Here I am again sitting with my laptop on my knee in The Potting Shed with Charlie the dog sleeping under my desk gently snoring away, yet again I can not believe that I am about to turn over another page on the calendar.
June is what is often called “the maintenance month” - that is actually another word for weeding! Almost everything has been planted in the field and I am really trying to keep on top of the weeding. Even though I use weed barrier in my fields it seems that weeds can find their way through the tiniest of holes. Last year was a terrible year for weeds for me so I am determined to keep on top of it this year so it has meant day after day of being on my hands and knees pulling weeds.
The weather has been very warm with no rain in the Pacific Northwest which has been encouraging everything to flower prematurely. With the hot weather comes the constant dance of keeping everything irrigated. It is a constant rotation that can not be forgotten, because of a couple of days of missed watering can have dire consequences.
The sweet peas have been blooming for a few weeks now but the plants are a lot shorter that they usually are, but they are starting to catch up and the stem length is still good, which is important when I am selling them and of course they are so fragrant. As I walk past my sweet pea patch I catch the fragrant scent hanging in the air. I always get asked which is my favorite flower and it defiantly has to be the sweet pea.
June also ushers in all the beautiful roses. I grow roses just for my personal enjoyment. I find that David Austin garden roses, which are the ones that I grow, don’t have a very long vase life so I tend not to include them in market bouquets, but they are so beautiful to have in the house for a fleeting few days.
This month I also did something that I don’t typically do. I took a week off and went to Italy! I have decided that life is too short not to do the things you love to do, you just never know what is around the corner. As my husband is a teacher we have opposite seasons as far our down time goes, but I decided to be daring and we went to Rome for a week. It truly was the best time. All the amazing architecture and history, add in all the great food and wine, I did not regret going for one second and we certainly embraced the Mediterranean way of life by having a siesta every day…..with the heat that we are having here I think I need to incorporate that into my day!
July starts with a beautiful wedding using all locally grown flowers. I am so proud to say that all the weddings that I create the florals for are using my flowers or flowers from local farms. Nothing is imported or treated with chemicals and it makes me so happy that brides are now aware of the importance of locally grown.
Enjoy the summer months, and I hope you are able to find a lovely space in your garden to enjoy a warm evening with friends with a cool drink of some sort.
With much love,