Mid-June brings on a new wave, a new flower season, of posies after the irises in late May and the peonies in early June for our PA mountain climate. When planting cool flowers in early April and warm-season flowers in mid-May, I didn’t know when to expect flowers. Years before, my flowers didn’t begin until mid-July and not until August for full force of blooms.
Although I wasn’t having enough flowers to sell at market, I created one of my first mixed bouquets for my own home, starting the beginnings of a flower season for my second year flower farming.
Beginning of My Marigolds
With the bouquet not having a steady, uniform structure, there’s no evident focal flowers. The bouquet was made through walking through the garden and adding blooms to it as I went.
These marigolds were blooming early. They were planted mid-May, and I wasn’t expecting blooms until July. What made them bloom early was having a strong root system. They were living in wide and deep cell trays, about 2”x2”x4”. Even throughout the drought, these plants survived well in landscape fabric. Due to their healthy roots, the plants developed quickly, and so did the blooms.
Roses in this Flower Season
I lost all my roses besides my Olivia Austin rose. The scent is described as fruity on David Austin’s website, but to me it smells like the traditional rose scent in soaps and fragrances. I love it. Roses are known for their fragrance as much for their beauty of multiple layers of petals. What’s worse than smelling a rose without a scent.
I didn’t have many blooms this year from the rose plant re-growing after almost dying off in the cold. Just to have one for this bouquet was amazing.
Calendula
Calendula is one of those hit-and-miss flowers. The harvest time needs to be perfect. They can be harvested one day and by the next they have petals crinkling and dying.
Ivory Princess Calendula is a good cool-hardy flower, blooming in time to function as a supporting flower for this arrangement.
Cosmos for this Season of Flower
A warm season crop, this was grown similarly to the marigold. Started when recommended, then potted up to 2x2x4 cell plug, allowing for ample growth. Other cosmos I started were in tiny cell plugs 1.5” x 1.5” x 1.5”. Although started the same time as seeds, they were not developed producing blooms in mid-late June! Knowing this a game changer when wanting blooms earlier from warm season crops.
Cosmos was from a mix. One has ruby pink petals with yellow center. Another one is a rosy pink.
Bachelor’s Button
I loved having bachelor button’s during this late spring season. The cornflower blue adds just the right touch to this garden bouquet. Bachelor’s button works best if they are pinched. They have so many stems per plant it can be overwhelming when harvesting. These were some of the first of the season, compared to trying to harvest when some of the blooms have started and others have begun to fade and fall.
Snapdragon
Snapdragons were some of the first flowers I planted in spring. They are hardy to some cool temperatures. Likewise, some began to bloom in mid-late June to add to this bouquet bunch.
Madame Butterfly in a dark reddish hue was available.
Sweet William
I love sweet William at this time of the year. When these perennialize, they bloom around late June. These ones were the firsts from my spring plantings. I was a bit worried on some of the cooler nights below 28 degrees Fahrenheit. I didn’t know if the plants would make it or not, once I discovered the frost cloth wasn’t secure and blew off the tops of these plants.
Yarrow
I didn’t plant this. Haha. Yarrow is a native plant to Pennsylvania. I always saw it as a weed before in my garden and yard. After growing my own yarrow, I tend to keep the native varieties grow. They’re nice to use as a filler with their dainty flower heads.
Baby’s Breath
Covent Garden Baby’s Breath matures quickly. Here, it acts as a white filler stem. Baby’s breath is easy to grow, but it is hard to harvest and use if not staked to grow with a straight stem. Rainy, windy weather can really flatten out the harvest of them.
Upcoming Flower Season
For the next growing season, I am trying to plan to have more flowers available. I’m not trying to guarantee the warm weather marigolds and cosmos, but adding some cool flowers. Rather, I’m hoping for some earlier bupleurum, Chantilly snapdragons, orlaya, white dill, and rudbeckia, as well as seeing if any plants will perennialize in my second garden, such as the bachelor’s button, sweet William, and snapdragons. I’m visualizing the first two doing well, but I’m just unsure about snapdragons in the second garden. So, we will see.
