Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
How Kara Jamison Is Transitioning Into Fall With Dried Flowers & Sowing Cool Flowers
2.2k Plays3 months ago
As fall swiftly approaches, the changing of seasons brings new challenges and opportunities for gardeners. In this episode of the Backyard Bouquet Podcast, we welcome back Kara Jamison of Blooming Joy Flower Co.
Kara discusses the importance of soil health, revealing her methods for cultivating rich, organic soil that has helped her garden thrive even through a hot, dry summer. She explains how she uses organic materials like compost, animal manures, and wood chips to improve soil moisture retention and fertility.
This conversation also delves into the joys and challenges of growing specific flowers. Kara shares her success with celosia and stock, offering tips on how to grow these beautiful blooms. She also talks about her passion for dried flowers and how she creates stunning arrangements and petal confetti from her garden's bounty.
Kara's story is not just about flowers; it's also about balancing life as a flower farmer. As a homeschooling mother of four and a caregiver, she manages to find time for her garden by carefully scheduling her days. Her dedication to both her family and her passion for flowers is truly inspiring.
Tune in to hear the full conversation and gain valuable insights into fall gardening, soil health, and the art of growing and drying flowers. Whether you're a seasoned gardener or just starting out, this episode is packed with wisdom and inspiration to help your garden bloom.
In This Episode You’ll Hear About:
04:47-10:39: "Building Healthy Soil with Organic Practices"
13:43-17:58: "Successful Greenhouse Gardening: Growing Stock Flowers"
19:05-22:13: "Passion for Celosia: Cultivating Dried Flowers"
22:14-28:01: "Creating Seasonal Floral Crafts: Petal Confetti and Zinnia Garlands"
28:16-31:19: "Summer Gardening Discoveries: A Colorful Palette of Blooms"
35:56-40:53: "Balancing Family Life and Flower Farming"
42:53-46:10: "Embracing Fall: Gardening Joy and Winter Preparations"
49:49-53:36: "Adapting Flower Planting Schedules for Busy Lives"
57:17-01:02:26: "Growing and Enjoying Yarrow and Feverfew in the Garden"
Learn More About Blooming Joy Flower Co:
- https://stan.store/bloomingjoyflowerco
- https://www.youtube.com/@bloomingjoyflowercompany
- https://www.instagram.com/bloomingjoyflowerco
- https://facebook.com/bloomingjoyflowerco
******
Join me inside Amy Porterfield’s Course Confident: A LIVE Bootcamp to Get Digital Course Clarity, Attract Your Audience, and Show up with Confidence Online.
Save Your Seat For Only $47: https://bit.ly/apcourseconfident
******
Sign up for our newsletter: https://bit.ly/thefloweringfarmhousenewsletter
***Rate, Review, & Follow The Backyard Bouquet***
If you enjoyed this episode, will you please consider leaving the podcast a review? Your review helps make the podcast more discoverable to others and allows me to continue creating more episodes. I'd love to know what you enjoyed most about the episode.
New episodes every week to help keep your garden blooming!
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to the Podcast
00:00:02
Speaker
Welcome to the Backyard Bouquet podcast, where stories bloom from local flower fields and home gardens. I'm your host, Jennifer Galitzia of the Flowering Farmhouse.
From Gardener to Flower Farmer
00:00:12
Speaker
I'm a backyard gardener turned flower farmer located in Hood River, Oregon. Join us for heartfelt journeys shared by flower farmers and backyard gardeners. Each episode is like a vibrant garden, cultivating wisdom and joy through flowers.
Heartwarming Gardening Stories
00:00:28
Speaker
From growing your own backyard garden to supporting your local flower farmer,
00:00:32
Speaker
The Backyard Bouquet is your fertile ground for heartwarming tales and expert cut flower growing advice. All right flower friends, grab your gardening gloves, garden snips, or your favorite vase because it's time to let your backyard bloom.
Turning Gardening into Courses
00:00:54
Speaker
Hey there flower lovers, have you ever thought about turning your gardening expertise or any passion into a digital course? Imagine being able to share what you love and make an impact while earning money from something you've already mastered.
Amy Porterfield’s Course Promotion
00:01:10
Speaker
Well, my mentor, Amy Porterfield, is here to help you make that dream a reality with her course confident bootcamp. It kicks off on September 11th with a welcome party. And in this bootcamp, Amy will help you figure out exactly what to teach, how to grow an audience that's ready to learn from you, and how to show up confidently online.
00:01:31
Speaker
Whether you're new to digital courses or have been thinking about it for a while, this bootcamp is packed with practical tools to help you nurture your course idea from seed to bloom. And the best part, it's only $47 to join, which is an absolute steal for what you'll get. But don't wait too long. Just like in the garden, timing is everything, spaces are limited, and the bootcamp is starting soon.
00:01:57
Speaker
Head over to today's show notes for the link to save your spot and let's grow something amazing together.
00:02:11
Speaker
Welcome back to another episode of the Backyard Bouquet podcast.
Special Guest: Kara Jamison
00:02:16
Speaker
Today is a super special episode as I am joined again by Kara Jamison of Blooming Joy Flower Co. You may remember Kara as she joined me for episode two of the Backyard Bouquet podcast back in January. And here we are now, it is September and wow, this year has flown by.
Fall Gardening Plans and Challenges
00:02:38
Speaker
Kara, it's so good to have you here today.
00:02:41
Speaker
Hey, Jen, it's so good to talk with you again. I'm really excited to talk with you about the fall garden and what I'm gonna be planting in the next few months. It has been a beautiful year.
00:02:52
Speaker
Well, it's pretty much been since January. I mean, we normally talk offline once or twice a month. And I feel like this has been such a busy year that I haven't really had a chance to connect with you. So I'm super excited to have this flower chat today and let our listeners join in as you share how your year's been this year. So before we dive into fall, let's go back and how's your summer been?
00:03:16
Speaker
The summer has been super hot and not a lot of rain at all. But I have been pleasantly surprised with all of my cut flowers. ah Something to know about how I grow is I don't have any irrigation. You don't have any?
00:03:33
Speaker
I do not. I do not have any irrigation. ah Here in Tennessee, we do typically get a good amount of rain. So that usually saves me. um If I need to water my garden, I just get an old fashioned sprinkler out and I just move it around.
Eco-friendly Gardening Methods
00:03:52
Speaker
Um, but my garden and my flowers this summer despite the drought have been gorgeous And you know, I really stopped to think about like why is this and I have spent Years, I believe this is year three in this spot growing all of these cut flowers that I have been cultivating my ground I bring in all kinds of organic material every fall, different compost, um you know, animal manures. I use a straw of my pathways. And I really think that that has helped ah the soil be moist enough for these flowers where they didn't just shrivel away in our drought. That's amazing. I've actually been doing a lot of reading lately about that exactly.
00:04:38
Speaker
Yeah, it's is's amazing. i I started years ago. I really like the more organic approach. That's just just, you know, just for me. I don't use any landscape fabrics. and And one of the big reasons is I just don't want to take it up every year and have to store it kind of thing. And so I ended up with a ton of wood chips several years ago.
00:05:01
Speaker
ah because they were doing something to our road. They needed a place to ah drop all these wood chips. And I was like, hey, give them to me. I would love to add them to my gardens. And so that's how it started. I would plant transplants and then I ended up just mulching all around the transplants with the wood chips. And it helped keep the weeds at bay and it helped keep the soil moist. And so I've just kind of kept going with um adding organic materials to my gardens over the years.
00:05:31
Speaker
That's so great. I'm currently reading the book For the Love of Soil by Nicole Masters ah hu and learning so much about how important adding organic material is, even more so than worrying about the NPKs of your soil health. So I'm sure that's why you're getting through the drought this year.
00:05:49
Speaker
Yeah, and something I started doing in the last two years or so is in the fall. um Let's take sunflowers, for example. I grow a lot of sunflowers in the fall. And you know after I've cut them, I don't rip the stalk and the root out of the soil. I actually cut the stalk right at soil the soil level and the root ball is left in the soil.
00:06:15
Speaker
And so when I go to plant my hardy annual transplants in October or November, um I always dress my beds with compost in the fall or the winter.
00:06:27
Speaker
to take me into this next growing season. And I have my sunflower roots in the ground. I add a layer of compost on top and then I plant directly into my compost. And so all winter, the little microbes in the soil are having a party and they're eating the roots and just making my soil so good for the next year. And I've truly seen the benefits of leaving this organic material in the ground.
00:06:54
Speaker
That's amazing. I can just picture the little microbes having, like you said, a little party right there. and And you're totally feeding
Soil and Erosion Control Techniques
00:07:01
Speaker
your soil. You are feeding your soil and all those microbes by leaving those sunflowers. I was just actually talking to my husband yesterday about that. We drove to Portland, Oregon, which is about an hour from here. hu And I was mentioning how I don't cut out the sunflowers or any of the stalks. I just top them and I leave that in the ground.
00:07:21
Speaker
ah for erosion control and also just to feed the microbes. and It was kind of this aha moment for him. It's amazing. and you know i I grow cut flowers. I have a flower farm, but I also say I have just a big, beautiful flower garden too. Like I really love the aesthetics of mixing a flower farm with a cut flower garden. And so within my cut flower garden, and I just like to use whatever I can find around the farm to create these beds in terms of giving them character. Like I like to add rocks around my beds that I find. And then um we,
00:08:00
Speaker
always have a project going on the farm so my husband ends up with lots of wood scraps and so I will take these wood scraps and just create a little bed and that helps keep you know my compost in from you know draining off the sides and I was looking around at those beds this year and I was pulling up the wood pieces just to kind of look and all of these roly polies and good bugs like came out from underneath uh the wood pieces and it was kind of an aha moment moment for me like Carrie you've just Made a home for these good bugs that help um Your soil and so I don't know that just kind of gave me the the push like okay What else can you do to invite all of this good stuff into your garden? Did you already have good soil when you started farming?
00:08:49
Speaker
No, I would say, um so when when we bought this piece of land, um gosh, is it seven years? Something like that. Seven years ago now, eight, something like that. There was nothing here. We have very hard red clay soil here. And the particular spot that I always show on my Instagram of my cut flower garden Um that particular spot I would say about four years ago or so now is where we originally Set up a chicken Wow
00:09:23
Speaker
say We set a chicken run up there. And um over time, we decided to move those chickens. And I decided to take that space over to create the cut flower garden that you see now on my Instagram. And so the chickens, you know, they're little droppings. They help to the ground. And um So basically, I've spent years building my soil up. It used to be bad, but because I keep bringing in all of these organic materials over the years, it has gotten better. And people always ask me, well, what do you mean? What organic materials are you bringing in?
00:10:02
Speaker
Well, here on my farm, ah we create we do create a lot
Composting and Soil Fertility
00:10:06
Speaker
of it on our own. We have a whole livestock farm of goats and cows and chickens and ducks and all of that. And so within our barn, um we do like the deep litter method where the animals, they sleep in there at night and well, animals poop for some reason when they're sleeping.
00:10:22
Speaker
And um they end up with a lot of dropping. So we'll go in, we'll add a very fresh layer of straw. And over time, all of that kind of breaks down. And I just go in there, I dig it up, and I use it on all of my beds. And that's actually what I plant into.
00:10:40
Speaker
um Another thing that I do is we have a lot of huge hay bales outside for the farm animals. And after a while, the animals kind of get tired of that particular hay bale and they kind of flatten out the end, like the very tail end of the hay. And so that hay will sit for a long time, like a year.
00:11:01
Speaker
And I'll go in and I'll kind of scoop the hay back that hasn't ah rotted down. And I will get this beautiful black dirt from under it that has just formed you know over time, just sitting there. And I will bring that into my gardens as well. So you're literally cultivating yes this from from scratch on your own farm with your animals and with with what you have available to you.
00:11:28
Speaker
yeah Do you bring in compost also? I don't bring in compost anymore. When we first built this farm, you know we didn't have anything here. We didn't have enough animals for compost. So ah my sweet neighbor has a horse barn and she had a huge pile of compost. So we would go over there and we would get her well-aged horse manure compost. um That was years ago. like years ago. And um I also did bring in mushroom compost one time, but none of that, none of those materials have actually touched my new cut flower garden area that I have now. Yeah. Well, it's clear though that if you started with the clay soil and then you had chickens and now you've done all these amendments to your soil by adding organic material, that's what's helped you survive this drought. Because do you think
00:12:21
Speaker
seven years ago, if you had these flowers planted and you had this drought, would have your flowers been okay with without all this water? No, because I have other areas of the farm where I have gardens that I have not emitted my soil like this, and those flowers have struggled, if not died, this year. So it really does, it truly makes a difference, building your soil. What is your source of water?
Irrigation and Water Challenges
00:12:44
Speaker
Do you have a well? Do you have irrigation?
00:12:46
Speaker
um We have a well. Yes. But there's no like irrigation district or anything for where you live? No. nope We ah supposedly tap into a cavern underground and um the water is pretty great. okay Where we live, it's called the farmer's irrigation district. and so We have water from April 15th until October 1st and we pay a flat rate every year.
00:13:13
Speaker
And it's, it's dirty water. Like you can't drink out of it. Um, there's a lot of sediment in and it. So you're constantly cleaning your filters, but it's great because you have access to water all season long where it becomes problematic as our growing season is getting longer now. yeah And so after October 1st, we have no water. And the last few years, my dahlias have gone on until almost November. And if we don't get much rain, some October's we get a lot of rain and others we don't. And it's like, okay, am I going to keep my dahlias alive until frost comes?
00:13:42
Speaker
Oh, wow. That is a problem. Wow. Nope. i I have water all year. In fact, we built a beautiful greenhouse over our well components this year because you you need something over all the components to help protect it. So we built a beautiful greenhouse over it this year. and You built a greenhouse this year.
00:14:01
Speaker
We did. Well, my husband finished it. it He finished finished it like in January. Yes. My husband can build anything. so um yeah we we We had something over it these past several years and it was just falling apart. and My husband and I like to grow so much stuff. He's like, I'm just going to make a little greenhouse. I was like, go for it.
00:14:22
Speaker
Oh, that is awesome. Did you use the greenhouse a lot this year? I did.
Greenhouse Success with Stock Flowers
00:14:27
Speaker
I used the greenhouse and um in February and March. And you know what, Jen, this is the first year that I've had successful stock, the flower stock. I have been trying to grow it for years. And um you know, they say stock is cold hardy.
00:14:46
Speaker
and can tolerate some freezing temperatures. But I just really haven't found that to be the case. And I have tried for several years because stock really needs a good cold period at first in order to grow and then flower well. And so i I have no problem starting the seed and growing the transplants. It's actually a pretty easy one to grow. But the problem came when I would transplant them out like mid-February, even March, um and we would still get freezes.
00:15:15
Speaker
into March and even early April. And even though I had them covered with frost cloth, I would still lose them. So this year with my new greenhouse, I'd started stock again and I planted them all in crates and really big pots. Like, you know, like landscape or pots. Pots you would save from the garden center. I was like, you know what?
00:15:38
Speaker
Okay, I'm gonna keep these outside, but if we are gonna drop anywhere near below freezing, they're gonna go in my greenhouse. So my stock was outside some and then they lived in the greenhouse for a little while when we would be in a cold spell. And I just, I ended up with stock finally um because the stock didn't get hit by any kind of freezing temperatures, but was exposed to cold.
00:16:04
Speaker
I haven't been able to successfully grow it here either, but I don't have a covered space at the moment where I cover them. um And then if I plant them out too late, like you said, if they bloom, they bloom and they're like six or eight inches tall.
00:16:16
Speaker
Were you able to get height with them by bringing them in and out of the greenhouse? Yeah, it was interesting. The stock that I started in big pots, they had more room to grow. And so they did get bigger versus my stock that I started in the crates. I packed them in a lot more closely. So obviously, they weren't getting as much nutrition. So those were getting, those were a little shorter. But I mean,
00:16:43
Speaker
i was I was thrilled with what I got. Were they usable stems then? fill up okay stems yep Amazing. The smell is so intoxicating of stock.
Space Management for Flower Growing
00:16:54
Speaker
That's why I wanted to grow the stock. People say, well, why do you try to grow such a hard flower that doesn't thrive well in your environment? environment and I'm like, I want to smell it. It is just the most amazing smell. and i It just put a huge smile on my face when I had the first little floret open and I could smell that smell. Makes me excited to start the seeds again in January. Yes. oh I love the smell. For me, I struggle with with even trying to give them space just because I have such limited space right now. And they're they're not a cut and come again flower. So right now I'm only growing things that are cut and come again. exactly I just don't have that excess space. And I can't wait to someday do that again. Well, if you have a bunch of extra bulb crates,
00:17:42
Speaker
That's how I grew mine. um I didn't give mine any fertilizer, which, you know, I could have, and they could have gotten bigger. But um try them in bulb crates if you have a spot to, I don't know, stick a few of those just to see how it goes. That's like a tip. So how many in a bulb crate did you fit? What was your spacing? Were you like two or three inches apart, six inches apart? How close did you put them?
00:18:05
Speaker
I try to go really close. I want to say mine were about three to four inches. Okay. Three to four inches. I cannot remember how many was in a crate, maybe like 20, something like that. Okay. There was several, a lot. I tried that with Renunculus this year. And I'm embarrassed to admit that I forgot to water them for a few days in the greenhouse and I i killed them, but they were looking so good. And then I didn't get to see them bloom um because I didn't have the space for them out in the field.
00:18:34
Speaker
I am a firm believer. Killing these plants is how we learn. It is okay. We all do it. Absolutely. I don't know if you've had a chance to listen to our last episode, episode 35 with Erin from Fluoret, but that was her parting advice is that you will kill a lot of plants as a flower farmer and I'm pretty sure I'm on track for that this year as well. yeah Definitely. Me too. Despite all the beauty, me too. Six years later and I'm still killing plants, so I guess I'm still learning. Yes. that' um Well, instead of talking about killing plants, let's talk about growing and cultivating some plants here.
Passion for Celosia and Dried Flowers
00:19:12
Speaker
um What did you grow this year that you loved?
00:19:16
Speaker
I have fallen in love with silosha, and this is not my first year to grow silosha, but this is my first year to grow silosha, I say on steroids. I ah bought 40 different types of silosha earlier this year. It's crazy. My seed catalog is crazy because I am heavily into drying flowers. I have just really taken a loving to them. um When I first got in to cut flowers in 2018, I was not a big fan of them.
00:19:50
Speaker
And it wasn't until I was decorating my amaryllis planters that I plant in the winter time I had saved or I had dried some flowers from my garden that year and I don't know what came over me but I was like you know what we have to wait for all of this foliage to emerge with the amaryllis and it can take several weeks.
00:20:11
Speaker
I am going to just stick all these dried flowers in my planter and create a little garden to look at while I wait for the amaryllis to emerge and it was after that I kind of fell in love with dried flowers because it was just so beautiful and um even watering the amaryllis because you really only have to water them like once a month. That's all I do once every three weeks. um It doesn't hurt the dried flowers. So this year I made it my mission to grow all the dried flowers that I could physically handle. And Salosia is a flower that holds its color really well after it's dried. and
00:20:50
Speaker
I also picked it because I'm just very busy in the summer with my kids, going a lot of places. So I needed a flower that didn't need babysitting, but it was also a cut and come again flower. And Solosia fits that bill. And so I grew a lot of Erin's Solosia this year, and it is absolutely gorgeous.
00:21:14
Speaker
One of my favorite plants that I have grown in my garden has been the raspberry lemonade salosha that she put out this year, or at least this is the first year that I've grown it. and I'm just drawn to the colors and I have been busy saving seeds of the salosha too. and you know Who knows? I could turn just into a salosha farm one day. Who knows? Salosha is so pretty. i last year made the mistake. I only grew, well, it self sewed for itself last year. yeah um I should say it that way. ah So i was good I was late getting mine started and I saw that it all self sewed in the row. And I'm like, I'm just going to let it grow and see what i I get. And I learned that that was a mistake.
00:22:01
Speaker
um because all of my varieties had cross pollinated together. yeah and And so there were some good ones, but of my 70 foot row, I had a lot less usable stems. So this year I grew from named packets and I just love selosia too. It dries beautifully. It looks great in a bouquet also, especially this time of year, going into September and wanting to make fall bouquets.
00:22:24
Speaker
it's one of those I gravitate towards like that and amaranth and Just those f like fall colors where you just go. Okay. I'm tired from a summer yeah They cozy up and they just scream fall. Yeah, I have I know our listeners can't see it but I have this beautiful little dried flower arrangement right here and um I love it because it's memories of my spring and summer garden. I love to grow bachelor buttons in the springtime and I've dried them so it's a beautiful ah blue and white
Creative Use of Dried Flowers
00:23:00
Speaker
color. And then I've dried some grasses. And the yarrow that blooms in the springtime, I've dried that too. And then of course, this Alosha that we were just talking about. um I think it's really fun how you can dry flowers from different seasons and mix them to make a beautiful bouquet. That's so awesome. I've never tried drying bachelor buttons before. Bachelor button, bachelor buttons, kind of a tongue twister.
00:23:27
Speaker
Yes, I know. Bachelor buttons kind of fall apart when you dry them. So I primarily dry them for Petal Confetti. I think that it's a great one because it holds its color well. But I have a couple of stems that did not fall apart and so created that cute little arrangement with them. Nice. Can you tell me what is Petal Confetti?
00:23:52
Speaker
All right, petal confetti. Okay, my first year that I grew cut flowers in 2018, I was asked to grow petal confetti for a wedding, like you would throw at a wedding. Flower confetti. Yeah.
00:24:06
Speaker
and so Um, I did, I did that my first year and a lot of the confetti was zenia petals. I used a lot of gumphrina and I managed to grow and dry enough flowers for 200 people to throw this confetti at a wedding. And so yeah, so I like to make petal confetti With all types of flowers in the springtime, I think bachelor buttons and red Beccia are a beautiful combo, ah the blue and the yellow.
00:24:39
Speaker
Right now in late summer, I do love the way the zenia petals dry. And I think it's really cool if you have a zenia head that does not look good maybe for a fresh bouquet, just cut the petals off and dry them. And you may end up with a bunch of petals ah to mix together to make petal confetti.
00:25:00
Speaker
Wait, so you're cutting off the petals and then drying it? Yeah. So what I do is I take the zinnia head and I take my scissors and I just cut the petals off. I don't pull the petals out because if you do that, you end up pulling what would be the zinnia seed. And I don't think that looks, in my opinion, quite as pretty. So I cut the petals off so I can retain a lot of color in the confetti.
00:25:27
Speaker
Gotcha and then do you just lay it like flat on a tray and let it dry? I just lay it flat I have a bunch of craft paper out that I lay it on and in about a week's time it's dry and um Actually have well Some right here. That's that. Well, you can't see ah but I can see. We'll have to include some show notes of your dry flowers. And so something else I started doing this year, I made the zinnia petal confetti. And the little, the zinnia heads, like the the ball part that you end up with, I started stringing that onto bind wire and making confetti, or not confetti, making um garland. And I don't know, it's just something really fun to do with the zinnia.
00:26:14
Speaker
That's awesome. Do your kids help you with this at all? No.
00:26:20
Speaker
They're not really into all all of this. It's my thing. I feel like my daughter who's nine would be so into the crafting side of being creative. so I love that idea because for me, I'm not as crafty, but that's the kind of thing that would be so great to do with a child. yeah and You could teach them how to string them or dry them because I'm always looking for ways. I'm like, how can I involve my daughter where I don't necessarily want her with a sharp pair of shears outside in the field yet harvesting the flowers or giving her free rein to cut the dahlias, especially with my sanitation practices of cleaning shears between every plant. It's like you can't teach a nine-year-old, let's dip the shears in bleach. But here we can make a garland. That sounds like such a great way to involve the kids. Well, having her make the petal confetti or even stringing zenia, the whole flower head, just get some bind wire string, the whole flower head on there. And that's such a fun little craft thing for her to do.
00:27:18
Speaker
That's awesome. Do you dry them first or you string them and dry them on the string? I string them fresh and then ah i it ends up drying after a while. You know, zinnias are not a flower that can handle being out of water for too long before they start wilting. So they will wilt. um So I think if you're going to make a zinnia garland, it would be best to do it like the morning of an event if you wanted to use one in my opinion.
00:27:45
Speaker
um But I've made the garland and I just make sure that when I'm hanging it that the petals are hanging down so they dry down that way and I think it looks like a neat fall decor from your garden. Awesome. So creative. I haven't seen that done before.
00:28:03
Speaker
but I'm talking about some Marigold garlands already. i I just posted a reel about this on Instagram, and last I looked, it had 700,000 views on stringing zinnias. I've never seen it done before. I've seen marigolds done. I've seen twa flour, but I've never seen zinnias. And so I was like, I have all these zinnias. Let me just try this. And it really has turned into a fun little project.
00:28:28
Speaker
Oh, that's awesome. So fun. So you told us that you enjoyed growing slosha. Is there anything else that was kind of an aha that you grew this summer? I went to a plant cell at the yeah University of Tennessee in Jackson. It's about two and a half hours from me.
00:28:49
Speaker
And um I got a plant there called Salvia Blue Chill and because it was highly recommended by Jason Reeves, who is the horticulturist there. And I brought three of them home.
00:29:06
Speaker
and they have truly been in bloom all summer. I haven't cut them once and the plants have I would say tripled in size and I can't believe it because we have not had much of any rain. And it is just such a gorgeous plant. It's it's a blue kind of silvery color. And um I have the raspberry lemonade silosia right next to it, which is kind of like a hot orangey pink color. okay And then I have these huge, beautiful
00:29:40
Speaker
orange and yellow marigolds right next to that plant too, all in the same area. And it has just been such a gorgeous combination um to not only look at, but to cut from you know all summer too.
00:29:55
Speaker
I love that there's something about when you have a really great color palette out in the field and your eyes are just like, Oh, look at that. Yeah. One of the things that I love to do with my cut flower garden is, you know, one of the main purposes of it is to keep cutting from it, keep cutting from it. And a lot of the times you can end up with no color if you're cutting from it a lot.
00:30:17
Speaker
I really wanted to incorporate some you know flowers and perennial plants that their purpose was to look pretty and not to cut from um into my cut flower garden. And so I'm really glad I brought that new salvia in this year because it has just been Truly gorgeous all summer. And I'm sure the bees love it. Oh, the bees absolutely love it. It has been fun to see all the pollinators this year. Um, Solosia. I think Solosia is a bee hotel because every morning when I come out, the bees are all asleep in the loha head so and the And they've loved the salvia.
00:31:04
Speaker
um I grew um some milkweed this year. um That has been fun to see like all the butterflies ah come around. and Of course, it's the zinnias. The butterflies absolutely love the zinnias. But yeah. Do you have hummingbirds?
00:31:23
Speaker
I have not seen any hummingbirds in my garden this year, sadly. We have a ton. I i don't really have any butterflies, but we have the hummingbirds. And the hummingbirds love the zinnias for me. And they're always just as I'm harvesting them, like hovering right there. And it's like, I feel like they know me, just like their comfort. They get so close. And you're just like, you feel so at once connected to nature. yeah when they're When the wildlife feels so comfortable to get up next to you, or you're harvesting that solution, there's that bee.
00:31:52
Speaker
And you're like, I totally feel confident I can go in and grab that stem. now yeah He knows that I'm not going to hurt it and I can cut that stem and I'm not going to get stung. Yeah, surprisingly, I rarely get stung um when I'm cutting cut flowers. I was actually stung the very first time this year by something I've never seen before. um I was cutting limeline hydrangeas. Have you ever heard of a saddleback caterpillar?
00:32:18
Speaker
Yes. I had one of those last summer in the dahlias as I was stripping leaves. Okay. Well, I grabbed it. Did not know under a leaf. Mega pain. Oh my goodness. Like throbbing. Yes. So I, yeah, that hurts.
00:32:36
Speaker
Oh, I feel so bad for you. I did not touch it. I went to pick it up because I was like, this is so cute. I'm going to show my daughter and I have the app seek on my phone. And I thankfully took a picture of it and it was like very sharp, very yeah poisonous. I was like, okay, now what do I do with this thing? So how long did the sting last?
00:32:56
Speaker
several hours. My hands swelled. um I put a baking soda paste on there um and I took some Benadryl and finally it went down. So now every time I go cut limelight hydrangeas in that area I'm gonna look real close to make sure that there's no saddleback caterpillars. But that's the first time I've ever seen them in years in my garden.
00:33:22
Speaker
I think I've found two or three and they're always in the dahlias. Do you grow dahlias? I do grow dahlias, but I don't grow as many as you. They're just kind of a sprinkle here and there in my gardens. Well, you're you're kind of growing for dried
Balancing Flower Farming and Family
00:33:37
Speaker
flowers. and Did you do a CSA this year?
00:33:41
Speaker
No, I don't do those anymore. I did bouquet subscriptions years ago. um I have just found, so I homeschool our four kids ah ranging eight to 16 years old. And then my husband and I are full-time caregivers for his mother-in-law that lives right next to us. um I have just really had to scale back with what I do with cut flowers and really focus on what is it that I love and what do I have time for?
00:34:08
Speaker
And so really the two areas that I really, really love is education and teaching others how to grow cut flowers. And, you know, I do that through, of course, being online, social media every day. I have an e-book that's all about my seed starting schedule that has been very popular this year. I'm very thankful that it has been well received this year. um I do do some speaking engagements, which is really fun.
00:34:36
Speaker
And then um I'm drying all of these flowers because I really want to have like a custom drop of different things like wreaths and flower crowns and that kind of thing. So that's kind of what I'm focused on this year. You are a busy mama and a busy lady in general. um So have your kids, it's where I can't believe we're just past Labor Day weekend. Have your kids gone back to school?
00:35:01
Speaker
Oh yeah, we are heavily into school. My oldest three started actually at the very tail end of July. um So we homeschool, I don't really talk about it much online, ah but we've been doing it for years now. And we are part of a homeschool co-op slash tutorial that they go to once a week. And um I am actually a teacher there too. They call us tutors, but we are, you know, we help teach the material for the week. And um we started that, yeah, end of July.
00:35:36
Speaker
Yes, we are heavily into school right now. Wow. Do you teach for all of your kids or is there a specific grade level that you're helping with or how does that work with homeschooling? um So at our homeschool tutorial that we do, I have a certain level that I teach and it happens to be all sixth graders. this okay um We do um geography, math, Latin, history, English,
00:36:04
Speaker
Science and that's fun. And then we also do presentations they have to do a presentation every week which I super love because I think public speaking and having being calm about it and not having a fear about it is so important and um the kids love it and um But for at home like my kids they we have we we follow a curriculum like they they haven't written out what they do every week and so my day is I a big block schedule. At this time, I'm with this kid doing this. At this time, I'm with this kid doing this. Yes. So every moment of my day is scheduled out pretty much. We weren't planning to talk about this, but I find this super fascinating. So do you have to block out time to also tend to your flowers?
00:36:51
Speaker
Absolutely. So right now, these days, early in the morning, like 6 a.m., 6 to about 7.30 in the morning is the time that I have to be in the garden and to work. And that's why you see a lot of videos right now of me at sunrise, because that's when I am outside.
00:37:10
Speaker
um I start school with my very youngest around 7 30 8 a.m Because he really likes to get his work ah done So we get on that first and we work work work work and about midday um You know, I move on to other things and um I fit in cooking dinner at some point in there, which is a lot of crock-pot meals and um By the time we finish school in the afternoon um It's about time for sports Practices and games my kids are into all of that. I've got one in soccer one in softball one in gymnastics and one in um Basically a student government type of organization. So fun um Yeah, I'm busy. I hate to say I'm busy. I don't like that word. My day is full
00:38:02
Speaker
um Every day and Saturdays is the day that I go really hard in the garden, cutting everything I can, drying things, weeding. I am really tired come Saturday night. yeah Well, um this ah time of year is always, I feel like being a parent and regardless of whether you're a parent or not, I think there's just a lot to juggle.
00:38:27
Speaker
Yes. In the fall. So it's great to hear that like you are a successful flower farmer, but you're also not doing it 40 hours a week. I am not. You are juggling a lot of... I am not. And I keep a lot of my life pretty private online. I share a lot about my cut flower stuff, obviously. But I do have a whole lot else going on besides just flowers. And, you know, I want people to know, like, you can do this. I get up at sunrise, sometimes before sunrise, because I truly love doing this. And I've got to fit it in my day where I can right now.
00:39:02
Speaker
you know right you know Being a mom, being a parent, you have seasons of life. and Right now, I'm in a very busy season of life with all of my kids and then helping to take care of my mother-in-law as well. um because um I help transport her to all of her doctor's appointments. and other things that she needs and um you know I know a few years from now I may have a lot more time that I can dedicate to flowers and do something else but ah right now I'm dedicated to what is it that I love about growing cut flowers and it's honestly helping others grow cut flowers too that's what I truly love and um doing stuff with these dried flowers so that's what I'm focused on.
00:39:48
Speaker
I appreciate you sharing that and being so open and honest. Our last episode on episode 35 with Erin, she also spoke about that and how her career evolved with her children. And one thing that she said that stood out to me, and I know I've had a lot of listeners reach out, is that she said,
00:40:05
Speaker
and I'm not going to say it word for word, but she basically said that she will never regret the time that she poured into her kids and that her business evolved as her kids' lives evolved too. and I think that was so powerful because you see someone who's so wildly successful and so giving and generous in the industry be so open and honest and you feel like as a mom, you're like, okay, I'm not there right now, but I also met at this stage of life.
00:40:33
Speaker
that whether busy is a good or bad word, it's busy, it's full. You have you yeah you have a lot on your plate that you're juggling. yeah and so i think you know Just being online for six years now, I think something that gets lost in the conversation about flower farming is how time consuming it is. You mostly just see the beautiful flowers online, kind of the dream, but truly, it can take your whole day.
00:41:02
Speaker
And the first couple of years, I saw how much of my time it was taking away from my family. And so I was like, I'm not letting this happen. So I scaled back. um I used to do weddings. I used to do bouquet subscriptions. I used to do a whole lot of custom arrangements, but all of that took me away from my family. And so I just really sat down and evaluated, Kara, what is it that you love?
00:41:29
Speaker
that you can do and still have time for. And so, yeah, so over the years, it has evolved with what you can do. And that's okay. you know Seasons change. Seasons change. And I love that you even though you're in this season where there's a lot on your plate, you're still carving out that time for yourself because I think that when we feed our souls,
00:41:51
Speaker
And I think you and I are a lot alike that flowers feed our soul.
Emotional Benefits of Flower Farming
00:41:55
Speaker
And so whether we're doing it full time or just part time, it's something that's giving us that energy so we can then go and pour ourselves into our children or our spouses or our friendships and those other aspects of our life too. And I think that's something that's really magical about flowers.
00:42:11
Speaker
Yeah, you know, I'll never forget. um After I had my fourth child, um my OB told me, he's like, All right, you need to find something to do that's just for you. um That doesn't um just include being a mom. And, you know, of course, I'm thinking, Well, how am I gonna do that? I have four really young kids at the time I had four kids seven and under at that time. And um It wasn't too long after that I fell into growing cut flowers and I started growing cut flowers because I lost my mom Joy to breast cancer. And, um you know, I've had several other pretty tragic things happen in my life and I just found that growing flowers has truly brought me joy because
00:42:59
Speaker
There is something new to see every month. Something is always changing. um Here we are in September and you know we're we're moving into fall and I love fall and I love the way the garden changes, but it also means that I'm gonna be starting new seeds really soon for next year's garden. And that just, that gets me so excited. So I just relentlessly do this every day in the in the in the bits of time that I um can can fit it in, basically. Well, let's talk about fall then because Everyone is so, now I'm nervous to say the word busy after you said the negative comes from that perspective that busy has that perception that you don't have time for more, but you're just juggling a lot. And all of us are juggling a lot of things on our plates right now. And I think that it's easy to go into fall and be like, okay, the season's getting close to an end. I'm tired. I'm going to be thinking about putting the garden to bed.
00:44:04
Speaker
or I'm ready to rest and the holidays are coming and everyone on Instagram is showing even their Christmas trees Yeah, I'm like, no, my deli is still haven't bloomed. I'm still in this season ah but You're excited about this time of year, but not because of the holidays. No, you know what?
Seasonal Gardening Strategies
00:44:21
Speaker
Fall and wintertime gardening re-energizes me. And that sounds just so not right because everything's dead outside. But no, I think it's because um there is so much new life that is happening because in the fall, I am starting seeds that will grow slowly all winter and will bloom next spring. And
00:44:45
Speaker
What I do in the fall and the winter time truly sets up my success for a spring cut flower garden. And so in the fall, there are certain seeds that we can direct so right in the ground. And there are other types of seeds and plants that it's better if you start them indoors in a more controlled environment and then transplant them outside. And so this fall, that's what I will be working on.
00:45:15
Speaker
And this whole topic can be very confusing to people. And this is one reason why I wrote my whole seed starting schedule ebook. um Because I would show online what I was doing, and people would be like, what do you mean you're planting these? It's going to freeze in a few days. And I'm like, they'll be fine. They will be absolutely fine. And this group of flowers just gets me so excited to talk about. Because the cool flowers, or the hearty annuals, because It's truly amazing to watch them grow very slowly all winter through all of these winter conditions. And they bloom next spring. ah sir Now, caveat, like we were saying, sometimes we kill flowers. So just know, you know, winter can throw you all kind of curve balls. And so, you know, that doesn't mean everything I plant is going to live. But, you know, a lot of it does when you know what plants to plant. Sure.
00:46:09
Speaker
It's so hard. I think one of the hardest things for me with cool flowers is mother nature. Like this last year, we got down below zero and we had no snow cover. And so normally when it gets low, my cool annuals are okay because they're covered under that blanket of snow and they're protected. But I lost a lot of plants. I mean, we lost laurels around town. Like everywhere you drive there's dead laurels that got wiped out. I mean, 100-year-old bushes in people's yards. um But this year, the farmer's almanac is saying that we're going to have a lot of snow in our area, which I'm like, yes, that means everything's going to be blanket under snow. yeah And I don't have caterpillar tunnels to clear this summer or this winter. Oh, you do? Yeah. You know, one thing I think that makes a great flower farmer and just even gardener is just to be resilient. And things go wrong.
00:47:05
Speaker
look at it as a learning opportunity and keep going. Because we actually had the same thing happen to us here in the Nashville, Tennessee area a couple of years ago. We dropped 60 degrees in a matter of hours and went to zero, which we typically don't get here in Tennessee, in Middle Tennessee. And we had a negative 20 wind chill.
00:47:29
Speaker
That never happens here. like that like It was a historic winter storm, and we lost a lot of evergreen um evergreen trees here, just like you. You would go around town in spring and look at everything and be like, oh man, look what the winter storm did. But you know what's interesting?
00:47:48
Speaker
Something like that taught me a lot about these hardy annuals that I grow um Thankfully we did have snow cover. So, you know, sometimes people tend to worry when snow is coming and um We have cold temperatures coming but I always like to remind them snow is like an insulator It's good. So thankfully during that winter storm we did have snow and I have things like bachelor buttons larkspur nigella yarrow So even Renunculus, which is crazy caveat. I'll talk more about that in a sec.
Adapting to Life’s Schedule with Gardening
00:48:25
Speaker
All of those plants were not even phased. They were completely fine under the snow in the negative 20 degree wind chill, which was
00:48:35
Speaker
amazing and eye-opening to me. It is so amazing. I'm curious to hear your take on the Renunculus because mine made it too with no cover and no snow. So my Renunculus did have cover. um I knew that Renunculus, if it you know, they can handle below freezing, they can handle to about 25 or so. But after that, like, they really need to be covered. And I knew that we were dropping to zero. And I knew if our ground froze, that was not going to be good. So for that particular storm, what I did, um what I did was
00:49:12
Speaker
Come on, I'm ridiculous. I put a layer of straw right on top of them, right on top of the plants. And then I had my small little hoops with my frost cloth and doubled that up. And then I let the snow kind of fall on that. And so really it was like a huge, really thick blanket for them. And they survived. I have a video on Instagram about it. I was so excited. I could not believe it.
00:49:38
Speaker
but They're not cheap. It's not like you just scattered some seeds. Renunculus are expensive for the corms. They can be very expensive. Yes. Yes. Oh, that's awesome. They made it. So are you starting your cool flowers now?
00:49:53
Speaker
So I feel like I do it a little differently than a lot of people. Typically it's taught you need to start your transplants and have them in the ground about six weeks before your first frost, which for me would be around the beginning of September. That would mean that I need to, at the beginning of August, start growing out these transplants to get them in the ground early September.
00:50:17
Speaker
Um over the years I actually have so much going on in september and october and A lot of the time I am actually not even here Um like this september I am traveling to kentucky to speak at an event which is very exciting about my Yeah about my cut flower story. Can you say what the event is?
00:50:39
Speaker
Yeah, well it's called the Banana Festival and um they have a farm to table dinner each year and they bring in different speakers. And a flower friend that has been following me for a long time is in charge of helping create ah this night. And so she asked if I would speak and I was so honored. So I'm traveling there to speak um in September and I have a few other places. Thank you. I have a few other places I'm going this fall.
00:51:09
Speaker
ah which means if I were to start all of my seeds now, I have to have babysitters for all these seeds. and I just don't want to do that. and I have seen over the years through trial and error that I can actually plant a lot of my transplants in November, and that's what I've been doing. I've even direct sown for the past few years in early November, and it has been absolutely fine, and they have germinated.
00:51:37
Speaker
Now, caveat, these are certain plants that I'm working with. Like, I'm not talking about sowing, you know, zenias or whatever, or stock yes that time of year. um I am talking about certain things like um the third week of October this year. That is my week. I'm actually starting to sow transplants that late third week of October, which means I will take get my soil blocker out, make my little soil blocks, and I will be planting seeds in the soil blocks and I will grow them out for about four weeks and I'll let them harden off about a week outside. So somewhere around Thanksgiving, my transplants will go in the ground.
00:52:19
Speaker
This is things like Sweet William, yarrow, and snapdragons. And and ah what I'll do is I'll transplant them around Thanksgiving and I will just cover them with frost cloth just to give them a little bit of extra warmth and protection if it freezes outside and they will be totally fine next spring and be tall and beautiful.
00:52:42
Speaker
um In October, um or the third week of October, also, I will be direct sewing things. That means just sprinkling things in the ground. Larkspur, Nigella, Bachelor buttons, um to name a few. So you don't soil block those, those just go straight from sea.
00:53:00
Speaker
go straight in the ground. And honestly, I have so many volunteers from each year too that come up. um But I have just seen, I can direct sew those at that time of year. And actually, I've done it in early January too. I experimented with that this year and it worked. And they grew. It was almost like a succession of flowers. And I have had to learn how to grow flowers around my life, basically. And so discovering that I can push the envelope and they don't have to all be planted six weeks before my first frost was amazing. and And realize for those people listening to, that's where I live. I'm in zone seven, Nashville, Tennessee area. Our ground doesn't freeze. We truly can work outside all winter. So something that I do may not be for everyone.
00:53:51
Speaker
So that's, I'm glad you mentioned that because different growing zones can be different things throughout the winter. Like if you're in zone five, you're probably not going to be able to follow what you just shared, but someone in zone eight, maybe would have even better success than what you have because they're even warmer. So yeah so when do you get your average last frost? Or first frost, I should say frostmas. When does frostmas come for you? It's about October 15th for us. Okay. So you're about the same timeline as us.
00:54:20
Speaker
Yeah, so we get our first frost around there, but we still stay pretty warm during the day. It seems like through at least half of November. And so, you know, and that's why it's just handy to have your frost cloth ready just to throw over any tiny transplants. And um that's what I do to be able to plant so late in the year.
00:54:43
Speaker
So do you really baby them when you plant them out like that? Are you putting like hoops over them and then the frost cloth or are you just draping the frost cloth right on top of your transplants? Um, I try to make sure that the frost cloth is not touching the transplants. So yeah, whatever stage kind of depends on how little they are. Like Yarrow, it's kind of more of a flat plant. I don't really have to hoop. Actually, let me take that back. I never cover Yarrow with frost cloth. Yarrow stays open all ah winter.
00:55:14
Speaker
um But things like, let's see, ah Sweet William, Dianthus. I have found that even though it's a very cold hardy, it really is a good idea to protect it with frost cloth ah to prevent leaf damage. It'll recover if it gets leaf damage, but it's it's better to cover with frost cloth. So i I have these tiny little hoops that I use and it's just gauge wire. Like I'm not using the official Flower Farmer hoops that everybody uses. I'm using gauge wire. So they're very low to the ground hoops.
00:55:44
Speaker
Okay, thank you for clarifying that. I'm curious about your yarrow. Do you resew it every year or does it just come back for you? Well, it definitely comes back because it's a perennial, but it's really a good idea to sew it, I think, every year to two years because the colors start to change. um it's It's not as vigorous, like I love to grow the Colorado mix,
00:56:10
Speaker
And what I found, if I let it go into year three, it'll bloom, but the colors aren't quite as many as the first year. And so I do like to replant yarrow every few years. In fact, this is my year to replant it. I have a ton of beautiful yarrow plants out there, but Oh, I'm going to have to dig them up and start over. Will you just compost those then or what will you do with those? Well, you know, I really just need to plant them somewhere. I need to find a space to plant them. But then my other thought is that will be another area I have to maintain. And so that has been something else that I have been working through this year is downsizing certain garden areas because there's only said so much of me, only so much time. You know, do I want to add that
00:57:04
Speaker
to my list i don't know we'll see we'll see what i do i don't know i know i always feel so bad to purposely dig out play like can i give it away where what can i do with it Yeah, especially Yarrow because for me, I know it it it seems like after a couple years, it doesn't bloom quite as tall either. what it It's great in the garden and the bees love it and the pollinators and so many ladybugs I find on it. So I always have a hard time getting rid of it. What about, are you growing fever a few? know. We'll see. We'll see what I do. I don't know.
00:57:35
Speaker
Yes, I grew feverfew. Well, I say for the first time this year, it wasn't really my first time. Last year was my first time to grow it, but I really didn't get to see it bloom because I planted it in the area that my pet goat could get to, and so she ate it. Oh, no.
00:57:51
Speaker
So this year I grew a ton of it and I stuck it into my cut flower field and I'm in love I love it um It makes a gorgeous dried flower flower Yes, and so I plan to grow so much more of it this year I'm actually I'm looking at it as I'm talking to you it is It kind of resembles baby's breath to me when it's dried. And I just love the little accent pops it gives in arrangements. It's one of my favorites, especially dried and as a filler flower. yeah Just can't i have enough filler. Everybody keeps telling me that fever few self sows a lot as well if you let a little bit go to seed. So I purposely let some of it go to seed because I just wanted to see. um I think it's fun to see what pops up around the garden in the wintertime. Totally. i
00:58:46
Speaker
yeah The larkspur, the Nigella, and the bachelor buttons just come up abundantly in the wintertime if I even let a few plants self sew. So i yeah i I like to look forward to things like that. It's fun after you've grown them for a few years too because even when they're just like an inch big you can look and go,
00:59:07
Speaker
That's Yarrow. That's Nigella. And you know what the plant is that's coming up. Well, you learn the plants. Yes, I love that. My husband's like, I can't we help you weed anymore because I'm going to get in trouble for pulling what do you call a flower. He's like, it all looks like weeds to me. How do you know the difference? I'm like, well.
00:59:24
Speaker
and you're out there harvesting 60 feet of yarrow. You know what the leaves look like when they're a little baby. I know. I've had that happen before. I've had some friends come and look at my garden and I'll be like, yeah, it'll be kind of in the fall when nothing's blooming. And I'll be like, yeah, here's a whole patch of bachelor buttons and Agela and yarrow. And it'll all bloom next spring. And they were like, oh, I thought that was grass or weeds. They're like, no.
00:59:52
Speaker
Don't pull those.
00:59:56
Speaker
Well, Kara, this has been so fun chatting with you. um i know that this is We're chatting on a Saturday, and this is going to come out on Tuesday, which means that today's your big day in the garden. So I don't want to take too much of your time. Is there anything that we haven't touched on today that you want to share with our listeners?
01:00:18
Speaker
I just think if you want to plant a garden, no matter what time of year it is, go for it. Start planning it. um If you don't feel like that you want to plant anything this fall or winter, like that's okay. Just go ahead and get out a piece of paper and a pen and start researching whatever it is that you want to plant.
01:00:39
Speaker
and just kind of draw like sketch a little diagram of what you think your garden might look like next year just to get you excited and just dive into education about growing the cut flowers. That's great advice. You just made me think as you were saying that fall is actually one of my favorite times to go to the garden centers and buy the perennials that are on clearance because that's when we're getting our rain is in October, it's end of September and October.
01:01:06
Speaker
So if I get them in the ground, then they establish all of all winter and then they're bigger and I can cut from them the following season, so. Exactly. I want to find a bunch of echinacea on clearance. I need to add more echinacea. I want the scoop echinacea. Are you familiar with the scoop series? Yeah, I've grown those before. Yes. ah hu A cantaloupe one is the one that I really want to get. That one's pretty. That one's really pretty.
01:01:34
Speaker
I have not had that one yet, so those are on my wish list. Okay, I know I had asked you, or we were wrapping up, but do you have any flowers on your wish list that you're gonna add to your mix this fall for cool flowers? Yes, actually. um So the yarrow that I typically grow is the Colorado mix. is It's lots of pinks and whites and purples, but a yarrow that I have seen that dries really well is a yellow yarrow. And I've actually not grown any a yellow yarrow specifically. And so I have been in the midst of doing research, like what what variety is that? I'm not 100% sure at the moment, but um I am going to be adding some yellow yarrow specifically to dry.
01:02:21
Speaker
for next year. The yellow, and I can't think of the name right now either, but it does dry very well. I know for me it took a whole year to get established before I had really good stems that I could cut and dry from. Okay. But then it gets huge and it comes back year after year. Okay. So yes. Good to know. Well, like always, it's so fun to chat with you, Kara. And thank you so much for joining us today. For those that did not get to hear your chat last time, I invite listeners to go back and listen to episode two. But if they just want to go straight to your profile and connect with you, what's the best way to find you online?
01:03:00
Speaker
So Instagram is my favorite place to hang out. I'm at bloomingjoyflowerco dot.com. I'm there every day posting videos. And do you have a website? I do. I am currently in the process of revamping it. So there's not anything there at the moment, but I hope there will be soon. It's bloomingjoyflowerco.com.
01:03:21
Speaker
Perfect. And then you mentioned you have an e-book available as well. Yeah. In my Instagram profile, I have a stand store and that is where I host and sell all my e-books. I have an e-book on my seed starting schedule. It goes over 20 popular cut flowers to grow throughout the year and exactly when I plant them.
01:03:43
Speaker
and I even go through kind of like a diary of each month what is happening in the garden. It has been very helpful to a whole lot of people. I also have a Renunculus growing guide because Renunculus can be a bit confusing how to grow and so I have that there for you too.
01:04:03
Speaker
Awesome. Thank you so much for sharing those resources. Well, I'm going to let you get back to the garden and I hope that we will chat again soon. Kara, thanks so much for joining us today. Absolutely. Thanks for having me, Jen. Have a great start to fall.
01:04:21
Speaker
Just a quick reminder, flower friends, if you've been thinking about creating your own digital course, time's running out to join Amy Porterfield's Course Confident Bootcamp. It starts on September 11th, and trust me, you don't want to miss this chance to finally grow that course idea into something incredible. For just $47, you'll get all the tools you'll need to get clear on your course Attract your audience and confidently show up online. But act fast. Doors are closing soon. Head to today's show notes for the link and grab your spot before it's too late.
01:04:58
Speaker
Thank you Flower Friends for joining us on another episode of the Backyard Bouquet. I hope you've enjoyed the inspiring stories and valuable gardening insights we've shared today. Whether you're cultivating your own backyard blooms or supporting your local flower farmer, you're contributing to the local flower movement, and we're so happy to have you growing with us.
01:05:19
Speaker
If you'd like to stay connected and continue this blossoming journey with local flowers, don't forget to subscribe to the Backyard Bouquet podcast. I'd be so grateful if you would take a moment to leave us a review of this episode. And finally, please share this episode with your garden friends. Until next time, keep growing, keep blooming, and remember that every bouquet starts right here in the backyard.