FLORA Flowers

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FLORA Flowers

Artist turned Flower Farmer & Florist. Growing extraordinary flowers for local people to enjoy.
(10)

17/09/2024

I am an expert!

An expert at making excuses about 'showing up' on social media.

Excuse #1 ... My phone is not fancy enough to take good videos
Excuse #2 ... I don't have a tripod to hold my phone
Excuse #3 ... If I'm outside recording the wind will ruin the sound
Excuse #4 ... I didn't even brush my hair this morning
Excuse #5 ... I'm not wearing clothes that are my brand colours
Excuse #6 ... I'm covered in dirt
Excuse #7 ... I don't have any makeup on so I'll look all washed out
Excuse #8 ... I don't like the sound of my own voice
Excuse #9 ... It would be easier if I had someone to video for me
Excuse #10 ... I don't have time to edit the videos properly
and on and on!

Who can relate?

I'm thinking that this has got to change. I'm sure you don't mind too much about the quality of the video clip or how I am looking when I take it (and if you do mind, then you are probably in the wrong place). And we are all about being authentic here - and that includes me.

So the new phone is ordered, and I'm investigating tripods, and I will try to brush my hair every morning from now on!

You'll see me soon :)

16/09/2024

Something New!

I've been indulging myself in a personal project growing and trialing pansies this year. These brand new to NZ varieties caught my eye, and I am looking forward to seeing them flower. While pansies are not usually cut flowers, these were included in the cut flower section of the catalogue, indicating that given the right conditions (usually a bit of light shade and crowding), they may have long enough stems for picking....but we shall see.

So who wants to be part of my pansy trial? You will be one of the first people in NZ to grow these beauties. I have mixed 12-packs available to purchase from my website, via the 'Buy Plants' page.

These are suitable for colder climates as well as our local climate.

floraflowers.co.nz

15/09/2024

Have you ever heard of the adopters curve?

It's a bell curve model that describes how different people react to, adopt, and accept new innovative products.

So do you think you're an innovator, an early adopter, an early majority, a late majority or a laggard (I love that word!)

I'll be releasing something new this week (once my selling technology catches up with my growing schedule), so if you are an early adopter, keep an eye out!

13/09/2024

Phew - we have almost made it through tulip season.

As much as I love tulips and the early Spring joy they bring, they are quite a commitment - and that has been more pronounced that usual this year with a badly timed mini heat wave. They need to be picked at least once a day, and dealt with straight away.

I'm pretty pleased with my variety selection this year - out of the 15 varieties I grew, there's only one that I won't be growing again next season. My favourites as always were the fringed tulips - which in my opinion are also the best behaved!

So no tulip season would be complete without a little explanation about the tulip 'season'. A flowers true 'season' is when it naturally flowers outdoors, with no manipulation from the grower. For me in my climate, my season runs from approx. mid August to Mid September. The further south you go in NZ, the later the season is.

So what about those tulips you see in the supermarket and in the florist shops from around May. Well those are grown from imported bulbs which are forced in all sorts of ways to flower at an unnatural time. I don't think they ever get to experience rain, sun or bees! I know which tulips I would prefer to buy...

And this year we trailed a tulip PYO experience - such great fun. Thanks to all those who came and experienced what a joy these flowers are to pick (or rather pull!). It's something I will definitely be re-looking at doing next season, with a few small changes. If you missed out this year, we suggest you sign up for our PYO notification email on our website. www.floraflowers.co.nz

11/09/2024

Colour change tulips!

Picked as a white bud, they develop quite a strong pink edge over a few days.

These have been some of my best behaved tulips this season 🌷

10/09/2024

Sowing seeds is my favourite part of growing flowers.

I love it so much that I also often do some seed sowing in the weekends for relaxation.

This weekend I was very excited to be sowing these petunia seeds. They are not something I grow for the flower farm, but I have been dabbling in growing potted colour for pots and hanging baskets as a bit of a personal interest project.

This batch of petunias is heading somewhere special. Along with my other business , I am supporting the local Hospice Home and Garden tour by donating a mass of seedlings for their plant sale. These petunias are the premium variety called 'shock wave' which are definitely the best performing of the varieties I have trialed. Also very expensive seed, so I had to limit myself to 5 colours (hard to resist when they have names like 'purple tie dye'!)

And for any locals seeing this, I'll be holding a series of community potting-up days in a few weeks, so if you are keen to be involved in this little fundraiser, then get in touch.

09/09/2024

If you’re after a little bit of flower indulgence for yourself or to lavish on a friend, how about a bunch of poppies. So stylish and elegant just on their own.

We harvest them every morning, so get in touch to pre-order your bunch.

I reckon there’s about 3-4 weeks left of poppy season.

Photo ft. Guide Dog breeder Olive 🐾

09/09/2024

Owning my own business means that despite my best intentions, weekends are often interspersed with little bits of work.

But sometimes those little bits of work are quite exciting, although it's fair to say that a flower farmers idea of 'exciting' differs from the general population.

One of the exciting bits of work we did this weekend, was to collect a huge pile of wool from our neighbours sheep. Its exciting because a) it was free, and b) I've always wanted to have a go using wool as a mulch. I think I'm going to try it around some of my dahlias.

Our current temporary dog (Olive) is quite interested in the pile, but fortunately is a lot more restrained than any of our other Guide Dog puppies have been - they would have spread it from one end of our property to the other!

Who else gets excited about scoring free stuff?

08/09/2024

You are nothing like the rest
With their carefully curated 'look'
And I bet you feel like you don’t belong here,..like you don’t fit in
And indeed I did not choose you, and I don't even know your name
But fate decided that you should be part of my life
And here you are, standing proud and tall
You are truly beautiful just as you are
And I can’t help but love you 🌷

Thanks for the little surprise - always makes my day :)

06/09/2024

I'm guessing if you are here on this page you are already a flower lover!

If you are in my local area (the North side of Auckland, New Zealand) and want to dabble in a bit of flower growing yourself, then check out my little side business MY PATCH.

We make it easy for you to grow a cut flower patch at your place by providing the right varieties at the right time of year for our climate.

We've just released our 3rd collection of seedlings - Early Spring Planted Hardy Annuals.

Just imagine the joy of cutting your own flowers to enjoy on your dining table or to gift to a friend. A warning though - it's quite addictive, and before you know it, you may have no lawn left!

www.mypatch.co.nz

02/09/2024

Well I'm not sure about the rest of the country, but we are having a streak of unusually warm days up here in North Auckland.

We're more than halfway through our tulip crop, and with this heat I'm picking that it won't be long until our tulip season is over.

So if you're hoping to enjoy or gift some tulips this tulip season, then the clock is ticking...and ticking fast!

We've loaded our tulip bunch availability for the rest of this week on our website. We close our orders at about 9am each day, so pre-ordering a day or 2 in advance is best.

Tickets for our Pick-Your-Own tulip experience are also available on our website - our last PYO events will be this weekend.

🌷

30/08/2024

Editing your flowers is an important part of keeping your flowers looking fresh for as long as possible.

Did you know that decaying flowers produce ethylene gas which can reduce the vase life of some of the other flowers in the bunch.

So every few days you should not only clean your vase, change your water and re-trim your stems…you should also remove any flowers that are starting to die.

And just a reminder that ripe fruit also produces ethylene, so keep your flowers away from your fruit bowl.

24/08/2024

It was just me myself and I in the tulip PYO patch this morning, and I picked myself a bunch - not something I do very often! But I simply can't resist these ruffly peony-type tulips that we have flowering at the moment.

Our customers are seeming to prefer the late afternoon sessions so far...

But let me encourage you to try an early (well not very early) morning slot. It is the most magical time of day to be outside listening to the birds and soaking up the sun (today anyway). Tulip season is only here for a few weeks, so check your diary and get in touch to pre-book your morning spot of therapy.

And now my soul feels rested and ready for the day :)

23/08/2024

Have you ever heard of PYO tulips?

Maybe not - but we're making it a thing! Right here in Warkworth on the Flora Farm.

We also like to do things our own way, so this is not the 'turn up when it suits you' type of PYO...instead we are holding ticketed events. We are a bit fanatical about flower quality, so we only let you pick our flowers at the best time of day for harvesting.

We're keep a close eye on the weather and trying to estimate the number of tulips that will be available for picking each day...and will be updating the PYO page of our website with session times and ticket quantities.

And if you have a specific date in mind for PYO (maybe a birthday?) over the next 3 weeks, then please get in touch now and we can put you at the top of the list for that day. If our schedule allows, we can accommodate sessions in the 8-9:45am and 4-6pm time frames.

If you are keen...just remember that tulip season only peaks for about 3 weeks, so don't delay. Just saying...

21/08/2024

Wow - thanks so much for all the dahlia orders!

That will keep me out of trouble for the next month.

Just letting you know that I have decided this will just be a 24 hours sale, so I will be ending it at 7pm tomorrow (Thursday). This is mainly so that I can pop my tulip bunches on my website - my platform doesn't cope well with 2 different products at once....

Thanks again
Lisa X

21/08/2024

You'll be able to purchase dahlias in our presale from 7pm tonight on our website floraflowers.co.nz

Please head there before then to check out the details.

Just a reminder that this is a PRE-SALE, and tubers will not be ready for dispatch until mid Sept.

I've done some rigorous testing of the website, but in the event that something doesn't work, please be patient and kind and send me a message. I'll be standing by to try and fix any errors.

I'm amazed at what I've been able to put together in the 5 days since I had a brainwave to sell some tubers. Fingers crossed that I sell enough to upgrade my phone so I can fill my account with much higher quality photos of my lovely blooms!

Good luck tonight - hope you all manage to get the tubers you are wanting.

20/08/2024

Yes I sure did!

This online dahlia tuber selling is new territory for me, but I'm imagining that it's the order packing and admin that is going to take the most time.

So in recognition of that, I've worked out a tiered discount system, where the more tubers you buy, the higher your discount is - right up to a 50% discount for orders of 10+ tubers. Because I'd rather be dealing with fewer but larger orders.

It might be a crazy idea...but we'll give it a go!

I'm still figuring out where on the checkout the discount codes go, but I'm sure I can get it sorted.

20/08/2024

The dahlia varieties are now loaded up on my website, so if you're planning to purchase some, you can pop on there and plan your buy. You wont be able to put an order through just quite yet though.

I'm working on some discount codes that you can use, so the more you buy, the cheaper they get. More about that later...

Now I just have to do some test runs to check that everything works as expected ... and then we'll be ready to get the show on the road. I'm thinking it will all be ready to hit go for tomorrow evening, so stay tuned...

19/08/2024

If you're thinking of purchasing dahlia tubers in my upcoming pre-sale, then I have some homework for you!

Please head to my website and read the info on the dahlia tuber page, so that you are fully prepared once the sale starts. It's a bit of a read, but all important stuff!

I expect to have it all loaded and ready to go within the next few days, and will be aiming to have the varieties listed with pictures tomorrow night so you can start thinking about your wish list.

Exciting!

18/08/2024

I've been trawling through my photo archives for dahlia photos for my upcoming tuber sale.

Because I didn't intend to sell tubers this year, most of my photos look something like this, so I'm going to have to get a bit creative with my sample pics. I'm bashing away at my website this afternoon getting them all loaded and ready.

And this season I will be WAY more intentional about getting good photos of every single variety I grow! (if someone could keep reminding me that would be much appreciated thanks 😂)

15/08/2024

I grow a LOT of dahlias! Last season I grew about 600, plus about 300 of my own breeding dahlias.

And the honest truth is that every year I literally throw about 80% of my dahlia tubers on the fire heap because I dont need to keep them for the following years crop. People keep pointing out how crazy this is considering the price that dahlia tubers sell for.

But it's been a decision based on my available time - as there is only one of me and there are only 24 hours in each day.

But this year I have planted a lot less Spring crops, so I think I can spare some time to rescuing some dahlias from a firey death, and sharing them with my followers.

As I'm just dipping my toes in the dahlia tuber selling areana, I've decided to start small. I'm still not convinced it's a good idea!

Off the top of my head I can think of about 10 varieties that I have plenty of....
Cornel bronze (orange)
Ivanetti (maroon red)
Kona (white)
Genova (pinky purple)
Nescio (deep red)
Gypsy (deep maroon red)
Silver Years (pale pink)
Molly Raven (Maroon)
Jowey Josh (red 2-toned)
Salmon runner (salmon)

These are all super well performing varieties, and mostly balls, which have the best vase life.

And now lets talk about price. The last thing I want to do is charge you exhorbitant prices...and I have seen some pretty ridiculous prices being asked on Trademe. Essentially I feel that my tubers have paid for themselves with their flowers and don't owe me anything, BUT my time has a $ value, so that is what I will be basing my prices on. Price will be based on how many you order - so the more you order, the cheaper they will be (per tuber). Pick up will be free, and postage will be charged at cost + $5 packaging fee. I'll run a presale on my website, and delivery (or pick up) is likely to be early - mid September.

So now I'm off to double check my tuber stock, and search my photo archives for pictures of the dahlias I'll put up for sale.

Hopefully I still think it's a good idea tomorrow 😬

14/08/2024

Every year I promise myself that I wont expand my growing area ... then every year my Dad puts his rotary hoe on the tractor and asks if I'd like any more ground hoed up!

Go on then!

I've managed to limit it to just one new row this year. This will be my dedicated breeding patch for my own unique dahlia and zinnia varieties that working on refining. I should be able to fit about 350 dahlias into this space, plus a patch of little pastel zinnias.

There's still quite a bit of work required to break in a new bed after it has been rotary hoed, which only really cultivates the top 15cm of soil. As you can imagine, I need to loosen the soil a bit deeper than that for dahlia tubers, so I'll be spending a few hours on the broadfork over the next few days.

I think this will definitely be my favourite part of the farm this coming season. It is also right by my PYO parking area, so you'll be able to check out my progress, and maybe point out your favourites to me if you come to a Summer PYO session.

13/08/2024

If you're a keen gardener you might have spotted that these seedlings are not actually sweet peas as labelled.

They are however a new (to NZ) variety of pansy. I'm very excited to see what they look like when they flower, along with the enticingly named 'Flamenco Terracotta', 'Chianti', and 'Moulin Rouge'.

I think I'm ready to admit that I may have overdone it on the pansy growing this year, but there were so many good ones to trial, and it means that next year I will know which my absolute favourites are and only grow them.

These ones should be flowering early October, so I'll share some photos of them then. Hopefully they live up to their names (this is not always the case with flowers - there's been a fair few disappointments along the way...)

Oh and I do actually have a few sweet pea seedlings growing for my own personal enjoyment - thanks to Lorien at State of Bloom for sharing them with me :)

12/08/2024

Is it okay to have favourites?

I think it would be difficult to pick just one favourite flower, but I get great satisifaction from growing stock...maybe because it ticks a lot of boxes...

🌸 It comes in a beautiful range of colours
🌸 It grows tall and straight (with a little timely assistance)
🌸 It has an amazing scent
🌸 It is tricky to grow (or grow well)

Yes being tricky to grow is sometimes a good thing - I love a good challenge!

Stock is quite particular about what temperatures it prefers, so here in the mild North Auckland climate, timing is crucial.

It does NOT like warm weather when it's flowering, so it tends to grow better for me as an Autumn crop. I'm working hard on getting the timing right for a Spring crop, and think I might have finally cracked it this year.

The stock shown in the picture is a new one for me - Quartet Pastel, which is flowering in lovely pure pastel pink, apricot and lemon. It's a bit different from 'normal' stock in that it has a branching flower head, and requires pinching at the right stage.

I'm looking forward to using them in bouquets...

10/08/2024

How's this for a cute little 'thinking of you' treat for a friend.

It's packaged in a double coffee cup holder so can be easily carried. Mine has a little bag of homemade brownie on one side, and a little jar of flowers on the other.

To be honest it would work better if the sides were the same weight, so it would work well with a little bottle of wine, or a nice botanical soft drink (or a much bigger bag of brownies!) Or what would you like to see in the non-flower side???

I'm not offering this for sale at this stage (just keeping the idea for my own use), although I think it could be fabulous for a small business to use for a staff appreciation treat.

10/08/2024

I've been sorely tempted to buy lots of lovely new dahlia tubers this year, but at $15-$20 per tuber, it's a bit of an investment I can't justify.

I've decided that it's cheaper (and more exciting) to focus on growing my own unique varieties. This involves collecting seed at the end of Summer and sowing it in Spring.

I've just started my dahlia seeds off (with the assistance for my germination chamber and my grow lights), and I can't wait to see if there are any new superstars hiding in these seeds. I only managed to collect seed from one variety (Burlesca) due to a storm at exactly the wrong time. But I'm not too sad about that. She makes a lot of seed, so I have plenty to work with. Burlesca is a a little pompom variety, which means she is longer lasting in a vase than the larger dahlias, so I am hoping her offspring are also pompoms!

And to be completely honest - I have purchased 3 new dahlia tubers - couldn't help myself!

09/08/2024

Yes, we're getting just a little bit excited about our Summer Pick Your Own patch...even though it will be 3-4 months before we have any flowers showing.

This year we're doubling the size of our PYO patch, and running PYO events over a longer time period, so that more of you get to come and experience the joy of picking your own bunch.

It's a big job planning the patch. We have to decide when to seed every single variety and where to plant them out. This is not just a random planting - it's executed with military precision! All so you can be greeted with an abundance of high quality blooms to chose from.

The first few rows of dahlias have been planted. We've chosen 20 different varieties for you to enjoy. It's way too early (and risky) to plant dahlias, but we keep them warm and dry under our plastic low tunnels, and so far we seem to get away with it!

06/08/2024

We use an awful lot of potting mix to grow our seedlings, and we've found (through some complete disasters) that not all potting mixes are created equal. The most expensive potting mixes are not necessarily the best, and the word 'organic' in the name and the 'Biogro' label does not guarantee that it is free of herbicide residues.

So we often conduct little side-by-side trials of various potting mixes just to check that we are still using the ones that work best for us.

This little statice trial is a good example of the difference a poor potting mix can make to plant growth and health. The worst mix is an organic one, which was also about 25% more expensive that the other ones. This was just a trial bag we purchased, and we wont be purchasing it again.

Interesting to note that even though the Daltons one is showing the most lush growth - I feel like the growth is almost too lush and soft, and I am more impressed by the growth of statice in the Bark & Soil Mix (they are an independent supplier in Whenuapai, Auckland)

I've actually been using a 50/50 mix of the Daltons and Bark & Soil mix - mainly because of their consistencies. The Bark & Soil mix is very pumice heavy and tends to fall off the roots when removing the seedlings from their cells to plant them. The Daltons Premium mix is quite stringy and compacts too much for my liking - but mixed together they seem to make a great growing mix.

We'll stick with this combo for now...and we also add a few other goodies to our mix to get our seedlings off to their very best start!

05/08/2024

We're a bit lean on flowers at the moment because we grew our anemones from seed this year and they are taking a lot longer to get going. And we have just pulled out our snapdragons and Sweet William to make room for the next lot of seedlings that are ready to be planted.

I'm not really doing bouquet orders for a few weeks, but this request was from a lovely local who lets me get some of my parcels delivered to his work place in Warkworth. It saves me a whole lot of rural delivery fees (and sometimes the rural surcharge on a freight delivery can be $50!!!).

I didn't think I was going to be able to manage a white colour scheme - but it is amazing what you can find when you start looking, and was stoked be be able to keep him happy.

Featuring...
Campanula
Iceland Poppies
Dutch Iris
Stock
Sweet William
Anemone
Eucalyptus
Spirea
Berzelia
Hypocalymma

It's such a joy working with truly seasonal flowers - every week is a different combination!

Address

42 Viv Davie-Martin Drive
Warkworth
0984

Website

http://www.floraflowers.co.nz/

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Videos

Local Flower lovers - a bit of a cyclone SOS here! The florist I supply has closed due to a power outage, so my bumper harvest destined for her shop needs to be redirected. So today I have $40 bunches and $60 DIY mixed buckets. Pick up from Warkworth today, or I will be doing a delivery run around the Warkworth urban area (including Summerset Falls) later this afternoon. Message me to purchase - thanks 🙏

Here come the sunflowers…this year I’ve managed to get them flowering 3 weeks earlier than last year ( despite the cold blast we had). There will be about 1200 flowering between now and Christmas, so get in touch if you’re a sunflower fan and want to book in a bunch.

A quick walk through todays harvest buckets. Tulips, sweet William, freesias, blossom, bluebells, snapdragons, hellebores and even some tall stemmed marigolds (a successful winter trial 🙂). And a little box of seeet pea seedlings for the girls at Twig + Bloom Floral Botanical Stylist & Gift Store Matakana

Some of the gorgeous tulips I’ve just dropped off to Charlies Gelato Garden. These guys look totally different when they open up! My tulips will probably only be around for another week…just saying!

Still finding enough blooms on the farm for a few bunches for the weekend (including the unusual ornamental cabbages!) Available until sold out at Charlies Gelato Garden

A little DIY wedding order that went out yesterday. Yes I was out harvesting in the thunder, lightening and torrential rain (very scary!) … because there were orders to fill and deadlines to meet. Lots of damage out in the fields, so there will be a lot of kinky stems for the next few weeks. Todays weather was not the best for getting married, but hopefully they found a bright spot in the day for the outside part! And thanks to fellow flower farmer Organic Herbs & Seedlings for topping up this selection with a bucket of beauties.

Lots and lots of fresh lovelies for the locals, today at Charlies Gelato Garden!

For some reason the dahlias have gone nuts today! Must be all that sunshine we’ve been enjoying. Lots of bunches of these beauties heading to Charlies Gelato Garden today

The last bucket of blooms picked each harvest day is always the most interesting - full of all the little bits and pieces I grow in smaller quantities.

A couple of wedding orders coming together! Any day of the week is good for a wedding at the moment!

Something a little deep and meaningful for your Sunday! Where there is sun there will always be shadows...but even the shadows can be beautiful...

Hope everyone is enjoying this hot sunny summer ☀️ Although we flower farmers kind of rely on the sun to grow our crops, too much (and especially without the odd patch of rain) makes flower farming harder work than at other times of the year. To get the best vase life from our flowers, we harvest before the sun touches them...as most flowers don’t last well when picked during normal office hours! So my day is usually split between a flurry of outside activity at dawn and again at dusk! In between I mostly hide inside, so yesterday I created lots of dried bunches. I’ve just dropped at batch off at Charlies Gelato Garden if you fancy one!

Same flower field...different son helping harvest today! It takes a while to figure out which flowers are at the right stage to harvest....

Turn your sound up for some spring birdsong! This is our guide dog pup Iris partway through her daily flower bed inspection. She’s usually pretty good at keeping to the paths but got distracted by a bumble bee in the freesia bed today! Just a few more days left with this girl - she’s off to start her intense training once we get to Level 3.

Never have I been more grateful that I got my poppy plants in the ground a bit late...it means they will just be peaking if we head to Level 3 on the 15th! I attempted the annual poppy opening time-lapse video today, but got the angle wrong...will try again in a few days. This is a giant Colibri poppy...isn’t she a stunner!

I’m wondering if tulips will be scarce next season as a lot of growers will be questioning whether to risk growing them in our COVID climate. They are probably the worst crop you could have blooming in a Level 4 lockdown. But they are just so darn beautiful...how could I not keep growing them!

Today marks 100 days until my sons wedding. I’ll be sharing a few more wedding flower progress pics soon, but in the meantime here’s a time lapse of the first plants being planted out....on a much sunnier day than today!

Shortcuts

Flowers with creative flair

FLORA Flower Studio is my home-based florist business in Warkworth. I’m very excited to be able to combine my background in both art and horticulture to bring you flowers with creative flair, and I’m currently obsessed with growing a collection of foliage and flowers sustainably so that I can provide you with some ‘grown-not-flown’ flora in your purchases. I’m available for pre-ordered bouquets, wedding flowers, funeral flowers and flowers for any other special occasion (or just because you deserve a treat!). My farm fresh flowers are also available at Charlie Gelato Garden during their strawberry season (approx last week Sept - Christmas)