Seed-Starting 101 Mini Course
BEST OF SKAGIT VALLEY
Home Blog February Blog Blizzard–Get Ready!
January 29th 2016

February Blog Blizzard–Get Ready!

Written by
Floret

Floret_Seed Starting 101-2During the long winter months, there’s nothing more inspiring or exhilarating than dreaming up the season to come. For gardeners, it’s like Christmas all over again. And while spring still feels like a thousand miles away, each day brings a few more minutes of light and an undeniable stirring.

If you’ve got the gardening bug as bad as I do then you can probably relate to having every bare surface of your dining room covered in sketches and plans, marked up catalogs, plant encyclopedias and wish lists that span far too many pages. This is the time of year when I get myself into the most trouble, biting off more than I can actually chew once the flower season hits.

It can be easy to get caught up in the dreaming process and lose sight of what’s realistic or possible to manage once the weather warms. A half-acre cutting garden only takes up a single piece of graph paper and the realities of the weeding, watering and harvesting go unnoticed.

After almost a decade of growing flowers, you’d think I’d have learned my lesson by now! But what fun would a flower season be without throwing at least a few variety trials into the mix? The part I always fail to tell Chris is that each trial includes between 40-100 varieties. Every spring as I stomp around the garden fretting about how we’re going to squeeze it all in, he gently reminds me that I’m the one who drew up the farm plan. Ha! Never something I like to hear.

Over the course of my flower journey, I’ve learned how to squeeze a ton of flowers into a teeny tiny space, maximizing every square inch. I’ve also been able to stretch our growing season, through the use of hoop houses and low tunnels, succession planting and variety selection, to span three quarters of the year.

During the next month, or what we’re excitedly referring to as the Floret February Blog Blizzard, I’m going to share tons of information about growing cut flowers. My hope is that it will help you avoid many of the frustrating mistakes we made early on and get you on the path to growing more cut flowers than you ever dreamed of in the coming year.

So join me back here bright and early Monday morning and we’ll get down to business.

31 Comments

  1. Janet on

    So appreciate your posts. They have made my cut flower start up soo much easier. I love your spirit. You are my business North Star.

    Reply
  2. vanorderangel on

    Thank you, Erin. I dreamed and planned big. I’m trying not to be overwhelmed. I’m reading up on everything. I enjoy your writing style. It’s like I’m right there with you on your journey. Thanks for all the encouragement and tips.

    Reply
  3. Laura on

    Looking forward to it! Thank you! Spring planting is still a ways off here but I’m dreaming and planning already. :)

    Reply
  4. JENNIFER on

    So grateful to have found Floret! Your gracious abundance of all things floral for which you share is always right on queue! I’m going to devour every morsel of this.
    Cheers, Jen

    Reply
  5. Allison on

    …looking forward to it! Thank you for sharing, Allison

    Reply
  6. Jillian on

    I am so excited to read your next installment! Its 6:53 am PST. I’ll be checking today!

    Reply
  7. Jenny Rae on

    Yay!!! can’t wait, sounds like perfect Feb reading

    Reply
  8. Shelley Yoshiwara on

    The rain has slowed down, we’ve been cleaning up things, I see high 60’s in the very near future I’m ready!!

    Reply
  9. Kathy on

    Talk about a kid at Christmas…I am so excited for Monday morning! And it’s good to know that others get carried away with seed orders, cover their dining room table with seed paraphernalia, plan to plant far more than is humanly possible, and all the other crazy things gardeners do at this time of year.
    Thank you, Erin, for all your knowledge and inspiration!

    Reply
  10. Liz on

    YOU are my Christmas present.

    Reply
  11. Shelly DeJong on

    Thank you! You are an encouragement and blessing to me! I am grateful for your kindness.

    Reply
  12. Drea Loewen on

    Bless your heart!! I can’t wait until Monday! I feel like a little kid at Christmas!!

    Reply
  13. Annette Crawford on

    Erin, you are so generous and kind, thank you for sharing with us! I would love to know what to do when my tulips and narcissus appear. Advice on harvesting and lifting them and what to plant next in their space would be greatly appreciated. I am amazed the the hardy annuals I seed last fall seem to have survived the Colorado winter, who would have guessed?

    Reply
    • Robin on

      I am in western Colorado — Grand Junction! Where are you located? I’d love to start a network of small flower farmers here — please email :)

  14. Terri on

    Thank you Erin and your entire Floret team for all you do and share with all of us!! Words can’t express the graditute!! As many have said before you are truly an inspiration and blessing to all of us!! I personnel can’t wait for all your inspiration this coming season!

    Reply
  15. Donna on

    Really looking forward to your posts! You are such an inspiration! Bought your calendar – btw – and absolutely love it. Thank you!!

    Reply
  16. wasabi honey bee on

    I feel the stir, it is certainly in the air. I’m excited to see your coming posts! I’ll have a large new yard to work with this year and I can’t wait to start planting.

    Reply
  17. Kari on

    Dining room table? We haven’t seen the top of it in weeks. My husband sits on one side with his vegetable gardening plans and seed catalogs spread across the table and I on the other side , with too many loose sheets of paper, notebooks, and my favorite gardening books layered in heaps. I can’t wait to hear your advice on all of these topics, as they are constantly on my mind. Flower garden on the brain. Spring couldn’t come sooner… :)

    Reply
  18. LindaQ on

    Yay! You have supplied us with your unique seeds, tubers and bulbs and tools to grow beautiful flowers but I do have to say the the most important (and priceless) thing you have given us is your knowledge.
    Thank you so much for sharing all of your experience and helpful tips with all of us crazy flower people! This coming year is going to be the best one yet!

    Reply
  19. Katelyn on

    Thank you!!!!! Cannot wait to soak up any knowledge you so graciously bestow upon us!

    Reply
  20. Diane Miller on

    Can’t wait to read and learn what you have in store. I’m actually enjoying this time of year for a change. Having the chance to plan for the upcoming growing and wedding season. Feeling renewed by your posts. Truly you and your team are an inspiration.

    Reply
  21. Jordan on

    I am OVER THE MOON about this!! Perfect timing for a newbie! Thank you!!

    Reply
  22. Marzy on

    I am always so excited when I see a new entry on your blog. I try to purchase seeds but by the time I get around to it they are sold out. Good for you………….bad for me. Thanks for all the info you share……….M

    Reply
  23. Laurie | Hedgerow Rose on

    Really excited for this series, Erin! Thank you to you and your team for being so generous with your knowledge. And yes, I know exactly what you mean about getting into a little trouble during the last months of winter. Spring rolls around and I’m like I ordered *how* many roses? ;)

    Reply
  24. Lynn on

    YES!!! Exactly what I’d love to hear from you! I SO appreciate your generosity in sharing your knowledge, frustrations, mistakes and your incredible sucesses. I’m always excited to read the next post and see what gorgeous phtos you’ve added. Congratulations again on a wonderful shop, I went insane and absolutely sit and smile over all I bought from you, and wait to do a LOT of planting :)

    Reply
  25. pennyhrdls on

    Love this idea! Thanks for the camaraderie.

    Reply

Leave a Comment

Floret Farm's Small Plot: Big Impact

Small Plot: Big Impact

Inspiring stories, profiles & advice from 45 flower growers from around the world

Stay in the loop with our updates

Close

Join Us

Join the Floret newsletter and stay in the loop on all the exciting happenings here on the farm

Close