Photo by @luke.fisher.03
It seems like just yesterday all five of us kids were out back hand weeding an impossible-to-keep-clean, new garden bed with Mom. We’re talking a huge section of a pasture that had been a bucolic home to horses for over 20 years. Think deep roots, thick stems, fall-over-backward-every-time-you-pull “garden” bed. But there was Mom—always hopeful, always the nature lover, always looking for a good lesson in perseverance for us kids (which I appreciate, at least now haha)—tirelessly going at that garden bed day in and day out.
Flash forward to today: acres and acres of sweet little gardens, 3 part-time, AMAZING, gardeners (you can believe my siblings and I did a happy dance when they came along!), irrigation systems, rich compost deliveries, heavy-duty tractor equipment, and now…well, you’ll have to read on to find out the next corner we’ve turned here at The Marmalade Lily Gardens!
Enjoy!
Libby
Daughter of an Amazing Gardener
We have turned a corner here at The Marmalade Lily thanks to over 50 yards of compost and the addition of 90 feet of high tunnels, courtesy of a local farmer moving to California to start anew. What a difference the rich compost has made in weed reduction, ease of planting, and the start of more gorgeous blooms this summer! Our gardens have never looked better with just about every bed planted with seedlings like lisianthus, larkspur, celosia, sunflowers, dahlias, gomphrena, Sweet William and so many others. The high tunnels will allow us to extend our bloom season and to plant some more temperamental flowers like sweet peas and ranunculus! We have found the high tunnels allow us to start more flowers from seed as we have a large, protected space to harden-off the new seedlings before we put them in the ground. These tunnels have been a game-changer for us! Please join us for u-cut or our popular farm tour class and see all of the exciting, new flowers and our high tunnels!
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My all-time favorite resource for all things seeds! Plus, they have amazing customer service!
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The American Society of Cut Flower Growers has been an invaluable source of knowledge and community. Their conferences are life-changing.
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This gem is created by Debra Prinzing, a flower farmer icon! And our very own Nan Matteson was just recently featured on her podcast!
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YOUR Local Nursery!
We love our local nursery, Greenfield Plant Farm! It seems like every local nursery is chalk full of gorgeous plants and professional gardeners who provide me with a wealth of information and inspiration!
