Each spring there’s a period where I seem to scramble for blooms. In my head I imagine spring as an over-abundance of blooms following the winter chill, but as a small-scale flower farmer growing seasonal flowers outdoors, spring still follows a pattern of bloom or bust. That’s particularly true this year with the high spring temperatures we’ve experienced, and as we wait to recover from our efforts to move the farm.
Our spring flowers suffered this year (and last spring) as we didn’t put as many crops in the ground while preparing to move. Instead, I planted lots of things in planter bags so that we could pick them up and move when we needed to while still keeping the business earning income. But this spring we hit some really high temperatures, and because the bags get much hotter than the soil would if the crops were in the ground, spring crops like ranunculus and anemones shut down early. (They don’t like the heat and will shut down when temperatures get above 24 degrees). Our Ixia which normally bloom wonderfully at this time of year, also got too dry in the terracotta pots they were in and haven’t thrived. (They don’t mind a dry spot in the garden, but terracotta pots in our dry and windy climate was a step too far). A lot of our bulb crops (like dutch iris and alliums) didn’t make it back in the ground either after being dug out last year, so that left a hole in our flower schedule too. It’s been a challenge!
But even without those challenges, there always seems to be a lull in the focal flowers between spring and summer. Bridging that gap can be difficult for seasonal growers like us. This year I’ve noticed that leucospermum will help fill some of the gaps for focal flowers in spring. Our leucospermum So® Exquisite (orangey-red blooms) has flowered through early spring filling gaps as the protea season winds down, and Carnival® Yellow is coming into season now. These will be a huge help in future years as the plants establish.
For now, I’ve been focussed on planting as many of our summer crops as possible. Flower farming has been good at teaching me not to dwell on past mistakes. I can’t grow more flowers instantly if I find I’m running short at some point during the season – the only thing I can do is plan to do things differently the next year. For a perfectionist personality type like me, it’s been a great lesson in relaxing, embracing mistakes, and letting go.
So what do we have blooming at the moment? We’ve got the last of the proteas for the season, mainly White King Proteas and Southern Cross (my fav!), black pearl lillies coming into season, young leucospermum plants in their first flower flush, strawflowers in bloom and coming into flower, and digiplexus and foxgloves just kicking off their season. Our dutch iris and native pea flowers are finishing up, but we have rice flower and peonies budding up, and many more flowers on the way. We’ve also got lots of summer planting underway too, with hundreds of dahlia, sunflowers, strawflowers, zinnia and more in the ground and growing in leaps and bounds.
Visit our stall at Epic on Saturday mornings for some beautiful spring blooms. Spring blooms have a very fleeting flowering window, which makes them feel so special. They’re a bit magical and give us so much happiness blooming in our homes. You can find us at Capital Region Farmers Market Saturdays from 7-11:30am each Saturday in October. We look forward to seeing you there and hearing about your spring flower favourites!
