I’ve let the dust settle on our 2022 fresh flower season. It was a real B as I’ve made very clear. The heat, the drought, the exhaustion, the worry, etc. etc. etc.

It was a rough season… but there were plenty of learning moments and positives too! Let’s talk about ‘em!!

Our farm is finally taking shape. I think I’ve found a layout and method that suits me best and will look good too! I tried living walkways this year and with some tweaks next season, I know they’re here to stay. With the new bed maker/biodegradable plastic layer, life has gotten both harder and easier. But much easier than much harder. We’re still figuring it out but it’s here to stay.

Ang and I joked the other day that ‘on this farm, we work harder, not smarter.’ We laughed and laughed. In reality, we are striving to create better systems of efficiency and order to create a smarter, not harder, working environment. Farming by hand is HARD! So any way we can similify, mechanize, or systemize to help us, we’re here for it.

I am also learning to cull crops that don’t do well for me. China Asters are one of those. They were beautiful for me my first season (though short) and since then I’ve just not been a fan. When they’re good, they’re good, but for me they’ve always been short and not worth the effort. I gave them nearly 80’ of bed space this year. Gasp! Never again. Perhaps only a small patch. I have recently heard if you plant them out later than you should that they will be inevitably short. So maybe it’s me!! I’ll try again without sacrificing 320 sq. ft.

I also gave up on Iceland poppies. They are gorgeous but fleeting and I had some trouble with them this year even without starting them from seed. They’re a little too expensive to keep messing with.

Dahlias…NO, they are not going anywhere! But, I need to cull varieties that just aren’t what they should be. Also, I learned that dahlia genetics decline over time so sometimes it’s just time to throw out some tubers and restart with fresh stock. This can be a hard pill to swallow especially when it takes years to build up stock but it’s very important to ensure quality dahlias.

On the potential chopping block for annuals as well: gomphrena, sweet Annie, & clarkia (2 years of unusable stems, buh bye!). I’m not sure about all of these. We’ll see how I feel come spring!

New varieties I trialed and loved:

• Marigolds! They took a little while to start producing but once they did they were fantastic! I’m not sold on the scent but it’s actually the foliage that smells and not really the flower itself. So I just made an effort to remove as much as possible so only my nose and hands took the brunt of the odor! (the smell stays on your hands long after several washes!)

• Hibiscus foliage. I didn’t start using this until September which is when nearly all of my other foliage was winding down. It’s a gorgeous dark mahogany color and it looks absolutely stunning in fall bouquets.

• Cactus zinnias. I’m not usually a cactus fan, such as cactus dahlias. In the flower-world, this shape refers to pointy rolled petals. But I LOVED these. I planted them late as a 3rd succession and will start them earlier next year. They’re so beautiful!

• Cerenthe - this one didn’t get much use this season because I let the weeds take it over and then gave up on it. But the stems I did use were just amazing. It’s a gray-green foliage with a draping eucalyptus-like coloring with dark purple flowers. Not a focal point but a really neat addition.

• Ageratum - a huge favorite for a pop of purple and a unique texture. This added a lot to my early summer bouquets!

New for 2023. The biggest thing, literally, will be our new peony and dahlia field that will move right behind the barn. We planted 800 additional peonies and will move our 1,000+ dahlia tubers in the spring. This will free up 5+ 100’ beds for additional annuals come spring. Lots of work but I believe it will be worth it!

Here is a great representation of how much we’ve grown in 4-5 years and where we’ll be next year.

In the photo on the left was our entire growing space for the first 1-2 years (plus 8 small raised beds). Above shows our growing space this year (to the left of and behind the solar panels). Next year the field behind the barn will be filled with peonies and dahlias.

What you can’t see in the photo above is our new bulb beds. We built 6 - 4’x34’ beds which will be perennial bulbs as well as tulips which will only live there for one year since we grow them as annuals. The growth is literal! It’s helpful for me to visualize these changes.

Other things that went well:

I was a little better at succession planting this year and it is definitely worth it. Zinnias for instance. My initial crop was amazing but they started to wind down, throw smaller blooms, and get powdery mildew on the lower leaves. But the second succession came into full force just after this decline and looked absolutely beautiful up until frost. I do wish I would have planted the second succession earlier and will do so next year.

We planted a TON of perennials this year and they are going to be amazing in the years to come.

As I mentioned above, our new bed layer is a game changer. Our sloped property makes it a bit of a challenge to lay the biodegradable plastic but we’re learning and it’s already saving me so much time and effort.

Back to the topic of succession planting for a second: I learned some crops that need succession vs waiting on a second flush. Crops like feverfew. I plant feverfew in the fall and it overwinters beautifully. It does rebloom but I learned a little late that it takes quite a while to rebloom so next year I will plant another succession or two in the spring. It’s hard for me to be without my beloved feverfew. Ageratum is another one. I don’t think I cut it back hard enough this year. I found that if I do a hard cut after the first flush, the second flush will be even taller and better. Other crops that will have successions this year are scabiosa (another favorite of mine!), basil, and cosmos.

It’s easy to get caught up in and stuck on the difficult parts. Laying out like this certainly helps me.

I am looking forward to my 5th season next year and as always, bigger and better things to come! I’ll be expanding my CSA to include a fall dahlia share and eventually a spring share too! Workshops are in the works to include fresh flower design. I want to get back to working with my dried flower jewelry pieces. I’d like to have a bulb and root sale next fall and then garden collections in the spring. So many idea, so little time.

In the meantime, I’m busy busy busy over here getting the barn ready for wreath workshops, dusting off the clamp machine for wreath making, and preparing bulb beds and low tunnels to tuck in for the winter ahead.

Thanks for sticking around and coming along on the journey with me!