June has arrived, which means that summer is not far behind! I can hardly believe that spring and most of its quintessential flowers have come and gone. The temperatures are getting warmer, and signs of the impending summer season are all around us. The growing season is marching right along as we begin to say goodbye to the spring blooms and wait patiently for the summer flowers. But first, as always, we like to take a look back at what was growing on the farm the previous month.
Tulips and daffodils still reigned supreme in the beginning weeks of May. I brought bucket upon bucket of beautiful blooms out of the field for our community. These gorgeous flowers delighted everyone who brought them home and were the highlight of our Mother’s Day offerings. The specialty tulips were extraordinary this season, and I was sad to see them go. They are one of my absolute favorite cut flowers to grow, so I enjoyed every fleeting moment I had with them.
However, as the tulips and narcissus faded, a new wave of spring blooms emerged! These included baptisia, bluebells, alliums, irises, ranunculus, and one of my perennial favorites, peonies. Baptisia, a versatile perennial whose flowers, leaves, and seed pods we use in our bouquets, is a farm favorite. Seeing the bees buzzing with excitement as they visit each bloom is a testament to its popularity among pollinators. Baptisia is quickly becoming one of my favorite perennials to grow, and I’m thrilled to have expanded my collection to five varieties in shades of blue, yellow, pink, and white.
And peonies are, of course, a personal favorite of mine, so I look forward to their blooms all year. I filled wholesale orders with hundreds of stems of these spring blooms, spreading the joy of our flowers beyond our community. It was so exciting to see our peonies and baptisia bringing happiness to couples’ wedding days throughout the Hudson Valley.
After taking care of the ranunculus since January, they finally started to bloom and were spectacular! I adore the seemingly endless ruffly petals of these beautiful blooms. This season, I grew varieties in pastel and salmon shades, and I loved them all. Sadly, thanks to some unusually hot May weather, the ranunculus season was short-lived. Ranunculus is a cool-season flower, and they go into dormancy once the weather warms. I only managed to harvest a bucketful of them before the high heat knocked them out. I will need to decide whether the effort of growing these is worth the small number of harvested stems. Climate change is forcing us to answer these challenging questions. While the stem count was low this season, I still enjoyed having these gorgeous blooms on our farm.
Walks around the farm in May revealed that the blueberry bushes had started blooming, and the bees happily buzzed around the patch, sipping nectar and pollinating the flowers. Soon after, the blooms faded and dropped, and the fruit started to form. That meant it was time to place the bird netting over the patch, and with a little effort and several helping hands, we managed it one afternoon last week.
We had some unexpected visitors at our garden shed last month. I was surprised to find that our stack of garden supports was supporting more than plants one morning. A pair of American Robins decided to build a nest on the supports and had laid a clutch of eggs. It was a joy watching them raise their brood. We gave them a wide berth so they could raise their young in peace. I’m thrilled to know that our farm provides habitat for a wide range of wildlife.
If you remember, one of my Gardening Goals for 2026 was to make more time for arranging. I’m happy to say that I made this goal a priority in May and was able to make several arrangements. Making plenty of time to play with flowers and allowing my creativity to flow felt amazing. I plan to continue making time for arranging a priority, as it brings me much joy and I love seeing the resulting seasonal arrangements.
In May, I also stayed busy keeping on top of weeding, watering, applying netting and supports, planting, and mulching. All of our dahlia seedlings and tubers were tucked into their new beds, and we are about to begin mitigation efforts for our root-knot nematode issue. There is always much work to do in the spring season! That’s what’s been growing on the farm, what’s growing on in your garden?
THISTLE BE THE DAY 