Month: July 2019

Making flower bouquets can be as easy or hard as you make it.

noun

An attractively arranged bunch of flowers, especially one presented as a gift or carried at a ceremony.

The first thing I do is cut everything that is ready to cut. I try and cut deep into the plant so it will grow another nice long stem.

The next step for me is to bring all the cut flowers inside to rest in the cool air. Some day I hope to have a cooler so I can hold flowers for a longer period of time.

Using the counter, I separate the different varieties of flowers.

Making bouquets is really messy. As I add the flowers to my bouquet, I am stripping off all the bottom leaves. You do not want leaves in your water, this causes bacteria and your flowers will die quicker.

A typical market bouquet that I make has about 15 stems. This includes flowers and foliage.

Here is a snap shot of my flower stand.

Happy me. Snapdragons are truly a favorite.

Do you have a favorite flower? Leave a comment below, I would love to know what it is!

We are in the midst of summertime madness. The flowers in the field exploded when we were on vacation, so that means that the weeds are exploding also.  With plenty of rain and the humidity high, summertime madness is truly here.

Local flowers

I have been harvesting on Tuesday mornings for the twin cities flower exchange. It is such a great venue for our locally grown, chemical free flowers. A special thanks to Christine Hoffman for all her hard work.

80% of the cut flowers here in the United States are imported. One small flower farm at a time is changing that number. Keep buying locally grown flowers. You will be blown away at the quality.

Thursdays are the day I go to the Wayzata farmers market. The market is in full swing. Stop by and check it out if you are in the area.

Succession planting

The learning curves…. they continue to happen. I have had some success with succession planting this season. What is succession planting? This is when you start and plant the same crop at different times. This ensures blooms throughout the season. The zinnias are coming along great using this planting method but….my bunny tail grass is another story. All the cute little bunny tails are arriving at once. I am going to have to harvest and dry.

As you can see in the picture above….the weeds are endless. This coming week the rain is supposed to disappear, so if you want to find me….I will be pulling weeds.

Raspberry branches are great to use as foliage.  They last for about 2 weeks after being cut. Thornless varieties are ideal but these good ol’ fashioned ones work great also.

Swamp milkweed. It grows in the ditches and fields here. When it dries and the seed pod appears, it is so cool. Scouting the ditches for the dried ones has become a regular activity.

As the summer madness progresses into August, I am once again trying to find some sort of balance.  The balance beam proceeds to lean towards chaos….and the days of summer keep flying by.

Early mornings are calling my name….so maybe that is the key.  “Early to bed, early to rise. Makes a person healthy, wealthy and wise.”  Stay tuned to see how that works!

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Stop by  here to see what also tips the balance beam!

Here is a summer recipe for you to try! Whipped cream and berries…I can taste it already.