It's felt like summer since mid May.  This hot sticky weather makes me sluggish and wondering what August will feel like.  The summer flowers don't seem to mind.  We'll soon have sunflowers, black eyed susans and zinnias if the bunnies leave me enough to harvest.  The cool loving spring flowers didn't like the early heat and many were stunted.  We pulled out rows of short larkspur, poppies and nigella which were immediately replaced with ornamental peppers, cosmos and zinnia. No time to waste on low productivity.   Right now the delphinium in the cold frame looks fantastic and the snap dragons are about to bloom.  We'll also have amazon dianthus in a few weeks and hopefully some nice foxglove.  I'm trying new varieties of Oriental Trumpet lilies which will be blooming for the next two to three weeks.  There is a  bright red and yellow called "Sophie",  a medium pink called "Donato", "Bon Bini " which is a really cool white  with a pink diamond pattern inside the petals, you just have to see it... "Time Zone" which is a bright pink and white and my old favorite soft yellow "Conca D'or.  These are very large lilies with lots of big puffy buds and a great scent.

We've been spending a lot of time getting ready to plant all the new shrubs which were delivered just before Mother's day.  After tilling, amending the soil and putting down landscape fabric for weed control we'll finally be planting them this week.  I'm especially excited about the new varieties of hydrangea and a reblooming lilac called "Bloomerang".  The hydrangea will probably put out some saleable stems next season but it will take a few years for the lilac to produce.

This week is graduation week for Central Bucks school district.  I will have lots of bouquets for sale  with  shasta daisies, babies breath, heliopsis and Gaillardia and campanula along with the last of the larkspur and calla lilies.  To special order graduation bouquets send me an email: kate@liliesand lavender.com or call the office and leave a message.  215-345-7282.  The stand will be stocked with fresh bouquets Wed. Thurs. and Friday for those of you who want to stop by. 

For summer weddings and parties we offer full floral design services or flowers by the bunch for those creative types who enjoy the art of floral arranging.  A five gallon bucket of field fresh, seasonal flowers is $50.00, our choice of blooms.  I promise they will all be beautiful and fresher then anything you can get online or a the local market.   If you would like to select from what's available I'll be happy to send a price list.  

Here's what's available this week

Campanula medium:   pink, purple, lavender

shasta daisy:    white with a yellow center

heliopsis:   double yellow daisy

gaillarda:  red and yellow daisy

sweet peas: red, lavender, pink, very few

calla lilies: deep pink, white, dark maroon,  only a few left

delphinium:  white, purple, lavender, very tall and full

Oriental trumpet lily "Sophie":  Red and yellow

Oriental trumpet lily " Bon Bini":  White and pink

Oriental trumpet lily "Donato" : pink

Oriental trumpet lily "conca D'or":  yellow

snap dragons: white, maybe a few other colors

baby's breath: white

eryngium: sea holly, metallic blue

hydrangea: "Nikko blue"