It’s been such a joy, having bee hives on our property and watching the honeybees find their new favorite blooms in the garden with each passing week. As you can see in the video, the hands-down winner this week is this beautiful blue Eryngium (variety: Big Blue); just look at the number of bees concentrating on this prickly perennial… and listen to all that buzzing! ❤️🐝
I’m a perfectionist, by nature – and that has proven to be both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, it pushes me to improve; to continue learning new things; to expand my exposure and experience – but on another, it also means that nothing I do ever feels quite ‘good enough’; that I often overlook the positive and fixate on the negative; that I sometimes abandon an endeavor if my first attempt is anything short of incredible; that I sometimes bite off more than I can chew, for fear of failure. Mother Nature seems well aware of this trait of mine – and, like always, she is patiently teaching me to see it in new and wonderful ways throughout each season; ways that apply to so much more than my garden. Let’s take a closer look at one of the ways she is teaching me to see beauty in imperfection at season’s end…
At first glance, what do you see in the video below? It’s obviously not your typical ‘flower farm’ picture; the one we all crave… a surreal, perfectly manicured pastoral setting, dripping with armloads of beautiful blooms and layers of intricate pattern and texture, dusted in sunshine and dazzling color. No, this is the unfiltered honesty of the late-season garden, nearing its end. The old me would take one look at these brown, decaying, unsightly leftovers of the season and immediately move to cut them down; to remove this lack of color and life; to return my landscape to a clean, tidy, pristine state. I’d rake every fallen leaf, cut down every dead or dying stem, and triumphantly place every trace of nature’s former summer bounty out of sight and onto the compost pile. And once my fall hack-a-thon was complete and my yard was transformed back into a tidy, controlled, natural version of an indoor space – with everything in its place - I’d hang my bird feeders and pat myself on the back, as if this was some great and selfless contribution to nature. How naïve I was. Looking back, I can see Mother Nature shaking her m
Your flowers are waiting… come see us today at the Mountain Fresh Farmers Markets, Oakland, Maryland from 10am-1pm! 💕🌸
Sustainable gardening is its own reward. No till + no herbicides + no pesticides = LOTS of beautiful, busy wings! ❤️🐝🦋
Oh, how it soothes my soul to be doing this again; to hold green stems topped with God’s masterpieces in my hands and marvel at their beauty … thank you! 💕
I harvested my first ranunculus blooms this week, and now it’s official: my list of flower addictions just got longer. I’m hooked… I mean just look at all those exquisitely ruffled petals! 😍 If anyone is looking for a bouquet or arrangement this weekend, please feel free to reach out - I have ranunculus, anemones, peonies, astrantia, geum, and lots of other lovely bits blooming right now in my side gardens, while the big garden is busy gearing up for the summer season! ❤️
Come, take a walk with me…
These aren’t your grandmother’s daffodils…
Not that there is anything wrong with grandma’s daffodils, mind you – or anyone’s for that matter! I have tons of ‘regular’ daffodils on my property, and I adore them; they are one of the first real punches of color to appear after a long, cold winter, and I welcome them each year with eager eyes, dancing heart, and open arms. But have you looked at all the specialty varieties available in the Narcissus genus (i.e. Daffodils)? The color range and form available in today’s market is breathtaking, expanding well beyond the bright, cheery yellow trumpets we all know and love. Last fall, I planted thousands of bulbs in many new varieties, and I’m completely enchanted with their delicate, frilly, over-the-top blooms and intoxicating fragrance!
Unfortunately, the word ‘daffodil’ often makes floral designers and their flower-loving customers alike cringe – perhaps because they don’t ‘play well with others’ in arrangements (due to the sticky sap they exude when cut, which is toxic to all other flowers), or because they just seem too ‘ordinary’ to spend money on. I hope to challenge that opinion and encourage you to look beyond the common ‘big box store’ varieties that are so readily available. There’s a world of beauty to be found! When picked at the right stage (which is the ‘gooseneck’ bud stage), they offer an impressive vase life of around 10 days – and if conditioned properly (by letting them rest for a minimum of 4 hours in cold water to allow the cut stem to ‘callous over’, which will stop the flow of toxic sap), you can successfully mix them with other flowers, so long as you don’t re-cut the stems.
My garden is gifting me with armloads of tall, gorgeous stems right now, with many more blooms preparing to open soon - so I thought I’d make a case for these beauties by putting together an arrangement featuring new-to-me varieties. It’s time to take a second
Today’s specialty tulip harvest! Please PM me if you need a bouquet. Pricing: 10 stems for $20; 25 stems for $40. Other quantities available upon request.
**Unless the forecast changes, I’m also planning to set up again this Saturday (4/30) at NuFinish Collision Center! I’ll post hours later in the week. Sure hope to see you there!
At only 4 months old, Quinn is already a force to be reckoned with in the garden. Just look at her go - and at that sweet face! If I could only teach her the difference between a weed and a flower - or WHERE to dig her next hole… 😉🐾❤️
