Up here in northern Michigan without a hoophouse, I'm pretty much out of flowers as of today. Last week it was sunflowers, statice, zinnias, cosmos, Autumn's Touch amaranth, and Purple Majesty millet. Most of what I took to market today were sunflowers, statice and amaranth with just a few zinnias that managed to open in the chilly weather we have had this week.

My last planting of suns has only about twenty plants that have yet to bloom, so I think I'm about done for the year. It is about time to roll up the irrigation tubing and get the winter rye planted in the field.

ThinMan

I'm pretty much done too. I do still have zinnias, although the blooms are slowing down, and dahlias (ditto), but everything else is pretty much finished, other than a bloom here or there - celosia, ageratum, cosmos, snaps. And I'm using the wild asters from the woods.

:)
Dee

I have been done at my market for a while but have still been selling a few bouquets from the farm. I have also been relying on zinnias, glads,dahlias, anemone "whirlwind",fall asters (ruby red)and eucalyptus. My suns are long gone and didn't do that well this year due to a drought we had.I'm about ready to get the tiller out too, after I pull the glads that are finished, which is most of them.
Cheryl

Oh, Teresa, you live in Missouri. I have to say that I envy you right about now.

We were hit by a hard frost last Saturday morning while we were at market. In fact, we had to wait to unload our flowers from the truck because the temperature always dips just before sunrise which is about 7:45 currently. However, we must be in our stalls at market by 7:00; otherwise, the stall is given away to a daily vendor. Stupid rule instituted by the powers that be who control one of our markets.

So, anyway, the beautiful field of dahlias took a big hit from frost on Saturday morning, and again on Sunday morning. It was so sad that I couldn't bring myself to go out to the dahlia field to look at the dreadful sight until today. That is five days folks. Last season we had dahlias at market until the first week in November.

The thing with dahlias is the color is just so intense with the cool night, and just before frost hits. And, then the show is over for another season. Well, actually they can take some frost, but not a hard frost. And, they can be saved to some extent from overhead watering. Most of our dahlias are now on a drip irrigation system. So, there really wasn't a system in place to spare them from the frost this season.

Yes, Wendy, we were as devastated as you when you posted about your early frost a couple weeks ago. At that time, many farmers in our area were reacting to the flooding. Many, many fields of produce were under water for days. It was devastating to say the least. This was the second flood in this area this season. The first one came just after planting time in May, and the second one at harvest time in late September.

We have sunflowers, eucalyptus, mums and asters for market bouquets this Saturday. This is the time of year we start bringing our bittersweet, rosehips, dried flowers, and wreaths to market.

The cosmos seem to fair pretty well with the frost; however, we made the mistake of planting only pink this season. Nobody wants pink this time of year. Well, maybe a couple of people. So, next season when I don't have "chemo brain," we'll be planting the darker colors. Same with the snapdragons.

Did I mention how sad I am about the dahlias? Tap, tap, tap. This thing on? Hello. Anyone out there? Seriously, I may be delusional. You would be too if you'd spent the day removing leaves from bitttersweet swags.

We pulled all the Karma dahlias from the hightunnels. It's a long story best left for another time. Do you know what we have growing in one of the hightunnels? Sunflowers. Yes. It's true. And, if they do well we may have ProCut Bicolor for Thanksgiving. One of our markets goes until the Saturday before Thanksgiving.

We pulled all our lisianthus from another hoophouse, and planted it with delphinium plugs. We read an article in Growing for Market about doing this, and supposedly the delphiniums are supposed to get nice and tall growing them under cover as well as blooming sooner. I guess we'll find out next season.

Warmest Regards,

Trish

Just made a fabu easy bouquet completely of shrub material (raided my inlaws' yard right before big snow dump today):

1. Hydrangea (I think the common form macrophylla? paniculata? not mop head). Blooms white in summer. With cooler temps it's now Chartreuse with a rosy tinge. Hydrangea dries beautifully too.

2. Red twig dogwood stems with white berries, stripped almost all leaves

3. Stems of purple leaf sandcherry. Deep deep plum/black/brown

4. Wad of red maple leaves, just rubber banded them & stuck them in the base of the bouquet. Kind of like a skirt around the base.

Everything is headed for dormancy already, no conditioning. I arranged it all in a bunch, rubber banded it and stuffed it in a big antique canning jar. It's one of my favorites ever with all the colors, textures. Could add asters for more color punch, maybe purple. Right now its a sophisticated not too loud combo.

I am not a market gardener but I worked at a high end florist for years while I was in high school, college and grad school, especially wedding work. I did lots of tied bouquets you just pop in a vase before/after the ceremony. I hate those little bouquet holders with oasis.

This combo would go GREAT with deep or muted fall tone dresses or tablecloths: chocolate, mocha, wine, olive. A smaller version for a bridesmaid bouquet would be cool.

Anyhoo, I garden vicariously through you flower farmers out there. I have read this forum over the years but all I grew this year was a cherry tomato in a bucket on the patio (now dead from frost).

Don't forget about the shrubs!!!

Sorry to hear about your frosts, Trish. It's so sad to see all the great flowers suddenly go to waste.

A couple of hundred miles north of you, we have had only a light frost so far, and no heavy rains to flood anybody. Being on a hilltop and near Lake Michigan helps.

My very small operation is wrapped up for the year and put to bed for the winter. Now I can concentrate on building a small greenhouse for plant starting next spring.

ThinMan

Thanks everyone for posting. This really helps for planning this year.

Trish, so sorry to hear of your frost. In Mo we are enjoying unusually warm weather--80 every day this week. I have a quick question for you though if you check back in, what roses do you grow for the hips? And, how do you grow your bittersweet? On a fence? Up a pillar?

Ralnac, thanks for your inspiration bouquet idea. I LOVE shrubs and am lucky enough to have lots of space for them.
I have winterberry on my wish list and already have two types of coralberry. I think I also need to add a nandina as well.

Teresa

Re Shrubs: I really like to scout and see what's growing well in the area. We have a tough climate, lots of wind, warm/cold spells all winter. Hard on plants. It's worth experimenting, ask your neighbors for samples. Some stuff won't hold up earlier in the year and wilts. Fall it's probably a better bet, everything's hardening off for winter.

This latest grab was totally spontaneous, I was just at my inlaws' to throw tarps over their squash and tomatoes while they are out of town, and was captivated by the green/rose color of the hydrangea. I think that's one I could plant several of since it's so gorgeous and puffy and would lend itself to big arrangements too. It's a large conical head, somewhat looser than the mop-head ball style. Berries and bittersweet and rose hips rock. I met someone who sells hops vines at the farmers market, sooo pretty fresh or dried, drooping around or out of an arrangement. I've seen hops growing straight up on a wire in Germany. Would like to try it. Maybe it's easier to unwind that way.

ralnac, I added several hydrangeas to my garden this year, after having a really good year last year with the few I have. The best thing is that when the bloom time is over, you can still use them in bouquets with their great fall color, as you did, or dry them and sell them like that.

Trish, you said:
"The cosmos seem to fair pretty well with the frost; however, we made the mistake of planting only pink this season. Nobody wants pink this time of year. Well, maybe a couple of people."

Funny, I just started a thread the other day on the New England forum regarding the color pink in the fall garden. And it was prompted by my cosmos. Every year at this time they are absolutely glorious, but I find them kind of jarring in the fall garden. Even though pink is probably my favorite bloom color, it just doesn't seem to fit in in October!

Sorry to hear about your dahlias. It's kinda unfair that my puny dahlias are still going and your beautiful ones are done. But your sunflowers at Thanksgiving!! - they should be a big hit. I can imagine how wonderful a beautiful fall bouquet of sunflowers would look on the Thanksgiving table!

:)
Dee

Zinnias 'Ben Giants and Peppermint Twist', Cramer's Amazon, Purple Majesty Millet, Sunflowers, Asiatic Lily 'Loreto', L.A. Lily 'Fangio', Solidaster, Euc, Varigated Privet, Asparagus Fern, Amaranthus 'Opopeo', Sylphid, Celosia 'Kurume and Chief Mix', Coral Vine, Tuberoses, Veronica, Jewels of Opar, Mums and a few Lissies.
FROST, what frost! not expecting one of those for at least another month here. Knock on wood, anything is possible, it might be earlier or later.
Cheers Kim
Billabong Fresh Flower Farm

My money making season has been done for quite a while. The market I attend does go thru to mid-September, however the demand for flowers seems to dry right up after August. The market is a 40 mile drive for me, so I have to make it worth it.

I did a final cleanup of the yard & garden yesterday including pulling up the glads and cutting back the peony foliage. Our weather has now taken a turn to very cool and a winter storm warning has been issued for tonight and tomorrow. Oddly enough for this area, we have not yet had a killing frost - only a couple of light ones which didn't seem to hurt much.

A few weeks ago I cut back hard the Champion Pink Campanula and the bed is now a mass of short pink bells. I'm not going to pull the plants in the hopes of them wintering (you never know until you try), but will buy more seed next year anyway. This flower was a huge hit with my customers this year, so I'll probably try the blue next year as well.

I still have a lot of Indian Summer rudbeckia in bloom. I cut a bouquet for myself yesterday and included yarrow, statice, miscanthus and spartina pectinata inflorescence, snapdragons (that deep red which seems even deeper in the cool weather), and Autumn Joy sedum, in the height of colour right now. Another bouquet for my neighbor included a mix of snapdragons, carnations and statice. It's just so unusual for me to be cutting bouquets of flowers on Thanksgiving weekend (in Canada), it's quite a treat.

So keep posting all you warm weather folks - with my winter about to hit, it's nice to know there's flowers growing somewhere

This morning I was inspired by white cosmos blooming in the sun to finally break down and do a 'whites' bouquet. I've been fighting the urge all summer, since my first-year white garden is on the front of the house and not yet very full. My arrangement is in a footed crystal vase and features white roses, montauk daisys, white annual salvia,creamy white zinnias & mums, pinkish-white pentas & mums and, as an accent to pick up that pink, one stem of Coral Nymph salvia.

In Northern Va (zone 7) we are still several weeks ahead of the first frost. I can still do bouquets with zinnias, cosmos agastache, various salvias (annuals & perennials,) still have a few various phlox and roses in bloom. I also have several reblooming iris right now. And of course, mums, asters, montauk daisy. There are so many plants till green I can find any texture or color filler I want.

I know, I am making you northerners nostalgic. No pumpkins for me, my new love affair is a pink lobelia (Salmon Fan) I just bought and paired with Katherine Towe phlox, Blushing Knockout rose and the sweetest pink mum...

skydawggy, that white bouquet sounds gorgeous.

Pudge, where do you get your Pink Champion seed? I can only find one supplier, and for two years straight I have not had good germination with it. I think first year I tried pink, last year blue, and no luck.

:)
Dee

Dee, I got the seed from Stokes. They germinated easily under fluorescent lights - seed sprinkled on top of the growing mix and a bit of fine vermiculite overtop.

Stokes?! Huh! I don't remember seeing the seed there. I guess I'll have to look more closely, lol.

Thanks so much, Pudge!
:)
Dee

Hi! Well, last week we had true hard frost on Thurs. (26 for over two hourss) night, so I'm done! The 9/23 frost stunted everything, but left me with high hopes for October...oh well! Time to do what everyone else is doing, clean up the field! I do wish for a hoophouse this time of year!

Luckily I had enough lilies, suns, mums, asters, statice in the cooler for this week's subscriptions! And, the nicotiana and salvia didn't freeze...they're tough!

Wendy