I recently shared that I couldn’t imagine buying all of the flowers needed for our floristry offerings. I asked myself if I would be a florist if the farm did not exist? The answer: no. Growing flowers is hard in the summer - hot, muggy, weedy. I love floristry, though, and that makes the farm work worth it.
Being a florist is like painting with flowers. Farming my own flowers means I’m able to pick and choose palettes of different plants and their varieties to create ever evolving bouquets and flower scapes. We’re able to change with the seasons and appreciate them for the harvests they offer. We are so enriched in living and working this way.
This approach also affords me the opportunity to investigate what is a true Southern flower? What really grows well here? Do I really want to grow tulips and ranunculus? The corms are rather expensive for farming. They don’t grow well here, in our southern Piedmont zone, without lots of help. Anemones and poppies do well here only because they bloom in the winter months of January and February. So, I have a change of mindset about future plantings. I’m so happy to have you along for where this question, “what is a true Southern flower?,” takes the farm and how it evolves.
Pictured at top is Cobaea scandens, a trial plant this year. It apparently loves our hot, humid summers!
Cheers,
Lis & Tim
