Flower shops and farmers markets are overwhelming with blossoms this time of year, but there are always a few flowers that are impossible to find. Whether their lifespan is too short, or their too fragile to ship, or they're just not popular enough, certain flowers simply have to be homegrown.
- The other day Sarah Ryhanen of Saipua presented the lovely corn poppy, proudly grown on her new flower farm. Now, I adore poppies- as I've mentioned here & here and probably a few other times- so a whole new poppy is very exciting. However, I doubt I'll be finding it at a flower shop anytime soon. As Sarah writes, "This is a dream flower, one which you have to grow yourself. They are far to fragile to ship, and probably have a vase life of one day." But what a day!
- Angel's Trumpet (Brugmansia, formerly known as Datura) is another favorite that I've never once seen for sale as cut stems. They don't have great stems, I'll admit, which might be part of the problem. But they have an intoxicating scent, and their beauty makes me want to gaze & gaze (as you can see in this Ron van Dongen photo featured on Glitz Bliss, so it would be wonderful to have a vase of them.
- Hellebores are wild, dainty things that come in fascinating shades of chartreuse, salmon, and near-black. I have never once seen them for sale, but if I did I would buy them all. Depending on the price, of course.This perfect little arrangement was created by Flirty Fleurs
- Clematis is best known for its glorious vine-ness, an exuberant tangle of blossoms and tendrils and tiny tumbleweeds. We once had a bunch of it in the flower shop where I work- just once- and I couldn't believe how amazing it was in a vase. The vines hold their shape so well, so with very little effort you can create an arrangement with great structure and liveliness. Flirty Fleurs also made this beautiful clematis arrangement with stems that had most of the leaves and blossoms removed to create long stems, but if you grow your own I recommend only stripping the portion of the vine that will be submerged.
What favorite flowers are impossible for you to find for sale? Have you started growing your own? The flowers above are all on my Someday Dream Garden Wish List, for sure. And if you have seen any of the ones above for sale, please let me know where!
(Images: 1.Saipua, 2. Ron van Dongen via Glitz Bliss, 3. Flirty Fleurs, 4. Flirty Fleurs)
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There is a local nursery that sells beautiful clematis - Spring Valley Greenhouse. http://springvalleygreenhouse.com/. In the spring, they actually give away free (small) clematis to welcome the opening of their nursery.
I have all four that you list above growing in my gardens due to my love of having cut flowers throughout the summer months.
You might have luck growing angel's trumpet in a pot, if you have a sunny place for it. the seeds are pretty easy to germinate. Just a slight warning - all parts of the plant are poisonous.
I'm really enjoying these posts - thank you for doing them.
-Rini
Many of the fragile and "harder-to-find" cut flowers can be found in our backyard -
-Tall, brittle Foxglove (surrounded by golden smoke bush)
http://www.states-street.com/cotinus.jpg
-Giant Burmese Honeysuckle (incredible scale and fragrance)
http://www.states-street.com/burmese2.jpg
-Lily of the Valley (forced indoors in early spring)
http://www.states-street.com/img_7099.jpg
- And the already mentioned brugmansia (incredibly strong evening fragrance)
http://www.states-street.com/brug11.jpg
Brugmansia is lovely but incredibly, horrifically poisonous. Best avoided if you have small children in the house. Hellebores are also toxic though not as bad.
Be prepared to wait if you want to grow hellebores. Seems to take a few years after planting 4" nursery pots to get even a few flowers. I was actually shocked to find beautiful potted hellebores for sale in my grocery store this spring - I bought one of those right up!
If we're talking poisonous, then please include foxglove and even lily of the valley (as "Breaking Bad" viewers know full well).
I taught my daughter VERY early on, if it didn't come from a grocery store, or MY hand, DON'T EAT IT! She was very adventurous with putting all kinds of things in her mouth, including flowers and leaves.
Be aware of what plants are poisonous to your pet rabbits, cats, dogs, and birds (if allowed out of their cages) too. Some things that are just fine for us to eat can be fatal to our companions.
During summer every now and then my florist sells waterlilies as cut flowers. There is an old lady in her neighbourhood who has a large, shallow pond full of them. She cuts them early in the morning and my florist picks them up.
Waterlilies can't be worked into bouquets. Their hollow stems are cut to 4 inches length and a nail (!) is inserted at the end, nail point first. I don't know what the nail is good for but I think at least it is for adding weight to the crooked stems to keep their end under water.
You then place the waterlilies in a shallow bowl of water in the sun. Take care to keep the end of the stems under water, if necessary use pebbles to fix them. The flower heads fully open in full light only, they close in the evening and open again at dawn.
They don't last for long, maybe three days, but they're really worth it. There is some magic about eating at a table with waterlilies on it