At a small age my grandmother had iris and lily of the valley growing on the side of the house and in the back a grape arbor. There was also a giant lilac bush with a snowball bush next to it where I spent many hours playing under them.
At the age of six I started planting zinnias and a vegetable plot. Every place I’ve lived I’ve planted flowers and vegetables but eighteen years ago I got serious and took the Master Gardener Program through the University of Missouri and have been active learning and teaching about gardening.
Now that I’m out in the country and as a Master Gardener gardening organically and composting, I wanted to share my love of flowers with others so that’s how Geri’s Flower Farm has come about. 2018 was my first year and after much research I planted a lot of cut flowers that we sold at the Farmers Market in Kearney, Mo and direct at the farm. Some of the annuals that we had were old favorites like snapdragons, the new zinnias, cosmos, verbena, sunflowers and lots more.
The perennials were oriental lilies, peonies, roses, black eyed susans, dahlias etc. At Kearney we had individual flowers and bouquets made up to take home.
The flowers that we didn’t sell at the Farmers Market didn’t go to waste we took them to nearby assisted care centers and local churches.
It was a very hot, dry summer but very interesting too! A Special Thank You to all of you that made it great!! Hope to see you next Spring!!
Now I’m digging up old plants and getting ready to plant more iris and lilies. Stay tuned!!
It’s the first of August 2019 and another planting, growing and harvesting season. Getting to know a lot of my special clients at the Kearney Farmer’s Market, today one lady brought in pictures of the South Pacific Cannas that I had started from seeds last February that she had bought and planted and bloomed! Special time for both of us! The seeds were so hard that I had to get a small metal file and file the outer edge then soak them in water for three days to get them to open up and receive the water, after planting in 4 inch pots in our heated garage with windows they grew and were re-potted into six inch pots that I sold in the Spring.
Last fall and Spring we planted over 500 Oriental, Asiatic and Orienpet Lilies that gave us a spectacular Spring and early summer with an abundance of flowers, now the Dahlias have started opening and they are fabulous.
Last month I had the honor of doing my first wedding, the colors were purple and white and we just happened to have a six inch dark purple dahlia open up and some white Annabelle Hydrangeas so that was the basis of the Bridal bouquet and bridesmaids flowers.
Some of my clients have requested obtaining some of the lily bulbs to grow in their gardens so this fall I’ll be bringing some of them to market.
Thanks you all for a Great Second Year!!
It’s February 2020
and the Flower Garden will be growing again this Spring with another large addition, 85 X 100 Ft that will contain some of the most beloved annuals, new lilies and dahlias will be coming in too.
2019 was a great year with much needed rain, we only had to use the soaker hoses twice, I’m checking into using a drip system in the new area and had to go back to college to learn about it! The garden needs at least an inch or more of water per week to keep the flowers producing.
One of my suppliers from the Netherlands contacted me about forcing lilies in pots this winter and after considering it for a couple years I took the plunge! We’ve converted the heated garage to a greenhouse, ordered 150 pots, six big bags of Miracle Grow and have installed Grow Lights.
The first lily shipment of 200 arrived last week and I’ve been busy getting potted! Lol! The lilies require sixteen hours of light per day so the lights have to be set with timers and the temperature of the room also adjusted.
Each variety of lily takes a different amount of growing time before it blooms and we’re shooting for Easter and Mother’s Day so had to do a lot of calculations. Stay tuned!