Is it just me, or does it seem like spring is moving along quickly? Perhaps it seems that way because spring is one of the busiest times on the farm. I’ve been harvesting spring blooms several times a day, sowing seeds, tending to seedlings, planting seedlings, and pulling the many weeds that insist they want to be cut flowers. Yes, the 2025 growing season is in full swing! Even though things are bustling around here, I want to take a moment to share what’s been growing on the farm. Unfortunately, it’s been a while since I’ve posted. The last post was a farm update for March, and now it’s already mid-May before sharing the April farm update. Sometimes life gets in the way of our best-laid plans.
Spring flowers are some of my favorite cut flowers, and I love working with them and sharing them with our CSA members and community. April was all about the specialty tulips and narcissus. I harvested armloads of these beautiful flowers each day. We grew 27 varieties of specialty tulips this season. I always plant early, mid, and late-season varieties to extend the bloom window. However, unseasonably warm temperatures have left us scrambling for the past few seasons as all our tulips start opening in tandem. Unfortunately, this season was no different. The tulips were initially delayed about two weeks later than last year due to a cold, harsh winter, but in April, temperatures soared in the eighties, and four weeks’ worth of tulips bloomed in about ten days. I harvested up to four times daily to ensure the tulips were picked at the correct stage, and my cooler filled up quickly. It was hectic, but I harvested and safely stored them all. And, oh my, were they beautiful this season!
Our heirloom narcissus also started to bloom in April. We grow over a dozen narcissus varieties, and it was lovely to see my favorite varieties blooming again. Sir Winston Churchill, Gay Tabor, Geranium, Stainless, Yosemite Valley, and Pink Charm are among my favorites, and many of these have a lovely fragrance. We’ve increased our daffodil plot yearly and have planted nearly a thousand bulbs. As a cut flower farm, we harvest them before they fully open, so I’ve yet to see a thousand daffodils blooming at once on the farm. I’m sure that would be exquisite. However, enjoying them in the vase is also a wonderful treat. They fill the house with a clean, spring fragrance wherever they’re placed.
While the tulips and narcissus were the stars of the show in April, there were also a few supporting cast members. Gravetye Giant made an appearance, and I love the tiny, whimsical white and green bells, which pair beautifully with other spring blooms in arrangements. Our hyacinth trial with varieties Blue Eyes and Gipsy Queen also bloomed with their intoxicating fragrance. Our CSA members enjoyed them in their flower shares.
Our Hellebores also bloomed for the first time on the farm. Last year, we planted several varieties as a trial. This season, when they bloomed, I practiced harvesting techniques and tested vase life to see if we could add them to our cut flower offerings. They did beautifully. They tend to wilt if they are not conditioned properly, so I needed to practice and feel confident before sharing them with our community. I became pretty smitten with them and have added several more varieties to the shade garden this month.
Besides harvesting flowers in April, I kept busy sowing seeds for some of our summer annuals and tending to seedlings both in the garden and indoors. Snapdragons, stock, bupleurum, orlaya, lisianthus, and phlox seedlings were planted while gomphrena, celosia, amaranth, and others were sown indoors. Spring is the busiest time of year for gardeners, as juggling these many tasks can be daunting. And, with all the rain we’ve been getting, keeping up with the weeds could be a 24/7 job!
Despite the hectic start to the season, it has been so uplifting to work with fresh flowers again! I enjoy strolling around the farm daily to see what’s popped up from the soil or how much the plants have grown. The birds sing back and forth overhead as I harvest and flit down to observe what I’m doing in their garden. It makes my heart happy to know that spring has sprung and to share our blooms with our community again.
I’m grateful for the opportunity to connect with nature through growing. Working with Mother Nature has been a learning experience and a privilege. She often humbles me and reminds me who’s in charge. As much as I may plan and think I know what I’m doing, she always sends me a few curveballs each season to remind me she’s the boss. So, when I can grow some beautiful flowers, despite those curveballs, I’ll take that as a win.
That’s what was growing on here at the farm in April. What’s growing on in your garden?
THISTLE BE THE DAY 