February Blog
Spring is in sight, and the groundhog will be out in a few days to tell us how near it is. I hope you have all been staying warm and that this blog post will give you something to look forward to this spring.
What’s Happening with Huckleberry Sprig this February:
My online Valentine’s Day shop is now open for pre-orders until February 11th! If you are hoping to treat someone special to some flowers (or treat yourself), I am offering flowers including free delivery in Midland, Newmarket & surrounding areas, or for local pick-up at Sumach Espresso in Toronto.
As for seed starting, I will be starting baby blue eucalyptus seeds near the end of February. I’ve heard that these can be a little tricky, so wish me luck! Secondly, I will be soaking ranunculus and anemone corms and placing them in a cool dark place to grow roots. Once sprouted, these will be placed in a greenhouse in March to flower. In January, I started strawberry and foxglove seeds - keep up with my social media pages to see their progress! Here is my seed-starting setup so far.
My January workshops went so well that I have been encouraged to have another one in February! It will be happening on Friday, February 20th from 7:30-9:00PM at Sumach Espresso in Toronto. This will be another vase arranging class, using a ceramic vessel and the chicken wire method. The flower theme will be “gal-entine’s day”, and will be a nice opportunity for a group of people to come together and share their love of playing with flowers. In this class you will learn:
Proper care & conditioning of fresh-cut flowers and greenery,
How to use a floral knife,
How to use chicken wire to make a floral arrangement,
How to place flowers in order to make a balanced, cohesive arrangement.
The cost of this workshop will be $75 including taxes, and will include all the materials you need to bring a beautiful arrangement home.
And.. I have some exciting personal updates!
For those of you who know me well, you know that me and my partner have been on a house hunt! We are very pleased to share that we have bought a house, and that we will be moving into our first home in Holland Landing in March! This will make my commute to the farm much more manageable, and I almost forgot - our property has a greenhouse on it!! It was meant to be! While most of my flowers will be grown in Midland, I’ve decided to do a quick cleanup of the greenhouse and use it for growing my ranunculus and anemone corms and strawberry baskets. Here is a not-so-great photo of the greenhouse!
And finally, what you’ve all been waiting for…
Here is an extensive list of what I’m going to try growing in my first year as a full-time flower farmer! I am growing a total of 25 different flowers, of 82 different varieties. I’m also going to be growing three different greens as well as one fruit!
Perennial Plants:
Peonies (Sorbet & Coral Charm) - Planted in the Fall
Campanula (Light Purple) - Spring Planting
Trollius (new moon) - Spring Planting
Helleborus (Pink Lady & Blue Lady) - Spring Planting
Astilbe (Burgundy red & Visions inferno) - Spring Planting
Asclepias Incarnata (Cinderella) - Spring Planting
Baptisia Alba - Spring Planting
Astrantia (Major Star of Billion) - Spring Planting
Delphinium (Magic Fountains Mix) - Spring Planting
Lily of the Valley (Convalaria Majalis) - Spring Planting
Seeds:
Yarrow,
Milkweed,
Snapdragons,
Gomphrena (Strawberry flair)
Stock (Katz Cherry Blossom)
Sweetpeas (Multiflora & Midnight)
Feverfew
Cosmos (Cotton Candy Mix)
Sunflowers (Sunrich orange, Autumn beauty, Cherry Rose & Sunrich Lime)
Zinnias (Sunguinea cupcake, Soleado, Zinderella & Oklahoma salmon)
Corms:
Six varieties of ranunculus (in Yellow, Salmon, Pink, Burgundy & White)
Three varieties of Anemone (Pastel Mix, Bordeaux & White)
Dahlia Tubers - 16 varieties!
Bulbs:
15 varieties of tulips (early, mid & late)
10 varieties of daffodils
Greens:
Baby Blue Spiral Eucalyptus
Lemon Balm
Apple mint
And last but not least.. Strawberries! Yum.
I know, I know.. It’s a lot. Clearly, I am very excited for the coming growing season, and I hope you are too! If you have any questions or would like me to touch on anything during my next blog post, please send me an email and let me know!
Thanks for reading!