Big Tulip Blooms!

Last fall we had a request for orange tulips for this spring.  One of our designers does work for Oregon State University whose colors are orange and black, so hence the request for orange.  We had already placed our main order for tulips so looking back at some colorful catalogs, I found a group of orange tulips that would bloom over the season and not all at once.  Ordered them, planted them with no idea what was in store.  First group was okay, not particularly remarkable but the last group was amazing. Here's the photos.

These were picked after our market on Saturday April 21st.  They were not ready when we left in the morning, but the temperature reached 80 degrees and then they were more than ready when we got home.  So they became my tulips. 

Here they are after three days in our home. The blossoms are bigger, fuller and the color has intensified.  My camera is not doing them justice.  Also they are fragrant, a citrus fragrance.  Yummy!

And finally here they are on Sunday ready for Jane's Flowers in the House Party.  

They are still going strong, the fragrance is still heavenly and I am in awe of these big tulip blooms.  I am holding the rest for my designer for Mother's Day.  Some very lucky Moms are in for a treat.  We have never grown doubles like these before but we will be doing them next season.  Going bigger and better with big tulip blooms!

Quotable Sunday April 29, 2012

We Are All Happy Here!

I write this on Saturday evening after a long and busy week and market.  When we anticipate how a week or a market will go, we are very often very far off the mark. We thought it would be a slow market and we would do just okay but it turns out we were wrong, we had a great day and we are all very happy. 

Callie is a very happy dog with her bones from Northwest Natural Beef, thanks Ed!  She won't let me take her picture, she is in the deep grass, having a chaw.

Tony is happy because it was a nice day with no rain, our fields are starting to dry out and he will be doing more field planting this week.  Today, he is a typical boy playing with fire.  He is propane burning some of our rows as prep for his no till planting.  I think he thinks this fun, the smell of burning grass, weeds etc. drives me nutty.  But he is happy.

I am happy too!  I don't have many flowers for my house this week, mostly tulips.  We sold most everything we brought to the market.  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE flowers in my house all the time but we grow our flowers so we can share them with others. A few arrangements on the table or counter is nice but when they are in every room or bathroom, I am bummed. I want my flowers to go to others' homes and make them happy.  We brought a ton of daffodils and they are gone.  Why wouldn't they be gone, they are adorable and smell wonderful.

I am happy that all the ranunculus went to other  homes. 

I am happy I could trade some of my flowers for some incredible edible eggs and bacon from Afton Field Farm. " I will eat them in a box or with a fox, I will eat my green eggs and ham, Sam, I Am"

I am happy I  traded flowers for some amazing salad greens, spinach and the sweetest little turnips and carrots from Denison Farm.  Thanks so much Doug!

I am happy because my fruit trees are blooming and maybe this year I can put away a bunch of jars of pears, applesauce and pie cherries.

I am happy to see that my next round of anemones are coming along nicely and will hopefully perform as well as the first round of anemones.  They gave us so many long stem huge blossoms, way more than we had figured they would.  I am happy when flowers perform beyond expectations.

So all in all it was a good day, a good week and a good market.  Thank you to all who took home some flowers and thank you for buying local.  It makes us all very happy.

"The secret of happiness is not in doing what one likes, but in liking what one does."
James M. Barrie

Quotable Sunday April 22, 2012

Give Us Pleasure in our Flowers Today

Two thoughts come to mind with I look at these two photos.  First Pinterest is full of great ideas on how to make cute arrangements for flowers.  I loved the hanging mason jars idea so I hung these two jars at our market today.  Many people commented how clever and that they should do that for their wedding or event.  It helped sell the beautiful narcissus we had available.  It gives me much pleasure to see what other are doing with their flowers and how creative they are.

Second, thank you to Erin Benzakein of Floret Flower Farm, for writing an article in Growing For Market, that made suggestions on which daffodils and narcissus we should grow.  The choices you presented were just great, performed well and the fragrance is heavenly.  Our customers have been very pleased!

 

Having a few potted tulips, not for cutting but just for enjoying on our back deck, is a real good thing! Makes me smile every morning.

 

And finally Callie our Flower Dog has grown into a terrific dog.  She is almost two years, is a great watch dog, and keeps the deer away from our flowers as best as she can.  She can catch potato chips and pancakes in mid-air and will follow you anywhere for string cheese.  She usually doesn't like her picture taken, but I had cheese in my hand. 

 

"Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers today; And give us not to think so far away As the uncertain harvest; keep us here All simply in the springing of the year." -- Robert Frost

Quotable Sunday  04/15/2012

Opening Day at the Corvallis Farmers' Market

Wow, what a week!  Busy,busy busy.....  This time of year is very hectic as a grower of flowers.  From March through the middle of July, we wear many hats on the farm:  the gal who sows the seeds, the gal who transplants the seedlings to bigger plugs, the guy who preps all the ground for planting, the guy who field plants the majority of seedlings to the prepped ground, the guy who manages the tunnels,  the couple who picks all the ready blooms and the couple who markets the lovely flowers. Later in the season  we can take off some of our hats but this time of the year really has us running.

We started with these anemones ready to pick and ended with these buckets of beautiful blooms.

 

 We started with this hoop house full of ranunculus blooms and ended with several carts full of lovely flowers. 

We started with carts full of blush pink and watermelon color tulips and ended with buckets of perfect tulips.

 We shared our flowers with our favorite designers and some new flower friends. Then we packed up the truck and brought our blooms to our local farmers' market.  

The day was gorgeous, the sun was shining, the people were friendly and so happy to see our flowers for another season. 

Sometimes when it is raining, snowing, or hot as blazes; or the alarm is going off at 4:30 in the morning, and you wondering why the heck you are doing this.  A designer will tell you how perfect your flowers are for their event or how it will make that perfect bouquet. Or the customer who asks you to tell them all about this gorgeous flower or how it will brighten their home or make their friend or mother-in-law so very happy.  You then remember why you do it all, because flowers are your passion and it is SO much Fun to share this passion with others.

What a great day!!!

"The actual flower is the plant's highest fulfilment, and are not here exclusively for herbaria, county floras and plant geography: they are here first of all for delight."
                                          John Ruskin

Quotable Sunday  4/08/2012   Happy Easter                                     

Happy Easter. May happy thoughts and springtime flowers brighten all your Easter hours.

Author Unknown

Quotable Sunday 04/01/2012

Camellias and Anemones

The rains are hard on camellias, especially the pale pinks.  One day they are pink and perfect, the next day they are browned and on the ground.  I picked these blooms right on time.  Wish I had 100 bushes so that I could share these pretty little flowers with you.

        "The first of April, some do say,
         Is set apart for All Fools' Day.
         But why the people call it so,
         Nor I, nor they themselves do know.
         But on this day are people sent
         On purpose for pure merriment."
          -  Poor Robin's Almanac, 1790