by Blue Gables | Sep 15, 2022
In our experience, yes and no. We are in our third year of growing cut flowers and we’ve tried planting cool flowers each of the past two autumns. The concept is to plant in September hardy annuals that can survive our zone 6b winters, which allows these flowers to...
by Blue Gables | Aug 15, 2022
In the plant realm, things that reseed themselves or unexpectedly winter over are called “volunteers.” For flower growers like us, volunteers are a pleasant surprise. We often allow flowers that sprout on their own to grow even if it creates a disjointed look. Yarrow...
by Blue Gables | Jun 12, 2022
We bought a stirrup hoe (aka Hula Ho Weeder or loop hoe) at a Mt Airy, Maryland, flea market last spring. We had seen them on YouTube but had never used one. It was inexpensive and appeared to be in good condition so we took a chance and purchased it from a guy with...
by Blue Gables | Aug 25, 2021
As you might expect, we have a house full of cut flowers. We put various things in bottles, jars and vases and stick them on the kitchen windowsills, island and table. We often do this to “vase test” new plants to see how they do before we put them in arrangements...
by Blue Gables | Jul 12, 2021
Without bees, butterflies and other bugs, we’d have no flowers. Or food. Zinnias Are Butterfly Magnets I remember the first year we grew zinnias. They started to bloom in late June, and we were impressed by the volume of flowers they put out. Some flowers are known as...
by Blue Gables | Mar 1, 2021
March 1 marks the beginning of seedling season. Each spring we start thousands of tiny plants in multi-cell trays that we put on heat mats and under grow lights. These seedlings will grow for the next month or two until the weather is warm enough for them to be...
