If 'April Showers bring May Flowers', we're surely heading for a bumper show next month! The frequent rain has slowed down a lot of our prep work outside recently. A few dryish weeks (please!) are needed to help get things closer to schedule again. Dividing perennial plants as planned has been difficult with the wet ground. Some varieties will have to wait until next year now, reducing productivity this season. It's better than risking loss of plants if we've a prolonged dry spell. The last few years have been exceptionally dry here in late April to early June. Growing flowers doesn't always go according to our plan - we just have to adapt to Mother Nature's! I prioritised precious dry days to complete bare root Rose planting. These had to go in, too expensive to leave. Another 35 rose bushes planted this year. It'll be a couple of years for them to be really productive. Patience is required to grow these lovely diva's well. Most are English & old reliable varieties, selected for health & scent. I've added a few new Hybrid Teas as experiments. I've often been told Roses don't grow well here in Galloway. I've found many do exceptionally well (getting very tall in the rain) as long as they're fed very generously. Three of our giant Conifers have been removed at last. Although there's a lot of mess to clear still, the impact is dramatic. So much light floods this area again & it'll be full of flowers soon. This area was one of the first planted when we came here 9 years ago, producing huge quantities of stems. The Conifers grow quietly & fast, only when looking at old photo's had I realised by how much. Replanting has begun. So far, I've moved Campanula, Achillea & Hellebores into the area - a lot more waiting. The seeds sown earlier this year are being planted, making room for the next batches in the greenhouse. I felt very silly watering them in the polytunnel beds, as rain hammered above. It never rains in the Tunnel (of course) & easy to forget this critical task in a spell of wet weather. Our flower season is well underway now - I've already cut plenty for 2 weddings, florist orders & our 'Friday Flowers' bouquets. The variety of stems available increases steadily in the coming weeks. What can I begin to grow this month? Potted Herbaceous plants (such as Delphiniums) can go in now for a quick show this year. The Garden Centres & Plant Nurseries will be well stocked this month so may make an enjoyable trip. Dahlias can be started off indoors now (need frost protection). This is a great month for seed sowing. Often seeds sown this month catch up on the same variety sown a month ago as light levels increase. Sow Hardy Annuals direct outside & Half Hardy Annuals (such as Cosmos) inside. The Half Hardy Annuals can be planted outside after the last frost. I'm sowing Sunflowers this week for a cheerful crop. Plant more bulbs for summer colour in gaps - Lilies, Gladioli & Acidanthera are reliable & make great vase fillers. What Can I Cut This Month? The simple answer is 'Lots!' I'm declaring 2024 Spring as 'Well ahead of itself' as the flowers are romping away, some 2-3 weeks ahead of most years. The 'Fancy Daffs' are sensational here just now. Blithely ignoring my careful plans for a continuous crop over several weeks, they're opening fast. Plenty for those weddings though... I love the frilly doubles like a ballerina tutu & planted more last Autumn. Other favourites are dainty short varieties such as 'Prom Dance' & 'Blushing Lady' (scented like a freesia). Great value bulbs as they come back every year with little attention. Tulips are beginning to pop & included in bouquets last week. If you would like a bunch (on the bulb or off), let me know. These are strong, large headed varieties & very different to the short, small-headed flowers (grown hydroponically) from the supermarket. Add these glamourous beauties to Honesty, Snowflakes, Cherry or Amelanchier blossom perhaps & you've the making of a lovely vaseful. Buds are appearing on Aquilegia, Sweet Rocket & even Peonies so these aren't far behind. And let's not forget the teeny, short stemmed flowers. The vintage Spode Posy ring pictured above was filled with Spring flowers on Saturday 6th. It's still looking pretty & fresh today, so far not a single stem has failed. These may look delicate but last well. Take a walk around your patch & see what you can find... Upcoming Events
Workshop Dates for 2024 are;
How To Buy Flowers;
Jobs for April: Yesterday we had bright sunshine, gusty winds, hail & heavy rain - classic April weather! So I find it useful to have options when it comes to jobs. I might start a task outside - but am always prepared to dash inside a tunnel or shed to carry on.
Until next time, Rosie Galloway Flowers "In the Spring, I have counted 136 different kinds of weather inside of 24 hours." Mark Twain, American Writer 1835 - 1910
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Spring is rushing in at speed this year, thank goodness!
The birds are singing Spring songs & ponds are full of frog spawn. Yesterday, the first of these stunning Snakeshead Fritillaries popped open, making Spring official here. I keep a brief note of dates when I start to cut flowers, & estimate many are opening 2-3 weeks ahead of 2023. The dainty Wild Narcissi began flowering in late February. They look like a 'Wordsworth' image by the burn this week (albeit on a very small scale!) I began cutting Pieris, Forsythia & Wild Plum blossom at about the same time too. As Mother's Day was early, I didn't expect to have any of our flowers to include in the bouquets - but we did! Now I'm hoping for some Sunshine soon... Mothers Day was busy, & we sold out days ahead. Thank you so much to everyone who supported us by choosing our 100% British-grown flowers. At this time of year, our flowers are few. So I order flowers from Growers in Cornwall, the Isles of Scilly & Lincolnshire weeks before the bouquet orders arrive. It's always a leap of faith for me. A lot of finger crossing goes on that all will be sold! The pace of our work increases as days lengthen. We're waiting for tree surgeons to fell several large Conifers. Inevitably this will make a dreadful mess, with soil trampled. I'm leaving this area unplanted for now & getting twitchy about where everything will fit. The Conifers have grown fast, taking nutrients & moisture from a large area. I'm sad to see them go but productivity of these beds was much reduced last year. I'm dividing established perennials to reinvigorate them & increase stock of favourites. These plants will be planted in the Conifer area. The clock is ticking to get this done... It's time to begin waking up our Dahlias. A big job & nervewracking. How many have survived through the Winter? It hasn't been too cold so hopefully most will be fine. I'll remove tubers from boxes, check for any rotten bits then divide into smaller pieces to plant. By dividing, the tubers are reinvigorated & produce more flower stems overall. Sowing seeds of Hardy Annuals is accelerating. I'm juggling space in the propagator & on heat mats. I sow small batches, repeated at intervals to avoid them all flowering at once. Followed by nothing to cut. It spreads the risk too. Just one slug or a rogue mouse can destroy a tray of healthy seedlings overnight. It's good to know some seed is in reserve to start another batch, if necessary. I'm adding new varieties of Annuals to try, dropping others. Molucella (Bells of Ireland) & Cerinthe are lovely but don't really produce enough stems to justify their space. The difference between growing for profit & pleasure, I guess. My big surprise success last year was Nicotiana - so prolific, lasted ages in a vase & this year I'll try new colours. When it's wet, Ken has been continuing with insulating the workshop ceiling. It's a big job & hopefully will be finished this Spring. As the first of this years workshops is just 4 weeks away, the pressure is on... What Can I Begin to Grow in March? If you're quick & water well in coming months, you could plant a few more Roses & Clematis. New Perennials can be planted out too & should establish well, flowering this year.. Sow Hardy Annual seeds such as Cornflowers, Calendula, Nigella & more Sweet Peas for a quick start to your Cutting Patch. If you have a warm, frost free space you could start Dahlias off but no rush yet. It's a good time to buy Summer flowering bulbs such as Gladioli & Acidanthera as there's plenty of choice available. What Flowers Can I Cut in March? Move over Snowdrops, it's time to welcome in the colour! Hellebores are now ready to cut, & the first of the Narcissi & Muscari are in bloom, The little pots of Iris Reticulata planted last Autumn are charming by the workshop. Next year I'll grow more in pots as I enjoy changing them regularly. The Primulas too are beginning to flower - short stems, of course but last well in water. Isn't it what egg cups are for? Long stems of Forsythia, Wild Plum & Magnolia need nothing else to fill a large vase & look very luxurious. The buds open quickly when brought inside. By the end of the month, the first of our Hyacinths &Tulips will be flowering (in bud already in the tunnel). Plus the different varieties of 'Fancy Daffs' will be fluttering & flouncing in a few vases. (Fingers crossed in time for our first wedding of the year...) Upcoming Events Workshop Dates are on the website & I'm receiving bookings already. So far,
How To Buy Flowers;
Jobs for March:
Until next time, Rosie Gray Galloway Flowers And the last word this month? 'I can buy myself flowers' Miley Cyrus, American Singer, Songwriter & Actress Yesterday I pruned & mulched a few more Roses, feeding them lots of goodness to set them up for a stunning show again this Summer.
Not that the Rose bushes show much appreciation... My hands are crisscrossed with scratches, despite wearing gloves. Pruning Roses is a bit like tickling a friendly Tom cat who purrs, winds it's way around your legs, then rolls over to have his tummy tickled... & wham! Those claws are straight in to the soft fleshy bit of your hand. If you've ever had a cat, you'll know just what I mean. Anyway, no hard feelings towards the Roses, they're worth a bit of pain. And today a picture of deliciously scented Roses in sunshine is exactly what I need. This was a new one planted last year, & hopefully it'll be producing plenty of blooms soon. Batch 1 Sweet Peas are well underway now.
These were sown in January, & about 350 baby plants are happily being nurtured in one of our polytunnels. Batch 2 are germinating now ready for potting in to root trainers like these soon. Cardboard toilet roll tubes could be used as an inexpensive alternative. These root trainers seemed very expensive to buy but this is their 9th season of use. With care, they'll be reused for Sunflowers & other seedlings later this Spring. Hopefully, I'll reuse them for a 10th season next year. So yes, the root trainers are made from recycled plastic but used carefully, definitely not single use only. And when they do fall apart, they can be recycled & the material used again. It won't be long before we're cutting deliciously scented Sweet Peas by the bucketful for our Customers! Early September last year - our Dahlias were pumping out hundreds of stems every week, & continued well into mid-October.
The most popular colours with our Customers were the oranges, coppers, & peaches, in demand for weddings with an Autumnal palette. These colours were very popular in our weekly 'Friday Flower' bouquets too. But fashions change & over winter I've been tracking the trends to make sure we have plenty of the 'Must Have' colours for 2024. What do you think I should be growing more of this year? More of the same? Increase the pinks & purples? More whites, burgundies, reds? More...? Fingers crossed I'm on the right track... Your thoughts always welcome! Every year we produce thousands of Dahlia stems. These are used in our own floristry & sold wholesale to professional florists. 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,
Jobs for February:
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) Summer afternoons cutting Dahlias by the bucketful seem a long time ago... And as it's been a while since I've posted much on the blog, a little introduction/reminder of what I do is overdue too.
I'm Rosie & since 2015, I've been growing flowers near Castle Douglas in Dumfries & Galloway, Scotland. But I've gardened since a toddler, & selling flowers was a side hustle long before. Every year I grow thousands of stems, in a dizzying range of colours, scents & varieties. The selection changes as we go through the season, no two weeks are exactly the same. When I look at photo's of wedding flowers I arranged, I can date it pretty accurately by the combination of flowers in the bouquets! A strange superpower, I know... The flowers grown here are mostly used for local weddings, funerals, parties & bouquets. Our flowers are available for all to buy during the season. They can be ordered online, by telephone, through the Galloway Food Hub or at Kirkcudbright Farmers Market. I'm happy to chat about your flowery requirements coming up this year & how we could work together. I offer relaxed, flowery afternoons here too from April to September (plus wreathmaking in Winter). To learn more about what's growing, events planned for 2024 & tips for growing your own cut flowers, join my monthly (ish) newsletter or follow on Instagram/Facebook. The flower season here is over...
Last night’s frost was harder than anything experienced before this Autumn, finishing off the few flowers still blooming. I cut our last few Giant Dahlias from the Polytunnel on Thursday for a party - not bad for November. Today the plants are blackened, lying flat on the soil. The colourful, brilliant leaves on the Maples lie in a bright red skirt below. All very final. So it might not be a very November photo above but believe me, those Delphiniums are a nicer sight than blackened Dahlias! A Flower Farm in Galloway in November doesn't look like a 'Country Living' photoshoot, I'm afraid. But it's still a busy time as we put foundations for next year’s flowers in place. Most of the Dahlias are lifted (well, about 150 still to go) which is a comfort to know. I was lucky last year, most of our tubers survived the cold temperatures (though Voles ate more than their fair share as they sheltered beneath the black plastic sheets). But many British flower farmers lost hundreds of tubers in last Decembers cold snap. Replacing is a costly business (& aren't all easy to find) so I'm super cautious this year. Each tuber needs cleaning, then dried & stored away in a frost-free place. Then in March I'll bring them out ready for next year's display. It's very satisfying to see how a small tuber multiplies over time to make new plants if I'm lucky. Roses deserve attention too this week to make sure they continue blooming strongly next year. The new Shrub Roses have got very tall (that rain in August). I'll reduce their height by about a third. This protects them from fierce winds. 'Windrock' causes considerable root damage. I'll gently firm them in at the base & give a generous dollop of good compost too. The hard pruning can wait until February/March. Tulips have arrived & can be planted now. In recent years, 'Tulip Fire' virus is becoming a problem in British gardens. In 2021 the Virus affected several hundred of my bulbs. It's ugly, deforming the flowers & stems. When it appears, destroy the bulb as it spreads fast to the others. Overnight along a row - like fire in fact! None of the affected stems could be sold & I considered whether to stop growing them. Trouble is, when you buy a bulb, you don't know if it has the virus. Last year I reduced the numbers grown & planted all in large pots & buckets. They flowered spectacularly with no Virus at all. This year, I'm trying the pots again & keeping my fingers crossed... Usually, we arrange our last weddings at the end of September as the flowers begin to reduce about then. This year, I arranged flowers I had dried for weddings too, the last in early November. There are still dried flowers, grasses, seedheads remaining & I'll bunch them for sale in the next few weeks. Perfect as Posies for Christmas gifts or for your own craft projects. Christmas is coming up fast now so here's an update on what we're planning; Make A Christmas Wreath' workshops are scheduled for the following dates;
The Wreath shop is open for pre-orders now. All my wreaths are handmade, without floral foam, from foliage grown here or elsewhere in the British Isles. Wreaths can be collected, delivered locally or sent UK wide by post. Christmas Flowers & Foliage
Jobs for November:
Until next time, Rosie Galloway Flowers And the last word this month? 'All the flowers of all the tomorrows are in the seeds of today; Indian Proverb For a Flower Farmer in Scotland, change can be dramatic & rapid at this time of year...
On a Thursday, mid-month, I was cutting Dahlias by the Bucketful for 2 weddings. Then Wham! 3 nights of frost finished the outside crop for this year. And a week later, the plants in these beds have been cut down, covered in readiness for lifting & storing over winter. Some growers prefer to leave their plants in the ground or dig them up in December. I think it depends on where you live & the specific climate/soil you're working with. November & December is incredibly busy here as we prepare for next seasons planting & of course Christmas wreathmaking too. If the Dahlias aren't dug up by early November, it becomes increasingly difficult to find time, especially if the weather turns wet or unexpectedly cold. And this increases the risk the plants will die & they're expensive to replace in the quantities I grow. So I cover the beds with plastic sheeting to keep soil dry until I get a chance to lift the tubers - much easier if soil is dry. This method suits us - as with so many gardening tasks, the best time is when you get time... Fingers crossed, the tubers will get through the Winter safely & be ready to do it all over again next year. Thank you so much - I'm so thrilled to be nominated as a Finalist in the Scottish Wedding Awards 2024!
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AuthorRosie Gray of Galloway Flowers. Cut Flower Grower & Florist near Castle Douglas, in South West Scotland. Using 100% Flowers & Foliage grown in British Isles, all year round. Archives
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