I spent the latter part of March planting out so many babies! There are a lot of flowers that don’t mind and even thrive in cool weather — Some that even NEED cool to either germinate at all, or to grow strong roots to be able to produce. There is a book called COOL FLOWERS by Lisa Mason Ziegler that is super helpful in learning more about the concept. I have had success over the years with fall planted Snapdragons, Dianthus, Yarrow, Rudbeckia, Larkspur, Foxglove, Poppies and Bupleurum. For the record, Dara and Strawflower have NOT done well for me (too cold at my farm in Frederick, Maryland - zone 7a). For me the biggest challenges with fall plantings are - Having bed space prepped in a timely fashion, starting seeds at the appropriate time for fall planting, and having the time to actually plant the babies out, as fall can be the busiest time for me on the farm because besides the abundance of flowers, once frost hits I have so much digging to do to lift dahlias and get the farm buttoned up before the cold moves in and I no longer want to be outside. One of my many goals in 2022 is to prep my field early enough to get a good start. This means I am actually planning for 2023 now! It’s a lot to wrap my head around but I want to do better and have flowers earlier next year! I would love to hear what you’ve had success (and failures) with overwintering in the comments below (please tell us where you are located when you share).

A sea of overwintered Rudbeckia and Larkspur on the verge of exploding into bloom

There is so much that goes into field production, especially overwintering hardy annuals. One year I made the mistake of using white landscape fabric thinking that it would keep the plants cool in spring since they are cool lovers. What it actually did was allow the light through to provide the perfect storm for weeds to thrive, pushing the fabric up as they grew. I lost 5 rows of babies (most direct seeded hence why they could not out compete the weeds). Lessons learned! I have since tried to reuse the white fabric for ranunculus, anemones and poppies, all of which really fizzle when we jump from spring to summer in the span of 3 days every May. I actually layer the white on top of black fabric when I do this (you can also paint the white so the underside is dark - but who has time for that!?!!?).

When overwintering, you have to play the cover/uncover game…Air flow is important and since these plants like cool weather, on those 60-70 degree days that pop up randomly over the winter, the plants can overheat quickly. I rarely have to water in winter except if it’s super dry and I’m planting out baby seedlings. This year I am trying the no till method of growing in carboard covered with a thick layer of compost and those babies require way more water…Will report back on this once I see how it goes! I’m learning as I go, mostly from Jennie Love (Love n’ Fresh Flowers).

I’m gearing up for May plant pickups, mostly the cut flower gardens-to-go. The timing for starting those babies is a little different from starting for my own field production as I want the starts to be a hefty enough size to give home gardeners a good head start. There are still a couple of each color left in the store, I expect to sell out so don’t wait til the last minute!

This season I am making a big effort to dry more flowers for winter projects - Wreaths, florist sales and crafting/experimenting. I just purchased a super cool flower press and am beyond excited to try it out! And I am planning for an entire row of Strawflowers for both cuts and for drying. Stay tuned for those photos, Strawflower comes in a total rainbow of colors and can be used for so many fun things!!! I’ve snagged a bunch of different packs including an “Creamy White” ivory variety from Johnnys, and a rainbow mix from Baker Creek.

Thanks, as always, for reading and being here! Can’t wait for armloads of flowers and to share them with you here and in real life!