Appreciating the Overlooked.

Falling in love with most cut flowers is easy...they're colorful, showy, fragrant...what's not to love?! 

There are some plants, though, that make you look beyond their flowers {or lack of} to see their beauty.  I have grown to appreciate many of these plants that are often overlooked or touted as outcasts due to their unruly, aggresive or weedy nature, lack of flowers, short bloom time, lack of fragrance, etc.  Here are a few of the plants that I have become increasingly thankful for as foliage & fillers this season...

Baptisia blooms are gorgeous!...purple, yellow, white & burgandy are available.  When in bloom, they're a great addition to any arrangement!....but...they only bloom for about two weeks.  The best time to use them is when they are just beginning to open...you'll get the best vase life.  Once they're done blooming, though, I LOVE using the foliage!...and these plants produce tons of it!

Poor Gooseneck Loosestrife...it gets a bad rap.  It's a crazy aggresive grower...very crazy!  How pretty is this flower, though?!  It blooms at a time when I always seem to need a flower just like this!  It's perfect!...blooms for about 3 weeks.  If it hasn't been too buggy of a season, I like to use the foliage in fall arrangements as it begans to turn to a red/maroon/orange...amazing!

Grasses are always a huge help!...such great texture & height!  I especially love hackonechloa for it's pretty yellow color & airy feel.  Chasmanthium reseeds like gangbusters, but the flower is gorgeous in fall arrangements.

Amsonia...I love you.  The flowers are aren't too flashy, but work nicely as a filler for a short period of time in early summer.  Like baptisia, this foliage is phenomenal!...it just keeps growing!  I hacked away at this plant all season long & now, I'm getting more new, green growth to use!  The milky sap is a bit of a bummer, but hot water seals it off & the foliage lasts forever in a vase!

Oh....sweet Solomon's Seal...the most beautiful foliage.  I will be growing TONS of this little guy.  Grown in a shady spot, the foliage stays pretty well through June...and lasts & lasts in a vase!

I don't love weigela flowers so much for cuts...they're alright sometimes, but not my favorite.  The foliage on the other hand is fabulous right now!  I'm using tons of it!...it's great because it is available in tons of pretty colors, too!

Prioritize.

For about the past 15 years...since my fresh/soph year of high school {I'm getting old!!}, I have been planting & growing flowers on my parents' land...and for the past two years, about an acre of my grandfather's land.  I have been very thankful for this, but haven't felt like I could really set permanent roots for Seeded Earth.

Now, having 10 acres of *our own* land available to grow on gives me a great feeling of permanence & an actual beginning! 

Starting a flower farm takes a lot of work...and like most new businesses, a lot of money.  We know what we need to prioritize when it comes to equipment.......

But when it comes to plants, prioritizing gets tricky {especially for a plant addict!}.  Of course, we'll have a huge selection of annuals -- most of which I begin seeding in January/February.  The hard part comes in deciding which shrubs, bulbs & perennial plants to invest in first.  We have a good start on many perennials & I think we have a good plan in place for continuing to add new plants each year.  If you have any suggestions on what you'd like to see, let us know!  In the meantime, I'll do my best to stick to the plan.

Here are a few of the plants that I'm excited to get growing this fall!

Seeing Double.

First off...before I get into my current infatuation...IT RAINED!  Not a few drops, not a quarter inch...a good 1"+!!  Ahhh...a huge relief!  I have been waiting & waiting for rain.  I have found some great deals on flowering shrubs this fall & haven't been able to get them in the ground because it is just un-diggable.  They'll all go into the ground this week so they can spread their roots & start growing!  Oodles & oodles of hydrangea and other flowering shrubs for next season!!

Now, let's keep some steady rain coming through fall so that I can get lots of these planted...!!

& these...

& these....!!!

Aren't they amazing?!  I am in love with double tulips!...and thankfully, have finally found a good wholesale source for them!  I cannot wait to have all of these blooming next spring!  They're going to be GORGEOUS in wedding bouquets!

Going Green?

We have decided that in order to be happier & more successful flower farmers, we need a tractor.  It really will save us from a lot of backache in the long run!  We have narrowed down the possibilities.  Deere or Kubota?

I had the opportunity to check out the Deere last night.  It seems like a very nice tractor.  From everything that Travis had described, I really thought that it would be a lot smaller.  Seeing it & getting on it, it feels like an actual tractor...more than just a lawn tractor with a bucket attached.  This one would definitely work very well for us, but...it is a bit more expensive than the Kubota...even with my John Deere Employee discount...$600?!...c'mon Deere!

I haven't had a chance to meet this tractor in person yet.  Unless our Deere sales guy comes back with a comparable price, I will definitely be making a visit to see this one.  Travis has seen both.  He says that quality wise the Deere definitely looks & feels better. 

I am a bit partial to the Deere because it is awfully pretty...but, eh, a tractor is a tractor & I would be ecstatically happy to have either!  :)

A tractor will be joining the family in the near future...the question is, will it be green or orange? 

Productive.

What a fantastic, productive weekend!  We had great weather for market on Saturday!

A few glads blooming now...500{!!!} should be blooming within the next couple of weeks!

Love the lisianthus & euphorbia together!

Workin' hard!

"Are you the girl that was on Paula Sands this week?"  Yep!  Thanks, Paula!  :)

It's beginning to look & feel like fall...the goldenrod is just beginning to pop open!

We got almost all of the current flower rows watered {please send rain!} and mulched...with grass for now until we figure out which cover crops we want to use for mulch next season.  Look at how happy the yarrow is!...it might need divided & spaced already next season!

It looks like we'll be getting blooms from the helenium, too!

We have a ton of water grass growing near the creek that runs through our property...I really think this would look great as a bouquet filler!  What do ya think?!...such a nice, clean green & great texture!

Just an all around gorgeous day!

Even the chickens seem pleased!  ;)

...and Mr. Rooster........who somehow developed from what was supposed to be an order of all hens.  Hmm...better be nice, buddy!

Nerves...

I had a great opportunity to get the word out about Seeded Earth, sustainably grown flowers & The Freight House Farmers' Market today on Paula Sands Live.  I thought that I was ready...I felt ready...

da da dum...Until I got there...My nerves kicked in. 

Paula was great -- chatted with all of us {guests} and tried to make everyone comfortable.  I was up first.  As soon as the cameras came on, I went a bit blank.  Crazy, eh?  I've spoken publicly many times, but never interviewed...on camera.  I didn't realize how much different it would be!   

So, friends...let's just call this one my trial run.  Next time {Travis insists there will be a next time!}, I'll be all sorts of ready for questions, cameras, Paula & live T.V.!

Here's the link to the video.......remember....nervous.  ;)

http://www.kwqc.com/global/video/flash/popupplayer.asp?ClipID1=6144254&h1=%22Paula%20Sands%20Live%20on%20August%2011%2C%202011%22&vt1=v&at1=Entertainment&d1=1566367&LaunchPageAdTag=Community&activePane=info&rnd=72676679