October News/letter
Last time I wrote to you (in April!) it was all about bulbs, and all of a sudden we’re looking back on summer and clearing out spent plants to make room for... more bulbs. I tried to be judicious and limit myself to only the most necessary blooms but there will be some very tall stacks of bulb crates at my front door next week that I’m excited to share with you. (I did grow other things in the months between, just for the record.)
I am going light on tulips and heavy on deer-resistant blooms like alliums, daffodils, iris and ranunculus. I might be most excited about this iris called ‘Struck Twice’ which has the most wonderful fragrance. I do have a place in my heart for the classic purple bearded iris but I’m a little tired of purple in May when every other bloom is purple (alliums, lilac, columbine, rhodies, cat mint, violas...) and this one is just so pretty and plays well with lots of color schemes. But mostly I can’t get my nose out of them, they smell so good.
Visit my online shop for a full menu and images of the bulbs I deemed worthy of recommending to you all!
Wedding season just wrapped up, and I got to work for some very sweet people. I am so grateful for the stunning bounty of local flowers that I pass from my garden or other local farms into my clients’ hands. I love sending couples into a new life together with such poetically of-the-moment blooms.
As I head into my winter season, please think of me if you have a retail or office space that needs flowers, or if you would like to do a team building floral design workshop. I’ll also be offering a holiday centerpiece & tablescape design workshop as well as a winter wreath workshop and a cutting garden class!
[Find flowers in our shop, or inquire at annika@hazeldesigns.com]
It’s also transplanting, digging, planting, mulching and planning/visioning season! I’m excited to see several garden designs take shape over the next few months, and I love the collaborative design process that takes a “meh” garden/yard and makes it really work for a family or individual-- so it truly becomes their own. Fall is a great time to make edits to improve accessibility & flow, privacy, or any aesthetic dissonance in a space, while you have fresh memories and impressions from your garden/outdoor space in the warm season!
My autumn squirrel tendencies result in pockets full of seeds, and I have to remember what they are long enough to get them in an envelope. I’m proud to say I’m getting better at only growing what I really need or want in my garden for cutting, selling or eating. The plants that set loads of seeds aren’t always what I want more of, but I get to share those with my 4th, 5th and 6th grade gardening class. I showed them how to make a seed packet labeled with all the necessary growing information, and they are filling their seed bank with kale, columbine, nigella, poppy, forget-me-nots and calendula. Calendula is a weed in my garden but I infuse it into a wonderful olive oil-based salve with jojoba, vitamin E and beeswax to help with worn hands and dry skin all year round (also for sale in my shop).
In the Pacific Northwest it’s not yet time to plant bulbs, but once the nights get a little colder you can get them in the ground to start growing their roots. Planting spring bulbs (and seeds) is such a hopeful act, and I’m trying hard to stay hopeful and grounded as we head into the election. The dark, rainy days make it harder to spend as much time outside but just like a bulb, I’ve got all this stored energy from sunny days spent with family and friends out in beautiful places. They’ll keep my internal sunshine going for a long time!
Here’s a smattering of images I will hold close to me this winter: a mock orange-scented rafting trip punctuated by fairy villages at each camp, a fireweed fluff patch, a wonderful and too-short trip home to NY, a new living room floor, a new workshop space (!!! but still very much in progress), and some really great bike rides, swims and home days. And flowers.
So enjoy the beginning of cozy soup evenings and bulb planting, as the rain kick starts the “rest and compost” phase of the plant life in our garden/wild spaces. Thank you for supporting my business and for staying in touch!
Love,
Annika