Early May as a flower farmer is one of those funny little periods of hesitation and wondering. Spring has begun to relinquish its hold, yet Summer still seems somewhat away in the distance. Odd days tease and tantalise with warm, glowing sunshine on your back, but cool breeze never seems to far away, murmuring about the place. The narcissi and other Spring bulbs have ebbed away and the tulips spectacularly fade; and you are left wondering what on earth is going to fill the gaps left behind by these stunners until the Summer annuals announce their arrival. It is at this time that you appreciate the ensemble cast, rather than the limelight stealing showstoppers – dainty bluebells, nodding aquilegias, early cerinthe and sweet rocket all take their moment to shine.
For well over a month now here at GHG HQ we have been harvesting tulips and this week sees the last of these majestic beauties being cut until next Spring. From the earlies to the lates, and everyone in-between, these royalty of the Spring garden have been fantastic in allowing us to finally start selling some stunning seasonal blooms! Having the colour and scent of homegrown flowers back in my life after what feels like an endless wintertime has been both uplifting and exhausting in equal measures. I feel like we haven’t stopped to take a breath since the end of March – but I guess this in many ways is a blessing, as we are finally starting to see some rewards for all our backbreaking long days over the last year, when we often found ourselves wondering whether we would ever have any blooms to sell!
On a different note – what is with this weather?! A dry and windy Spring does not equal happy flower farmers. As a Lancashire lass I am not used to this dryness, it rains a lot where I come from! Apparently this is not the case over in the East. Although I fear at the moment flower farmers up and down the country are looking skywards waiting to hear the drip, drip, drop of rainfall.
So then, I am off to do a little rain dance. What do you reckon that next time you are hearing from me usual service will have resumed, the typical British weather will have re-emerged, and I am desperately wanting the dampness to disappear and the sun to come out?! That’s the thing – we British never seem satisfied when it comes to the weather! I’m not sure how half this blog turned into a weather report but at least there was plenty of gorgeous seasonal blooms about for you to swoon over.
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