Pug Patch Flower Farm

Can you guess our favorite Halloween movie? CH, CH, CH, AH, AH, AH... Happy Halloween 🎃🔪 Photo & video credit: @patricksherren #halloween #michaelmeyers #spookyseason #pugpatchflowerfarm #pugsofinstagram #greenvillesc

Well, it could have been worse. A lot worse. That is what I keep telling myself. I've been up most of the night as the wind howled and tore through our property. I could hear trees snapping all around us. To say it was absolutely terrifying is an understatement. Our property flooded this morning around 7:30 a.m., and we had a literal river of water moving through the right side of our property between 6 of my raised beds. My husband and I were outside in knee-deep, fast-moving water - in the driving rain and 70+ mph wind gusts - putting up temporary water barriers to divert the water away from the beds and the house. They thankfully worked and were worth every penny. I'll have a video showing that later. I was also battling 70-80 mph wind gusts trying to tie down plastic from several low tunnels that had come loose. That was fun. A lot of my celosia and zinnias were damaged, but I think they are mostly salvageable. Fingers crossed. Trees fell around us, but thank goodness they didn't fall on the house. Next door on the neighbor's property (seen in the video above), where I expanded my growing capacity this year, it's been a different story. The paths are all flooded, and there are numerous limbs down and debris everywhere. A huge maple tree split and fell over a large perennial bed I've been working on. Luckily, I hadn't planted in it yet. The dahlias and heirloom mums seem mostly okay (which is a huge relief). However, nearly my entire sunflower crop may have been lost. Most of the plants are flattened, and I'm not sure how many will recover. My second bed of zinnias has some damage, but I think most of the plants can be saved. So, it could have been much worse. But, it's going to be a long cleanup, and I'll have to reassess how everything faired. #hurricanehelene #greenvillesc #stormdamage #greenvillescflowerfarm #pugpatchflowerfarm #scupstateflowers #longroadahead #scspecialtycropgrowersassociation

Happy Saturday! Here's an armload of gorgeous Lisianthus to brighten your day! And boy, we are harvesting it by the armloads! 💐 We will have lots available for local florists to purchase wholesale and for bouquets this week and next! We got some very much needed rain yesterday afternoon and this morning, for which I (and the flowers) are very thankful! We haven't had a significant rainfall in 1.5 months. The temperatures have also cooled off quite a bit, and it is turning out to be a beautiful day. I'll take the mid-80s compared to the 95+ degrees it has been for several weeks any day! We hope you have a wonderful and relaxing weekend! #lisianthus #julyflowers #summerblooms #wefinallygotrain #greenvillesc #greenvillescflowerfarm #yeahthatgreenville #scupstateflowers #organicflowerfarming #sustainableflowerfarming #notill #grownnotflown #greenvilleflowers #slowflowers #fieldtovase #ayearinflowers #scspecialtycropgrowersassociation #weekendvibes #pugpatchflowerfarm #pugkissedpetals #greenvillescflorist #farmerflorist #weddingseason #weddingflowers #greenvillescwholesaleflowers #greenvillescweddings #pinklisianthus

I was sitting on my front porch steps just now when this little guy flew up to say hello. He was so close that I could have reached out and touched him. His little wings move so fast that you can hear the distinct hum of them in the video if you turn your sound all the way up. Hummingbirds are such curious and fearless little birds. I absolutely love having them around the farm, and with all the flowers, there is plenty of nectar for them to enjoy. 🌺 #Hummingbirds #hummingbirdsofinstagram #flowerfarmfriends #pollinators #pollinatorgarden #organicflowerfarming #organicgardening #notill #grownnotflown #nopesticides #greenvillesc #greenvillescflowerfarm #greenvillegardening #birdfriends #pugpatchflowerfarm #pugkissedpetals #localflowerfarm

Summer flowers & fun at Pug Patch Flower Farm 💐🚜 Video credit: @patricksherren #pugpatchflowerfarm #greenvillescflowerfarm #greenvillesc #sustainableflowerfarming #grownnotflown #notill #organicflowerfarming #localflowers #scupstateflowers #ayearinflowers #slowflowers #fieldtovase #pugsofinstagram #pugsandpetals #summerblooms #summerflowers #yeahthatgreenville #buylocalflowers #supportlocalflowerfarms #farmerflorist #greenvillescflorist #greenvillescweddings #greenvilleweddings #greenvilleflowers #greenvillegardening #julyflowers #pugkissedpetals #scspecialtycropgrowersassociation

Hail. The flower farmer's worst nightmare. This is the second significant hail storm we've had in as many weeks. I am so thankful I can cover most of my planting beds to protect them. #hailstorm #flowerfarming #coveredbedsforthewin #flowerfarmersnightmare #greenvillescflowerfarm #scupstateflowers #greenvillesc #maystorms #sustainableflowerfarming #organicflowerfarming #notill #grownnotflown

This is one of the ways I speed up the process for flipping my beds between crops. Since we have a small farm and a limited amount of growing space, I do a lot of "turning & burning" of the beds to quickly remove one crop and plant another. In order to orchestrate this process, I have to know how long it takes a plant to bloom from the time it's planted, how long it will bloom for, and what plants I can replant in the same space after the initial crop has finished that will bloom quickly enough to be worth my while. The bed pictured is one of my Ranunculus beds that just finished blooming, but it was still full of green foliage. In a regular gardening situation, when the plants have finished blooming, the foliage would simply be allowed to naturally die back and recharge the corm. This would apply to other flowers that grow from bulbs, tubers, and corms as well. However, I don't have the space or luxury of time to allow for this process. In order to flip this bed, I was left with two options. I could have just ripped out the Ranunculus plants with the corms attached and composted them (which I have done in the past), or I could cover the foliage with plastic or a tarp for a couple days to speed up the process of killing back the foliage for the corms to recharge. I chose the latter option this year. Once the foliage dies back under the plastic, I can then dig the corms up to store for replanting in the fall, amend the bed, and replant. This bed will be planted with cut & come again varieties that will bloom quickly and provide repeated blooms throughout the summer and fall, such as zinnias, cosmos, and celosia. 💐 #sustainableflowerfarming #slowflowers #flowerfarmwork #fieldtovase #ayearinflowers #organicflowerfarming #flippingflowerbeds #highintensityflowerfarming #summerflowers #plantingbedprep #planting #greenvillesc #scupstateflowers #greenvillescflowerfarm #greenvillescflorist #farmerflorist #grownnotflown #notill #swampfarmer #pugpatchflowerfarm #pugki

I was walking the dogs next to the creek and looked down to see this fella. In the 15 years that we've lived here, we've never seen a Crawdad before until this Spring. My husband first saw one last week while doing restoration work along the creek. Then, I saw one today. We've been restoring the creekside and, of course, adding lots of beneficial plants and flowers to the farm. We must be doing something right. #localflowerfarm #sustainableflowerfarming #sustainablelandscaping #nopesticides #nature #floraandfauna #crawdads #spring #greenvillesc #greenvillescflowerfarm #greenvillegardening #sustainablehorticulture #horticulture #horticulturist #creeksiderestoration #greengardening

TODAY is the DAY!! It's GO TIME!! So excited to get my hands on the @floretflower Original Seeds! There are so many gorgeous varieties and colors that it's almost too much to take! #slowflowers #fieldtovase #ayearinflowers #floretseeds #floretoriginals2024 #zinnias #celosia #dahlias #weddingflowers #localflowers #localflowerfarm #farmerflorist #swampfarmer #greenvillescflowerfarm #greenvillescflorist #greenvillescweddingflorist

It's an exciting day at Pug Patch Flower Farm! I am breaking new ground on one of two new growing spaces! We are tripling our production this year with the hopes of being able to bring you many more flowers! Thanks to the generosity and kindness of my next-door neighbor, this amazing space will soon be full of flowers! She used to have a huge garden here for many, many years that was absolutely amazing. It hasn't been in use for the past 6-8 years, and when she learned about my flower farm, she so generously offered this space! It has been a huge undertaking as the area to the far left was overgrown with all manner of vines and invasive plants that had self-seeded over the years. I have ripped out miles upon miles of Vinca vine, Ivy, Japanese Honeysuckle, thorny weeds, and Bradford Pear seedlings, just to name a few. Tilling the main area has been a challenge, as well, with the Bermuda grass and all its runners. 🙄 (Don't even get me started on the Bermuda grass. That may end up being a whole separate post. 😂) Needless to say, I'm really sore and pretty exhausted -- but I'm also super excited to start planting more flowers here. Big things are coming this year! Stay tuned! #slowflowers #fieldtovase #newgardenbeds #cutflowerfarm #localflowerfarm #localflowers #plantingbedprep #greenvillegardening #dahlias #zinnias #farmfreshflowers #swampfarmer #greenvillesc #greenvillescflowerfarm #greenvillescflorist #farmerflorist #pugpatchflowerfarm #pugkissedpetals #ayearinflowers

Learn how to make hoops for low tunnels with me! This is the first in a series of posts I'll be doing today about constructing low tunnels. For me, low tunnels are essential. I have low tunnel infrastructure in place for almost all of my beds, which provides a lot of benefits for growing. In the colder months, I cover the beds with greenhouse plastic, which provides my plants protection from cold winds, too much rain, and critters looking for an easy meal. I can add frost cloth underneath for added protection from freezing temps. During the warmer months, I can use insect netting to protect plants from hungry bugs (which helps me to not use pesticides) and/or shade cloth to protect more delicate plants from our blazing hot summer sun. The low tunnels are also very helpful for covering and protecting plants from hail and damaging summer storms. I constructed all of my low tunnels myself, and aside from some muscle and elbow grease, they are pretty easy to make. I use 10-foot long 1/2-inch EMT (electrical conduit pipe) and a 4-foot hoop bender from @johnnys_seeds to construct the hoops. I attach the hoops to my raised beds, which are 4-feet wide, with 1/2" EMT straps screwed into the sides of the raised beds. I also screw 1/2-inch EMT straps to the outside of the beds to thread rope through to help secure the greenhouse plastic. After constructing the hoop infrastructure, I cover the hoops with the greenhouse plastic (or other covering I'm using) and secure it to the hoops with 1/2" EMT Snap Clamps from Johnny's Seed. Last, I strap the plastic down with 1/4" polypropylene rope criss-crossed across each section of plastic between hoops and secured through the EMT straps on the outside of the beds. Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below. I'll demonstrate how to make a hoop in the next post. #slowflowers #fieldtovase #ayearinflowers #flowerfarming #lowtunnels #localflowerfarm #localflowers #organicflowerfarming #horticulture #seasonextension