Blue Heron Farm in Nellysford, VA

Home
United States
Nellysford, VA
Blue Heron Farm in Nellysford, VA

Two acres of specialty cut flowers, garlic, and more nestled in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains o Since 1995 he has devoted his full time to farming.
(10)

Keith Dix was farming organically on a part-time basis before he retired from West Virginia University where he was Director of the Center for Sustainable Agriculture. Bev Lacey had years of gardening experience before moving from Ohio to Nelson County, Virginia in 2004. Since moving to Virginia she has expanded her knowledge of, and love for, growing specialty cut flowers on Blue Heron Farm. The

two and a half acre farm is cultivated without chemical pesticides or commercial fertilizers. We are located two miles south of Nellysford just off Route 151 near Nellysford, Virginia, in the shadow of Wintergreen Mountain.

04/09/2023

Happy Easter from Michelle’s deck with another arrangement that she and her sister created after tromping in the woods for treasures to enhance the flowers. Meanwhile, in our greenhouse more neighbors (Kerrie, Ella and Jill) created Easter arrangements too. What a great neighborhood we have!

04/08/2023

However you celebrate, I hope there are local flowers in your life. One of my greatest joys is sharing flowers with neighbors like Michelle, who turns them into works of art. It’s enough to make me forget that April arrived with winds that tore aging plastic off one of the hoop houses. And this week the lisianthus plugs arrived! Life is good.

03/14/2023

It was great to be greeted with early spring blooms and warm weather when we returned to VA on the first of March. The current cold spell is making time for lots of seed starting and a good reminder that there is no need to get things in the ground too early. ☀️🌧🌨💨

02/22/2023

Happy Mardi Gras y’all! NOLA was tied for the warmest Mardi Gras ever. Gorgeous!

02/14/2023

Happy Valentine’s Day y’all!

02/13/2023

Thanks to Andre and for the great Freret throws, especially the flower mask and glass beads!

02/08/2023

My walk yesterday was filled with surprises. I love the New Orleans architecture, but as spring flowers add their color to the carnival atmosphere, I’m in heaven. Two weeks until Mardi Gras, and lots of parades start rolling this weekend.

01/05/2023

As we head into 2023, I’m thankful that Marie, Michelle, and Juliette plan to be back for another exciting year on the farm. They worked hard to finish up 2022 with the ranunculus and anemones planted, the campanula and other plants in the hoops weeded, and the field hardy annuals covered. Lots of seeds have arrived, ready for late winter seeding, so here’s to a great 2023! Happy New Year to all.

11/29/2022

That’s a wrap on the 2022 farm season, and what a great season it was! We celebrated with brunch and relaxing together making wreaths and ribbon flowers today. Swipe to enjoy a few highlights of the year. —Linds showing off the “new” recycled tarp, Linds and Marie putting hardy annuals to bed for the winter, Juliette spreading mulch, Marie teaching Linds the joys of a BCS, Michelle creating bouquets, Keith and our grandsons celebrating a day of fence building , and Sarah spreading compost for the dahlias way back in April.

11/07/2022

We are moving forward to mum season! We moved the bed last spring and they have responded beautifully. All our dahlias are all dug, thanks to a great staff and help from Bev’s brother and family. Keith’s garlic was planted with help from s neighbor who happened by, and it’s been nicely watered in this weekend. Life is good on the farm.

09/25/2022

Pooh as been one if my favorite dahlias for many years, so this year we added a few new “Collarette” varieties. Bumble Rumble is really sweet, and Giggles was a gift from Michelle, who works on the farm and had extra tubers from hers. It’s one of the things I love about dahlias — sharing tubers with friends. I’ve gotten wonderful feedback from people who bought tubers at the Nellysford Farmers Market last spring.

09/17/2022

Uptown Girl is the favorite on this beautiful Saturday.

09/15/2022

What a glorious morning in the dahlia patch. Raspberry Punch and Fatima captured my heart today.

09/14/2022

It’s monarch season, and all year I’ve been leaving ugly native milkweed for just this time when the monarch caterpillars need to feed. This year we cut a few flowers with beautiful chrysalises already on them and watched them in the barn. Scroll through to see the fun. All four hatched and it was thrilling to watch. The beautiful green chrysalises with gold trim turn black just before the butterflies emerge. The new butterflies rest and dry off before taking flight. We have plenty of open faced dahlias and zinnias to feed them before they head off on their long journey. Amazing.

06/02/2022

Our neighbors, Kelly and Pam, are back from Siena, Italy decked out in their matching “flower baskets on bicycles” t-shirts. They picked up flowers in their second favorite mode of transportation today.

05/09/2022

Last week we dug out the 16-year-old Farmer’s Market sign and Michelle and I headed to the Nelson County Farmer’s Market to sell dahlia tubers. The cold spring has made it a real challenge to get them to sprout, but gradually they are coming on. It was great to see so many Nelson County friends.

05/07/2022

After a cold Spring, the snapdragons, coral peonies and Bells of Ireland timed their appearance with Mother’s Day! Marie started up her bouquet deliveries to The Batesville Market this weekend and Sarah cut snaps for Cou Cou Rachou . And if you need a special gift for a gardening mother, Bev and Michelle will be selling dahlia tubers at The Nelson Farmers’ Market Saturday in Nellysford.

04/27/2022

Welcome peony season! Pink Hawaiian Coral is the first variety to open.

04/09/2022

It takes a village, and we are delighted that we have such great neighbors in Nelson County! The hoophouse that lost its plastic in February is looking better than ever, thanks to friends and neighbors who came out on a perfect evening. ❤️

03/28/2022

It’s great when the timing is perfect. The flowering quince desperately needed pruning last week, but I didn’t have time until called to see if I had any coral branches. Two hours later, everyone was happy, including the shrub!

03/20/2022

The large hellebore was given to me by a friend in Ohio, and 18 years ago I moved it to Virginia, where it took off. It clearly loves its new home as much as I do. I’ve added some new varieties over the years, but it is the original “Lenten Rose” from Jane that will always be my favorite. Happy Spring!

03/13/2022

It’s not Spring yet! We may have turned our clocks to “Spring Forward,” but this morning dawned with temperatures in the teens and a beautiful calm day. Although Marie and I worked hard on Friday to cover the snaps and campanula in the winter damaged hoop house, the strong winds removed our work and it was impossible to replace it after rain, snow and freezing temps continued into Saturday night. Such is farming. In a few days we may know what has survived. Hope springs eternal.

03/01/2022

Happy Mardi Gras y’all!! We’re missing all the celebrating in New Orleans, but it is great to see what’s coming up on the farm as we welcome March.

02/27/2022

New Orleans’ parades are BACK! Floats, queens, walking krewes and happy revelers (including Keith and Bev) enjoyed a perfect day on Saturday. Time to head back to Virginia.

02/26/2022

The parades are rolling again this year, but I still love walking around our neighborhood enjoying the House Floats.

02/23/2022

Local flowers are showing up in pots, in the ground, on houses and on fences. It’s Carnival season in New Orleans!

02/08/2022

Being in New Orleans means urban sunsets through the live oaks from our front porch, where tarps still indicate damage from Hurricane Ida. It also means walks in Audubon Park under the live oaks and by “forests” of cypress knees. Nope, I didn’t go fishing, but the hundreds of black-bellied whistling ducks might not be able to read.

02/03/2022

I must admit that I miss the snow Virginia has gotten this winter. But it is nice to walk the streets of New Orleans where Mardi Gras beads are going up, and roses, camellias, Japanese magnolias and African irises are in bloom.

01/31/2022

Happy Birthday Marie! It’s such fun to look back on her special year at the farm. No, she doesn’t usually come to work barefoot — only when she shows off the farm to her bachelorette party friends. And she doesn’t usually come in the baby blue truck, but her father delivered the whole wedding party from the barn to the hay field for a rollicking rehearsal. What great memories! Love you Marie!!

11/18/2021

Our Blue Heron crew celebrated at the newly opened Black Bear Creamery right here in Nellysford. We got all 2,300 dahlias dug in 2 days thanks to extra help from wonderful neighbor, Michele, and Marie’s super dad, Mike. Now the dividing starts.

Address

1272 Glenthorne Loop
Nellysford, VA
22958

Website

http://www.blueheronfarm.us/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Blue Heron Farm in Nellysford, VA posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.