Summer 2019

Where do I begin?  I'll try to fill in the gaps since my last post, a whopping five months ago. 

Spring 2019 was overflowing in blooms, there's not much I would change about it.  Aside from adding some additional netting to keep my blooms straight, trialing a few new varieties, and eliminating some poor performers. Overall, I am pleased with our 2019 spring performance and crop choices and am ready to gear up for spring 2020. 

​The flower stand has been an enormous hit.  It delights me to fill the stand for the community and receive supportive and enthusiastic feedback, I absolutely love the flower stand.  

We added our sweet "Why Not Wednesday" delivery specials this spring which was another big hit.  We love delivering our blooms to your homes and workplaces and will bring this back next spring as well. 

Summer came on quickly but I feel it's been pretty mild compared to the last, or perhaps I am more conditioned for it this year. We are currently enjoying a little cool front which has been a beautiful blessing and has me dreaming of fall.   

In the hustle and bustle of spring, when I was swimming in blooms, I missed the boat on seeding mid-summer blooms.  I will make a note of this and improve upon this next year.  I am currently transitioning the fields for fall, and  pulling early summer annuals to make room for fall seedlings that are currently growing in the greenhouse.  In doing so, I have hit a lull in blooms for the first time this year. I have late-summer blooms budding up and ready to burst, the early summer blooms are tired and ready to be pulled, and I am limited on mid-summer blooms that should be ready for market during this transition. 

I have scaled back on deliveries to The Southern Hotel in Covington and Attic to Awesome in Abita until the late summer blooms arrive.  It was difficult to make the call, however, I feel the best way to get our blooms to the most amount of people is to continue to stock Acquistapace's and our on-site flower stand, which sat empty for a week while I sorted things out and made the final decision to pause delivery to two locations. 

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Sunflowers are on my mind as I plant out in weekly successions.  Our first crop, the green sunfill sunflowers, have bloomed and I am over the moon delighted with them.  I have already seeded another succession of these lovelies.  Look for our many varieties of lovely sunflowers to fill our bouquets in the months to come. 

Our dahlias are creeping along, Louisiana heat is a bit much for them.  Therefore, this year I transplanted them from the field to fabulous canvas planting pots and placed them under an oak tree for filtered light.  So far they are looking super healthy, growing tall and budding up.  I expect to have these lovelies this fall.  A few have already bloomed and were added to our delivered market bouquets, wow, what a statement they make.  ​

Rose bushes are maturing nicely, budding up daily and getting deadheaded rather than cut with any stem length in an effort to have long stem roses in abundance this fall. 

My seeds are ordered for spring 2020, the greenhouse is getting organized and ready to house numerous trays of fall planted spring seedlings.  There, they will be nurtured and readied to plant out several weeks before our first fall frost.  

Our heirloom chrysanthemums have been cut back for the final cut prior to July 4th and are moving in the right direction for a fabulous fall showing. 

Besides the mid-summer mishap, I am overall extremely pleased with 2019.  I love walking away with lessons learned and plotting to improve the following year.  This is truly what it is all about. If we are not growing, we are not living.  I live to grow and grow to live. 

Until next time,
Peace, love and flowers, y'all!
​-Karin