09/09/2025
Who is getting sick of flowers?
Not me!
The worst part about being a gardener in a Northern zone is everything starts coming into it's prime RIGHT before the frost.
Then if you have an unusually slow spring, everything feels far behind. (My tomato plants are all half of the size that they usually are by now!)
This year I experimented with growing more cold hardy flowers, as well as starting a lot of Bi-annuals mid summer, that will over winter and bloom next spring/summer. Having plants to start under lights in the middle of the dark, long winter is fun. But knowing that you have many resting beneath the snow already, just waiting to pop also = exciting.
When you live somewhere with super short summers, it just makes sense to figure out how to take advantage of that long period of dormancy, as well as the long day light hours we get once summer actually hits.
We have lived at our house for almost ten years, and I have been slowly adding many shrubs into the landscape that have really pretty foliage and can double for greenery in bouquets.
It makes sense to do this, because once those woody plants are established they grow with very little input on my part. Now many of them are well sized also.
Adding more pollinator friendly plants, as well as plants that will bring the birds in is slowly helping with my slug issue in my orchard garden. Adding in shrubs and more perennials is making more habitat for snakes and toads to make their homes, which also really helps a lot!
The next thing I need to work on is a wind break. When we planted our orchard, I didn't really take the wind into consideration and we lost most of the trees we planted. Fruiting trees like to grow on the edge of the forest, not in the middle of a field.
Lots of expensive mistakes!
If you're still reading this then you are a true garden nerd! haha! :)
But I am sure enjoying the sunnies before they get killed off by frost! Made a few bouquets to sell today also, if you're interested.
