Visitors to the farm often seem a bit crest fallen. When they think of a flower farm they imagine rows and rows of flowers in full bloom and full color. They are expecting to see images like the tulips fields in Holland, the lavender farms of France or the acres and acres of Tuscan sunflowers. What they find are rows of green budding plants, then I take them to the cooler and open the door. They are greeted with a blast of cool floral scented air and buckets and buckets of flowers.
Freshly cut and conditioned flowers ready for delivery
It is always a bit of a shock and then I explain that the flower farms photographed are usually seed production fields, fields allowed to flower, pollinate and form seeds. We are a fresh-cut flower farm and our flowers must be cut in the bud stage before they are
pollinated so that they do not form seeds and begin the process of dying. If we are doing our job there should be no open blooms. As part of your virtual farm tour this week I thought I would invite you into the cooler.
RT starts cutting flowers every morning before the sun is up. The flowers need to be cut before they begin to react to the sunlight and heat. He puts the freshly cut bunches directly into conditioned water, fresh water with a floral preservative, and then in the barn. I sleeve the bunches, creating coordinated buckets and put them in the cooler.
Bindweed Cooler-cam
The sun is shifting and so has the color palette. Every fall nature sets the scene and fills the stage with warm golden tones that move across the color wheel through every variation of orange and red, oranges, pushing into deep crimsons, violets and spilling into autumnal blues. As a painter I witness the approach of fall in every flower so I am not as surprised when the show is over.
Fuchsia Celosia
How is this for a show stopper! The neon hues of this flower really take things to another level.
Yellow Celosia
Another shot to illustrate the color variations of this crazy plant.
Cherry Brandy
Rudbeckia
This beautiful flower illustrates my point exactly--what could be more indicative of the season than this beautiful flower!
Delphinium
We usually get a late season second harvest of delphinium--smaller and less prolific--making it all the more precious.
Euphorbia Marginata
A very cool exception to our very warm color palette, this jade colored
euphorbia is a monochromatic bouquet--foliage, accent, flower.
Hydrangea Limelight
Another exception to the rule--the perfect accent to any cool reds, like scarlet and magenta, deep blues and violets--transforming any autumnal palette to a jewel tone array.
Phlox
Another exception and another amazing late season crop. A bouquet of this beautiful flower will fill a room with sweet fragrance.
Annual
Scabiosa
We are still harvesting perennial
scabiosa in blue and white, as well as the annual
scabiosa. Known as "pin cushion" flower the center of each flower is similar to a cluster of pearl headed hat pins stuck in a lacy ruffled cushion. Larger in diameter, the perennial variety has a flatter head surrounded by a single layer of petals. The annual variety is rounder and resembles a ladies hat more than a pin cushion, very similar to something Audry Hepburn wore in the fifties, very frilly.
Tapestry
I am constantly amazed at the variety and beauty of the plant world. This lowly grass is just a work of art.
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