Reflecting on Our Fourth Season at Whistling Bee Farm

Happy New Year, garden friends! It’s a new year, and you know what that means-it’s time once again for our annual seasonal reflection post. The beginning of the new year offers an excellent opportunity for reflection, and lately I’ve been thinking about what our fourth season at Whistling Bee Farm has meant to me. It was a challenging year with many ups and downs, but as I look back at the last couple of months, I’m so proud of what we accomplished.

So, in today’s post, I thought I’d take you along while I reflect on the 2025 season and share a brief overview of our fourth season on the farm.

Here is our 2025 farm recap:

By the Numbers: The numbers are in! In 2025, we grew close to 300 varieties of flowers and foliage on our micro-farm. We harvested and sold over 1500 tulips this season and planted 2000 bulbs for 2026. I made hundreds of bouquets throughout the season and donated nearly 2,000 stems of flowers to Abloom and the Growing Kindness Project. This year, I also experimented with expanding our sales to include wholesale distribution, during which over 2,000 stems left our farm for events. We held three CSA subscriptions, totaling ten weeks of continuous bouquets. Our season ran from April to December, offering nine months of florals for our community. We held one pop-up event, and I shared my passion for growing through 17 blog posts and two in-person classes. We also traveled 3,000 miles to visit our first hybridized dahlia, Whistling Bee’s Dawn’s Early Light, growing at Triple Wren Farms in Ferndale, WA. Throughout the 2025 growing season, countless hours of blood, sweat, tears, and love were poured into growing our flowers, and over 10,000 stems lovingly passed through my hands and into our community!

Challenges: There were many challenges this season, the most significant of which involved the climate. The season began with a wet, cold spring, which significantly delayed our bloom schedule. Later in the season, drought and new invasives brought more challenges. Pests and wildlife devastated our crops this year, and it was the first time that I’ve had several complete crop losses in one season. We lost all of our sweet peas, sunflowers, and zinnias this season to pests, wildlife, and disease. Aphids, jumping worms, the notorious spotted lantern flies (which have finally found their way north to the Hudson Valley), root-knot nematodes, and groundhogs all landed devastating blows to our crops. Vigilance and daily inspections were the key to managing these pests, and mitigating them will be ongoing.

Beyond the climate challenges, this season I faced several personal obstacles. With my son in his senior year of high school and heading off to college, I needed to prioritize spending as much time as possible enjoying these last months at home with him. That meant putting the business aside sometimes. We also had several health crises in our family this season that put everything on hold as well. So, my thoughts and attention weren’t always devoted to the farm as much as they should be during a growing season. But I’m trying to give myself grace for all the missteps. Life happens, and sometimes you need to focus your attention elsewhere. Despite the challenges, I learned a great deal this season, and I hope to continue improving next season.

Triumphs: Despite the difficulties, we still managed to grow and share a lot of beauty this season, and for that, I am so grateful.  I’ve been on a mission to bring joy with every flower I grow, ultimately bringing more happiness to the world through flowers, and I feel we have accomplished this over the past four seasons. I’m thrilled that we continue to donate flowers each season to brighten the lives of those who need them most. I was also delighted to grow lisianthus for the first time this season and expand our dahlia hybridization work. I am also proud that our first hybridized dahlia, Whistling Bee’s Dawn’s Early Light, will be offered for sale in North America through Triple Wren Farms in 2026. There has been much to celebrate in 2025!

Recap and Farm Favorites: Lastly, before we officially conclude the 2025 growing season, I thought I would share a look back at some of the beauty that bloomed on the farm. For the past few seasons, I have shared a list of our top ten flowers of the year, and below you’ll find our favorite crops of 2025. Some are tried-and-true farm staples, while others are new to the top ten list this season. It wasn’t easy to narrow our choices to ten, so I also added some honorable mentions.

Hellebores: New to our top ten list this year! We started growing a trial patch of hellebores in 2024, and this season was our first year harvesting the blooms. I experimented with harvesting methods and tested the vase life of each variety in early spring. I was utterly smitten with these beautiful blooms and hope to add many more to the farm in the future.

Tulips: Specialty tulips seem to make our top ten list every year! They were stunning once again this season and will always be one of my favorite cut flowers. We grew 27 varieties this season, including farm favorites Silver Parrot, Marie Jo, and Drumline, and fell in love with some new varieties such as Cabanna Parrot, Copper Image, and Astronaut Andres Kuipers. I can’t imagine a spring on the farm without armloads full of specialty tulips.

Daffodils:  These blooms are in our top ten for the second year in a row! We have come to love these cheery spring blooms, which were incredibly gorgeous this season. We specialize in growing fragrant heirloom varieties and currently have twenty-six varieties on the farm. Standouts this season were farm-favorites Sir Winston Churchill, Pink Charm, Obdam, Stainless, Geranium, and Gay Tabor.

Peonies: Always one of my favorites! In 2023, we added a new peony garden, and as our peony plants mature, we’ll have more to offer each season. We currently grow sixteen varieties on our farm. While peony season is short, it is lovely to see these gorgeous blooms each spring. Farm-favorites include Candy Stripe, Etched Salmon, Bartzella, Bowl of Cream, Red Charm, and Coral Sunset.

Blueberries: Okay, you got me, this is not a flower! However, the tiny white flowers of these native plants attract whistling bees each spring and yield large crops of delicious berries on our farm. The berries are included in our Berries & Blooms subscription alongside our mixed bouquets, and I felt they deserved recognition on our top ten list this year. Our small patch includes early-, mid-, and late-season varieties and reliably yields between 40 and 70 pounds of blueberries each season.

Dahlias: The queen of the garden never disappoints! I have been expanding our dahlia collection for years, selecting varieties that are the best cut flowers. Dahlias hold a special place in my heart, and I was excited to expand my hybridization work this season. I grew dozens of dahlia seedlings, documenting the exciting (and not-so-exciting) blooms that emerged in the seedling patch. I look forward to continuing this work and hope for more Whistling Bee Dahlia varieties to be released in the future.

Lisianthus: I grew this crop for the first time this season and was thrilled with the results. The varieties I trialed included Little Summer Orange and Elegance Carmine Rose. I was impressed by the crop’s resilience, longevity, and beauty. They integrated beautifully into our mixed bouquets, adding a frilly, elegant touch. I look forward to trialing more varieties in the future.

Japanese Anemone: After spending several years on our honorable mention list, it’s time for this flower to be in our top ten list! These blooms are reliable, nearly maintenance-free, and oh-so-beautiful. They bloomed prolifically for us this season, and I loved seeing them dance on the Autumn breeze. The pollinators adore them as a late-season food source, and I love them for their late-season blooms. Japanese Anemone Honorine Jobert definitely deserves a top ten spot this year.

Feverfew: In its second season on the farm and on our top ten list! I fell head over heels for these adorable daisy-like filler flowers last year, and my delight in them has not waned. This season, they bloomed prolifically, filling bouquet after bouquet with cheer and floral sunshine.

Hydrangea: Always a favorite! This season’s hydrangeas were absolutely stunning. Whether fresh or dried, they shine in bouquets and arrangements. Our Vanilla-Strawberry and Little Lime varieties did exceptionally well this season, and I love harvesting them at every color stage throughout the year. They shone in summer and fall bouquets, respectively, proving how versatile a cut flower they can be.

Honorable Mention: We have several flowers that didn’t make our top ten list, but that I’d like to honor because they bloomed beautifully this year, were a superb supporting cast to our focal flowers, and provided plenty of food for the pollinators. They include celosia, Gravetye Giant, and veronica. Also, a shout-out to Blue Gold Berries cherry tomatoes that won my heart with their beautiful gold stars and delicious flavor.

Thank you for taking the time to walk down memory lane with me and look back at our fourth season at Whistling Bee Farm. I hope you take a moment to reflect on your growing season, delight in your successes, and learn from any setbacks. And remember, 2026 offers a blank slate to grow the garden of your dreams. Why not grow for it?