What's Fresh September 12

Does this Lysimachia "Firecracker" look familiar? Look back to my blog dated August 8 . I did several arrangements with "Firecracker" and at the end of the week I took everything out except the lysimachia. Each week I refreshed the water and marveled at the longevity of this little plant. After four weeks I find it freakishly strange!

The bad news is that we have ended deliveries for the season--the good news is that our good friends at Go-fer it are happy to make deliveries right to your door. This week we are in a bit of an uproar getting ready for tulips and prepping a new greenhouse for rannunculus and anemonies. So my blog this week is down and dirty--photos of flowers right out of the field.

First up: Amaranth "Hot Biscuit"

Bells of Ireland

Blood flower AKA Scarlett Asclepias
and
Sea Oats

Delphinium and orange bits in the front of the bucket are Orange Asclepias

Euphoriba "Marginata"
Seriously this is another foliage plant with longevity. I deliver a bouquet each week to a doctor's office in town. Three weeks ago I made a monochromatic bouquet with this euphorbia, white phlox and Highlander millet. Last week my client asked me to leave the bouqet because it still looked good. This week I did take the arrangement away because the phlox was very tired but the euphorbia, and of course the millet, looked fantastic. Freaky!

Ornamental oregano, yarrow and more delphinium.

"Pee Gee" Hydrangea--we are still cutting "Lime light" and the "Pee Gee" has just started.

Snow berry and Coral berry--we did not cut it back this year and so the stems are branching multiples instead of one long arching stem. I think it is easier to work with.

We are still greeting the dawn with shears in hand and start each day cutting what ever is ready. Due to the prolonged cool spring, the list is surprisingly long. Please check your fax and email for full availability and if you are especially interested in something just call us. We will be happy to send it to you.

What's Fresh July 18

The farm is turning more and more towards yellow and orange. As the days heat up so does Nature's color palette and all the golden yellows, oranges and reds start blooming. The oranges asclepias and calendula are perfectly orange. We also have some amazing yellow/orange/bronze snaps and tequila sunset orange snaps.

Tequila sunrise snaps, Raspberry snaps, Cherry snaps

Orange Asclepias

Calendula is very light sensitive, open and brilliant in daylight and then closing up at night as the sun sets. These were cut as the sun was rising and so are still closed. As they gather sunlight they will burst fully open.

We also have Black-eyed Susans and Chocolate Susans, which are double and triple petaled flowers in chocolate to bronze shades.

The heliopsis have also started blooming and are fantastic this year. Large "marigold" yellow blooms on long strong stems complemented by lush deep green foliage. Good flower.

Salmon Clarkia

The clarkia also started blooming this week. If you are not familiar with this little cutie do not miss it. Clarkia comes in mixed bunches (the seed is only sold in mixed colors and it is too hard to cut in separate colors) of this salmon color, white and fucshia. Each blooming stem is a rosy pink with multiple blooms. I call it the Bindweed orchid--they are delicate but long lasting.

Fucshia Clarkia

We still have pink and white Asclepias, a cousin to the orange asclepias, this variety is taller and fragrant.

Bupleurum
Ralph has just started to harvest the first bupleurum, it looks fantastic, lush and bushy.

Cleome
This beautiful flower is making a Bindweed come-back. We grew this many years ago and I convinced RT to try it again. Aren't you glad! It is so unique--but beware it is thorny.

We still have some fabulous blues:

Delphinium

The Delphinium are singing their swan song and we will take our last cut of these beauties this week.

Indigo Spires
This is another flower I requested. I have always loved these beautiful deep indigo spikes in landscaping and thought they would add a color not easy to get in design work. The spires and sage green leaves are velvety soft.

Another blue beauty, phlox, so fragrant and strikingly blue!

Scabiosa in periwinkle and white.

The second crop of cat mint.

What's Fresh July 11

The day has come to say goodbye to the peonies...they were so late, so beautiful and so brief! Peony time is one of my favorite times of the season.

I used the last peony orphans in this bouquet. I also used some filipendula, baby pink garden roses, our new raspberry and orange sherbet snaps, lambs ear and wine clematis. (There have to be some advantages to running a cut-flower farm.)

Asclepias Time: the asclepias have started. We have orange available this week and white and pink to follow next week.

Canterbury bells in white, lavender and purple.

The campanula family is peaking this week, we have Canterbury bells, bellflower and glomerata available.

Campanula glomerata, strong stalks with clusters of purple bells forming a ball of flowers.

This clematis vine covers three sides of two different barns and is just peaking now. We custom cut vines 24 inches to 36 inches. If you are interested please call to special order this beautiful vine.

The white blossoms on this vine are the size of a silver dollar, vines include a variety of leaves, pearl-like buds and blooms.

The delphinium are peak right now. These delphs are almost as tall as I am. We have a good assortment of light blue, lavender, blue and deep purple.

Finally we have something yellow! The heliopsis has started blooming. These blooms are deep gold on strong long stems and have an excellent vase life.

White phlox is scenting the air on the farm. These fragrant white blossoms cluster on very strong stems.

Queen Anne's Lace, this is our early variety. Very lacy airy blooming umbels on green stems.

Snap Dragons--our second crop of snaps is gorgeous in orange sherbet, raspberry and deep velvety burgundy. The white snaps will make their debut next week.

These are the sun flowers--they are tardy. Now I really understand why they are named "sun flowers", after the long cold dark spring they are very late. We hope to see blooms in two weeks--such a bummer!

Last, but not least, Veronica--beautiful lavender blooming spikes soar above green lance shaped leaves.

As always, please check your email/fax for full availability, these are just the highlights.