Floret Seeds

While working at Gertens, I was lucky to discover such great vendors of so many things "garden." One of the huge items in abundance are our choices for seeds. There are the common vintage companies like Burpee, Gurney & old Fredonia seeds. Some small sourcing from brands like Renee's Garden or a very special one like Hudson Valley with beautiful heirlooms. I love the Seed Exchange in IA which keeps a library of old and obsolete varieties; trying to bring them back into common circulation. This year brings me a new find...

Floret Flowers are a very small farm out of the Skagitt Valley in far North Washington state. I stumbled onto them via their Twitter Blog which offers great tips for cutting, planting and harvesting. So, I am taking a risk on them this summer for some hopefully, gorgeous blooms. I love their philosophy. I find it so nostalgic that the website shows this lovely family with children and chickens out in their fields. Everything is still grown in small batches. The farm started with roots to a grandparent's lot with a love of the land. And then grew into sharing their large harvest with friends who enjoyed these fresh gifts.

Their stock does not strive for exotic plants, but sticks with basics like Sweet Peas, Zinnias, Dahlias and Sunflowers among others. But they have spent more than a few years finding just the right varieties from other farms seeking to grow for cut flowers, that were aromatic, and had sturdy stems to look and smell fabulous in vases. They also have a vital mission of working with students for farm workshops and now share free video classes. The venture has continued to grow, and it is fascinating to read their weekly blog and see how they are literally casting out into the rest of the world. I find their work noble.

Each year I vouch not to deal with seeds again out of sheer disappointment! Rabbits & Squirrels digging them up, storms washing them out... So many obstacles to get them from that fragile little seed into something of beauty over the full season of harvest. But I was so taken with their product line I placed an order as well as some to share with family. I am hoping that July will bring some beautiful tall White Sunflowers, some bright coral and copper Zinnias, a favorite Earl Grey Larkspur and maybe even some soft Cherry Black-Eyed Susans. Please check out their wonderful products.

Floret Flower Farms:

The Lost Words

This was a brand-new reveal to me last night from my dear friend Norah. Cancel culture is one of my biggest pet peeves as it continues to rear its ugly head. My stance is that each of us should decide for ourselves what we buy, eat, choose to read or support. Rather than have some other self-righteous person decide that they know better and would like to make that choice for me.

The Lost Words Project dates back to 2017 when cancel culture came up against a Childrens' dictionary in Great Britain. Some academics made an editing choice to eliminate a trove of "unused" words and replace them with contemporary words. It was not done out of spite, but was felt that these words had become antiquated and more modern words from social media and technology would be better utilized by children. Again, some other figure in authority deciding what is best for us.

Art always seems to triumph and can be a creative alternative to challenge said authority. Robert MacFarlane and Jackie Morris made a statement by publishing a book to reclaim these words. Centered on nature - with words like Goldfinch, Willow, Acorn, Bluebell - they created a beautiful work that has gone global. Jackie has painted masterful, soft watercolors that resemble an Audubon book. And Robert has written not poems, but what he calls "spells" meant to be incanted and summon the words back into the commonplace. Even teaching guides f0r classrooms that go into depth not just about the words, but how they have evolved into our English language and literature. Amazing stuff. How had I never heard of these?

The book has been awarded many publishing medallions as well as selling millions. It has not gone full-scale with gallery exhibits of her work. A merchandise store with everything from tee shirts to jigsaw puzzles. And in New York, a collaboration of musical artists has composed them into actual songs available in recording and concerts as well.

They are calling the total social movement a Re-Wilding. I am all on board to spread some of these special seeds of nature. Love live the Wrens, Moths, Red Foxes and Jays

The Lost Spells - book

The Lost Words - recording

Succulent Pillows

During these cold Minnesota Winters when we are craving all things green and gardens, how do you marry that desire with the comfort of just staying warm? File this under #BuyLocal, or at least Support Small Businesses.

This company started in 2018 in a small apartment where the founder was trying to find a way to intersect nature into her living space. A few years later, with plenty of green fabrics, Green Philosophy has a product line that features fabulous pillows and throws that border on Jungle. There are the cutest pillows in the shape of Succulents. How about a giant blanket of an Elephant Ear or Philodendron leaf? Maybe a mixed quilt of leaves or mushrooms? The product line is not vast with only 40+ offerings. But it is unique enough that everyone will wonder where you found something so unusual.

What's even better is that they have partnered with Trees for the Future and some of their profits are shared, going towards land regeneration in poverty countries by planting trees. More than 300,000 trees have been planted through the donations.

Please check out their website and pay it forward. Besides, you'll get some great Green Space out of the purchase.

Green Philosophy. com

To Infinity and Beyond

New Year's is always an exciting time for me of reflection. A reset. A chance to look at possibilities with renewed enthusiasm.

Today I am looking far beyond our political landscape and the blitz of social media resolutions. This was an article from 6 months back that piqued my attention. A literal world of possibilities where outer space meets my joy of gardening.

For decades we have been pondering the question of what life lies beyond us out in the grand universe. Our Superheroes and literature continue to ask those questions for us. But maybe instead of looking at other human life, we should start with something much smaller like plants.

Starting in May of this year, the University of Florida has begun growing crops in lunar soil from recent expeditions. It is scientifically called lunar regolith - meaning it is a biologically active dust or crushed rock that is able to support vegetation. Under the name of the Artemis Program, it seems our second phase of Space Exploration is continuing. We are taking baby steps in terms of human colonies on the Moon!

These soils have been sampled in the past, but never moved forward into actual fertilization. The primary concern originally was what other additional and unknown pathogens might be in the soils and then transmitted to plant life.

The plants being grown are Arabidopsis which is in the rockcress family of cabbage or wild mustard! What makes it optimal is that there are only 8-9 varieties of the plant AND it has a simple enough genetic structure that it has been mapped completely. This allows scientists to look at the fertilized seedlings and note if there is any mutation occurring. Almost all seeds planted, sprouted which was a surprise. This means there is nothing in the soil that suppresses germination. However, there was much variation from plant to plant in terms of strength and size. This can be one of two things. Either the plants are just adapting to whatever stress those soils may be giving to their normal growing cycle. Or it can be random to where the Moon soils were gathered from. Just as we have different Earth soils and climate zones that can certainly impact how well any plant grows.

The Moon is a very dry place and much needs to be discovered before it could ever be something where our Earth species thrive there in a greenhouse as we know it. But the question is now out there that future generations may not only travel there, but also be able to farm the land long term. Of course, this could also be a Little Shop of Horrors where we end up with an invasive species whose mission it is to overtake the Earth. Happy New Year!

Dressing up in Holiday Style

I have seen some of these lavish and elegant creations pop up in my feeds over the last few years. Instead of a Christmas tree or a decadent wreath of greens, some fabulous designers have used a dress mannequin as a base for some absolutely inspired couture where nature meets fabrics.

I am not sure why I have never seen them as curated works in a museum or an upscale boutique. If we can create Art In Bloom around paintings in a gallery, why not as a holiday fashion spread? Some place like the Galleria should tap into these! They all have a base structure of greens - from hemlocks to pines, maybe even raw branches. And then some sort of elegant boddice, shawl or other top piece. Then build a shape around it and adorn with incredible ribbons, lights and ornaments. Easy Peasy right?

I think it would make a great craft activity, like the wine pairings with painting or glass blowing. I am not sure if it would be "bring your own mannequin." But I know several types who would swing for something alternative in terms of their holiday decor. What think you hive mind?

Monster Garden for the Day of the Dead

I just took a lovely Fall afternoon getaway to our Regional Franconia Art Park. It is a huge acreage where whimsical art meets rolling plains of grass. It begs us to either climb onto the large works, or step back and just observe their colors and shapes from afar.

But here is a Garden adorned with sculptures that lean more towards the scary and Gothic. it is called the Bomarzo Park of the Monsters or Sacred Grove in Central Italy. It dates back to the 16th century and the large creatures were actually carved out of the bedrock itself on the site. It was commissioned by Pier Francesco Orsini and the majority of the works were chiseled by Simone Moschino. From what little we know of the park, there was no grand scheme or design - they were meant to astonish with their grotesque offerings. An inscription on one works states they were created "to set the heart free." There are thoughts that they could allude to some sort of graphic Romance Novel. Or possibly just to defiantly juxtapose the traditional Christian art coming out of the Rennaissance.  Some of the works have an Asian aspect to them while in general they appear as if something out of American Horror Story.

The Gardens have undergone a total restoration in the 1970's after falling into neglect for almost a century. Salvado Dali had made references to the works in the 1950's which prompted further interest and curiosity and that catapulted the renovation. It has inspired an Opera that was deemed sexually offensive in Argentina. It was also an inspiration for the novel a Green and Ancient Light. Settings from the Garden are featured in 1985's Frankenstein, The Bride and 1999's Alice in Wonderland. It is currently a private property and has grown into a popular tourist stop when visiting Central Italy.

Goth Flowers for Halloween

I know our precious garden season is coming to an end. In Minnesota, after a horrible summer of drought, we are rebounding with an extended Fall that is renewing a bit of faith in my garden plot - as long as I continue to water on a daily basis.

But I thought instead of sharing the usual Fall Mum post (there is nothing wrong with them, I have changed my planters as well), I would share something different in dark black tones for the somber Halloween celebration. 

The difficult issue with all plants in the black/ blue/ purple category is that they never seem to match what is shown in pictures. Often they skew more towards crimson and eggplant shades. So take each of these mentions with a grain of salt. Although I will say, I own a few of them and from my experience they do come pretty close to as dark as you can get. Also - this is a "fantasy" list that none of us will likely to find at any of our local nurseries and some are long past season. *But as a side note for any possible nurseries out there - Fall is a lucrative time for revenue and many folks are looking for alternative plantings.... It might be worth the extra time to seed an extra crop of a few of these.

Here is a highlights list, as well as a link to the original source that caught my attention.

I have been an advocate for Petunias for years now. I see them as "not your grandma's flowers" any longer. They last an entire season and if clipped back, yield again and again. Plus the tones they are creating for hybrids are crazy! I had the most incredible papaya colored one this year and last year great cinnamon and even brown tones. Here are two choices that I know I have had. Black Satin and Phantom; both really push the limit of true black. I love the contrast of the Phantom with the bright rays of yellow which is really eye catching.

Another that I own is the Spring Before the Storm Iris. I grabbed it as a clearance item with little expectation. It is one of the last iris to bloom, past Spring and actually an early Summer bloom. But its wrinkles of deep black are certainly beyond the usual purple default, It is huge, but from what I have seen, yields only a single bloom per stem. So as regal as it is, it tends to be a "blink or you miss it" winner.

Other Spring buds are both tulips and Hellebore. I think the tulips tend to be a bust and are dark, but no where near a black. But the Hellebore, which are also called a Lenten Rose are much closer to the mark. Exotic, waxy and striking with their bright ivory stamens. They rebound well even in the cold north. Just beware the rabbits love to chew back those stems when they are first curling out of the ground after snow melts!

A choice that would be perfect for our cool autumns would be Violas. Pansies always make their reentry, but in the predictable colors of yellows and blues. Why not try either Molly Sanderson (can we say Hocus Pocus sisters and perfect?) or a plain Black Pansy?

I am also a fierce advocate of Coleus. They last forever all summer, get huge by this time of year, and like the Petunias - come in new shades every year. I have interesting copper tones this season and also had some of the brightest chartreuse and fuchsia shades imaginable. There is a Black Prince variety out there. From what I have seen, it may not be the true essence of black shown in the pics, but it will certainly be a deep lavender.

Down the street in the plots at Aldi are the most gorgeous and giant Black Magic Caladiums. Of everything I have noted, these are absolutely black without any question of being pure darkness. They are striking and huge. These flower beds are maintained by Tangletown Gardens where everything they plant is unique and special.

And an unfamiliar plant listed is the Bat Flower or Tacca plant. It is an exotic annual and not likely to do well into our late October chills. They do well in shade but likes temps that stay above the 50 ℉ mark. They are also called the Devil's Flower. If you can find one you would likely be the only one around to have them.

Otherwise there are several others; Black Dahlia, Chocolate Cosmo, Salieri Lily (which I own), Peonies and Hollyhocks. Most of them tend to veer into rich Blood Red Tones. But would still make amazing bouquets or garden pots that would be excellent surrounding your Cinderella Pumpkins of bright orange. Sharing just so you know they are out there. Happy Halloween.

Black Flower Gardening