Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Ep.5: Growing Cut Flowers in the Pacific Northwest: Tips and Inspiration from Cottage-Style Gardener Kim Robinson
3k Plays2 years ago
Get ready to be inspired by this episode of The Backyard Bouquet Podcast to create your own cottage-style flower garden! In today’s episode, host Jennifer Gulizia chats with Kim Robinson from Shiplap and Shells, a cut-flower gardener and blogger. Kim shares her journey of transforming her backyard into a stunning cottage-style garden overlooking the Puget Sound. From building raised garden beds to adding a beautiful greenhouse, Kim's garden has been featured in numerous magazines. She offers valuable advice on starting a garden, including the importance of planning, starting small, and implementing an irrigation system. Kim also shares her love for growing geraniums and the joy of sharing her flowers with her community. Tune in to this episode for a dose of gardening therapy and to learn valuable life lessons from the beauty of nature.
Learn more about Kim and Shiplap and Shells:
- https://shiplapandshells.com/
- https://www.instagram.com/shiplapandshells/
- Growing A Cut Flower Garden Series
- Overwintering Your Geraniums
EPISODE SHOW NOTES: https://thefloweringfarmhouse.com/2024/01/16/ep-5-kim-robinson-shiplap-and-shells/
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
- 00:04:18 - Kim's journey from a non-gardener to a cut flower grower
- 00:07:04 - Planning and building the garden beds and greenhouse
- 00:12:08 - Features and functionality of Kim's greenhouse
- 00:16:26 - Starting seeds and the importance of a greenhouse
- 00:20:32 - Overwintering geraniums
- 00:26:57 - Starting seeds for the upcoming season
- 00:32:25 - Kim's favorite flower to grow
- 00:36:48 - Dealing with pests and challenges in the garden
- 00:40:01 - Valuable life lessons learned from working with flowers
- 00:46:38 - Sharing flowers with the community and donating to the community garden
- 00:50:01 - Advice for beginner gardeners: start slow, be patient, and use irrigation systems
***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 are coming every Tuesday to help keep your garden blooming!
JOIN THE BACKYARD BOUQUET COMMUNITY ON FACEBOOK
https://www.facebook.com/groups/cutflowergardening
Sign up for my newsletter: https://thefloweringfarmhouse.myflodesk.com/nlw4wua8s3
The Flowering Farmhouse: Instagram | Facebook | Pinterest | Website
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to Backyard Bouquet
00:00:03
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. 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. From growing your own backyard garden to supporting your local flower farmer,
00:00:33
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.
Meet Kim Robinson and Her Garden
00:00:58
Speaker
Today's guest on the Backyard Bouquet podcast is my friend Kim Robinson from ShipLap and Shells. Kim has built an amazing cottage style garden in the Pacific Northwest. She grows tons of cut flowers and raised garden beds along the banks of the Puget Sound. Kim's garden has been featured in countless magazines, including Country Home Magazine, Better Homes and Gardens, Cottage Style Magazine,
00:01:25
Speaker
cottages and bungalows and The Cottage Journal. When Kim is not in the garden, you can find her on the boat with her husband and her two pups, Jax and Ollie, exploring the Puget Sound. I can't wait for you to hear from Kim today. Please join me in welcoming Kim from shiplap and shells to today's podcast episode. Hi, Kim. Hi, Jennifer.
00:01:48
Speaker
How are you? Thanks for having me. I'm good. I'm so excited to be here. I'm so happy to have you on here. It's so fun to get to chat with you today. And I understand that you are getting ready to take off on a trip here.
Upcoming Adventures and Garden Inspirations
00:02:00
Speaker
I am. So my husband and I and our two fur babies are going on our boat around Puget Sound and we're going to be going for about two weeks.
00:02:11
Speaker
That sounds amazing. And by the time this podcast episode airs, you will probably be already back home tending to your garden again. We're recording just before the new year right now. Can you share with us where you're headed?
00:02:27
Speaker
Um, on the boat, we're going to, I think we're going to go to, um, through the locks and we're going to go to Bellevue and Kirkland and Seattle, Lake Union. Uh, and then we might go, um, a little bit go back south, uh, to Olympia. So we're really excited. It's, it's great to go boating in the winter because nobody else is out there. Uh, so we always get a spot on the dock, so it's pretty fun.
00:02:57
Speaker
That sounds amazing. Maybe one of these days you can bring your boat down here to Hood River. There you go. All right. So can you go ahead and tell our listeners a little bit about yourself and how you started your cottage style garden?
00:03:12
Speaker
Yeah, so we live, Kim, by the way, in case you didn't hear that before, and we live about 60 miles southwest of Seattle in a place called Lake Bay, and it's kind of in the country. We have a beautiful view. We're right across the street from the bay.
00:03:34
Speaker
on Puget Sound and so we do a lot of kayaking and there's a lot of oysters and clams and things like that but what's so amazing is my garden is actually
00:03:47
Speaker
right there in the front yard overlooking the water. So it's pretty amazing. We live in a beach house, beach cottage that was built in 1920. And so we restored everything. I mean, we touched every single nook and cranny, every wall, redid everything.
00:04:09
Speaker
including the garden. So I hadn't even been a gardener before until I moved here 11 years ago. This is your first garden.
Gardening in Zone 8B
00:04:19
Speaker
Yeah. So this is, I literally knew how to pull a weed and how to plant a flower container. And that was basically it. And so just being in this spot, I just, it was really inspiring.
00:04:36
Speaker
and I knew I needed to do something. And so I just taught myself how to garden. That's incredible. And so for those tuning in today, what growing zone are you in? I'm in 8B. 8B. So outside of Seattle on the Puget Sound in Growing Zone 8B. So that means that, do you know how cold you get in the wintertime about
00:05:01
Speaker
Uh, we, we can hit freezing, but we don't get below. If we get below, if we get in the twenties, it's pretty rare. Um, it can happen, but it's very rare. So we, we probably, the lowest is probably like in the thirties is an average. Okay. Um, usually I would say forties is, is more realistic as far as the lows. You have a very mild winter, it sounds like.
00:05:29
Speaker
Yeah, and it's wonderful. We are really, really lucky. We have a great climate for growing. Your growing zone enables you to grow a lot of flowers where you live. Yeah. And I imagine being on the water, you probably don't get too hot in the summertime either. No, we are actually, I would say we're probably mid 70s. We can get to mid 80s. Again, we can get into the 90s, but it's really rare.
00:05:58
Speaker
Uh, I remember a couple of years ago, I think it was right before 4th of July and we had three days of 100 degree, um, and higher temperatures. And, uh, we didn't like that because we have no air conditioning either. So, you know, because we're not used to the heat. So that was a little challenging trying to, uh, I did shade cloth and all of that to try to, um, protect my flowers, but it was only three days.
00:06:26
Speaker
Luckily, it doesn't happen very often. You have a pretty great growing zone where you live. It's fabulous. Yeah. We're really, really, really lucky. But don't tell anybody. Nobody's watching this, right? Nobody. All of a sudden you're going to have a surge in people wanting to move to your area to grow flowers. Right. Exactly. So some of the people that are listening today might be interested in starting a garden where you're just into the start of 2024 in January.
00:06:58
Speaker
When did you decide to start your garden? You said you moved in 11 years ago. Did you instantly start developing your garden? I did more like cleanup, you know, maintenance and cleanup and things I just absolutely didn't didn't like. I kind of got rid of and it was a slow, slow process for the first couple of years. But what happened was we actually were on a boat trip and we were in La Connor.
00:07:27
Speaker
Le Connor Washington. And there is this charming bookstore. So I went in and I found florette farms, cutting, you know, what is it? I have it here. Cut flower garden book. Yeah, right. We all know if you're a gardener, you pretty much know what that book is. And I bought the book. And I was
00:07:49
Speaker
I was just so drawn to it. I couldn't put it down. It probably took me a couple days to go from beginning to end. And I said to my husband, I want a greenhouse and I want a raised bed cut flower garden. And we just talked about it. And I think I had asked, I can't remember, but I think I had asked my husband before about getting a greenhouse and he's like, no, no, no.
00:08:20
Speaker
But I got really lucky. I caught him on a good day, I guess. And he looked through the book, and that was the beginning. I mean, we decided, OK, let's start with the raised beds. And I think we built the greenhouse a year or two after that. And the rest is history. I mean, talk about inspiration, somebody inspiring you to start a new journey.
00:08:45
Speaker
Um, it was, yeah, it was pretty intense. I loved, I love everything she does. Erin does. It would be interesting to know how many people were inspired to start a garden because of that book. I remember picking my daughter up from preschool and that book was there at the preschool and the head teacher was selling bouquets that the kids had grown.
00:09:10
Speaker
And I said, oh, I just love this. And she goes, well, we got the inspiration from this book. And I'm like, what? And I went home and I bought that book. And I went down a rabbit hole just like you did. So I'm sure we're not the only ones. It's so easy. And her pictures, I mean, oh my gosh, they're beautiful. And you know, she really, she's only like, Erin only lives, her farm is only a couple hours away from us. So different growing zone, but still, I like to pretend she's my neighbor.
00:09:41
Speaker
She's very close to you, but very far at the same time, but you are similar growing zones to what she can grow. So that's very fascinating. Back to your garden beds. You said you started by building garden beds and then you put in your greenhouse. When you did the garden beds, did you just start building them or did you create a plan for how you wanted your garden to look? We actually did a plan, a careful plan. I don't have a lot
Garden Planning and Greenhouse Creations
00:10:10
Speaker
of space.
00:10:12
Speaker
So I'll back up. We have our garden in the front yard, which is super weird. I'm just going to say it. That's where all our sun is. So we have the full sun. We have a very sloped property, so it's more level than the backyard. So everything is in the front yard. So there isn't a lot of space. So we first of all, we had to decide
00:10:37
Speaker
how much space we had, what size beds we could do. We ended up doing two 4x4s and two 8x4s. And I thought it was enough. But of course, throughout the years, I've been adding whiskey barrels and containers everywhere because it's just grown. But I kind of felt like if I didn't have a plan, it wouldn't have worked out well at all.
00:11:07
Speaker
So definitely had a plan. And then when I figured out what size we were going to do, then I also had to have a plan as to how many seeds, how many plants, different varieties, all of that. So every single thing was planned out because I've heard horror stories that if you don't plan out your cut flower garden, it can it can really get away from you. So.
00:11:36
Speaker
Having a plan is very smart. I have had to start over several times because I have just gotten excited with seeds and put them in the ground without thinking first how things might be laid out. So I think that's great. When you built your plan, did you build in space for your greenhouse or was that an afterthought after the raised beds?
00:11:59
Speaker
You know, it was an afterthought. I knew I wanted a greenhouse, but I wasn't sure if we had the room for it. So there was a great, you know, open space for the cut flower garden, which is just our raised beds with the white picket fence around it. There was plenty of room there, but as far as putting a greenhouse on the property, it took a little bit more time to figure out where we were going to put it.
00:12:22
Speaker
Um, where we ended up putting it, um, it was, it was perfect. It was like it was meant to be, but I don't think we could have gotten any bigger. Um, and plus we didn't want to get a permit. Um, the whole permit process, uh, could have gone on for a really long time. So we built it just enough to, to make it, um, where it was legal. I think it was, I think it's an eight by 10, I want to say it's pretty small.
00:12:53
Speaker
You can grow a lot though. I only have an eight by 12 greenhouse, which is how we originally connected with each other. Yeah. Because of our greenhouses were similar in size. And for my County ordinances and eight by 12, I think is about the maximum you can go without having permits either. Oh my gosh. And you, I've seen what you've done with yours. It's amazing.
00:13:16
Speaker
the flowers that you grow from that small space. So if we can do it, anybody can do it, right? I mean, I've always wanted to have the whole greenhouse where you go in and you have the table and the chairs or a little sitting area and it's all beautiful, but sometimes you just don't have the space and really just going back to what is it that I really want to do, I want to grow flowers. So it works.
00:13:43
Speaker
I love that. So did you buy a kit or did you custom design your greenhouse? For those listening, if you have not seen Kim's greenhouse, I will have a link in the show notes, but go to her Instagram page at shiplap and shells.
00:13:59
Speaker
and she has the most beautiful greenhouse that's surrounded by her white picket fence with flowers, and then you add in the Puget Sound with the sunsets, and it is just stunning. It's no wonder your garden has been featured so many times in magazines. So tell us, how was it designed? Well, you're going to be a little surprised. So I always get
00:14:25
Speaker
questions about do I have the plans and I don't. So what happened is we had a gentleman who basically redid our whole house. I mean, he was our contractor, right? I mean, I guess that's what he would be called, but he was a friend too.
00:14:45
Speaker
And he decided he was going to help us out. And so what I did is I went on to Pinterest and I found several different looks, you know, what I liked. And I showed him to him. And then we had the size that we needed. And he literally planned it out in his mind. Like, like, didn't himself. He's just he's retired now. So that's why I sound like he's not around anymore.
00:15:13
Speaker
But just an amazing talent. And so he basically just figured it out himself. And we have outbuildings out in the back. And one of them used to be. Well, it's our garage now, but it used to be a building that they used to build boats in way back when it's big. And so he and his friend built our greenhouse in the outbuilding.
00:15:43
Speaker
And then figured it all out except for the roof. And then they took it apart very carefully, brought it down to where it was supposed to be, and then finished it. And so I was amazed because I could see my greenhouse being built in the garage. So it was pretty, pretty fantastic. So I couldn't tell you how
00:16:03
Speaker
I don't think we could build the same thing again. It's very custom. Yeah, very custom and costs a lot more money than my husband thought it was going to, but he's pretty cool about it now. Well, it's enabled you to grow a lot of flowers, so I don't think he can complain now about it. It's gorgeous.
00:16:25
Speaker
Now that you have your greenhouse, for those people listening that are thinking, gosh, I'd really love to add a greenhouse to my garden. What are some things that you either have in it or wish that you would have done when you were constructing the greenhouse that you could share with us?
00:16:41
Speaker
Sure. So the first thing is we do have a heater. That's so nice. Temperature controlled. I know, I know, I'm sorry. I know the struggles that you have had, but we do, it's temperature controlled. So I have it to 45 in the winter to make sure that I have some things that are geraniums that are overwintering right now in them.
00:17:06
Speaker
or in it. So that helps tremendously. I also have a fan that will go on based on when the temperature isn't what it needs to be. We have, let's see, we don't have a lot of windows and things. I wish I wish we could have opened more windows. But what we do have is we have two Dutch doors on either side.
00:17:34
Speaker
So for cross flow, which I love. Plus it's really nice knowing that I can keep the tops open and keep the critters and all of that away and out.
00:17:48
Speaker
by closing the bottom of the doors. And then I have a little window on top that we keep open. But with the fan, that really helps to keep the heat out in the summer. It gets pretty hot in there in the summer, though. We don't really grow too much in there in the summer. But we just put a sink in. It was a sink that we found from a friend that lived down the way. And it's a vintage sink.
00:18:19
Speaker
Uh, we don't have a drain, but we just have, you know, the little container. Yeah. Basin that the water goes in, but it's really nice to have that. I kind of missed not having that. And I have a hose.
00:18:33
Speaker
which is great. So I love having the hose so I can water everything. And other than that, I'm trying to think of electricity. So we have electricity for our heat mats when we're growing our seeds and the light, the grow lights. So we have just what we need. It's amazing. That's so nice. Yeah.
00:19:01
Speaker
When I built my greenhouse. I was just so excited to have a greenhouse and we built it down on the corner of our property.
00:19:07
Speaker
as close to the property line as you can with the setback rules. And I can think about adding electricity or running water or any of that. So now I have a 75 foot extension cord in the wintertime that runs from our backyard patio all the way down to the greenhouse with the space. It's a greenhouse space heater. And so it keeps the greenhouse above freezing. And then we are on irrigation water here in Hood River, which means that
00:19:35
Speaker
We have a farmer's irrigation system that turns on April 15th and shuts off October 1st. And so that's the only time of year I have running water. Otherwise I have to run a hose from the house down to the greenhouse.
Overwintering and Planting Plans
00:19:49
Speaker
So this time of year I'm out, trucking, uh, watering cans full of water down to the greenhouse when I need to water something. Uh, so, okay, seriously,
00:20:03
Speaker
I can't even believe you do the things that you do and that you have such beautiful flowers. I mean, you have massive flowers and there's stuff that you have to do. You make it work though, right? I mean, if you're a gardener, you make it work and find a way what you do. Yeah, exactly.
00:20:19
Speaker
You have to be versatile and you have to learn to adapt and pivot sometimes. So your greenhouse is heated. If I was to show up at your house today and go into your greenhouse, what would I find in there right now? Not much. You'd find probably a lot of cobwebs. Mine too.
00:20:39
Speaker
Um, but basically we have, uh, geraniums that are over wintering. So that's about it right this second bit in two weeks. We're going to start having, um, some sweet pea and some snap dragon, um, seed seed starts or yeah. So that'll be fun. Oh, how exciting. So when you get back from your boat trip, it's time to start a bunch of seeds. It is, it is. It's, it's funny. It's like after right after Christmas, start January 1st. It's all about gardening again.
00:21:09
Speaker
I mean, that's all we think about, right? And so the planning and the seeds and all of that. So much goes into this time of year. I want to touch on your geraniums because you have a wonderful blog post about overwintering geraniums. Geraniums have, because of you, they've become one of my favorite things to grow. I, this last year grew 60 feet of scented geraniums in my field.
00:21:38
Speaker
And I started with three plants and I propagate them in the winter time in the greenhouse. But had I left them outside, the ones that I do leave outside, I don't dig up all of them every year. I just dig up a handful to put in the greenhouse and overwinter them. But because of your blog post, I now know how to overwinter my geraniums. So can you tell us about a couple of the ways that you overwinter your geraniums?
00:22:03
Speaker
Yeah, of course. So I basically take them all out of the flower containers, the window boxes, all of that. And I transplant them into their own containers. And then I bring them into the greenhouse. I try to
00:22:23
Speaker
pretty much clip them clip off whatever I can to just make them, you know, they're not taking all that energy to make blooms and all of that. They're just trying to survive right through the winter. So I'll cut all the blooms off. I'll cut them down quite a bit.
00:22:42
Speaker
And then when I'm cutting them down, I'll also take some of them and make starts. So I'm kind of doing two things at once. I'm overwintering, but I'm also starting new plants from those cuttings so I can have even more because
00:22:58
Speaker
Over wintering is great, but it does get to the point where the mother, the mother plant is going to get really leggy and just, you know, it's not going to look as good as it did when we first bought them. So that's why I kind of do it, the two things together.
00:23:18
Speaker
But I just make sure that they're watered really heavily at first, and then I go and check on them. There's a lot of different things that people say. They said, don't water them at all when they're overwintering. I make sure that they're moist. They're not too moist because they can get diseases, and they're prone to getting mildew and all of that. But just watching them really carefully. And then it's so funny. It's just like, I tell you, March.
00:23:48
Speaker
beginning of April, they just wake up and they start growing again. But there are other ways, I mean, you don't have to have a greenhouse to do it. There are different ways, like in my blog post, it will show you different ways you can do it even when you don't have a greenhouse. So there are a few different ways you can overwinter. But it has saved me probably at least $300 a year
00:24:15
Speaker
because I love them so much and they're pretty much the base of all of my flour containers in the summer.
00:24:22
Speaker
Draniums are not cheap because you can't start them from seed. No. So when you buy them at a nursery, especially the scented Draniums, they're 20 plus dollars for a pot and they're super easy to propagate. So I don't even use a rooting hormone. You don't know. They're that easy. I mean, you can obviously people have used, you know, I've tried honey. I've tried, tried all kinds of things, but for the most part,
00:24:50
Speaker
you know, they propagate so easily that I don't really do that and I still get the roots. So it's pretty interesting. But you also have to really remember that you have to harden them off before you put them out again for, you know, when the last frost freeze has happened, they have to acclimate
00:25:14
Speaker
to the outdoor elements. And so they absolutely have to be hardened off as well for a few weeks before they're transplanted back out. That's a good reminder because they do not handle a freeze. No. And so when you get them at Costco, Costco has great geraniums. I'm sorry, but they have great prices, great geraniums. And so every year I'll still buy
00:25:39
Speaker
a couple of their six packs or whatever they are. But I make sure that I, again, I put them right into the greenhouse for a while and then harden them off because they've been inside for so long. I think that they start selling them in March. Oh, wow. I think that's the mistake that some people think, well, if they're selling them, we can go ahead and plant them out there.
00:26:08
Speaker
No. That's such a good reminder because it's easy to see something and get excited because spring's looming on the horizon. And I know for myself, I don't take my geraniums out until the middle of May. And my last frost, average frost date is May 1st, but I usually plant the geraniums somewhere between May 15th and June 1st, usually after I finished planting all the dahlias. So thank you for sharing that. I will link in the show notes.
00:26:36
Speaker
a link to your geranium blog post on how to overwinter them because I'm sure that would be very helpful for many people listening today. Great. So you are going to be starting a whole bunch of seeds and you mentioned you're going to be sewing some sweet peas, snapdragons. What else do you have in store for 2024 that you're going to grow?
00:26:59
Speaker
Well, my little seed containers over there, so I can't remember everything, but the zinnias, cosmos, I love straw flower. So I mean, I do.
00:27:11
Speaker
at least three varieties of straw flower every year. It's such a great dried flower too. So I love that. I think I have some marigolds in there, globe amaranth. Gosh, I can't even think of all the things that I have, but I have quite a few. Oh, Queen Anne's Lace.
00:27:41
Speaker
Do you do the white one or the kind of? The chocolate. The chocolate one. I think it's called. Yes. So I did the white one before. It didn't do as well for me. I don't know if it was just a fluke, but I absolutely love the chocolate. And what's really cool is I didn't do it last year and it grew up through my brick pavers. Oh my goodness.
00:28:07
Speaker
everywhere so obviously volunteers right but I mean literally they hardly needed any water. I tried to water them through the brick but that was a really nice surprise and then I remembered how much I loved them so I got new seeds but what's super cool is I saved a lot of my seeds
00:28:32
Speaker
from last year. And this will be the first year that I'm actually, I did buy some new seeds, but I'm going to be a majority of it. It's going to be my own seeds from last year. So I'm a little nervous to see how they do, but I'm hoping that they do well. Sunflowers, sunflowers are another one that I really love doing from seed. Those are pretty much my favorite. I mean, those, I love working with them because they're so big.
00:28:59
Speaker
Yes, they're easy to sew. Yeah, yeah. So yeah, so I'm really excited. I cannot wait. Are you growing any of Sunflower Steve's sunflowers this year? In my way. Growing any of Sunflower Steve's sunflowers this year? No. Oh, you need to add some of his. He has, they look really beautiful. He has some chocolate ones that are gorgeous with the chocolate Dara. He has some very striking colors.
00:29:29
Speaker
Definitely check them out. Send that to me. I will, yes. Steve has an incredible collection. He's been breeding for over 14 years now, I think. Wow. I would love to have him on the podcast one of these days to share about his journey of growing and breeding sunflowers. I did notice that for me, the sunflowers, when I just directly put them in the garden,
00:29:53
Speaker
the birds get them every time. So I definitely start them in the greenhouse and wait until they're big enough that they can go out there. And that has saved me. That has made all the difference in the world.
00:30:07
Speaker
Yes, Steve actually gave me a great tip a few years ago because I sowed a bunch of sunflower seeds and I walked away and went to the next row in the field. And there were all those crows, there were three of them, and they were just pecking away, eating everything I sowed. And what Steve said is that he goes to this because, and he has a lot, he has thousands upon thousands, but he said he goes to the local hardware store. So I went to my local ACE and I bought a bag of cheap sunflower seeds.
00:30:37
Speaker
and I scattered them and I just threw them out and fed the birds so that they had enough food to eat. And then I sewed my seeds and then I tarped them with just a frost cloth for a couple of days and they germinated. And for me, that was a lot easier than starting a bunch of trays. But then as kind of a security blanket, I start some of my sunflowers also. And I think it's the 128 cell trays for seed sowing.
00:31:04
Speaker
Yeah, they're so easy too. I think the easiest ones for me are the sweet peas and sunflowers because the seeds are so big. When you get to like the snapdragons, they're so tiny, you're using your tweezers and you're trying to get them all in there, which is crazy because they end up looking beautiful, but I get nervous that I'm not getting them all in the dirt.
00:31:29
Speaker
I know. I feel like I need a magnifying glass. I've found that using a toothpick on some of the smaller seeds and I lick the toothpick and then I dip it in and then thankfully you don't have to cover the snap dragon seeds. I just, I push them into the soil and then I move on. But sometimes you're looking at the toothpick thinking, did I even get the seed on there because they're so small. I put them all on paper plates first and then I kind of get them, like put them in little,
00:31:59
Speaker
clusters because it's so hard when they're little like that. But I mean, they're the prettiest flowers so you can't just give up on them. So a little bit of extra work, but it's worth it. Absolutely. So do you have a favorite flower or a particular flower that you are especially looking forward to growing this year? It's hard to have a favorite.
00:32:30
Speaker
I probably do have a favorite. I love dahlias and you have to have patience when you're growing them because they're pretty much for me, they're the last flower that blooms basically in the garden. So I would say like July is when they come up, but it's so worth it. It's worth the wait. They're worth the wait and they're the last man standing.
00:33:00
Speaker
out in the garden in the fall and there's so many varieties. I think it's just, I think that's why I love them so much is like you can just, they look so different. I mean, you can look at a Zinnia and they're all beautiful and there's different varieties, but they kind of look the same. Dahlias look so different no matter, you know, no matter where, which ones you're going to pick in the, in the, the colors are so beautiful. So I just think they make such an amazing statement.
00:33:28
Speaker
They're a little bit harder to grow. I mean, not harder, but they take a little bit more time because you're splitting them. And I'm lucky because I leave them in the ground because our climate is more mild. And so we just do a layer of mulch to protect them in the winter. But they're just stunning. I mean, the cafe au lait variety is probably my very favorite. So.
00:33:56
Speaker
She's a stunner and she's a diva. There's a reason she's called a diva. She's a lot of work sometimes. A lot of work. And I tend to kind of walk away from the dinner plates varieties a little bit more because they are so hard to keep from breaking. I mean, I do the supporting and all of that, but the smaller ones are just as pretty to me. Do you have a favorite, Dahlia?
00:34:24
Speaker
Well, the cafe au lait is my favorite probably. I mean, I just think it's stunning. The sad part about me is there's a lot of dahlias that I have in the garden and I don't know what they're called. And so I need you to come and help me figure out what varieties they are because when I first started gardening, I had a neighbor that just gave me some.
00:34:49
Speaker
And I just, I have no idea what they're called because I can look them up and I, Oh, well it looks like this, but it looks like this. So there's a lot of them. I don't even know. I'd be happy to help you. Yeah. I would love that. But yeah. And then there's another one that, um, Oh gosh, what's it called? It's the one with, it's kind of a white kind of a cream and it has a yellow, uh, center in it. And it just looks, it almost looks like a daisy, but not quite. Is it apple blossom?
00:35:19
Speaker
No, but it looks like apple blossom. Hmm. I don't grow any of the open centered ones. So I'm not as familiar with those ones. Yeah. You know, the open center ones are really interesting. The pollinators absolutely love them. They do. Yes. But they're a little bit harder to, um, to keep cut back and all of that. They kind of tend to
00:35:41
Speaker
kind of fly all over the place. Do you know what I'm saying? It's hard to explain it. I stopped growing them because I breed dahlias. And if you have open-centered, you're more likely to get open-centered dahlias if you're doing open pollination like I am, which means I let the bees help me pollinate what I'm collecting for seed. The other thing with open-centered is the petals tend to fall off faster if you're using them for cut flowers. Yes. That's absolutely true.
00:36:10
Speaker
So I don't grow them, but they are, I used to, and they're phenomenal for bringing the bees to the garden to help pollinate everything. And the bees will love you if you grow them. And I think they still make a great home bouquet for cut flowers, but they don't work well when you're selling to florists like I do. No, absolutely. And I do love them because the bees love them. Yes. It's so fun to see the bees out in the garden. You don't make as good of a cut flower.
00:36:37
Speaker
Absolutely. Can you share with us one of your biggest challenges you faced as a cut flower gardener and how did you overcome that challenge?
Challenges and Life Lessons in Gardening
00:36:50
Speaker
You know, it's, I think the hardest thing for me is controlling pests. It's just, it's tough. And the first one is the mole. Um, for some reason,
00:37:07
Speaker
The moles are getting worse and worse every year and it's better than a vole. So I can't complain too much because it's not like it's eating my flowers, but they're taking my bulbs and my bulbs are getting moved and the dirt's getting moved and it's just, I think it's more frustrating than anything.
00:37:32
Speaker
I have not found a way to get rid of them. So I would say, yes, that's a big challenge and I have not been able to overcome that. But as far as pests go, I think the biggest thing that has helped me is to walk my garden daily. Yes. I think that's the biggest thing because if you can catch these pests or if a plant is diseased, if you can catch them early enough, you can keep them away from other ones. You can cut them back.
00:38:03
Speaker
You know, whatever it is that you need to do, but I do only use organic methods. I strongly believe in that. And, you know, neem oil has helped a lot.
00:38:19
Speaker
just all kinds of different things. I couldn't even tell you what I have in my greenhouse right now to do that. But I think that's the biggest thing is just being on top of it and to react as quickly as you can. But it is kind of frustrating when you're doing all this hard work and you see the pests coming in, or maybe it's the deer. Oh, I didn't get that liquid fence, that deer repellent on
00:38:45
Speaker
Yesterday because it was raining and then the next day your roses are gone So it's just you know, it's mother nature and it's the wildlife and on all of that But you know, you're you're sharing you're sharing your garden with every everybody and everything But it's still very frustrating when you can't control things like that and you've worked so hard on it
00:39:06
Speaker
Yes. I, I'm very much a planner and I like to control things. Yep. And I think that that's one thing that I've definitely learned from gardening is that you are not in control. Well, remember the frost? Was it last year that you were just frantically, weren't you? Wasn't it something happened and there was a, the frost came really early and I know we were trying to,
00:39:32
Speaker
You're just scrambling because it was like a month earlier or something. I can't, I can't remember, but, um, that's another thing. It's like the weather, you know, you can't control these things. And so you do the best that you can, but, uh, you know, it is what it is. And next year you can start over and, and it'll be completely different.
00:39:52
Speaker
Absolutely. That's one of my favorite things on an earlier episode. Paul from Applecore Farms shared that one of his favorite things about gardening is that each year gives you a fresh start and you have the opportunity to start anew. Absolutely. I mean, basically the joy of gardening is just the experiencing and the doing
00:40:14
Speaker
But if you want it to be complete, you want it to be finished and you want it to be perfect, probably gardening isn't for you. Definitely. Or you will learn to adjust your expectations. Exactly. Whether you like it or not. Yes.
00:40:32
Speaker
Well, I think you answered my next question there. I was going to ask you what valuable life lessons you've learned from working with flowers. Are there any other life lessons that the garden has taught you that you can share with us today? Yeah, I just, I think there's a couple of things. I mean, number one, garden therapy is real. I don't care who you are being out with the flowers and nature and it's just, it is therapy. It's just,
00:41:00
Speaker
You don't even have to do a lot just being out there really is good for your soul, I think. And then really learning that seeing the beauty and imperfection. I mean, every flower is not perfect, but it's just, there's beauty in everything. And so I'm learning.
00:41:19
Speaker
to love the imperfection of it all. Oh, you know what? That didn't get weeded and that's a mess and whatever, but it's still as a whole, just everything is just beautiful no matter what. And so, and then also just living in the moment. When you're out there in the garden, it's just like, you know, you're not, I try not to take my phone out there too much unless I'm taking pictures.
00:41:44
Speaker
just really living in the moment and appreciating everything that's there. One of the things that I love is in the early evening, I will go out to the cut flower garden and the bees are actually sleeping in the zinnias. Isn't that amazing to find them out there? And to me, that is like, I mean, I can literally talk about appreciating being in the moment. I literally will sit there and watch them.
00:42:14
Speaker
for like five or 10 minutes. I mean, it's just, it's the most fascinating thing. Just really watching what can happen in the garden. It's just, it's just amazing. It's changed my whole life. It just, it actually really slows you down. I mean, doing the seeds and starting the season and all that. Yeah, it's a lot of work, but you know, when it's all done and you've just, well, it's never done, but you know what I mean?
00:42:43
Speaker
like in the summer especially when you're just trying to maintain it and you're just it's just walking through it's just it's just a really peaceful and relaxing experience. I know I'll head outside and I'm like I'm just gonna go grab one flower and 30 minutes later my husband's yelling out in the field are you coming back and I look at my watch and I'm like I'm so sorry I lost track of time I started watching this bee right here or I noticed these flowers and
00:43:14
Speaker
Sometimes I just would stand in awe like this all grew in this space right here. I think it's just super it's just amazing to me that I Did this because again before I moved in 11 years ago almost 12 years ago I mean I look at pictures and I literally can't believe that I Created that you know, it's empowering. It's empowering. It's it's
00:43:43
Speaker
If I can do it, anyone could do it is basically what I'm saying because I mean, I was the one that when as a little kid, my mom and dad would be like, okay, it's time to work in the yard. And I'd say, can I please clean the whole entire house while you guys are out there so I don't have to be out there? I mean, that wasn't me. So to see this change
00:44:07
Speaker
in me from when I was a little kid. That's all I want to do is be out there. It's pretty amazing. I love it. What do you do with your flowers that you grow?
Community Sharing and Final Tips
00:44:22
Speaker
They're actually just for anybody to enjoy. I don't sell my flowers.
00:44:29
Speaker
But my friends, people in my community, my neighborhood, they know that they can come and they can make a bouquet anytime they want. They just need to bring their own clippers and their own container. I have vases out there for them. But there's been weddings.
00:44:46
Speaker
So people have actually gone in and cut flowers for their wedding. I've had probably three or four different weddings. I've had people that are going to a memorial service that have have taken flowers, birthdays. I love it. So if I'm doing am I going to an event and I want to do a hostess gift or birthdays, I always have something.
00:45:16
Speaker
that I can do. So I love that. But I really, I share it with everybody. And then the seed starts that I have along with the perennials that I divide every year, I give them to the community garden. So we have a community garden, probably about eight minutes away. And so I
00:45:40
Speaker
I give them all the flowers that they need. I used to actually put them in the ground too this last year with my knee replacement. I wasn't able to do that. So yeah, so I get to see all of that in another garden too. So it's really fun. And then I share my tubers. I share, you know, I share the seed starts that I don't need with other neighbors. So it's fun. I love that. I had no idea that your neighbors were invited to come
00:46:09
Speaker
pick flowers and that you've done weddings and birthdays, such a gift for your community. And I love the idea of sharing what you have of excess with your community garden. What a great idea that I think so many listeners could probably do as well. I know sometimes I have extra flowers and I hate to say it, but sometimes they go to waste because they don't ever get planted. But I love that idea of donating the extras so that someone else can grow them and enjoy them.
00:46:39
Speaker
Yeah, I think four or five different friends got sunflowers last year sunflower starts. Oh, I love it. Oh, yeah. So yeah, it's, it's, it's really fun because I never did it to make I didn't do it to make money. I just did it.
00:46:58
Speaker
because I really loved bringing flowers inside. So I thought, oh, this will be great. And then I had the whole thing about, oh, I don't want to cut the flowers and bring them inside because then the garden won't look pretty until I figured out, well, you need to cut them so they'll produce more. And so I figured it out. It took a while though. But you know, it's hard. I know a lot of people that say, oh, I don't want to cut them because they look so pretty in the garden.
00:47:28
Speaker
It's actually good for them. You want to cut them so they keep producing. So now I don't feel as guilty. Yes. Especially with many of the flowers you grow, the dahlias, the zinnias, cosmos, gomphrena, which is the globe, amaranth, the snapdragons, the more you cut them, the more they're going to produce so that the garden keeps giving. Absolutely. And it took me a while to figure that out. But once I did, um, it was good because now my.
00:47:56
Speaker
My house is full of flowers too. Which is such a wonderful thing. I miss my flowers this time of year. I do too. That's why you have Trader Joe's in January and February.
00:48:09
Speaker
I have my dried flowers. That's what I've switched to dried flowers. I've been trying to dry more flowers and filling my house with dried flowers. I didn't get to it this year, but my goal for next year is to force more bulbs in the wintertime so that I have flowers blooming. Yeah, I want to do that too. Another good dried flower that I did was status. Love status. That is a great flower. That is a great flower to dry. It's so pretty.
00:48:38
Speaker
I'm trying to pick more flowers that are great for drying. Yes. When I first heard of status, all I knew was the purple status that you see in the traditional grocery bouquet, but it comes in so many colors. I got mine planted a little late this last year, but I planted 60 feet.
00:48:59
Speaker
And I planted, my favorite is the apricot. Nine two. That's my favorite. And I love it. I think I'm only going to grow that in white status this year because it just is so beautiful and a bouquet. It's so pretty. Yeah. And it dries beautifully too. I use the, I'm looking around my room right now as we're chatting, I have buckets of dried status everywhere. Cause I just, I love it so much. I do too.
00:49:24
Speaker
And it's great for reads. It's so pretty to hang, hang from like I hang it. There goes the dog, sorry. I hang it from my pot, my pan rack and
00:49:36
Speaker
and in the laundry room and it's so, it's so pretty. I kind of moved it away for Christmas and then it's all coming back. So it's a great pop of color. I love that. We've talked a lot about how you got started with your flower gardens. If someone is listening today and wanting to start a garden in 2024, what advice would you give them today?
00:50:01
Speaker
Uh, bring your patience and don't be hard on yourself. It's, uh, I think that's the biggest thing we just talked about earlier about control and not being able to control things. And I think just knowing that it's.
00:50:20
Speaker
it's a process of learning and some things are going to turn out wonderful and you're going to be so excited and some things might not. But again, you've got the next year you can start over and that would be my first thing. My second thing would be start slow. I know I started, I
00:50:45
Speaker
I have a thing. When I shop for seeds, I decide that I want them all. They're all so pretty, right? The catalogs are too tempting. Yep. And even though I plan it out, I seem like, oh, I'm sure I can throw that in somewhere. I really would advise anybody starting out to just start slow and just, you know, get a few varieties.
00:51:12
Speaker
don't go crazy, figure out what works for you and your location, what is maybe easier for you, things like that. And so what I do every year is I just pick things that worked for me and then the things that didn't work for me, that's how I'll add different varieties. I'll say, okay, this didn't work for me, so I'll try this. And so I'll kind of move things out, move things in.
00:51:40
Speaker
But I definitely wouldn't go too crazy with a bunch of different varieties. I would just start out slow. Maybe you start out with a flower container garden, and you see how that works first. And then you can kind of move on. But I just, starting out slow is such a big deal.
00:52:04
Speaker
It keeps you from being frustrated and from being overwhelmed. The last thing you want to do is be overwhelmed. Gardening is supposed to be joyful.
00:52:16
Speaker
That's basically what I would suggest. I would also suggest an irrigation system, any kind of irrigation system. If you're working or you are just busy, you have kids and you can't be out in the garden all the time, some kind of system to where
00:52:35
Speaker
you don't have to worry about watering constantly because I know that that gets people really frustrated if they don't have the time to water. You know, if they're just sitting there, because the first two years I was just watering probably two hours a day.
00:52:49
Speaker
And it kind of sucked the joy out of it a little bit. So just having little tools here and there to help you out so you can enjoy a little bit more. I love that advice. The starting small is so key because you're a perfect testament that you can grow a lot of flowers in a very small space. Looking at your garden, you produce so many flowers.
00:53:16
Speaker
And it's really easy to overplant and all of a sudden not be able to keep up with everything you've planted. So getting an understanding of what you're able to grow and then going bigger. You can always go bigger the next year. Absolutely. Perfect what you, well, again, you can't perfect everything, but you know, decide what is working for you first before you move to the next step.
00:53:41
Speaker
I love that advice. And then the irrigation. Oh my goodness. How important is water? I had an irrigation line that got broken. It broke. We had a freeze. I think it was in April and the irrigation line broke.
00:53:58
Speaker
And it's where all of my hydrangeas are. And our local irrigation company was so backed up for repairs. It was two months this summer and we were so much hotter. I think this May was unseasonably hot.
00:54:13
Speaker
I was hand watering for over an hour every day. I don't have that kind of time when I have an acre farm to keep up with. And once the plants were suffering, they weren't producing very many flowers because I just didn't have time to water that much.
00:54:30
Speaker
with by hand and once the irrigation turned back on those plants looked so happy and so healthy again and it freed up that time that I could enjoy the flowers so I love that advice. Yeah it really does make a difference to where where there are little things you can do here and there
00:54:48
Speaker
Like the irrigation to where you you can enjoy you want to enjoy it. You don't want it to be an overwhelming process and just say forget it. This is just not it's just too much work. So there are tools here and there that you can that you can use to
00:55:04
Speaker
to make it fun and to make it not like, Oh my gosh, I have to go out and water again. Yeah. Flowers are meant to be enjoyed. They're not something that's supposed to create stress. Yes. So I love that. And your website has a wealth of knowledge for backyard gardeners. If someone has a question, they probably can find an answer on your website. So Kim, can you please tell our listeners, how can they find you?
00:55:33
Speaker
Well, it's easy. It's shiplap and shells. So my website is shiplapandshells.com and my socials are all shiplap and shells. So it's not seashells. I know a lot of people go in and put seashells. Nope. So yeah, shiplap and shells and you will find me. I'm pretty, pretty much, uh, anywhere. Pinterest.
00:55:59
Speaker
Instagram, Facebook, I do have TikTok, but I have not been doing a good job being on there as much. But yeah, Instagram is a big, big one for me. And but the blog is, is kind of my passion. So I'm usually on there doing things as much as much as possible. I do have a cut flower garden series.
00:56:22
Speaker
So on the menu, if you go to garden and then you go to cut flower garden series, I have quite a few blog posts there as well.
00:56:33
Speaker
I love it. We will include a link in the show notes so that people can go check out your website. And Kim also blogs about home decor. So you'll find lots of inspiration for your house as well on her website. Kim, it has been such an honor and such a pleasure to get to visit with you today. I know our guests have learned so much and I would love to bring you back on again in the future if you'd be willing to join us for another chat someday.
00:57:03
Speaker
Absolutely. It was so fun. I feel like we were just kind of hanging out, having some coffee. I know. If only it was a little bit warmer outside, I could be sitting in my garden chatting with you. Oh, we'll have to do that next time. Yes. Maybe in the greenhouse. Oh, we did that once. We did on Instagram. Yeah, I do like the greenhouse. We'll do that next time. Greenhouse chat. It's a date. Perfect. Well, before we end today, is there anything you would like to leave our listeners with?
00:57:32
Speaker
Um, gosh, I pretty much talked a lot. I just, I just know that gardening has changed my life. And I think that just that I've already talked about it, but just knowing that it's not going to be perfect. It's not going to be finished. It's not going to be, you're not going to be able to control everything. As long as you know that.
00:58:02
Speaker
It's a work, your garden is a work in progress and you're just enjoying what you're doing. Um, I mean, it really, it really is a great, um, a great experience. I mean, therapy, like I said, again, therapy. I remember when we were in the pandemic and I just,
00:58:26
Speaker
I couldn't go anywhere, we had to stay at home. Actually it was okay because I was in the garden the whole time and it was just, it did something to me. It takes you away from the rest of the world and you kind of have your own joy and happiness right there in the garden.
00:58:43
Speaker
I love it. Amazing. So in 2024, let's go ground ourselves and connect back with our gardens and find that joy. Absolutely. And with you a hundred percent. Thank you so much, Kim. It's been such a pleasure. We'll talk again soon. Okay. Thanks. Thank you.
00:59:03
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. If you'd like to stay connected and continue this blossoming journey with local flowers,
00:59:29
Speaker
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. This is Jennifer Galitzia of the Backyard Bouquet, signing off to head back outside to tend to my garden.