November Newsletter

Things have changed a lot on the farm with the change in weather! We are taking every opportunity to get all the farm projects completed in case we get snow that stays. Over the next weeks the focus will be on the Flower Studio/Shop as we prepare for the Festive Season.

In The Fields

 Most of the annual crops have been pulled out or are being pulled out, soil amended and our ranunculus, anemones, hardy annuals and biennials are making their way out into the field. It is a quick turnaround and we will get our hoops in place for low tunnels to be pulled over the rows. These mini greenhouses give our crops some extra protection over the winter and hopefully helps them to bloom a bit earlier.

Tulips: BULBS25 Discount Code

Our specialty tulip bulbs are all in the ground!! Yay!! that was a major job as we had almost 40,000 this year. We still have a good selection of Specialty Tulip Bulbs available for pick up, local delivery or Canada wide shipping. Use BULBS25 at check out to receive 25% off of your bulb order until November 30th.

Dahlias

Snow in November followed by a hard frost means the dahlias are done for the season. We will be leaving most dahlia tubers in the ground this winter. Last winter we went down to -15C and the tubers we didn’t get a chance to lift and store survived in the field…so this year we will only be lifting and dividing the ones to be offered in our Dahlia Tuber Sale.

We have set December 1st as the date for our Dahlia Tuber Presale. Our tubers will by ready for pick up, delivery and Canada-wide shipping in April. Please check out the website to see all the varieties we are offering – Note - Currently they are all showing ‘sold out’ but the inventory will be updated for 6am PST December 1st.

 

In the Big Greenhouse

We have planted 6,000 Italian ranunculus corms in crates. With the voles feasting on those precious corms in there all last winter we thought we would give crate growing a try. It took a lot of bulb crates!!!

Bells of Ireland, Eucalyptus, snap dragons, bupleurum are all in there and the heirloom chrysanthemums are still blooming!

Some Lessons learned in Year One with the Greenhouse

While many of the plants I tried this year grew stronger, taller and better, not everything did better in the greenhouse. The Hibiscus Mahogany Splendour, while growing taller in the greenhouse than in the field, never hardened off enough to be useful – the field grown crop while shorter, 4-5 feet tall, was far superior and very productive. The coleus I tried, grew to be at least 3 feet tall and very beautiful but never hardened off enough to give any vase life (I will try this in the field next summer to see if it changes things). Heat loving plants – my Celosia were amazing and the scented geraniums continue to provide fresh greens for our arrangements (rather than having to be dug already and stored over the winter). Bells of Ireland are still giving us greens! Snap dragons bloomed early and they gave 4 or 5 flushes of blooms right through the season…No complaints there.

Workshops

Our Festive Season workshops start November 19th. We have planned a series of sessions that provide the opportunity to create fresh beautiful arrangements and festive décor for your home. A wonderful selection of fresh and dried cut flowers and assorted botanicals will be set out for participants to use. Rekha and I work together to make each workshop unique and inspiring.

 

In the Flower Studio

Rekha, Megan and Leisbeth will be in the Flower Studio to make custom festive floral arrangements for Pick-up and Delivery.

We are putting together our latest offerings for the festive season. Wreaths, table centrepieces, amaryllis, paperwhites and unique gifts along with our 2023 Flower Share Collections and Spring Workshop Schedule will start to be posted be on the website over the coming weeks.

Looking for a little something for a gift? Our little vases are now on the website and are available for pick-up and delivery.