What’s Blooming
Tunnel Tulips
Super Parrot – Blooms start out green & turn white as they age & open, possibly my new favorite parrot tulip
Exotic Emperor – I love the transformation these guys make (and the fact that the petals remind me of goose feathers)
Valdivia – These were a supplier substitute, and while they were super pretty (love me a fluffy orange tulip) they were also supperrr expensive and not very tall. I don’t mind shorter tulips but they’re a harder sell to florists so TBD on if we try her again with some tweaks. Half went into the field & I expect those will be better.
Queensland – These were also a supplier substitute. The bubblegum pink blooms are pretty with white serrated edges and the flowers open really nicely.
Copper Image – We love her. Blooms are a unique rusty-raspberry that fade as they age.
What We’re Planting
There’s still a few weeks of frosty nights ahead so plantings are really limited to perennials & hardy annuals that can take some chill.
Herbs – SO many herbs! All my favorite mints, sage, oregano, thyme, and French tarragon.
Ranunculus – Field planting succession #2.
Lisianthus – Tending to baby plants is not my forte so these go straight into the ground once they arrive as tiny plugs. Some will get planted under the big hoop with the rest going in the field.
Italian Poppies – Such heartbreakers. Can’t wait to see them in May.
Italian Pansies – This will be our first go at these and I’m VERY excited.
Snapdragons & Stock – I can smell them already. We’re attempting to better stagger the harvest this year through a combination of tunnel/field placement & pinching (snaps only).
Rudbeckia – Classics only for this round (‘Prairie Sun’ and ‘Indian Summer’). ‘Sahara’ and ‘Autumn Sunset’ are more useful for us in fall so they get planted in June (yes I know they’re day-length sensitive and will be short, no I don’t care).
Rat Tail Statice – Way too much probably. It’s fine. I’m already envisioning hanging it from our ceiling come fall (sorry Tom).
Nigella – I completely dropped the ball on these last year and pouted about being nigella-less all season, so now I’m planning on 3 successions.
What’s Growing On
We don’t have a true propagation house so I tend to sow things in batches in the early season. After some trial & error over the last couple of seasons I’ve found it’s easiest to have the first round of plants delivered as plugs (especially the slow growing stuff) and wait until March to start seeding for the most part. Most of these have been in our unheated tunnel so there isn’t lots of top growth yet (cold nights) but the root systems are developing nicely and most of these will go out in the coming weeks.
Nicotiana
Mignonette
Phlox
Love in a Puff
Basket Flower
Larkspur
Starflower
Borage
Campanula
Salvia
Sweet Peas
Monarda
Calendula
Poppies (shirley & breadseed)
Pansies
Bergamot
Schizanthus
Nigella
Bachelor’s Buttons
Chinese Forget me Nots
Foxglove
Dill
Ornamental Grasses
What We’re Sowing
Now that evening temps are warming up we’ll start continuously sowing things as space in our germination chamber becomes available while making sure we’re saving bed space for June & July plantings. August through October is our busiest stretch for weddings so it’s important to hold some stuff back to ensure we have a healthy selection of textural bits and beauties to design with.
Hyacinth Bean
Jewels of Opar
Scabiosa
Strawflower
Sunflowers
Basil
Amaranth & Cosmos sprouted this week. Both of these get sown in different waves since I like different colors for high summer vs. late summer. If you’re succession planting your cosmos, keep in mind that they’re facultative short day plants, meaning they’ll flower faster under short days, so if you plant them too late you may end up with pretty wimpy stems.
California Poppies
Marigolds
Cress
Celosia
Gomphrena
