Flowers on the Forest Floor December 30, 2008

 

As I’ve mentioned a couple times here on the blog, I am on a continuous hunt for potential cut flowers that grow well in various degrees of shade.  Initially I was only looking for a couple possibilities to try out at the edges of the trees that surround Weavers Way Farm where I help manage the cut flower end of things.  But now that I’ve done some legwork on the idea, I’m getting very excited about creating an expansive shaded cutting garden, full of lush blooms in vibrant hues and diverse shapes.  I’m even thinking about redesigning the shady bank in my own front yard to include some of these varieties so I can bring homegrown cut flowers into the house.

 

 

On the perimeter of the farm is a quarter-acre swath of mature high-limbed deciduous trees that, once cleared of underbrush, would make the prefect place to put to work my new shade flower passion.  I know, you’re thinking, “Why are you so taken with growing cut flowers in the shade when every gardener knows sun is what a beautiful flower really wants?”  That may be true, but I’m working with a very limited amount of land at this farm in the middle Philadelphia where the vegetables get first dibs on the sun. As such, the idea of being able to put some of my flower production in the shade is very appealing.  Plus it has become a rather fun puzzle to figure out, making me stretch my horticulture knowledge. 

 

 

In my mind’s eye, I can already envision the trees at the farm rising tall above fluid beds of airy chartreuse lady’s mantle (Alchemilla mollis), a rainbow of anemones (Anemone blanda ‘Atrocaerulea’, A. teomentosa ‘Robustissima’, A. corconaria, and A. hybrida), breezy wild oats (Chasmantium latifolium), dramatic foxgloves (Digitalis lutea and D. ferruginea), early bird hellebores (Helleborus argutifolius and H. orientalis), fuzzy spikes of alumroot Heuchera villosa), elegant hosta leaves (Hosta ‘Krossa Regal’), lush ostrich ferns and their funky fiddleheads (Matteuccia struthiopteris), clear blue flowering Virginia blue bells (Mertensia virginica), fragrant and ephemeral lily of the valley (Convallaria majalis), quirky bleeding heart (Dicentra spectabilis), charming nodding bell-like of Korean bellflower (Campanula takesimana), perky perfumed dame’s rocket (Hesperis matronalis), frilly little masterwort (Astrantia major ssp. involucrate ‘Shaggy’), silvery-leafed blue-flowered Siberian bugloss (Brunnera macrophylla), showy native cardinal flowers (Lobelia cardinalis), spiky amethyst  monkshood (Aconitum) and exotic-looking columbines (Aquilegias vulgaris [especially var. stellata]) in an array of forms and colors. 

 

 

Until I got immersed in the idea of growing cut flowers in the shade, I never would have guess there was such a long list of qualified candidates for the job.  And I’m betting there are plenty more out there.  Do you know of any I should add to the list?  I’ll be laying out a design for this shade cutting garden sometime over the winter, though it may not get planted during the upcoming growing season.  Since so many of these plants are perennials and biennials, I want to carefully consider their placement and likewise the health of the trees around them so all the various plants’ roots are as undisturbed as possible and living in harmony.

Long List of Potential Cut Flowers December 29, 2008

Below is a list I compiled of cut flowers I’d like to try either in my garden here at Longwood or at the urban farm I work with in Philadelphia.  I’m pleased with having so many perennial and shade possibilities.  (photos for this list were gleened from the web)

 

 

The Flower Farmer December 29, 2008

 

In my quest to get more and more information on cut flower production, particularly sustainable growing practices for such, I have read both the original edition and the recently revised 2008 edition of The Flower Farmer by Lynn Byczynski. This book is virtually my bible at this point, containing nearly everything a new cut flower farmer could want to know at the outset. Lynn’s style of writing is extremely approachable, making it a great book for the casual gardener too.

 

 

Within the 260 pages of the book, she outlines such important topics as selecting a site, prepping soil, buying your plants and seeds, greenhouse and hoophouse production, work in the fields, season extension, woodies appropriate for cutting, pest management, harvesting and post-harvest care, arranging bouquets, and marketing flowers. Nestled within each topic is an on-topic snapshot of a real flower farmer dealing with the chapter’s discussions. These quick bios are really inspirational and candid. Some even were honest enough to say they couldn’t make it as the type of operation they had hoped to be so they had to carefully rethink their business model. Lynn herself has changed her enterprise several times over the years, having tried but given up on weddings, pick-your-own and subscription type operations. She now focuses on direct sales to florists and farmers markets.

 

 

While the whole book is extremely useful, by far the most valuable component is the index of 100 cut flowers, including vital information about each. Throughout the entire book there are amazingly beautiful photos of the flowers on Lynn’s farm so you can see just about all the flowers she recommends. I would highly recommend this book to any horticulture student, home gardener, and farmer – vegetable or flower – as a way to hone your knowledge of cut flower production in the field.

Ice Skating in D.C. December 19, 2008

Here’s a glimpse at what horticulture students do when they want to have fun…go ice skating in D.C. and visit the USBG.  Enjoy the precious looks on everyone’s faces!

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Wreath Making & More December 12, 2008

 

I attended a wreath-making workshop this week and learned how to build fresh wreaths from scratch.  I’ve decorated plenty of fresh and fake wreaths over the years, but never constructed one from the frame up.   I picked up the technique quickly and easily and look forward to making many more in addition to the two I created during the workshop.  Pictured is the one I made of blue spruce and juniper and then decorated with magnolia leaves, dried celosia, gold balls and a simple loop of gold ribbon for hanging.

 

 

  

Another recent activity related to the holidays was a visit to Winterthur to see their Christmas displays.  Rather than decorating their gardens in the same extravagant manner as Longwood, Winterthur’s staff focuses on decorating their massive mansion-turned-museum with detailed domestic holiday scenes.  Here are a few snap shots. 

          

Eremurus December 10, 2008

Photo taken from Brent & Becky’s Bulbs website.

 

In the frenzy of ordering and planting bulbs, I almost forgot to make mention of a new cut flower I’m trialing in my garden next year.  Eremurus stenophyllus, commonly known as Desert Candle or Foxtail Lily, is reportedly a real show-stopper both in the garden and in the vase.  It grows about three feet tall with large spikes of leafless star-shaped florets that bloom in late spring with the alliums.   Since they are very expensive, I only ordered a mix of five hybrids from Brent and Becky’s Bulbs to see how they would fare in my garden and in arrangments. 

 

Eremurus is usually lumped with fall bulbs like tulips or alliums in catalogs and requires the same winter cold to induce flowering.  However, it’s not really a bulb and looks more like a thin dahlia tuber.    Eremurus should be planted in full sun in well-drained soil (it doesn’t like being wet) and should be put in a site where it will not be disturbed for pretty much its entire life.   When planting, do so in late fall and place the fleshy roots 18-24 inches apart and about five inches deep in holes large enough to not bend the roots.  Cover with soil and mulch heavily the first two winters to protect the roots until they are established. 

 

I absolutely can’t wait to see these bloom in the spring.   I plan to collect seeds so I can propagate more each season instead of having to spend the money on more bare roots.   If I’m successful, I’m sure these will be top sellers in market bunches and arrangements.

Christmas at Longwood December 7, 2008

Christmas at Longwood Gardens is in full swing.  Here’s a slide show of some of the countless pictures I’ve taken.  I’ve certainly honed my night photography skills in an attempt to capture the magic.

 

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Bulbs In the Ground, Sort of December 4, 2008

 

After a few discussions and lots of research (the breadth of content in the horticulture library here continues to amaze me) on the best method for overwintering bulbs in containers without the luxury of a climate-controlled cooler, I came up with a new plan.  I’d originally anticipated putting the containers of bulbs in my cold frame to protect them from freezing to death, but the conditions in the cold frame are less than ideal.  The frame is very damp and the temperature can heat up on sunny days so much that the bulbs may have growth spurts that would get checked by the next cold snap.    

Joyce, great horticulturalist that she is, brought up the idea of sinking the containers into my garden in a trench along one of my currently empty vegetable rows.  This idea seemed perfect since it alleviates concerns about the cold frame, and it also creates an interesting environment for comparing how bulbs react when planted straight in the ground versus in containers in the ground.  London is growing many of the same bulbs so there will be direct comparisons to make. 

 

 

 

While this idea certainly seemed plausible, I wanted to do some research to see what bulb experts had to say.  Turns out, it’s fairly common practice to (a) grow bulbs in containers, even over several seasons, and (b) to sink those containers during their “off” seasons.  There is one big difference though.  It’s recommended to sink the containers in a sand pit as this keeps them very stable, moisture- and temperature-wise.  In none of the books I read did it mention sinking them your garden dirt.  

 

However, I’m feeling pretty confident this plan will work, so much so that I went ahead with it and put several containers in the ground, down the stretch of the row where my tomatoes were this past summer.  One thing I did learn from my research is that standard tulip bulbs need to be planted in deep pots as they tend to send their daughter bulbs very deep, which can sometimes clog the drainage hole and cause the whole container to rot.  Not a too big of a deal if you’re only planning to use the bulbs for one season.  However, one of the big reasons I’m using containers is so that I can leave the bulbs in them over the course of the a few growing seasons so I can use them again next spring in my garden and take them with me to wherever I go from here.  I have 28 containers of varying sizes and hope they’ll all put on a good show for years to come.