Hey, It really is spring!  I had my fields tilled  on Sunday just before the heavy rain on Monday.  Boy did we need that moisture.    Now I'm ready to plant!  I'm very excited.  Besides the reliable flowers I've been growing for years such as celosia, sunflowers, zinnia, larkspur, bachelor buttons and cosmos I'll be trying some new grasses, safflower, millet, sorghum, broom corn, black tipped wheat, amaranth and euphorbia, lab lab beans and grey striped giant sunflowers for bird seed wreaths.  It's an exciting time and I'm very busy.  Soon I'll also be seeding and transplanting herbs and all the other annuals I've started in seed flats as well. 

I'm adding some new perennials and shrubs this year too.  Black knight buttterfly bush, caryopteris longwood blue,  wigelia and some lilacs.

The hanging baskets for mother's day are looking great.  I have nonstop begonias and geraniums flowering or about to flower in 10 inch baskets. I also have some in 4" pots for those who would like to make their own mixed containers  and baskets or plant right in the garden. 

I'll be cutting about 200 pink and yellow lilies this week for the farmers market on Sat.  It looks like another 400 or so should be ready just in time for mother's day, and oh, the lilacs will be blooming soon too.  April and May are my favorite months of the year.

In my pursuit of becoming more sustainable I will be phasing out the plastic flower sleeves I've been using for bouquets at the farmers market and switching over to biodegradeable sleeves manufactured from corn based polylactic acid (PLA) these sleeves compost in approxiamately 45 days.  They won't decompose in a landfill however so in order to use these to best advantage they need to be put in the compost.  If you don't currently compost I will be happy to do it for you if you bring your used  PLA sleeves to the market.  Next season I will be using biodegradeable dot pots made by fertilpot.  Currently I am using heavy duty plastic seed trays which I have been disinfecting and reusing for the last five years.  The advantages of the biodegradeable pots are the multiple sizes and the fact that I will be planting the pot along with the plant.  These are the only pots currently listed as 100% organic. Most farmers use lots of plastic.  Plastic pots, plastic drip tape, plastic weed barrier, plastic green house film, plastic cartons.  Plastic doesn't decompose but can be recycled.  I've begun taking my non reuseable plastic to Zook's Plastic Recovery in Lancaster.  I feel much better that I have an alternative to the land fill. Now all I have to worry about is the cost of the gas.

My grandmother used to say every flower has a smile.  Come visit me at the Doylestown farmers market this Saturday.  April and I will be there with lots of flowers to help you have a happy start to your weekend.