Growing Hope Blooms

02/06/2025

Welp, it's freezing rain, thundering and lightning in central Indiana right now, and I've got a roaring fire burning in the fireplace and tulips growing in the basement.

What?!

Yep, that's right!

This winter I decided to try growing tulips hydroponically for a couple reasons.

1. It's fun.

2. It's winter so if you want tulips, chances are they are going to be imported.

3. Imported tulips are...well, imported.

4. We will have tulips in Hamilton County much earlier than normal.

5. There's no dirt. Tulips are typically so muddy when harvested. Tulips grown in water are heavenly.

I'll be selling these as limited Valentine's Day tulip subscriptions.

You can follow along on my little journey right here. You can head to my website to sign up and be among the first to know when they become available! https://www.GrowingHopeBlooms.com

02/04/2025

One of my favorite tulip bouquets from 2024 ended up in the home of one of my lovely subscribers, who shared this image with me.

Unfortunately, I can't remember who sent me this gorgeous photo. If it was you, please speak up!

I'm pretty sure these tulips were created specifically to go into this room! 🩷🤎🤍

02/04/2025

It won't be long until you can purchase locally grown flowers again!

02/02/2025

It's Sunday, I'm feeling good (finally!!), and I have a full week of gardening plans on my mind!

The hydroponic tulips trials are doing well. It looks like they'll be ready right *after* Valentine's Day. I'm trying not to be hard on myself about that, because I was so sick that I'm just glad that I got them started at all.

I'm staggering the start times so they'll be done at different times. I'm trialing ten different varieties for a total of seven hundred bulbs.

The goal is to see which ones do well being grown in water, and which ones I'll keep planting in dirt.

If all goes well, next year I'll grow many more hydroponically so we can have tulips in central Indiana much earlier than normal without relying on imports.

01/27/2025

Here's some of the seeds that I'll be trialing this year for my bouquets! Who's getting excited?!

Photos compliments of Johnnys Selected Seeds and used with permission.

01/27/2025

The largest supplier of cut flowers to the United States is Colombia.

How will the new tariffs affect the industry? It is difficult to say.

America's floral industry depends on Colombia's climate to provide flowers that can't be grown here year-round. Plus, some U.S. areas lack flower farms, making it necessary to rely on other countries to have enough supply.

Stay tuned...

01/25/2025

Yep, still sick over here, but I'm able to plant seeds between the coughs.

While I sleep, I dream of these. I've been having some crazy dreams, too! My husband gets to hear me talking in my sleep. 😂

01/18/2025

We are still sick over here. Pretty sure our bronchitis has turned into pneumonia.

You can't hold a conversation or watch tv due to the constant coughing.

I've got semi-toned abs for the first time in 30 years, though. 😂

Between sleeping and sleeping some more, I started something new.

I've been wanting to do this for awhile now, so I'm super excited to try it.

I'm sure there will be mistakes made, but that's how I learn best.

Ready to see?

We should have some tulips ready a little earlier this year thanks to forcing them hydroponically! 🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷

They will grow, start to finish, in these trays of water.

I'm just trying 400 this way, and if it works, maybe I'll do 4,000 this way next year!

01/14/2025

Remember my garden buddy Frank?

Even though rabbits cause me a lot of grief, It's easier for me to work with them than against them.

So I do stupid stuff like prepare them daily salads so they leave my ranunculas alone.

But it seems to mostly work.

Anyway, we tend to think wildlife can survive these incredibly cold temperatures. They were made for these temps, right?

Wrong. It becomes a game of survival of the fittest.

Temps like those we've been experiencing are stressful and deadly for wildlife.

You can help the wildlife by tossing any grapes, blueberries, or lettuce that you aren't going to use into the cleared paths near your house or by low shrubs where rabbits hide. You can slice mandarin oranges in half for squirrels. Small plastic dishes of water are important, too, but so difficult to maintain due to freezing.

The wildlife will thank you later when you watch them in your backyard.

01/10/2025

Not only is snow beautiful when it's falling, but it adds nitrogen back into our soil. Think of it as free fertilizer!

01/07/2025

Good deeds are awesome!

DutchGrown, a bulb company in the Netherlands, recently heard about the flood devastation in North Carolina and touched based with a man who originated from the Netherlands. Dutch Grown wanted to make a tulip bulbs donation to help beautify a park.

The man wasn't expecting 10,000 tulip bulbs! Several volunteers help get them into the ground right before Christmas, and they'll bloom this spring.

Such a beautiful story!

A garden of hope is growing in Swannanoa after a company in the Netherlands donated 10,000 tulip bulbs.

12/30/2024

This week two things happen:

1. I'll be mailing out gift subscription info to those who received them (unless otherwise requested) by the end of the week!

2. Some seed sowing for 2025 starts in the basement!

12/28/2024

January. I used to loathe the month. Admit it--it's rough in Indiana.

These cold, dreary, gray days with little to no sunshine and bitter winds...shudder.

I began limiting how much I had to go out in it. I know I'm not the only one.

Then, once I started spending ten months of the year working outside either growing flowers or preparing to grow flowers, I realized what a gift January is.

It's a month to recharge. For all of us.

It's a month to hunker down under the blankets, to sit by the fire or the electric space heater with our favorite book or movie.

It's our month to recover and rest.

Even if you work full-time, try to use these short days to recover and treat yourself right.

Sit with your kids and grandkids. Make cookies and let the dishes sit till tomorrow. Take a bubble bath (or many). Peruse seed catalogs. Breathe.

Spring will be here before we know it. Until then, rest when you can.

January will be much more tolerable if you think of it as your forced month to rest, recover and recharge.

Restore calm, beauty, and peace into your life.

12/22/2024

Still need a gift for your wife, mother-in-law, girlfriend, or best friend?

I've got the perfect solution as long as they live in Sheridan or near Westfield.

Give a tulip subscription!!

This spring they'll get three sensational tulip bouquets spread out over three weeks!! They look nothing like the bouquets you get at the grocery store. These are sophisticated, luxurious tulips-- varieties grocery stores don't typically sell.

How do you sign up? Head over to my website https://www.GrowingHopeBlooms.com and look at the gift subscriptions.

I'll send your recipient a gift card after Christmas. In the meantime, you can tell them yourself and see their reaction.

People LOVE receiving flowers as a gift! Promise!

12/21/2024

12/16/2024

At first glance they may look like peonies, but they're actually double tulips!

I sell premium tulips that you don't typically find in any grocery store!

12/12/2024

Oh, the weather outside is frightful--but, my flowers are so delightful!

Finish off your shopping for that special someone who lives locally with a three week tulip subscription!

They'll feel loved when you gift it to them, and then anticipate it all the rest of winter ❄️. Once they start pickups, they'll feel happiness and your 🩷 and thoughtfulness all over again!

https://www.growinghopeblooms.com

12/11/2024

It won't always be gray! ☀️🌈🎨