Flower Breakdown - Week 4!
Well - better late than never, right?
To say the blog has taken a backseat this season is an understatement! We’re back this week though, to break down what is in the arrangements for Week 4 of our July and August subscriptions. Our hope is to make this weekly, to help you enjoy your blooms even more!
We grow a wide variety of flowers here, and do our best to include as many as possible for our subscribers each week. They have been pretty heavy on the sunflowers so far, but they will be replaced soon by dahlias!
Let’s start!
We grow many different types of sunflowers here, either branching or single stem. Single stem sunflowers are typically pollen-less, but they are one and done! However, they allow us to control their bloom size a bit more - when they are planted about 6 inches apart, the blooms are smaller and easier to use in arrangements. Some of my favorites are Sunrich Summer Provence and Vincent’s Choice, both of which can be found at Johnny’s Seeds.
Branching varieties bloom the more you cut them, so they last the whole season! These are not typically pollen free, but there are options for minimal pollen. Some of my favorite branching sunflowers are Daydream Mixture, Soraya and Gold Rush (all found at Johnny’s Seeds).
Dahlias! My absolute favorite flower.
These really get going in mid-August and September, but we’ve been lucky enough to have some blooms already this Summer.
Everyone either has a Dahlia or Lisianthus (next up) in their bouquet for this week. Dahlias come in a variety of colors and forms. We have over 100 different varieties growing this year.
Lisianthus are new to us this year, and I can’t imagine not growing them in the future!
If you didn’t receive a Dahlia this week, then you have one of these gorgeous blooms. This variety is called Arena III Gold, and they are so beautiful as they bloom.
These blooms can convey appreciation, charm and gratitude when given to others!
Oh, Zinnias. It’s my personal opinion that these are the backbone of any beautiful cutting garden. They bloom profusely the more you cut, and give long, straight stems right from the beginning.
We grew them last year, and tripled the amount this year, incorporating gorgeous varieties such as the Queen Lime series and some great mixes from Botanical Interests and Renee’s Garden (both amazing seed companies).
You will be seeing lots more in the weeks ahead!
Cosmos! The more you cut, the more they grow (see a trend here yet)!
From double petals to single, Cosmos really bring the whimsy to bouquets. Their foliage is great for filling space, and their blooms look so dainty. They are a super tough plant that throws up incredibly long stems from the beginning of the season all the way to the first frost. They’re a must-grow for us!
Did you know that bees can be found sleeping in the Snapdragons? I imagine the blooms must feel like a soft pillow to them.
This is our first year growing Snapdragons, and they are here to stay! It’s best to harvest these when the first 1/3 of the blooms on the bottom are opening up, and they last very long in the vase. They also have great stem length, and add some magic to any arrangment!
Yarrow - another new to us flower, it’s one that is native to Minnesota!
With dainty (yet tough) blooms and long stems, they definitely check off the list as a must have cut flower. We use these to add softness to our arrangements, and to highlight the focal flowers (such as dahlias, sunflowers, and lisianthus)!
Bachelor’s Buttons (also known as cornflower) is one of our earliest bloomers. Yet again, another new to us one for this year, and it definitely has a permanent spot here.
These can be somewhat difficult to harvest, as their stems intermix with one another in the field. It’s totally worth it, though, as these magical little blooms add a punch of color!
I love the Classic Magic variety from Swallowtail Garden Seeds - the names are just the best!
Well known as a fresh or dried cut flower, Statice is another must-have. The Apricot color is my favorite, and there’s a strong chance we’ll have a whole field of it next year!
Statice has low-lying foliage, so a first time grower might be a little thrown off by the rockets of long stems it puts out in summer! It’s another cut-and-come-again, which means the more you cut, the more it blooms. We love it for so many reasons!
I definitely doubt that Forget Me Not’s can ever be actually forgotten. These sweet little blooms add whimsy and fun to arrangements, and come in the softest shades of blue and pink.
They send up long stems from the center, and then offshoots of branching stems. It seems like whenever I go to check on them, they’ve doubled!
This one has the potential to be sown in the Fall, and have even longer stems in the Spring, so we’re going to try it this year!
Celosia! This is in my top three of favorite flowers. The colorful plumes are gorgeous, and I can never quite believe that these colors actually exist naturally.
This year, in addition to the vivid Pampas Plume variety, we incorporate some pastel mixes. With the cooler weather, they haven’t quite yet taken off, so hopefully these upcoming warmer temps will help them out a bit!
Scabiosa, or Pincushion Flower, has quickly become a favorite for me this year. A cold hardy annual with lots of flower options, it sends up so many blooms I can barely keep up!
Bees love this flower and will defend their spot viciously, as I found out last week. They’re worth the stings, though, and their long stems make them a must grow!
Did you know mosquitos don’t like Marigolds? They emit a scent (which people can smell too) that keeps mosquitos away!
Their long, green stems topped with colorful blooms are great for Summer arrangements. They are another cut-and-come flower, and bloom profusely for us each week.
You will see lots more in the weeks to come!
A few of our subscribers will have received stems of this new to us variety this week - Sea Holly!
The blue thistle type blooms add an extra punch of fun to arrangements, and I’m pretty much in love with them. The fact that they are drought resistant and bloom the more you cut them helps too!
These are also winter hardy to our area (US Hardiness Zone 4b) and we have started the seeds for another 40 plants for next year!
A top filler for bouquets, Laceflower is a winner in my book. The green and white sprays of flowers add a great foundation to build bouquets, and look more fragile than they actually are. They hold their form for a long time and provide nice contrast for focal flowers.
These beauties provide a great home for Monarch caterpillars early in the season, so they will always bein our garden. We’ll be adding some pink, blue, green and white varieties for next year!
Mare’s Tail, or Horseweed, is EVERYWHERE in our garden right now! At first, I pulled it, but then quickly realized it has a lot of potential as a filler in arrangements.
Mare’s Tail is also considered an herb, and can be used to treat gastrointestinal discomfort and is excellent when treating cholera (the more you know).
I personally think it adds some great height and visual interest when paired with sunflowers, dahlias and zinnias - and also makes bouquets look a little wild and natural! You’ll definitely be seeing more of this!
There you have it - the roundup of our Week 4 Subscription Bouquets!
Subscribers, we’d love to hear feedback - feel free to drop it in the comments or reach out to us directly.
See you next week and enjoy your blooms!
