Archive | Cut flowers

Three weddings and a course

 What a busy week, with three weddings to start the season off, all with different colour schemes thank goodness. It has been an anxious time with the heat pushing everything on so quickly, but everyone seemed more than happy with their various combinations of ranunculus, tulips, anemones, honesty, apple blossom, muscari, narcissi, sorbus and euphorbia.

Anna Baldwin 14th May 022

 

  Anna Baldwin 14th May 024

 

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The narcissi we planted in the field have been so useful this week, I used a different variety for each wedding; Avalanche for the yellow theme, Thalia for the white and Silver Chimes for the pinks/creams. It is amazing what you can do with a tractor and a potato planter; I think the tulips will get the same treatment this autumn. The ranunculus are peaking with some heads the size of peonies, they are one of the only flowers I find hard to pick! But pick I did, a couple of hundred for our first arranging course today, there will be more info about that from Jo in the next blog.

Now I am just praying for a grey, rainy day to slow things down and water in all those perennials I divided back in March , plus the annuals we are planting out now…. I do sound like a grumpy farmer.

Other exciting news:  the mail order boxes have arrived, finishing touches are being made to the shopping page and I hope to be taking orders for gorgeous ranunculus bouquets like this very shortly.

 

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Blink and you will miss them

 

Phew, it feels like summer out there already and my tulips have all come up at once in the oven-like polytunnel. Early, mid and late season are all coloured up and popping. I love tulips and I think the varieties we offer are far more interesting than florist fare, but they do make me rather anxious. They are ready when they are ready and will not wait around for a farmers market at the weekend. Thankfully I used a good amount for Mother's Day last week.

 

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Where I have not been able to keep up with them, I will deadhead, lift and dry in the barn to replant in the Autumn.

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Rachel Siegfried

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A Happy Hen

Finally, after months of winter waiting, I managed to get my hands on some flowers and do some arranging. The season has kicked off for me with a Hen party workshop in a Tudor Manor house near Peppard in South Oxfordshire. The bride, Anna Baldwin has ordered buckets of flowers to arrange herself for her wedding in April, so her chief bridesmaid invited me along to host a morning floristry workshop. As we began Anna announced she'd be keeping her eye out for those who would make the floristry dream team on The Big Day….no Pressure then Ladies!! Joking aside, it was really relaxed and everyone enjoyed themselves. There was some pretty hot arranging going on too.

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During the workshop we created a spring posy, flowers in a tea cup and a corsage. I took along some anemones, tulips, muscari and scented narcissi. As for foliage, we had Viburnum tinus and variegated Pittosporum. I would say the anemones were the main attraction. It's been a hard winter and there have been a few losses in the garden, so the rows of anemones that have popped up in the polytunnel bring extra cheer with them.

 It was a great way to start the season, so thank you ladies, especially Flo who supplied me with coffee and cake.

Jo Wise

 

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