the arrival of springtime. At the winter solstice we had about 6 hours of daylight. Today we had 8 hours and 20 mins and the rate of increase will speed up as we reach the equinox at the end of March. So Happy Imbolc everyone!

29/01/2021

Sustainable... What does that mean? It means coexistence of humans and the biosphere.

If this is to happen, we have to be treading much lighter footprints on the planet than mankind is doing at the moment. The planet is heating up, wildlife is struggling and man-made pollutants are everywhere.

So what are we going to do about it?

We already use only paper to wrap our flowers, use peat free compost, rarely use hosepipes, harvest rainwater, keep bees, try to minimise single use plastics and reuse whatever we can. By being "locally grown" we already have low air miles. Last year we extened our meadow area to help bees, birds and beneficial insects. But what else are we going to do?

We're going to produce more home made compost so we don't have to buy it in, continue to reduce plastic consumption, produce more plants from cuttings and harvest our own seeds. We're considering an electric vehicle and are trying to combine deliveries together or with other journeys.

26/01/2021

One of the first flowers of the 2021 season will probably be anemones. Last year the first anemone appeared on 1st April. But one flower does not make a bunch, so we probably won't have anything for sale until mid April.
I'll post here when things are starting to happen in the garden. Spring is coming!

25/01/2021

Thought you might like to know what we sell and who we sell to...

We sell seasonal blooms and foliage, grown near Muir of Ord. What we sell is different and unusual and we try to be as sustainable as possible.

We sell...
🌸 flowers by the bucket for arranging at home or for your special occasion
🌸 gift bouquets for collection or local delivery
🌸 flowers to florists
🌸 simple bunches for your kitchen table

We sell to anyone who loves flowers and gets in touch!

For flowery news and info on what's in the pipeline, please subscribe to our newsletter via the website...link in bio.

24/01/2021

It's great when customers ask for "whatever is looking best". This means we pick the loveliest flowers of the season. This is my favourite type of request and is in the true spirit of what we love to do here.

From July to October this can include Dahlias which come in all shapes and sizes. The range never ceases to amaze.

Currently the dahlia tubers are asleep in a cardboard box at 3 degrees C. In late March I'll pot them up and wake them up in the polytunnel. They're planted out late April or early May when I expect no frosts. Can't wait!

23/01/2021

Are you looking forward to spring? I am... and one plant I'm looking forward to growing in particular is Larkspur. I love it. I think it's so romantic. Spires of blue, pink, mauve and white...it's like a wild meadow flower and looks great with other wild flowers.

It's also really useful... You can dry it, or use it fresh... You can use the tallest stems at almost a metre in height, or use the smallest dantiest side flowers.

It was sowed back in August 2020. As a hardy annual, you need to start it in late summer to get the best blooms... A slow burn but worth the wait.

Bring on the larkspur!

22/01/2021

What is our speciality? It's quite simple...seasonality.

In a world when you can buy strawberries at Christmas and broccoli 12 months of the year, its important to remember that this is only possible at a cost to the planet. Flying apples in from New Zealand and heating glass houses for tomatoes in January adds to the carbon footprint of our food. Same goes for flowers... Roses for February 14th is not something we can offer.

But if you'd like narcissus in April, ranunculus in May, and Dahlias in August then that's something we can do. Not only that, but grown locally so no air miles, small scale so no intensive farming and freshly picked so last without the assistance of preserving chemicals. What's not to like?

21/01/2021

So what is my personal favourite flower? A difficult question as I only grow things I love, but perhaps it's the tulip.

It's a spring flower which provides a blast of colour just when you need it. Blousy or delicate there's a tulip for everyone. Their season here in the Highlands is late April and May.

What's your favourite flower?

15/01/2021

Do you love flowers? Would you like some flowers to arrange at home?... or maybe some sent to someone? Perhaps you're getting married and would like Scottish grown flowers for your special day...or you're a florist looking for something ultra fresh and totally different.

We have flowers for all occasions from April to October, all grown locally, seasonally.

Get in touch... You can contact me through direct message on Instagram or Facebook... or email [email protected] There's a link to my website in the bio where you can also subscribe to my newsletter. Looking forward to hearing from you soon.

13/01/2021

Who keeps me company? I tend to work alone apart from help from my husband with weeding, mowing, fixing and making. Otherwise it's Penny the lurcher who keeps me company... always somewhere nearby, having a snooze or hunting for mice. Oh, and tens of thousands of honey bees too!

08/01/2021

We've probably all learnt things about ourselves this year...for me, resilience, adaptability, compation, importance of friendships, family and self care... and maybe new skills and interests. What a strange year its been. Hoping to emerge as a better person in a better world. Finger crossed! Xx

07/01/2021

Everyone likes a compliment. That's one of the best bits about growing cut flowers. My favourite compliment of 2020 was when I delivered a gift bouquet and received an email from the sender "Thank you so much for the beautiful flowers. My sister was bowled over with how beautiful they were." Leaves a grin on your face and a rosy glow inside! Can't wait to deliver some more in 2021!

06/01/2021

Growing cut flowers is entirely seasonal and so the jobs are always changing. At this time of year it's planning, buying seeds, tidying beds, cleaning the polytunnel etc. In springtime it's sowing seeds, potting on, planting out, taking orders, invoicing etc. Summer and autumn are sowing, cutting, delivering, arranging...

There's a great variety in what needs to be done and you always need to be looking a few months in advance to make sure there's a continous flow of flowers. Plate spinning is a necessity!

05/01/2021

Hello! It's the start of !

Some of you might not know who I am, so I'm introducing myself. I'm Anne and I grow cut flowers near Muir of Ord in the Scottish Highlands, not far from Inverness. They're for sale generally between April and October as they're entirely seasonal, grown without artificial heat or chemicals, with nature in mind. I sell to local florists, DIY brides and flower arrangers and also do gift bouquets and subscription flowers.

Originally from Lancashire, I've lived near Inverness for about 17 years and love the outdoors and the beauty that's all around in the Highlands. I get out hill walking, skiing and kayaking when I can.

I work as an engineer 4 days a week but still manage to grow flowers with hard work and determination. I've grown things since I was small and I'm definitely a seed-a-holic.

Over the next few weeks I'll be joining in with when I can so you'll learn some more things about me and my wee business.

20/12/2020

Narcissus Paperwhite. Pure white like snow...an enchanting fragrance... a glimmer of spring on almost the darkest night.

Makes me feel hopeful that next year will be better than this one has been.

I hope you all have the best Christmas you can. I'm without any extra family this year, with them all being beyond a days travel... but spring isn't that far away...and we will meet soon.

Best wishes everyone and thanks for supporting my micro - business. ###

05/12/2020

Chrysanthemums. Many people don't like them... Maybe it's the smell, or the boring 365 days a year offerings from supermarkets. Not all chrysanthemums are the same... This is Pandion Bronze and it is just coming to the end of its season in the Highlands.

29/11/2020

I've been quiet on Instagram recently. I've been clearing annual beds, planting hardy annuals out, sorting the polytunnel and re-organising perennial beds. I've also been "getting out", enjoying the natural environment and getting some me time. It's good to recharge. We're lucky here in the Highlands... We're not as restricted as many other places in the UK at the moment..
Photos are from a walk up the Glen Feshie hills in the Cairngorms. Beautiful as always... Even Penny made it up to the top!
Make time for yourself.

01/10/2020

Why not make your own wreath this season with a kit from Bothy Blooms. What a great idea.