A Look at January on the Farm
We hope your 2025 is off to a great start! After some much-needed rest with friends and family, we're back at it, ready for the exciting year ahead.
This time of year, crop planning and seed starting take center stage. Still, I've learned to pace myself—otherwise, I end up planning for double the space we have! So, I'm also clearing closets and attic spaces, tackling tasks we don't have time for once the season ramps up.
Outside
Things are quiet in the field now, at least above ground. Underground, the root systems are extending and strengthening. Even above ground, in the hoop house, we’re seeing buds form on the poppies and blooms on the pansies. The lone bloomers outside are the hellebores and they are a welcome sight.
Despite the record cold we’re experiencing this week, it won’t be long until we see the early bloomers. The Persephone period, when daylight lasts fewer than 10 hours and plant growth slows, ended for us on January 6th. With more light and warmth coming, the early bloomers will soon make their debut. We can't wait!
Inside
Farmhouse repairs are progressing after a water pipe burst last fall. With plumbing, drywall, and flooring replaced, we're adding a new back door and bathroom vanity top next. Painting and final plumbing are next, and we're optimistic about finishing before flower season gets busy.
Bouquet Subscription Season is Coming Up!
Looking for a Valentine’s Day gift or a little joy for yourself? A bouquet subscription might be just the thing! New this year, we’re offering Friday pick-ups at Molly Creek Company in Ridgeway.
We look forward to serving you in 2025.
Best,
Linda
More August Farm News
We are starting to see relief from the heat! With the temperatures getting into the 80’s during the day and the 60’s at night, our plants are waking up again.
The Late Summer to Fall subscriptions will be starting up in the next couple of weeks. We will be contacting subscribers for delivery start date confirmations in the near future. We expect the first delivery date to be August 30th ( for Friday deliveries) and September 3rd ( for Tuesday deliveries), assuming the weather stays on the current trajectory.
We’re off for a few more days for a wedding in Boulder. It is hard to get time away from the farm, so we are looking forward to it very much.
Next week we will be back at it until frost and beyond. Looking forward to making flowers available for your joy!
Best,
Linda
June on The Farm
June was filled with activity at the farm. Thanks to all who came out for the Ag+Art Tour. We had over 300 visitors and our artisans had so much interesting work to share. We enjoyed seeing old friends and made some new ones too.
Photo: Karl Lindquist
We also held our Growing Dahlias class. We enjoyed a very enthusiastic group of gardeners wanting to hone their skills. I feel confident that they will be growing beautiful dahlias in their gardens.
It does my heart good to have fellow flower lovers at the farm. It is always great to see the enthusiasm people have for what we do.
Dahlia Linda’s Baby
We also had plenty of bed prep and planting work to have blooms for late summer and fall. We’ve added some new beds so that we can have more flowers available. We’ve planted quite a few more heirloom chrysanthemums this year and another 250 dahlia tubers. We do a second planting in almost every bed each year so that we can have flowers over 3 seasons.
There is still room in our Late Summer to Fall subscription, so if you want to have flowers at home or at your office weekly or bi-weekly in September and October, you can sign up here.
Schedule Change
We’ve decided not to hold the “Summer Garden” classes in July and August. The extra warm temperatures are not conducive to making this a pleasant experience for everyone. We will see how things look in September.
Here’s hoping that you are enjoying your summer. Happy 4th!,
Best,
Linda
Last Call for Bulbs!
Thanks to all of you who came out to our first ever Holiday Garden Market! We enjoyed meeting some new flower friends and seeing some familiar faces too. Since our first year was a big success, we are looking at doing it again next year. For the second year, we will do a weekday and a Saturday for those who can’t get out during the week. Please let us know if there is anything you would like to see us offer.
Selling bulbs, forcing kits and bulb gardens is a great way for us to bridge the revenue gap between cut flower seasons. And of course, we have to offer bouquets! Our greenery bouquets have been well received too, so thank you.
This is our last week for bulbs. If you are ordering now, bulbs will not be in bloom by the holidays, but will bring some sunshine into January for whoever grows them. We have a selection of Hot Pink (Bolero) and Soft Apricot (Rilona) and White (Denver) that will be great choices, along with Sparticus, the red and white striped bloom that works for Valentines Day too. Forcing kits make a great gift for those who travel during the holidays and are home in January and February.
For the gardeners in the group, we still have a few anemone and ranunculus corms available. Check out the website for the color selection. You still have time to soak and plant them for gorgeous spring blooms!
So, if you order by 12/9, you can pick up at the farm on Saturday 12/10. For orders over $40 we will deliver next Tuesday 12/13. We will be taking the bulb shop off our website on 12/9 at 8:00 pm
Subscriptions
For those who want to provide a bouquet subscription as a gift, or to get your order in early, we will be setting up the subscription shop on 12/12 for spring and summer subscriptions. Stay tuned!
As always, thank you so much for all of your support of our flower farm. We feel so blessed to be able to provide flowers to our community and we couldn’t do it without you!
Linda
Final Fall Notes and A Holiday Event!
The dahlias ended their bloom period with an early frost in the middle of October. It is always a bittersweet time because the flowers are so beautiful that we hate to see them go, but their end means that we can shift our focus to our bulb sale and the work needed to prepare for spring.
Once we shift gears and begin this work in earnest, we make a lot of progress on tasks that have to wait until this time of year. Soil tests are done in the fall and beds are amended accordingly before planting begins.
Most of our early season blooms are either direct seeded or planted as small plants, aka plugs, that grow into their space. We are actively working in 78 4x8 beds and working on adding a few more.
Irrigation is also checked for needed repairs while the beds are empty or contain seedlings. It is much easier to see any issues now.
Nigella aka Love in a Mist
As of today, we have gotten all of the cold hardy annuals in place. These are things like Larkspur, Nigella, Bachelor Buttons, Orlaya and Saponaria. The rain we have been getting has really helped with seed germination so things are shaping up nicely so far.
Tuberose
Perennials that have been in place for three years typically need to be divided. You can tell if they stop or slow down producing blooms. Yarrow and Echinacea were done last week. Phlox and Tuberose are on the list for early spring.
Fall is also a great time to plant shrubs and trees. We planted a new hydrangea hedge that I am thrilled to finally have in place. We also planted a pussy willow which was rooted from some of our early spring bouquet material.
The spring bulbs are also in progress. Narcissus has all been planted. The anemone and ranunculus are being soaked and rooted for planting in early December.
So, these last four weeks have been very busy. Our early spring subscription season looks very promising.
Next, we are going to be on vacation for a couple of weeks. This time to see friends and family is something we have really been looking forward to.
A New Event at the Farm
After vacation, it will be great to focus on the current holiday season!
On December 1st from 10:00am – 1:00 pm, we are going to host a holiday market at the farm and you are invited!
We will be doing demonstrations on how to grow Paperwhites and Amaryllis.
We will have amaryllis and paperwhites available for sale as bulbs, forcing kits and ready to go decorations. These make great gifts too. If you have a container that you want to use, bring it and we can help you get it planted.
We will also have Angel Wing Begonia, which is a wonderful houseplant, yarrow for planting in your garden and a few other surprises.
Mary Ann Adams from One Hubcap farm will also be there with her beautiful fresh wreaths.
So take a break and come on out to the farm for your holiday greenery. We would love to see you!
Fall Bulbs Make Spring Blooms
Our Fall Bulb Shop is Live
We know that some of you flower lovers are gardeners too. We are happy to bring some harder to find and high-quality bulbs to our community so that you can share in the joy of growing these beauties. Here are things that you can order from our website:
Anemone
Narcissus
Ranunculus
We also have Amaryllis and Paperwhites available on the Bulb Shop again this year.
If you don’t have much gardening experience, I highly recommend trying Amaryllis or Paperwhites for the holidays. They are one of the easiest things to grow and can be grown indoors so that they bloom in December or January when it is harder to get outside.
I really enjoy seeing the photos that people send me of their bulbs in bloom. They bring such joy and there is such excitement for those who are trying for the first time. Here are a few examples:
Beginner Judy H.
Beginner Lynn E.
Seasoned Grower Karen T.
Seasoned Grower Susie
Seasoned Grower Becky H.
On the Farm
The dahlias have been good this year. We tried a few new varieties which we liked and will use again. You will probably recognize these if you had a fall bouquet subscription. They will continue to bloom until the first frost, which is usually around Halloween here in the Midlands.
Hamari Gold
American Dawn
French Can Can
Subscription season is over for this year. Thanks to all of you who participated! We’re already busy getting plants and bulbs in the ground for next spring’s subscriptions.
Next year, we will be expanding our subscription delivery area to include zip code 29169. Deliveries typically start by the first week in March, weather permitting.
Snapdragon Seedlings
These are snapdragon seedlings that we will plant in the next week or two for spring blooming. It is fun to refresh the fields and look forward to the next season of flowers.
Happy Fall,
Linda
Happenings at the Farm
It’s Ag and Art Week for Richland and Lexington Counties!
We are busy getting things ready for our annual open house as part of the Richland County Ag and Art Tour. If you have wanted to see the farm, don’t miss this once-a-year opportunity. This event is free to the public and no tickets are required.
The Tour hours are 10 am to 4 pm Saturday June 11 and 1pm to 5 pm Sunday June 12. Find more information at https://www.agandarttour.com/
As far as our farm is concerned, here is the information on artisans and activities. We look forward to seeing you!
Purple Tuteur Farm
787 Langford Road
Blythewood, SC 29016
Open both Saturday and Sunday
Come see our field with seasonal flowers in bloom. We offer scheduled tours of our operation and self-guided tours are also available. We will have bouquets and some plants for sale during the tour.
Restroom facility on-site
Guided tours at 11 and 3 on Saturday and at 2 on Sunday. Self-guided tours all day.
Artisans on Site:
Ellen Yaghjian, copper sculptor ellenyaghjian.com (both days)
Molly Creek Soap Company , soaps, lotions and cleaning products www.mollycreeksoapco.etsy.com (both days)
5 Miles West - wood working; charcuterie boards, trays facebook page @5MilesWest (Saturday only)
The Flavor Station - ice cream creations www.theflavorstation.net (Saturday only)
Luke Moore - Musician (not acoustic, but soft rock) (Saturday 1- 3 pm) facebook @lukemooremusic99
Late Summer Subscriptions
Our current subscription season wraps up in late July and it is sold out. Some of you have been asking about the next subscription season, so here’s the scoop:
The Late Summer subscription season goes from August 23 until October 7. We will offer 6 weeks (weekly) with deliveries on Tuesday or Friday for $210. We use a 7-week delivery period in case you need to skip a week. The website update is ready now. Use this link to get more detail and/or to order:
https://www.purpletuteur.com/subscription-information
Fall Bulb Sales
We will have Ranunculus and Anemone for sale again this year the last two weeks of October. Plant these in November for beautiful early spring blooms.
Amaryllis and Paperwhite swill also be for sale again this year during November and early December.
More detail on these as their time approaches.
Final Thoughts
As always, we are grateful for your support and encouragement. We couldn’t do it without you. Wishing you a fun-filled summer!
Linda
The Kousa Dogwood
Our cousin Susie brought us a Kousa Dogwood the year our mothers passed away. She told us that it would be in bloom on Mother’s Day and I looked forward to seeing it flower. The year was 2006.
The young sapling came in a nursery pot and was about 3 feet tall. This was a good size to plant, as I could dig a reasonably small hole and get it settled in.
I found a spot in our back yard, in partial shade, where it could be somewhat protected and got it planted. After giving it a deep watering, I made a mental note to check on it again periodically, but especially on Mother’s Day.
The next year, the tree had grown but there was not much flowering. It needed more time to get to its mature state and flower. In the following years, we saw just a few blooms.
Last fall, we had some aging pines cut down. They were at risk of falling on our house or on our neighbor’s place. This past winter, we had high winds and lots of cold and several other shrubs fell in the same area. This all happened near the dogwood, which remained unaffected.
We have a hole in the landscape now that needs to be filled. I am excited to be able to select some new trees and shrubs for the ‘privacy fence’ between us and the neighbors. I am looking at flowering shrubs like Weigela, Viburnum and Cotinus. This, however, is not the most exciting thing.
The Kousa is blooming! It has bloomed this year like it never has before. Letting more light in made it explode with graceful white flowers. These proper growing conditions should allow it to get taller and stronger going forward. It is thriving and in full bloom this Mother’s Day week. The happy memories of our mothers and times spent in their loving care are represented in each and every bloom.
Wishing you all a Happy Mother’s Day. Whether they are here or are gone, may the light of their love be with you.
The Start of a New Year - The Subscription Shop is Open!
I hope that your 2022 has gotten off to a good and happy start. We have been enjoying some time with friends and family while the growing is slow-going. For me, this is a time of reflection and for home projects that I don’t have time to do when the farm is in full swing.
Sign up at www.purpletuteur.com
We are ready to open the subscription shop for Early Spring and for Spring to Summer! Here is the link to the website: www.purpletuteur.com . I will make a public announcement a few days after this email goes out. This gives our subscribers an opportunity to sign up first.
Fall will be opened up in June. Thanks to all who made our first offering a success iin 2020.
I’ve had the opportunity to meet with several garden clubs and speak on various growing topics over the winter. It has been fun to meet some of you and others, and I look forward to meeting with two more groups in February. Its great to know that the love of gardening is alive and well here in the Midlands of South Carolina!
Thanks to all of you who supported our bulb sales in the fall. If you got your ranunculus and anemones into the ground in the fall, you should be seeing the early signs of blooms, if not flowers. Ours have both started but are growing slowly during these cold days.
Photo: Becky Haggard
I always enjoy the photos that you send to me of your amaryllis and paperwhite bulbs. It does my heart good to know that you are enjoying them. They are such a ray of sunshine while we are indoors. Our second-year bulbs are poised for the early spring subscriptions. I have been keeping them at 60F to keep them from blooming too early. It is time to turn the heat up to 70F so that they will have the temperatures they need to bloom.
We had such a warm fall that everything we planted to overwinter for spring has had a robust start. As a result, when the weather warms consistently, everything will pop! The extra green/larger plants make them more vulnerable to freezing so keeping them covered is critical. Our hoop house does the job for us.
The snow is a welcome sight for many of our cold-loving plants. We’re hoping this bodes well for great daffodils and peonies this year! We’ve added another 48 peonies this winter. It’s a big job to get them set up but we’ll be so glad to see them in bloom three years from now.
We will be a host farm again this year for the Richland County Ag+Art tour. This year, the dates are June 11th and 12th. This is our annual open house and it is free to the public so come on out!
Thanks so much for all you do to support our farm. We are truly blessed.
Linda
Summer Farm Update
Cheyanne Goes Back to Clemson
With the students going back to school next week, it feels like summer should be over but we have 7 weeks left until fall! Our intern, Cheyanne, headed back to Clemson for her final semester in Agriculture Education. We enjoyed having her work with us and the time flew. Since we’re a small operation, we were able to give her exposure to all aspects of flower production and sales. Her internship professor came to visit last week and gave her a big thumbs up on the experience. We’re looking forward to seeing what she does after she completes her degree!
Our Late Summer to Fall Subscription is Available to Order on the Website!
New this year, we are offering a 5-week subscription starting August 24th and wrapping up by October 15th. Our newest subscription offering brings fall flowers to your door, including dahlias, sunflowers, marigolds and more. Late season dahlias will add beautiful color to your bouquets and with a 4-5 day dahlia vase life, a weekly delivery will keep you in fresh flowers for the season. Our delivery window is 8 weeks so that, in case you need to skip a week, we can accommodate and still complete all deliveries by October 15th. We are offering a small number of subscriptions, so if you are interested, please sign up asap. We don’t want you to be disappointed. Here’s the link to more information: https://www.purpletuteur.com/subscription-information
New Classes at the Farm
We are also excited to be able to offer some classes this September.
September 4th - Making Garden Style Bouquets – Come with a friend to learn the basics of how to make a spiral bouquet to take home using flowers from the farm.
September 11 - Growing Dahlias – Learn to grow these flowers in your home garden (or in a pot on a patio or a balcony). We will cover the specifics of growing them in our hot and humid environment.
You can find out more athttps://www.purpletuteur.com/aboutourclasses
Spring Bulb Sale
We will have amaryllis and paperwhites again this year. Some of you have requested other spring flowering bulbs so we are going to offer additional things that we can grow in our area – daffodils, iris , hyacinths, anemone and ranunculus are included. We will add these to our website shop by early November. Stay tuned!
Behind The Scenes of The Columbia Metropolitan Article
After a year of secrecy, we are thrilled to be able to talk about the Columbia Metropolitan article on local flower farmers! In case you missed it, here is the link: https://columbiametro.com/article/a-blooming-passion/
Photo: Michael Trawick
When Columbia Metro called to tell me that they were writing a story about area flower farmers and wanted to include us, I was thrilled. They needed to come out to take photos in the next week or so. It was March. So many things are not in bloom in March! Of course, I said yes and started getting prepared.
This all happened just days before the Covid lock down. I wondered if they would have to cancel. Fortunately, they did not.
We were in major Tulip season so plenty of those on hand. We had Daffodils, Anemone, Pieris and Hellebore. The Ranunculus was planted but not in bloom. This was the season before we had the hoop house up and the walk-in cooler built, so the Ranunculus would be blooming in April.
As a graduate of Clemson’s New and Beginning Farmer Program, I was able to rent cooler space that year at the Incubator Farm at Sandhills. As grace would have it, Brinton Fox of Boone Fox Farm, was and is a grower at the incubator farm. She was also featured in the article. Clemson was closed for all but essential workers and Brinton and I were able to continue working at the Sandhills site during the lockdown.
Brinton grows beautiful Ranunculus and she already had a hoop house up, so hers were ready! I purchased some Ranunculus from Brinton and they were included in the photo shoot. Grace again, since the photographers would not have been granted access to Clemson to take photos in her growing space during the lockdown.
Farming has many challenges. We work with and around the weather to bring crops to market. Pests and insects can do significant damage and destroy crops. Issues may not be apparent until the crop is supposed to be ready. So, we flower farmers support each other as best we can. We buy from each other before going elsewhere if we need something we didn’t successfully grow. I like to call it “the sisterhood of the flowering plants”.
We got things ready at the farm and waited. I exhaled when Muffie Wells called to confirm their visit.
The day of the photoshoot was so much fun. We got to see other professionals in action. Robert Clark was looking for a cloudy day to take the photos and got it. They took their time finding the shots that they wanted. They asked questions about the flowers and our growing methods. They shot in the field and in our inside workspace, used for making bouquets and bunching flowers. They were genuinely interested. A lovely experience with a group that does so much to raise awareness of the happenings in the Columbia area.
Remembering Ted Williams
As we mourn the loss of our good friend Ted Williams. I can’t help but reflect on the many contributions he made to my life as a grower.
Born in Japan, educated at Rutgers and worked an esteemed career in the military, Ted lived a successful life. He loved his wife Margaret dearly along with his four children. He was an intelligent, disciplined, deep thinker who demanded excellence and got it. He appreciated the accomplishments of others as much as his own.
Ted was retired from the military when we met. After seeing our garden, Ted encouraged me to apply to the Master Gardener program. He had completed the program and was in a leadership role as Treasurer of the organization. I completed the program and began volunteering at Riverbanks with the Junior Master Gardeners. Ted worked at Riverbanks too. He coordinated the volunteers and ran the Urban Horticulture Center.
During social occasions Ted would always ask me about my gardening activities. When I told him about the farm I was thinking of starting, he was encouraging and enthusiastic. He wanted to help.
The farm remained in the concept stage for a number of years. I ran ideas past him and asked a lot of questions. I went to conferences and reviewed new ideas with him. I had also completed training from a flower farm on flower farming specifics. He was my sounding board and council.
When I finally retired from corporate life, I was ready to move the farm to the incubation stage. I invited Ted to be my team mate in the New and Beginning Farmer program put on by Clemson. This program teaches the business of farming, not anything about growing. We had to develop a business plan to be presented at the end of the class. We met weekly at the farm to review the material and apply it to my business plan. I wrote the material and Ted was my editor. At the end of the program, there was a contest for grants provided by the S.C. Farm Bureau. I had 5 minutes to tell the story. Ted timed me at rehearsals. We took second place and won $2000 for needed farm projects.
Concurrently we were planting a variety of flowers at the farm on a trial basis to see how well they would grow here. I knew what I wanted to grow and Ted had a lot of local growing knowledge. I insisted on sustainable, no-till practices. These were new to Ted but he embraced learning them too. Ted was fully engaged - spreading compost, planting bulbs and other hands-on work.
When Ted had his first heart attack, it was a severe one. Margaret had to deal with so much at that time. Ted was not ready to stop living, however, and he slowly recovered. When he could drive again, he came back to the farm. He wanted to work. He had lost a lot of strength but he was determined. He could strap on a backpack sprayer and feed the plants. At first, I put a chair in the field so he could sit and rest as needed. He came out week after week and built back his strength. He could feed the entire field in 2 hours. After he was done, we would sit and he would review with me what he saw. Maybe something needed more water, some pest infestation was starting up and needed attention or something was almost ready for harvest.
Those were not the only discussions. He told stories about his military life. He was an avid reader. His favorite historical figure was Mahatma Gandhi. He had a keen interest in the workings of Washington DC, regardless of who was in office. Having served in the military he had an insight that made for great discussions. He was soon bringing me books to read and we would discuss them too.
When his health would no longer allow him to work at the farm, he continued to support it by purchasing flower subscriptions for Margaret. Pre- covid, I would deliver and we would catch up for a few minutes on the porch. During the Covid era, I could only leave the flowers on the porch.
One of Ted’s last visits to the farm was during the 2019 Ag+Art Tour. Margaret and two of their girls came and we had a toast after the last visitor left. He was planning to come again this year and I was excited to show him all the progress that we’ve made. He would have been happy to see it.
So, Godspeed my friend, on your ultimate journey. Thank you for everything. Your life mattered. You made a difference, no doubt in many lives, but certainly in mine. I am so grateful to you for your kind friendship and all that you taught me. Rest in peace.
Fall is Just Around the Corner!
Hello Friends!
We’re happy to be back after some time off in July and August. While we still have flowers in these hottest months, the work is more of an effort in the heat and we can work less hours outside. With the arrival of September, the temperatures are finally starting to trend downward, and everything, including me, is starting to perk up!
We continue to offer flowers at the Lake Carolina Farmer’s Market and at Soda City (through Fabel Farms) until the end of October. Thanks to all of you for your support of us and the other vendors at the markets.
As fall arrives, the dahlias will be coming on. We planted a few new varieties over the summer and look forward to seeing them. We will also have sunflowers and lisianthus in our bouquets now.
The infrastructure projects at the farm continue to move forward. Our walk-in flower cooler was completed last week! I have been renting cooler space at another farm which was a big help, but nothing beats the convenience of having a cooler on site. So grateful that my husband Rufus, a.k.a. Mr. FixIt was willing to take this project on.
In addition to the work being done on the processing shed, we are putting up a hoop house (a.k.a. high tunnel, unheated green house) this fall. This will allow us to extend the growing season to the colder months. The first goal is to have local flowers for Valentine’s Day. The beds are ready for planting and the structure will be added over them. There is much to be done to make this happen, so stay tuned!
We are planting significantly more flowers this fall than we have to date. The community support for our subscriptions continues to grow and we are forever grateful for that. We are delighted to have orders for several DIY weddings next spring, not only for the flowers but for the hope that there will be a vaccine and we can gather in greater numbers. We also anticipate that event planners and florists will have increased demand so we want to be ready to support these sister businesses that buy local flowers as we are able to.
We had hoped to have some classes this fall, but there is still much to be done before that can happen. We will continue to work toward that goal in 2021.
We will be offering amaryllis and paperwhites again this year between November 1 and December 15th. More on that to come!
We feel blessed to be able to provide to you and your loved ones with these little bundles of happy beauty. Thank you all for your continued support. Stay healthy and happy,
Linda
Updates From The Farm
Since it has been awhile since I posted anything, I wanted to let you know what we have been up to!
I hope that you have enjoyed the long cool spring as much as I did! In addition to delivering our spring subscriptions, we’ve been taking advantage of the cool weather all season to get extra projects done at the farm.
Spring Subscriptions
This year we were able to start the spring subscriptions in March, earlier than in years past. Everyone is tired of winter by then and it has been our goal to get flowers to people as early in the year as possible. We added some new flowers to our bouquets, including several new specialty tulips and ranunculus in several colors.
Masks and hand sanitizer were de rigeur on subscription delivery days!
We are wrapping up the final deliveries this week. With Covid in our midst, we all seemed to appreciate the beauty of fresh flowers a little bit more this year. Since we had to be extra careful with the drop offs, I still haven’t seen some of our new subscription holders in person! I hope to be able to meet you as conditions improve.
Thanks to all of you for a wonderful spring season!
The new barn/studio
On-Farm Projects
As you may know, we are transforming the old barn into a new barn/studio. We will have a walk-in cooler for the flowers along with a large work area. There should be room for small gatherings inside, but there is also a large covered porch on the front where we can gather when the weather is agreeable. We’re looking forward to holding some classes/workshops there in the future. I expect that we will have this ready before the summer is over.
The salvage tarp is used to kill the grass where the new beds will go without using pesticides. Darkness and heat can do the job.
We added a shade bed for plants that require little sun. Hellebores and ferns have been planted there and a few other things will be added in the fall. These will be ready for use late winter of 2021.
We are also working on some new beds that will be covered by a new hoop house in the fall. A hoop house is an unheated green house. This will allow us to grow flowering plants over the winter in conditions that will make them bloom over the winter. We’re hoping to have flowers ready by Valentine’s Day 2020.
Hello Summer!
First real warm-season harvest.
Summer temperatures and humidity have arrived! We have been turning the beds and planting more heat-loving summer flowers and foliage. Our warm season favorites are finally getting the conditions they need to thrive. Zinnias, celosia, cosmos, dahlias, rudbeckia, sunflowers and lisianthus are some of what is coming on now.
We are also trying some new warm season growers – alstroemeria, lavatera, bee balm, jewels of opar and Greek oregano. We will see how they do in our heat and humidity!
Where to Find us This Summer
1. You can pick up our flowers at the Lake Carolina Farmers Market or contact us through the website www.purpletuteur.com or through our facebook page to place a special order.
2. I am also working with one of my classmates from Clemson’s New and Beginning Farmer Program to make flowers available at the Soda City Market when it opens again. Once I have the specifics on this booth location, I will send an update out.
3. We also offer bouquets at B79 in Blythewood as flower capacity allows. Follow us on Instagram for announcement of pop-up sales at B79.
4. A few other discussions are underway in an effort to make farm fresh flowers available to you, so stay tuned!
What’s Next?
We have had several requests for a fall subscription offering. We are looking at this now. Certainly, with the prospect of a second wave of Covid 19 in the fall, this may be the best way to get flowers to everyone safely. We will be looking at the feasibility for this over the summer.
Finally, I want to thank you all for your continued interest and support in our small farm. It is our pleasure to bring you fresh blooms and to make you smile. In these challenging times, everyone can use a little joy.
Linda
Life with Corona's Influence
Hopefully you are well, if socially isolated, as I write this. We are certainly living in turbulent times. I expect that we will see some fundamental changes to life as we know it when we get through this period of uncertainty. Many of us are of the age to have experience other turbulent times. They can be very unsettling but as we know, this too shall pass. Not without disruptions and disappointments. Wishing you as much normalcy as possible through this transition to life with Corona in our midst.
Here on the farm, we are continuing to plant, grow and harvest. We will deliver our subscriptions as planned. We will be taking special requests and fill them as our flower supply allows. We offer delivery for these special requests for a small fee.
We’ve added many new beds for more growing capacity, both in sun and in shade. Work is progressing on the new barn. Our fall planted hardy annuals came through winter just fine. A couple of additional weeks of warmth and they should begin to bloom!
For 2020 flower subscription holders, we have flowers for you! As you know if you have subscribed before, it is hard to predict when the first blooms will be ready in spring. So much depends on the weather conditions and they vary widely from year to year. I will begin checking in with each of you to see who wants flowers this Friday or next Tuesday. This will not be the start of the weekly deliveries. There will be gaps until spring really gets going, but most of us are hungry from some blooms this time of year so I like to get them to you as soon as possible.
What are you doing to adjust to live under these circumstances?
New perennial beds
Future home to the flower cooler and a classroom
New shade beds
Winter hardy annuals uncovered for spring
This is an early blooming tulip called Double You
Wishing you and yours good health along with faith, hope and love.
Linda
Transitioning From Fall to Winter
Fall can be a very busy time on a flower farm and ours is no exception.
This year, we had a long, warm fall that let us keep cutting dahlias and zinnias into November.
Behind the scenes, we were busy turning the existing beds, adding new beds, sowing seeds and planting bulbs for the spring crops. It is really important to get this done so that we can bring you flowers as early as possible in the new year. All the beds have been covered with frost cloth to protect the plants through the winter. We have added new varieties and colors to our offerings and are excited to share them with you next spring!
In addition to getting those flowers to market, we offered holiday amaryllis and paperwhites for the first time. Hopefully, some of you are seeing yours in bloom about now!
As we are now officially in winter, we have wrapped all that up and can turn our attention to family and friends! We are happily taking a break while the cold weather sets in and will be unavailable until January 6th.
This has been a great year on the farm and we are so very grateful for all of your support. We could not do it without you!
Wishing you and yours a wonderful holiday season and the happiest new year!
Linda
So Long Spring!
The recent weather shifts certainly have brought changes to the garden. No rain for weeks including three days of 100 degree heat, followed by 5 days of rain. And it is only June!
The spring flowers die out as the heat comes on, so ours were quick to fade under these weather conditions. Each year we try something new and this year we tried one called Basket Flower.
Basket flower (Centaurea americana), native to the United States, is an annual in the same family as Bachelor Buttons. Seeds were sown in the fall and overwintered in the garden. The first bloom did not show until late May, much later than Bachelor Buttons. The stems are 4 ft tall, and some growers had them even taller. They grow in full sun/partial shade. The flowers are 2-3” across. They make a lovely cut flower, with a 4 – 5 day vase life. In the garden, they would do well at the back of the border. Bees love them, so planting them will also help the ecosystem. Give it a try!
We hope your summer is getting off to a good start,
Linda
Hello Spring!
Spring arrived a couple of days ago but today really felt like spring. The cherry trees are blooming and the sky is thankfully clear. The temperatures are warming up and the day length is now longer than the night. These are excellent conditions for getting the fall-planted flowers out of dormancy. The covers are off the beds and we can begin feeding to further encourage growth. In another month to six weeks, we will be able to have blooms like these available on a consistent basis.
Wishing you a wonderful season!
Getting Ready for Spring
Larkspur
In warm climates like South Carolina’s, spring flower preparation starts in the fall. We plant ‘hardy annuals’ in the fall to provide them with enough cool weather to thrive. This group of flowers blooms profusely in the cooler spring and then they fade in our summer heat. This includes things like Bells of Ireland, Bachelor Buttons, Corn Cockle and Larkspur. Most are started from seed sown directly in the garden.
Here at the farm, we have been nurturing many of these varieties since last September. They have needed the heat of late summer to germinate and get established. Then, as the days got shorter and the temperatures dropped, they slowed down above ground but continue to develop strong roots. As the weather has warmed up, the plant growth has resumed. When we get the magic combination of longer days and consistently warmer temperatures they will burst forth, revealing the miracle that they are.
Between now and then, the fluctuating temperatures call for some special attention. The plants are getting larger and the vegetation is more vulnerable to cold. Frost cloth is used to protect them when we get temperatures below freezing. A freeze is in the forecast for next week, so everything is being covered so that it is protected.
Looking forward to the end of winter and the day when we can share the spring blooms with you! If you are considering a bouquet subscription, there is still time. You can sign up at www.purpletuteur.com
Dianthus under cover