September 20, 2024 • 19 mins
Discover tips on cultivating zinnias and celosia, perfect for those working with less fertile soil. Join us as we chat with Megan Haney, owner of Bulwark Blooms, who made the leap from Seattle to Moscow, Idaho. Megan discusses her big move in 2020 to taking the Florette online course in 2023, and how she expanded her garden from a modest five rows to a potential ten. She shares the joys and challenges of growing a diverse array of flowers, with a special focus on her favorite, the dahlia, known for its symbolism of motherhood and productivity.
Megan also discusses the opening of her cutting garden, a unique opportunity for visitors to pick and purchase their own flowers. We share insights on the best times to cut flowers, how to care for them afterward, and even touch on some safety tips for children in the garden. For additional inspiration, we recommend Sarah Raven's "Grow, Cook, Eat, Arrange" podcast.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
This is the Kestrel Country Podcast, where we
discuss the people, places andevents all around Kestrel
(00:39):
Country Podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Today is a special episode because I am here with
Megan Haney, my mom, and we areon site at her flower cutting
garden For Work Blooms.
Welcome, mom, Hello.
Okay, so I guess we just have acouple questions for people
looking to garden in the area.
Do you want to explain a littlebit?
You've been on the podcastbefore, but do you want to recap
(01:01):
who are you?
Speaker 1 (01:07):
cast before.
But do you want to recap?
Who are you?
I am Megan Haney, wife toStefan, mother of seven great
kids, including you.
Uh, I've been gardening for awhile, mostly after I didn't
have little kids.
Now my youngest is 10, so Ihave a lot more ability to
garden.
I started gardening in Seattleand my first love was dahlias
(01:31):
and foliage, because there's somuch greenery that grows
year-round in Seattle.
And then we moved to Moscow in2020 and I planted a bigger
garden and then I just haven'tstopped.
So we moved to a house of fiveacres and I said I saw the
(01:55):
Florette online course and Ijokingly asked Mr Haney if I
should get some continuingeducation credits and he said go
for it.
So I did.
I took the course in 2023 andthen I started the farm that
(02:17):
spring and dug everything up itwas a little later because it
was soggy, such a cold springand then we had about five full
rows of annuals and perennialsthat people came and cut last
year and then this year we willhave probably eight rows, maybe
(02:37):
10.
And so we just have a U-Pickcutting garden so that people
can come and, you know, make abeautiful bouquet, get enough
flowers to perk up their house.
You don't have to drive all theway to Pullman.
I think Stratton's is lovely.
My goal is to have year-roundflowers, so I'm working I'm
sorry, not year-round seasonalflowers from the spring all the
(02:59):
way to the fall so I'm workingon a lot of different things
that will help get more flowers.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
Okay, and how many varieties do you have currently?
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Oh, that's a great question.
How would I just name somethings off Cause I?
Speaker 2 (03:15):
don't have a spreadsheet in front of me.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Oh boy, uh.
We have all manner ofperennials, of perennials.
I'm just looking at my gardenright now.
So there's a lot of hyssop andyarrow.
There's some beautiful silene,which is called blushing
lanterns, there's penstemon andvenusta lenaria artemisia.
(03:45):
If you don't know what theseare, don't don't be surprised.
I'm hoping to label them allthis year so people can learn a
little while they pick.
There is a bunch of delphiniumsthis year.
We have calendula, we havecelosia, we have peonies which
will be ready in about threeyears, so I planted those in
hope and they have to establishbefore they can be cut off of.
(04:06):
So we have a row and a half,probably a total of two full
rows of peonies that will becoming eventually this year.
The Nigella is about to pop.
It's something that peopledon't see very often.
They know Nigella loss in thecook or a Nigella seed that you
can cook with, but I'm going tohave the nigella plant.
We have a thistle, like a blueglobe thistle.
(04:29):
That's really pretty.
I'll have chocolate dara, um,sweet amy.
A bunch of snapdragons.
That's a lot, ton ofsnapdragons.
And zinnias.
I'll have like six differentvarieties of zinnias and, of
course, my.
My favorite dahlia is hopefullyat least 100 dahlias, probably
more like 150.
We had a frost kind of killedme.
(04:49):
We'll see.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
Okay, so sorry, but your favorite is the dahlia
right.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
My favorite is the dahlia.
The dahlia is my favorite and Ithink I've said this before
because the dahlia is a humblelooking little tuber.
It looks like an ugly potato.
And you plant this little uglypotato in the dirt and you think
okay, and then it just goesnuts.
It's a Mexican flower.
It likes heat, likes dryweather.
(05:17):
It doesn't need too much, needsa little bit of soil amendment.
But you put it in the groundand, um, usually you'll get at
least anywhere from 10 to 40blooms from one plant and at the
end of the summer you think,surely, surely, this plant is
spent, there will be nothing.
When I dig up the tuber, itwill be a shriveled mast of
exhaustion.
(05:37):
But no, no, what you find isthis beautiful clump.
While doing all of that, givingaway, a treasure was created
under the earth and I think it'sthe flower of motherhood.
That's what it represents to me, because mothers are typically
creating beauty, giving it away,giving themselves away for
(05:58):
their families, wives, you know.
And then you think, oh, that'sjust, they're worn out.
But when you, when you giveaway, you gain, and I, and it's
a real clear picture to me ofhow the lord loves to bless
sacrifice and how he multipliesall of that effort and usually I
can get at least four to tentubers off of one plant so that
(06:23):
I will have a bunch more toplant the next year.
So they're incrediblyproductive and very um fruitful
and that's why I love them.
Also there there's nine formsand they're just gorgeous for
reference.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
She is currently in her garden just digging away.
I am digging holes to putdahlias.
Yes, do you want to move yourhair from the microphone just so
it doesn't mess with the sound.
But okay, so you did a lot ofwork to prep your soil and prep
your ground.
So what would you say tosomebody who's wanting to do
something kind of like this, buta lot smaller, so maybe two or
(07:00):
three plants or differentvarieties, and you know they're
trying to figure out.
What do I need to do that?
Speaker 1 (07:06):
Sure, I think the biggest thing you need to know
is that our soil in thisnorthern Idaho is a lot of clay,
it's heavy and it's dense, andso in order to make it happy,
you need to add organic material.
So what I do is I buy compostand I amend all my soil.
(07:29):
The first time I build a bed, Ihave to put in about a third of
compost to two thirds of thenative soil.
I also amend my soil with agranular that just needs dried
organic all purpose fertilizer.
I shake that in, I till it in.
People really love the no tillmethod or have heard about the
(07:52):
no till method and want to makethat work here, and I think it's
possible.
But I think the first time youuh break ground, you must till.
You must uh break up theconcrete clay, as I call it.
You can't just put somecardboard and compost over it
and expect plants to breakthrough to the uh soil.
(08:13):
It's like concrete.
So I really have been advisinghey, if you starting, go look up
the double dig method onYouTube.
I think it's a way better way.
After you do a double dig, youshould be able to do a no-till
and just add compost everyspring or at the end of the year
and your soil will be happy.
So soil prep is the biggestthing for happy plants and most
(08:38):
people see all the pretty plantsand buy them and forget that if
their soil is not healthy,their plants will not be healthy
.
I'm currently in the process oflearning about Bokashi
composting and cake composting,so you can look those things up.
Another way to cheaply amendyour soil a cubic yard of
(09:01):
compost is about 30 bucks frommbs and if you expect to put
about three inches thick on abed, you know you can.
You can get a good 10 by 10 bedwith a cubic yard.
I think I don't know.
Math isn't my strong suit.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
I'm a gardener um, and this year we had a couple
new additions to the garden, sodo you want to explain the big
structure over there, as well asyour tractor?
Speaker 1 (09:24):
oh, yeah, so this year, um, to make things a lot
faster, and building beds, wegot a tractor and, uh, it's been
really great to help move mulch, ie compost and um dirt and
wood chips.
And then the greenhouse.
It's a hoop house.
Technically, a greenhouse is aheated structure.
(09:45):
This one won't be heated, so wecall it a hoop house.
And the hoop house will beplanted with heirloom
chrysanthemums in a week or two.
Those love to flower September,october, november.
So the ones that preferblooming in october, november,
will be in the hoop house to ekeout some more warmth, um, and
(10:07):
that will mean the growingseason will be extended, lord
willing all the way.
Then we'll see how we do.
It's my first year with mums.
They're really, um, easy topropagate and easy to grow.
They don't, they're not fussy,they don't need a ton.
So I'm really looking forwardto seeing how they do and seeing
what works best for them.
Here I have about 30 varieties,yeah, so we'll see, we'll see.
(10:32):
And then the greenhouse sorry,I'm sorry.
The hoop house will be filledwith ranunculus and possibly
some lisianthus in the spring,depending on plug availability,
so that we can start havingspring flowers.
I had a lot of requests forspring flowers and, sadly, the
(10:52):
voles.
I prepared a table in thepresence of my enemies
underground and I think out of800 bulbs I got maybe 50 that
grew.
So we will be putting a wholenone tulips outdoors until I
figure out a better system forthat.
And, uh, we'll be planting somedaffies for the spring.
(11:14):
They don't like daffodil bulbsas much or alliums.
They don't eat those.
Okay as yeah, vociferously um.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
So for, like spring flowers and looking at weather
and prepping for you know you'vedone a lot from seed to um.
Do you want to explain a littlebit of that process?
And yeah, I like.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
I start seeds and I have have a Costco metal baker's
rack and I have two lights eachon each shelf and I have a big
heating pad, so I start seeds.
You know, anywhere fromFebruary.
There's a lot of seeds that arecooly.
They prefer a little bit ofcold.
(11:57):
Snapdragons can actually takecold down to zero degrees.
So waiting to put snapdragonsin until it's this warm is a big
waste of time.
They prefer to be planted early.
So things like the SileneLenaria snapdragons what else?
Oh, calendula loves to beplanted early.
Blue Purim I bought plugs.
(12:19):
I don't know if you can startthe blue Purim from seed.
I'll give you an award.
Feverfew is one that loves to begrown cold.
So Lisa Mason Ziegler she has abook, the Cut Flower Handbook.
She goes into a lot of detailon that.
I think it's a great book andshe also has a lot of podcasts.
So I learned all about that andI really think people need to
(12:43):
know more about getting thingsgoing.
They don't have to wait.
Our springs are soggy and cold,but some evenings love that and
can work with it, and so I'vedone that.
And then I have my warm seasonannuals like zinnias and celosia
that, uh, an amaranth that Istart a little bit later, closer
(13:04):
to the end of frosted for sure.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
What resources would you suggest people look at?
Are there?
Do you have some favorite books, podcasts, instagram handles of
people that you like to follow?
Speaker 1 (13:15):
I really like the gardeners workshop with Lisa
Mason Ziegler and seed talk.
Uh, I love the let's grow girlspodcast out of England.
They're gals who started cutflower gardens a few years ago,
in 2020.
And they're really fun tolisten to.
I find I learn a lot listeningto podcasts.
I don't know if it's because Iwas homeschooled.
(13:38):
I just feel like, hey, I knowhow to learn things, so I just
go and learn as much as I canabout any subject and pretty
good at researching and figuringout good resources.
So those are two podcasts Sarahum.
Raven has her grow, cook, eat,arrange podcast.
That, um, the most recent onesare really short, but if you go
(13:58):
back she's got a lot of reallydetailed knowledge on growing
different flowers.
And the thing about her is, um,she is in the zone seven, so
england is not the united states.
We have a lot colder weather soyou have to adjust.
They don't have zones inEngland, so you kind of have to
(14:21):
figure out if something willgrow in your area or not that
they're talking about.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
What is a good flower for people to grow around here?
Speaker 1 (14:29):
Things like zinnias.
Zinnias love to grow here.
Zinnias do not like super richdirt, so if your soil is not
amended, no problem.
They prefer things to be alittle lean, and so I think
azinia is a really great uhthing to start with.
Also celosia.
And if you just start you knowsome in a, in a cake pan, um,
(14:50):
and then pot them up into littlebigger pots as they're getting
no room, or after they havetheir second set of leaves, you
can get a little jump start andit'll be easier than directly
sowing them into the ground.
See the plant that you have andyou can put it where you want
and know you're not going tohave any holes there's that.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
When does your um garden open officially?
Speaker 1 (15:12):
pretty soon.
Um, I'm waiting for some focalflowers to bloom so that
everyone can have some big, umshowy blooms for their bouquets.
We'll have buckets this year.
Um, you can.
Basically the system will be uh, you get a bucket with your
first purchase and then you canbring that home and bring it
(15:34):
back, and then it's a discounton your next purchase and then
the cutting gardens open from 9to 9.
I might open it a little earlier, because the cooler the day is,
the better time to cut.
So you don't really want tocome to my garden at noon on a
July day.
You want to come at dusk or youwant to come in the morning,
(15:55):
before it gets too warm.
The flowers will be happier ifthey're cut then, and you should
just let them rest overnightsomewhere cool and then arrange
them the next day.
That would be my advice.
Let them get a good drink and alittle rest and then, um, move
on from there.
So, yeah it, it, it'll beopening, and then I'll also have
(16:16):
, for people who don't want tohave as big of a bucket, I'll
have some stadium cups thatit'll be smaller bouquets.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
So, and what's the price for bucket versus stadium
cup?
Speaker 1 (16:24):
Uh, the price for bucket will be $25 for a bucket.
That should get you twogenerous bouquets worth of
flowers and, um, you know,Costco probably has the best
running bouquet price around andthat's about for 20 bucks and
it's probably about twice asmany flowers is what you could
get at Costco for that muchmoney.
But these ones are local.
They are local, they are grownwith love.
(16:46):
They're going to last longerbecause they haven't been kept
in a cooler for a week, andlonger because they haven't been
kept in a cooler for a week.
And uh, they are gonna beunusual.
We'll have some blush zinnias,uh, some floret zinnias, and, um
, sapaglossus, which is paintedtongue.
It's very not a flower thatyou're gonna see anywhere what's
(17:09):
a good way to stay up to datewith?
um all of the garden openings,closings, you bet Uh right now
my um, we're working on a littlewebsite, but the best place is
to follow me on Instagram, andmy handle is bulwark, underscore
blooms, uh, and that's where Iput most updates.
I also have a Facebook page, um, but I don't don't tweak that
(17:32):
one as often as I do theInstagram.
So, yeah, come on out.
We will have some gnomes hiddenaround for kids to look for.
So the kids can keep busy.
Little children are welcome.
I just wouldn't advise lettingthem eat anything, because I
cannot promise you it's notpoison.
(17:52):
So as long as they are cuttingand not nibbling, everything
should be fine.
If you have a nibbler, keepthem close.
That would be my hot tip.
But we'll have some sweet peasand all kinds of just goodies
are going in here.
So, uh, parked by the shed,grab your bucket, remember to
(18:14):
put water in it before you buyflowers and uh, yeah, take them
home to rest.
And then I would just love totell anybody who's listening,
who's playing.
I come and cut deeply.
Please, like, don't just takesix inches of a pretty bloom,
try to get a nice long stem anddon't be afraid to cut down into
the plants.
I'll do some instructionalvideos on Instagram with some
(18:38):
things are blooming, so you cansee what I mean.
That way more blooms will comeand everything will be happier
and your flowers will be happier.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
Well, thank you for coming back on the podcast.
We really appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (18:49):
Thanks for having me.
This is fun, I mean, I get toplant dahlias while you're
interviewing me yeah, this uh inon-site interview process is
going to be really nice.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
Yeah, well, we'll take some videos and definitely
have to upload them onto ourinstagram and go with some of
the content from this podcast sopeople can see what we're
talking about yeah, I lookforward to seeing you.
Speaker 1 (19:11):
I probably won't.
The garden is kind of secluded.
It's a real nice little justdestination to come and be quiet
, got some trees and plenty ofroom to roam, so I'd love to
have you.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
Alrighty, well, thank you.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
Thanks, Ani.
Thanks for joining us.
Like, share, subscribe.
We'll see you next week.
This is the Kestrel Country Podcast, where we
discuss the people, places andevents all around Kestrel
(00:39):
Country Podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Today is a special episode because I am here with
Megan Haney, my mom, and we areon site at her flower cutting
garden For Work Blooms.
Welcome, mom, Hello.
Okay, so I guess we just have acouple questions for people
looking to garden in the area.
Do you want to explain a littlebit?
You've been on the podcastbefore, but do you want to recap
(01:01):
who are you?
Speaker 1 (01:07):
cast before.
But do you want to recap?
Who are you?
I am Megan Haney, wife toStefan, mother of seven great
kids, including you.
Uh, I've been gardening for awhile, mostly after I didn't
have little kids.
Now my youngest is 10, so Ihave a lot more ability to
garden.
I started gardening in Seattleand my first love was dahlias
(01:31):
and foliage, because there's somuch greenery that grows
year-round in Seattle.
And then we moved to Moscow in2020 and I planted a bigger
garden and then I just haven'tstopped.
So we moved to a house of fiveacres and I said I saw the
(01:55):
Florette online course and Ijokingly asked Mr Haney if I
should get some continuingeducation credits and he said go
for it.
So I did.
I took the course in 2023 andthen I started the farm that
(02:17):
spring and dug everything up itwas a little later because it
was soggy, such a cold springand then we had about five full
rows of annuals and perennialsthat people came and cut last
year and then this year we willhave probably eight rows, maybe
(02:37):
10.
And so we just have a U-Pickcutting garden so that people
can come and, you know, make abeautiful bouquet, get enough
flowers to perk up their house.
You don't have to drive all theway to Pullman.
I think Stratton's is lovely.
My goal is to have year-roundflowers, so I'm working I'm
sorry, not year-round seasonalflowers from the spring all the
(02:59):
way to the fall so I'm workingon a lot of different things
that will help get more flowers.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
Okay, and how many varieties do you have currently?
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Oh, that's a great question.
How would I just name somethings off Cause I?
Speaker 2 (03:15):
don't have a spreadsheet in front of me.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Oh boy, uh.
We have all manner ofperennials, of perennials.
I'm just looking at my gardenright now.
So there's a lot of hyssop andyarrow.
There's some beautiful silene,which is called blushing
lanterns, there's penstemon andvenusta lenaria artemisia.
(03:45):
If you don't know what theseare, don't don't be surprised.
I'm hoping to label them allthis year so people can learn a
little while they pick.
There is a bunch of delphiniumsthis year.
We have calendula, we havecelosia, we have peonies which
will be ready in about threeyears, so I planted those in
hope and they have to establishbefore they can be cut off of.
(04:06):
So we have a row and a half,probably a total of two full
rows of peonies that will becoming eventually this year.
The Nigella is about to pop.
It's something that peopledon't see very often.
They know Nigella loss in thecook or a Nigella seed that you
can cook with, but I'm going tohave the nigella plant.
We have a thistle, like a blueglobe thistle.
(04:29):
That's really pretty.
I'll have chocolate dara, um,sweet amy.
A bunch of snapdragons.
That's a lot, ton ofsnapdragons.
And zinnias.
I'll have like six differentvarieties of zinnias and, of
course, my.
My favorite dahlia is hopefullyat least 100 dahlias, probably
more like 150.
We had a frost kind of killedme.
(04:49):
We'll see.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
Okay, so sorry, but your favorite is the dahlia
right.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
My favorite is the dahlia.
The dahlia is my favorite and Ithink I've said this before
because the dahlia is a humblelooking little tuber.
It looks like an ugly potato.
And you plant this little uglypotato in the dirt and you think
okay, and then it just goesnuts.
It's a Mexican flower.
It likes heat, likes dryweather.
(05:17):
It doesn't need too much, needsa little bit of soil amendment.
But you put it in the groundand, um, usually you'll get at
least anywhere from 10 to 40blooms from one plant and at the
end of the summer you think,surely, surely, this plant is
spent, there will be nothing.
When I dig up the tuber, itwill be a shriveled mast of
exhaustion.
(05:37):
But no, no, what you find isthis beautiful clump.
While doing all of that, givingaway, a treasure was created
under the earth and I think it'sthe flower of motherhood.
That's what it represents to me, because mothers are typically
creating beauty, giving it away,giving themselves away for
(05:58):
their families, wives, you know.
And then you think, oh, that'sjust, they're worn out.
But when you, when you giveaway, you gain, and I, and it's
a real clear picture to me ofhow the lord loves to bless
sacrifice and how he multipliesall of that effort and usually I
can get at least four to tentubers off of one plant so that
(06:23):
I will have a bunch more toplant the next year.
So they're incrediblyproductive and very um fruitful
and that's why I love them.
Also there there's nine formsand they're just gorgeous for
reference.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
She is currently in her garden just digging away.
I am digging holes to putdahlias.
Yes, do you want to move yourhair from the microphone just so
it doesn't mess with the sound.
But okay, so you did a lot ofwork to prep your soil and prep
your ground.
So what would you say tosomebody who's wanting to do
something kind of like this, buta lot smaller, so maybe two or
(07:00):
three plants or differentvarieties, and you know they're
trying to figure out.
What do I need to do that?
Speaker 1 (07:06):
Sure, I think the biggest thing you need to know
is that our soil in thisnorthern Idaho is a lot of clay,
it's heavy and it's dense, andso in order to make it happy,
you need to add organic material.
So what I do is I buy compostand I amend all my soil.
(07:29):
The first time I build a bed, Ihave to put in about a third of
compost to two thirds of thenative soil.
I also amend my soil with agranular that just needs dried
organic all purpose fertilizer.
I shake that in, I till it in.
People really love the no tillmethod or have heard about the
(07:52):
no till method and want to makethat work here, and I think it's
possible.
But I think the first time youuh break ground, you must till.
You must uh break up theconcrete clay, as I call it.
You can't just put somecardboard and compost over it
and expect plants to breakthrough to the uh soil.
(08:13):
It's like concrete.
So I really have been advisinghey, if you starting, go look up
the double dig method onYouTube.
I think it's a way better way.
After you do a double dig, youshould be able to do a no-till
and just add compost everyspring or at the end of the year
and your soil will be happy.
So soil prep is the biggestthing for happy plants and most
(08:38):
people see all the pretty plantsand buy them and forget that if
their soil is not healthy,their plants will not be healthy
.
I'm currently in the process oflearning about Bokashi
composting and cake composting,so you can look those things up.
Another way to cheaply amendyour soil a cubic yard of
(09:01):
compost is about 30 bucks frommbs and if you expect to put
about three inches thick on abed, you know you can.
You can get a good 10 by 10 bedwith a cubic yard.
I think I don't know.
Math isn't my strong suit.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
I'm a gardener um, and this year we had a couple
new additions to the garden, sodo you want to explain the big
structure over there, as well asyour tractor?
Speaker 1 (09:24):
oh, yeah, so this year, um, to make things a lot
faster, and building beds, wegot a tractor and, uh, it's been
really great to help move mulch, ie compost and um dirt and
wood chips.
And then the greenhouse.
It's a hoop house.
Technically, a greenhouse is aheated structure.
(09:45):
This one won't be heated, so wecall it a hoop house.
And the hoop house will beplanted with heirloom
chrysanthemums in a week or two.
Those love to flower September,october, november.
So the ones that preferblooming in october, november,
will be in the hoop house to ekeout some more warmth, um, and
(10:07):
that will mean the growingseason will be extended, lord
willing all the way.
Then we'll see how we do.
It's my first year with mums.
They're really, um, easy topropagate and easy to grow.
They don't, they're not fussy,they don't need a ton.
So I'm really looking forwardto seeing how they do and seeing
what works best for them.
Here I have about 30 varieties,yeah, so we'll see, we'll see.
(10:32):
And then the greenhouse sorry,I'm sorry.
The hoop house will be filledwith ranunculus and possibly
some lisianthus in the spring,depending on plug availability,
so that we can start havingspring flowers.
I had a lot of requests forspring flowers and, sadly, the
(10:52):
voles.
I prepared a table in thepresence of my enemies
underground and I think out of800 bulbs I got maybe 50 that
grew.
So we will be putting a wholenone tulips outdoors until I
figure out a better system forthat.
And, uh, we'll be planting somedaffies for the spring.
(11:14):
They don't like daffodil bulbsas much or alliums.
They don't eat those.
Okay as yeah, vociferously um.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
So for, like spring flowers and looking at weather
and prepping for you know you'vedone a lot from seed to um.
Do you want to explain a littlebit of that process?
And yeah, I like.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
I start seeds and I have have a Costco metal baker's
rack and I have two lights eachon each shelf and I have a big
heating pad, so I start seeds.
You know, anywhere fromFebruary.
There's a lot of seeds that arecooly.
They prefer a little bit ofcold.
(11:57):
Snapdragons can actually takecold down to zero degrees.
So waiting to put snapdragonsin until it's this warm is a big
waste of time.
They prefer to be planted early.
So things like the SileneLenaria snapdragons what else?
Oh, calendula loves to beplanted early.
Blue Purim I bought plugs.
(12:19):
I don't know if you can startthe blue Purim from seed.
I'll give you an award.
Feverfew is one that loves to begrown cold.
So Lisa Mason Ziegler she has abook, the Cut Flower Handbook.
She goes into a lot of detailon that.
I think it's a great book andshe also has a lot of podcasts.
So I learned all about that andI really think people need to
(12:43):
know more about getting thingsgoing.
They don't have to wait.
Our springs are soggy and cold,but some evenings love that and
can work with it, and so I'vedone that.
And then I have my warm seasonannuals like zinnias and celosia
that, uh, an amaranth that Istart a little bit later, closer
(13:04):
to the end of frosted for sure.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
What resources would you suggest people look at?
Are there?
Do you have some favorite books, podcasts, instagram handles of
people that you like to follow?
Speaker 1 (13:15):
I really like the gardeners workshop with Lisa
Mason Ziegler and seed talk.
Uh, I love the let's grow girlspodcast out of England.
They're gals who started cutflower gardens a few years ago,
in 2020.
And they're really fun tolisten to.
I find I learn a lot listeningto podcasts.
I don't know if it's because Iwas homeschooled.
(13:38):
I just feel like, hey, I knowhow to learn things, so I just
go and learn as much as I canabout any subject and pretty
good at researching and figuringout good resources.
So those are two podcasts Sarahum.
Raven has her grow, cook, eat,arrange podcast.
That, um, the most recent onesare really short, but if you go
(13:58):
back she's got a lot of reallydetailed knowledge on growing
different flowers.
And the thing about her is, um,she is in the zone seven, so
england is not the united states.
We have a lot colder weather soyou have to adjust.
They don't have zones inEngland, so you kind of have to
(14:21):
figure out if something willgrow in your area or not that
they're talking about.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
What is a good flower for people to grow around here?
Speaker 1 (14:29):
Things like zinnias.
Zinnias love to grow here.
Zinnias do not like super richdirt, so if your soil is not
amended, no problem.
They prefer things to be alittle lean, and so I think
azinia is a really great uhthing to start with.
Also celosia.
And if you just start you knowsome in a, in a cake pan, um,
(14:50):
and then pot them up into littlebigger pots as they're getting
no room, or after they havetheir second set of leaves, you
can get a little jump start andit'll be easier than directly
sowing them into the ground.
See the plant that you have andyou can put it where you want
and know you're not going tohave any holes there's that.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
When does your um garden open officially?
Speaker 1 (15:12):
pretty soon.
Um, I'm waiting for some focalflowers to bloom so that
everyone can have some big, umshowy blooms for their bouquets.
We'll have buckets this year.
Um, you can.
Basically the system will be uh, you get a bucket with your
first purchase and then you canbring that home and bring it
(15:34):
back, and then it's a discounton your next purchase and then
the cutting gardens open from 9to 9.
I might open it a little earlier, because the cooler the day is,
the better time to cut.
So you don't really want tocome to my garden at noon on a
July day.
You want to come at dusk or youwant to come in the morning,
(15:55):
before it gets too warm.
The flowers will be happier ifthey're cut then, and you should
just let them rest overnightsomewhere cool and then arrange
them the next day.
That would be my advice.
Let them get a good drink and alittle rest and then, um, move
on from there.
So, yeah it, it, it'll beopening, and then I'll also have
(16:16):
, for people who don't want tohave as big of a bucket, I'll
have some stadium cups thatit'll be smaller bouquets.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
So, and what's the price for bucket versus stadium
cup?
Speaker 1 (16:24):
Uh, the price for bucket will be $25 for a bucket.
That should get you twogenerous bouquets worth of
flowers and, um, you know,Costco probably has the best
running bouquet price around andthat's about for 20 bucks and
it's probably about twice asmany flowers is what you could
get at Costco for that muchmoney.
But these ones are local.
They are local, they are grownwith love.
(16:46):
They're going to last longerbecause they haven't been kept
in a cooler for a week, andlonger because they haven't been
kept in a cooler for a week.
And uh, they are gonna beunusual.
We'll have some blush zinnias,uh, some floret zinnias, and, um
, sapaglossus, which is paintedtongue.
It's very not a flower thatyou're gonna see anywhere what's
(17:09):
a good way to stay up to datewith?
um all of the garden openings,closings, you bet Uh right now
my um, we're working on a littlewebsite, but the best place is
to follow me on Instagram, andmy handle is bulwark, underscore
blooms, uh, and that's where Iput most updates.
I also have a Facebook page, um, but I don't don't tweak that
(17:32):
one as often as I do theInstagram.
So, yeah, come on out.
We will have some gnomes hiddenaround for kids to look for.
So the kids can keep busy.
Little children are welcome.
I just wouldn't advise lettingthem eat anything, because I
cannot promise you it's notpoison.
(17:52):
So as long as they are cuttingand not nibbling, everything
should be fine.
If you have a nibbler, keepthem close.
That would be my hot tip.
But we'll have some sweet peasand all kinds of just goodies
are going in here.
So, uh, parked by the shed,grab your bucket, remember to
(18:14):
put water in it before you buyflowers and uh, yeah, take them
home to rest.
And then I would just love totell anybody who's listening,
who's playing.
I come and cut deeply.
Please, like, don't just takesix inches of a pretty bloom,
try to get a nice long stem anddon't be afraid to cut down into
the plants.
I'll do some instructionalvideos on Instagram with some
(18:38):
things are blooming, so you cansee what I mean.
That way more blooms will comeand everything will be happier
and your flowers will be happier.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
Well, thank you for coming back on the podcast.
We really appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (18:49):
Thanks for having me.
This is fun, I mean, I get toplant dahlias while you're
interviewing me yeah, this uh inon-site interview process is
going to be really nice.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
Yeah, well, we'll take some videos and definitely
have to upload them onto ourinstagram and go with some of
the content from this podcast sopeople can see what we're
talking about yeah, I lookforward to seeing you.
Speaker 1 (19:11):
I probably won't.
The garden is kind of secluded.
It's a real nice little justdestination to come and be quiet
, got some trees and plenty ofroom to roam, so I'd love to
have you.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
Alrighty, well, thank you.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
Thanks, Ani.
Thanks for joining us.
Like, share, subscribe.
We'll see you next week.
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