August News from the Flower Farm

  The last few weeks have been among our busiest of the year & with extreme weather to contend with, not without challenges. As well as the flowers I’ve arranged, plenty of buckets of flowers went through the gate on their way to summer weddings, events & parties across the area. I love to see how customers use our flowers – such a creative bunch!


  And what can I say about weather? The warmth & rain has started the Dahlias flowering well at last. They were growing so slowly compared to last year. Of course I realised finally they were  getting far less water! While it was dry again in June, it wasn’t particularly hot. The plants never looked wilted or sad, so I just let them get on with it. I prefer growing them with ‘tough love’ as I think stems are stronger & cope better with the wind & it saves time. But I think maybe it was a bit too tough. Never mind, they’re catching up & this week we’re cutting plenty at last – just in time for a big wedding next weekend.
  
  This wet weather has spoiled some of the annual crops, especially the Cornflowers & Ammi. They’ve been beaten down & & can quickly develop problems with moulds. I’ll cut them down this afternoon & hopefully in a couple of weeks we’ll get a fresh batch of stems to use. Fortunately plenty of others are filling the gap – Antirrhinum & Rudbeckia are especially prolific this week.
  
  The colours in the beds are changing now as the late summer fireworks show begins – big, bold blue Agapanthus & flaming red Montbretia, the first fiery orange, yellow & brown Heleniums will be out this week, looking fabulous combined with theNigella pods & huge Fennel seed heads. Love a bit of drama in my vases!


  New flowers for me this year are the annual Asters. I’ve dabbled with small numbers in recent years & wanted to experiment with some more unusual ones. So this year I’ve given them a whole bed, about 5 varieties so still small scale but enough to get to know them better. So far the apricot & lavender blue ones are stunning, lasting a good 2 weeks for me in a vase. They’ll be going in to the mixed bunches taken to the Farmers Markets & Loch Arthur this month.
 
 If you haven’t already done so, can I remind you to order your bulbs for next Spring soon? The best varieties sell out fast & if you want to grow Hyacinths for Christmas gifts, they need starting off in mid-September.
  
  Our ‘Flower Farmers Big Weekend’ garden tour bookings are being snapped up fast! The Sunday afternoon tour is fully booked & as of this morning there are just 4 places left to book for the Saturday 17th August tour. Numbers are small in each group as space & parking are limited. Booking is essential. So if you’re planning to come, best get on to it soon… If any places remain by mid-week, I’ll put a message out on social media. To book your place online, go to this page; https://www.gallowayflowers.co.uk/flowerfarmtours.html  If you’ve already booked, I’ll send full directions etc later this week. Not forgotten, just last few weeks were more hectic than expected & I admit, my admin has slipped a bit.
  
  And before the garden tour weekend, we’ll be weeding, tidying & baking ready to welcome visitors. There’s nothing like the prospect of others critical gaze to see so much work to do. 
  
  Weddings & the ‘Big Weekend’ event mean I’ll be absent at Castle Douglas Producers Market this month – back in September. I’ll be bringing flowers to Loch Arthur Farm shop on 23rd August & to Kirkcudbright Farmers Market on the 25th. Flowers can of course still be ordered for delivery or collection on other dates. 

Your Flowery Inspiration links this month;

• Such a pretty Somerset wedding using floral hoops to decorate the Marquee https://www.rockmywedding.co.uk/flower-hoop
• August is a great month for British grown flowers with plenty of variety choice. So, if the flowers you see in the supermarket don’t trumpet British grown on the label, they almost certainly aren’t! There are over 600 Flower Farmers across the UK now so to buy British grown flowers for yourself or send some to a friend, why not take a look at the Flowers from the Farm website to find a grower near you? Most are small artisan scale growers like ourselves, many using organic methods to grow their flowers too. 
• The link again to book your place on the garden tour Saturday 17th Augustis here; https://www.gallowayflowers.co.uk/flowerfarmtours.html 

Enjoy a month full of flowers - in your vases, your garden & perhaps visiting someone else's too,

Until next time, 
Rosie Gray