I have a farm full of flowers that are just beginning to bloom. With the assistance of some teenage helpers, I’ve spent the summer spreading mulch, weeding, and planting. I canned 43 quarts of tomatoes from my garden, and I harvested an excellent crop of garlic for personal use. I also enjoyed some relaxation.
During my time away from harvesting flowers, I’ve had time to think about plans for the next season. I mentioned to my email subscribers that I’m going to try growing some vegetables to sell at the farm stand. When I began concentrating on growing flowers, I stopped growing vegetables. I tried to grow some vegetables every year but they failed. My success growing tomatoes and garlic has encouraged me to try again.
I’ll be planting plenty of flowers this fall for bloom next spring, and it’s time to plan your spring garden too. The book, “Cool Flowers,” by Lisa Mason Ziegler, was my textbook to learn to grow spring flowers. Certain flowers must be sown in the fall in our climate for successful bloom in the spring. Our climate becomes too hot too quickly to support the growth of these “cool flowers.” Lisa’s book explains the details of growing all the spring-blooming flowers you see on my farm. Most of us are familiar with pansies; treat the “cool flowers” the same as you treat pansies and you will be successful.
It’s not time to sow the seeds for these spring bloomers, but it is time to prepare the soil and to purchase seeds. Some flowers want to be sowed directly into the ground, and some want to be set out from transplants. Both should go into the ground in late October in our climate.
You still have time to find a space to grow them. Make sure the spot is well-drained in the winter because soil that is constantly wet will kill them. Figure out how you will manage the weeds that will come during the winter and spring. It will also still be warm in October, and they will need consistent water to germinate and to grow. I don’t water much, or at all, during the winter, but new transplants and seeds that are sown directly into the ground need daily water until they are growing well.
Flowers that I’ll be growing for spring bloom include snapdragons, larkspur, Queen Anne’s Lace/Daucus/Ammi, Bachelor’s Buttons/cornflower, yarrow, Sweet William, orlaya, feverfew, rudbeckia, statice, strawflower, Bells of Ireland, bupleurum, agrostemma, and others. It’s beyond the scope of this article to explain the growth requirements of all these flowers. To learn more, read the book I mentioned above or visit “The Gardener’s Workshop” online.
At One Hubcap Farm, we are surviving the heat. The farm stand is open again for bouquets but not yet for you-pick. We are open 9-6 Fridays and Saturdays. I hope to open the you-pick in a couple of weeks; please sign up for my emails at www.onehubcapfarm.com for the latest information.
Mary Ann Adams is the owner of One Hubcap Farm, located at 1236 Muller Rd. in Blythewood.