Our Season begins!
Tulips for now and dahlias for your summer garden, too!
Tulips are up at last!
At long last, we have tulip bouquets ready for this weekend!
All the way back in November we planted around 3000 bulbs and have been awaiting their bloom ever since - sometimes patiently, sometimes less. And after weathering a few later freezes they were rewarded with a wealth of sunny days. As a result, we are starting to harvest them and build our first bouquets of 2022.
Our tulips are a mix of old favorites, new varieties we’re excited to try and, evidently, a few rogue bulbs that found their way into the mix by accident during packing. We’re delighted with all of them and hope you will be, too!
A few notes on tulip care: unlike other flowers, tulips prefer a bit of neglect once cut - cold water and no flower food. Just like other flowers, they perk up with a fresh cut and fresh water every few days. Tulips will continue to “grow” once cut, so if you’re mixing them into an arrangement, nestle them way down so they have room to emerge without overwhelming everyone else.
Flowers for later, too!
In 2020, we invested in a few varieties of dahlias based on color, shape, and size to round out our summer flower selections; the varieties that performed best for us were kept over the winter and replanted in 2021. We dug them again in the fall after frost and stored them in our cellar, hoping to see them survive the winter nestled in wood shavings - which they did in full. As a result of this luck, we have a number of tubers to spare and are delighted to share them with you!
Now that we are approaching the final frost date for our area, we will be offering dahlias tubers for pickup each weekend until mid-May.
Planting instructions are included, and they are a surprisingly simple plant to grow: they enjoy rich, well-drained soil and lots of sun - at least eight hours for a great display of blooms. We’ve found that most varieties do very well in our raised beds and gro-bags in the greenhouse, but have thrown a few “extras” into smaller patio pots to great effect.
Once your identify the “eye” on your tuber, you should plant it horizontally, about 4-6 inches deep, with the eye facing up. Keep them watered consistently once they’re up above ground, and provide some support to keep them upright (installing a support stake a few inches from your tuber when you plant it is a great way to keep track of where they are and to avoid damaging the plant once it’s time to start tying them up).
Dahlias can seem like fussy plants - and sometimes are - but they are worth their trouble for the show they put on each summer.
And we can’t forget the greens!
Our salad greens are growing well and we will have some fresh-cut options for you starting this weekend! We will be offering lettuce blend, spinach, and arugula for your spring salad needs.
Thank you for joining us this season!
Stay well.
Regards,
Rosemary + Pete