Growing cool-season annuals can be tricky. Lisa's book Cool Flowers, online course Cool Flowers: Beyond the Book for Flower Farming, and the free video Book Study & Planting Guide companion can help you grow a beautiful spring garden for your enjoyment and a cash...
Cool-Season Hardy Annuals
Survivors!
As the wind gusts over 25mp this morning and the temperatures are expected to drop from 30 degrees into the teens throughout the day, I wonder …will my hardy annual teenager plants survive? Even after all these years of gardening and growing I still raise an eyebrow...
A Warm Christmas Gift
4 days till Christmas. While others are hurrying about preparing as I should be, I have taken a little pause to enjoy the moment, in the garden that is. It is almost as if spring has arrived here in southeastern Virginia even if it is for just a few days. Who would...
Gardening Tips of the Trade
Tips of the Trade Plant the right plant, in the spot, at the right time—and it will thrive with little help. Plan your garden around this rule. Full sun means at least 6 hours of sun and 8 is more like it! Lack of sun creates weak plants. 1 cubic yard of compost will...
You can grow Sweet Peas!
Sweet Peas are perhaps the sweetest flower we grow. Once a customer pulls a “sweetie bouquet” to their nose—the respond is the same “my grandma used to grow these” or “I’ve tried to grow sweet peas for years with no luck at all.” So, I will share a few steps how to...
Looking forward
July and August are the hardest months for me as a flower farmer. It is hot, humid, we have tons of flowers to be started, planted, harvested and sold. To ice this steamy cake, there are a couple of weeks that have notorious slow sales due to the lack of events...
Baby Garden Treasures
While out in the garden pulling all those spring weeds, keep an eye out for baby treasures. Our garden is full of them. These are what I call the self-appointed volunteers in the garden that really liked it enough last year to drop seeds to make babies for this year....
It’s a slow cool spring…we are still waiting for the warmth to make everything pop!
The bounty of farming began today
This week has been as busy as any. We have been involved with Garden Club of Virginia's Historic Garden Week all week. It began on the Smithfield tour April 20 with a talk on organic gardening and our pop-up shop, then our farm tour on Wednesday and finished it off in...
I am thankful for the spring blooming garden more this year than ever before
Although the calendar says it is April 1 I am having a bit of trouble believing it. It is still pretty cold at night dipping into the low 30′s and the days have not begun to warm. Coming off of the spring of 2012 with a warm and moist winter and spring –we had flowers...