​  Rich, warm colours & full of scent too - this bridal bouquet from last July is full of both.⁠ The scent of Garden Roses, Honeysuckle, Sweet Peas & (one of my favourites) Marjoram softly blended together.⁠     All grown here at the Flower Farm near Castle Douglas & freshly cut the day before. We never use noxious chemicals to grow or treat our flowers, we rely on our natural pest control team instead.⁠
  By choosing locally grown flowers for your wedding, you can enjoy the freshest flowers, & know the Carbon footprint is kept low too. ⁠

​  Sunflowers are among the 'Top Ten' requested flowers by our wedding couples for this Summer.
So this week, I've been sorting out seeds ready for sowing. (Not yet - way too early!)⁠
  And there are so many gorgeous varieties available now. Looking beyond the cheerful yellow giants commonly seen by the bunch in supermarkets, there are pale creamy lemons, rich oranges, deep plummy reds, stripes, browns... how do I choose which to grow?⁠
  And best of all, many of these varieties produce multiple smaller flowers with slender stems. They might not win a 'tallest Sunflower competition' but are perfect as cut flowers. So much easier to arrange in a wedding bouquet or vase!⁠
  The Sunflowers here in Maria's Summer wedding bouquet were just the perfect size - rich, joyful colours & not too heavy to carry. ⁠
  Thank you Maria & Peter for allowing me to share your photo, & of course, to talented photographer Derek Dunlop Photography for capturing the moment. ⁠

​  So Goodbye January & Hello February!
While I know this is still a cold month, I'm already seeing & feeling the stirrings of Spring. Are you too?

  The days are just a little bit longer at both ends now. It's easier to wake up, & there's more time to garden in the afternoons. In early January, it seemed as if after breakfast, lunch & walking dogs, the light was almost gone. But yesterday it was past 5.30pm when I came in for a cuppa. And I was ready for it!
 
  January was my 'Get Ready' phase of planning, deciding what to grow & placing the orders. Now February is 'Get Set'. It's the month of preparing to implement those plans. Having decided what to grow, spoken in more detail with wedding couples, the picture is clearer. Now I can calculate how many plants will produce those flowers. Then it's the challenging bit - how to fit it all in the space available! Planning can be a frustrating, time consuming task but I'll be ready for 'Go!' by March.

   It's a good time for doing jobs to make my workload easier in the busy Spring & Summer months.

  When weather allows, work begins on the big tidy up outside. Heaven knows it needs it after the relentless Storms. The beds & paths look messy, scattered with broken sticks, leaves & pots tossed around in the wild winds. I leave stems & seed heads on most plants in Autumn, providing food for many birds & shelter for insects. But now I'm gathering them up, weeding as I go. I start with plants the slugs & snails love to munch,such as Delphiniums. The tender shoots are perfect for propagating new plants so must be protected. Once  beds are cleared, a generous mulch of homemade compost will be added, feeding the plants ready for growth. 

  The first new Dahlias are scheduled to arrive this week. It's too early to plant them but I'll propagate cuttings. Hopefully, my tubers from last year will get through Winter safely & divide into even more plants. Though expensive, I hedge my bets buying new stock, just in case extreme cold destroys the old tubers. This year I've invested in new-to-me rust, red & orange varieties as these are increasingly requested colours for weddings. But there'll be plenty of the favourite varieties from previous years too.

  The first batch of Sweet Peas have germinated well. I'll prick them out this week & if I can keep the Mice away, these will be my early crop in the polytunnel. I'll sow my main Sweet Pea crop on February 14th or soon after. As I love Sweet Peas, it's an easy date to remember!

What can I begin to grow this month? 
  It's too early to sow most of your seeds - wait until March for better results. If your fingers itch to start, sow Sweet Peas, Antirrhinums & Larkspur. Plus start corms such as Ranunculus & Anemones for flowers in May & June. 
  In the vegetable patch, Broad Beans can be started off now. Later in the month, Tomato, Pepper & Chilli seeds can be sown if you have a warm, light space for them. I planted Garlic yesterday between some of my Roses. I've read planting Garlic & other Alliums (onion family) among Roses deters Blackspot. The Blackspot wasn't bad last year but I don't know if it was the Garlic protection or coincidence. But it was good Garlic nonetheless so as good a place to grow it as any other...

What Can I Cut This Month?
  The Snowdrops are pushing up so fast this week & last well in tiny bud vases of water. The Wild Daffodils here have buds on now so will flower before month end. Hellebores are budding up nicely & I've cut a few from the Tunnel already. Twigs & foliage are beautiful still, giving height to arrangements. 
  Bright Cornus & Willows, Catkins on Hazel, Birch, Alder, Garrya & Pussy Willow. The berried Ivy, Skimmia, Viburnum Tinus, Heathers, & Arum leaves. The scented shrubs such as Lonicera Fragrantissima (Winter Honeysuckle), Daphne & Wintersweet are wafting scent about the garden. You need just a few stems to scent a room.
​  I've cut a few stems of Forsythia this week as it will quickly open buds indoors. Mix with a few stems of Narcissi from the Isles of Scilly, perhaps a few Lincolnshire Tulips (hydroponically grown indoors) for an cheerful Winter arrangement. I have these available most weeks so let me know if you wish to order.

​ Wedding bookings are being confirmed & there are already weeks in 2024 fully booked. If you know a couple planning to tie the knot this year & who would love our locally grown flowers, the Wedding Pages can be found following the links from this page. As well as large Bespoke Weddings for Couples planning 'the whole Shebang', we'll again be supplying Couples with our simpler Wedding Packages options. These include 'Bloom Buckets' of mixed flowers for Family & Friends to arrange. Weddings are arranged from March to October only.
  The 'Arrange Your Own Wedding Flowers' option is now open for bookings. This is an affordable option for Couples wishing to fully DIY their wedding flowers.

Upcoming Events
  Mothers Day is very early this year - Sunday 10th March. Bouquets of colourful British-grown flowers for local delivery & collection can be ordered online now.
  And you can, of course, telephone me on 01644 420407 if you prefer talking to a real person rather than ordering flowers online!

Workshop Dates are on the website & I'm receiving bookings already for the first dates. So far,

• 'Cut Flowers From Your Garden' on Sunday 14th April 
• 'Arrange A Vase' Afternoons' in June, August & September
• 'Make A Hand Tied Bouquet' on Sunday 28th April

  All the Workshops will be here at the Flower Farm. Recent visitors will be relieved to know the legendary potholes on the Hidden Road have been filled!

Jobs for February:

• Still a good time for planting new bare root Roses & Trees as they'll have plenty of rain to get established. There are often good offers from the Rose nurseries this month, so keep your eyes open
• Sow a batch of Sweet Peas in pots. Protect from Mice!
• Prune late flowering Clematis & Honeysuckle this month. Leave your early Clematis though or you'll be cutting off all the flower buds
• Folklore tells us birds choose mates on Valentine's Day. So it's a good time to put up a few extra nesting boxes for your garden pest defence team. This gives time for them to be discovered before nesting begins

  Listening to the Sparrows chattering away in the tree by my window, I think they might be flirting already. Certainly they seem to believe Spring is on the way. Let's check the weather daily so any mild, bright spells can be enjoyed. I'm looking forward to sharing our flowery progress with you this season!

Until next time, 
Rosie Gray
Galloway Flowers

And the last word this month?
'There is always in February some one day, at least, when one smells the yet distant but surely coming Summer'
Gertrude Jekyll (1843 -1932 Horticulturist, Garden Designer & Author)

  Well, I know I've said it before... but I ask you, if you don't wear flowers in your hair on your wedding day, when will you? ⁠
  And flower circlets like these are among the memorable details in photographs you'll look at over & over again.⁠ I love making these flower circlets for our Brides & attendants on their special day.   Choosing elements from the bouquet & adding other touches from around the Flower Farm.
  Often I can use the dainty short-stem flowers that pinpoint the season (such as the Muscari & Pieris top right or the first stems of Heather in the bottom circlet.)⁠
  The only thing I don't like about Flower Circlets? Taking a quick reminder photograph before I deliver them! It's so hard to capture a good image when lying flat in my workshop...⁠
  But it all changes when a circlet is in place. And beautiful Bride Tayla, married last July shows us just how it should be done! (Thank you Rene Welch for the beautiful photo of Tayla - SO much better than my two photos!)