I do apologize for not posting regularly this summer.   It was a very intense whorl wind of sorts.  We had a very successful growing year.  Lots of firsts, including growing Dahlias's under cover, and hail damage, (of the ten years we have been growing, this was our first hail storm).  

Right now it is a white winter land with it snowing nicely.  The soil is warm at this time so it should eventually melt, I hope.  The moisture is very welcome. 

Posting photos of various corsages and bout's we created for this season's weddings.  

Lisianthus and peony buds.

Wrist and lapel corsages using stock, delphinium, peony, sage, sedum, allium.

Lisianthus, green chokecherry berries, allium, dusty miller.

Lisianthus, globe thistle, dusty miller.

Culinary sage, globe thistle, feverfew, billy ball, chamomile.

Poppy pods, gomphrena, lime millet, juncus grass, billy ball, wrapped with jute.

Feverfew, gomphrena, poppy pods, dusty miller, juncus grass, globe thistle, yarrow.

Sunflowers, feverfew, scabiosa.

Wedding photos

Haven't had a chance to blog anything recently, so I thought I would add a few pictures.  This is what we have been creating recently.

Coral and white peony bouquets.

Bartzella and white peony bridal bouquet.

Church arrangement.

Pink and white peony bridal bouquet.

Bridesmaids white peony bouquet.

Grooms bout.

Wedding request for pink and white peony bouquets.

Dahlia bridesmaid bouquet.

Brides bouquet.

Progression of Spring

Bbbbrrr pretty much sums up Spring so far.  

This has been the coldest of Springs we have yet to contend with.  Most of the perennials are behind schedule along with the Peonies, which are just starting to produce the flower buds.  Our last frost date this year was June 10th.  A couple of Dahlias were touched by the frost, but we came away lucky as we had quite a bit planted into the gardens.   We are not yet finished the transplanting.  Once the soil dries up after these showers it should take a couple more days to plant.

Plants in the cold frames yet to be planted.

Gloriosa lilies.

  Once planted the leaves curled themselves around the netting.

Dahlias planted in the gardens, mulched and supports in place.

Dahlias in the hoophouse.

Moveable chicken pens.

The chickens are enjoying the Dandelions and grass.

Bird watching area.

One of the bat houses now has a resident bat.  We set up the houses last year, but did not attract any bats.  We hope that a partner for the bat will find our farm and they raise a family.  We have noticed the mosquito population is greatly reduced this year.  Not sure if it is from predators or from the cold weather.

The Raven's were successful in raising their young thus far.  They are now out flying around the area with three young ones.  The young birds are so vocal and quite comedic in their antics.  We have not seen the young Magpies yet, but we sure hear them.  They have quite the ruckus going on.  We have two female Hummingbirds around the yard this summer, so am assuming they are both brooding right now.  They do not come around the feeders as much while they are sitting on the eggs.  With the huge bird population in the yard we have frequent visits from Falcons and small Hawks.  When we hear the increased chattering of the Tree Swallows we take a look into the sky and there is a bird of prey flying over the yard.  The Swallows gather together and swoop at the predator to chase it away, but often one of the birds falls victim.

I hope the weather warms up where you are gardening and you will soon be harvesting lots of fresh veggies.  Will share another update with you after we have completed transplanting, weeding and mulching.

Hoophouse construction.

This is our new hoophouse that Pat built this Spring.  We will be planting the Cafe au Lait and Ice Cube Dahlias in the soil within the hoophouse.  We will lay drip lines to water them and as the season progresses and starts to get warmer, (I hope), we can roll up the sides of the house so there is only the roof covering the Dahlias.  This will allow the Dinnerplate Dahlias to grow with a little more vigor as they will be protected from the elements and will allow the season to extend a bit more into September.

Dahlias ready to be planted.

Another addition to the farm this week are our baby chickens.

The grandkids love to hang out with the chicks.  They are very curious little creatures, checking out Kristan's nail polish on her fingernails.

Along with all the birds that make their home with us, are a couple of rabbits that have taken up residence in our valley by the house.  We usually see them in the mornings munching on the grass.

The bird sightings this week have been a few Rose Breasted Grosbeaks, they are passing through on their way northward, and the Northern Oriole, whom nest at the farm.  We love to listen to their melodic song.  In the pasture we have several pairs of Killdeer's nesting and we have been observing a family (already hatched) of Sandpipers which forage along the shoreline of the sloughs.  There are eleven babies which are quite small and they all stay together in a bunch wherever they go.  The Bluebirds and the Tree Swallows have all claimed their nesting boxes and are busy building their nests or tending to their eggs.  The farm is a chorus of bird songs right now.

Picking up speed...Spring is here...in our greenhouse and the skies.

As the title of this post suggests, we have to look a little harder for signs of Spring right now.  The temperature is feeling like March and the moisture is abundant, with lots of cloudy, rain soaked days.  The rain has melted most of the snow in the yard and more and more birds have arrived.  So far we are seeing the Junco's and Redpoles (just a stopover on their way to Northern Saskatchewan), Bluebirds, Catbirds, Robins, Killdeer, Hawks, Northern Flicker and the Tree Swallows.  There are a couple of Owls that are very vocal in the evenings.  Perhaps they are communicating their mating calls or maybe they are already nesting.  The Sandhill Cranes are once again back in abundance, such a wonder to hear and watch them congregate in large numbers.  We have also seen a Blue Heron in the area so slowly things are feeling like Winter is behind us.

Recycling feathers for the Tree Swallows to line their nests.

The greenhouses are full of plants and many more germinating in the house and many yet to be planted, so lots of busy times ahead.

Few of the Dahlias

We are excited about the upcoming growing season as their will be lots of changes, lots of new plants, flowers and more.  Today I wanted to talk about a few of the vines we are growing for cut flower production this summer.  Some of the items we are growing are Jasmine, Passion Flower, Love in a Puff, Sweet Peas, Gloriosa Lily, Red Hyacinth Bean. and Firecracker Vine.  I plan on adding one or two Hops plants to our perennial plantings along with a few more Clematis.  The Gloriosa Lily's are now starting to show growth and we are looking forward to observing the growth and flowering of these interesting vines. We will have a few of all of the vines available as plant purchases in the next month or so.

Gloriosa Lily

Jasmine

One of the changes we are incorporating into our business plan this year is participating in the Warman Farmers Market.  We will be there Thursdays from 2:00pm - 6:00pm, weather permitting, early May.  We will also be at the Saskatoon Farmers Market on Saturdays from 8:00 - 2:00 starting sometime in May (depending on the weather), and into June with our various plants, including Dahlias.

Happy Spring!

It feels a little more like Christmas here today than Spring.  For a couple of reasons, one being that the wind is howling and very cold today, and second we received another of our plant/tuber/bulb orders today.  So much fun opening the boxes and checking everything out.  We have one more box from this order yet to come.  Seems it was separated from the rest of the order.

Ice Cube Dahlia's

More Dahlias and Ranunculus

Lily bulbs and Dahlia tubers

Gloriosa Lily tubers and Wizard of Oz Dahlia's

The order also consisted of three different types of grasses along with Ranunculus corms and Achillea roots.

We have been busy the last few weeks, seeding and caring for the young seedlings.

Leonitis plants.  These are growing rapidly and had to pinch them way back to get them to slow down a bit.  New plant for us this year and looks like I started them much too early.

Stock seedlings are doing great.  Two new varieties I am trying.

Jasmine vine.  Another new plant for us this year.

Dahlia tubers sprouting.

Busy times ahead.

September Wedding

The rich colours of autumn.

The bride and groom really wanted to use locally grown flowers for their wedding and had originally planned the wedding date much later in September.  When they realized the likelihood of not having frost before their wedding day, they decided to adjust the date to earlier in September.  Even the second week in September is pushing the limits of frost, but the first part of September was warm and all worked out great.

Heather really liked the rich burgundy's and oranges.

The grooms bout consisted of Gomphrena, Bottlebrush, Sage and Frosted Explosion grass.

Heather chose Dahlias as the focal flower for her bouquet along with Bottlebrush, Sage and Frosted Explosion.

The white Dahlias and Sage soften the colours.

The bridesmaids bouquets were smaller with Dahlias, Sage, Bottlebrush, Cherry Brandy Rudbeckia and Frosted Explosion grass.

We enjoyed touring the gardens with Heather and her family.

Patiently waiting

The weather outside is frightfully cold this winter and we are patiently waiting for warmer temperatures.  Our seeds are ordered and they are continually arriving via Canada Post.  Trying several new seed suppliers this year.  I have noticed that more and more of the Canadian seed suppliers are not offering as many seeds for cut flowers this year which has me sourcing from companies based in the United States.  I have been enjoying going through their catalogues as there are so many types of cut flowers we have not tried yet.  I am afraid I have created a lot of work for myself in the next couple of months starting all these new seeds and then the task of transplanting.  But the anticipation of new varieties of cut flowers never bores me.  I am so excited for the 2014 growing season.

Found a new source of Sweet Peas.  The packaging really showcases the glory of these fragrant beauties.

Johnny's has been a seed source for me for many years now.  Their selection and quality of seeds is excellent.  Something new we are trying this year is staking some of our flowers using horizontal netting.  Will elaborate on how it works later in the season.

Every year I try to order at least one new book and this year I could not resist a couple.  (I also have another one in my sites that I plan on getting my hands on.)  Bella's Bouquets is a photo book of hand held bouquets using flowers throughout the seasons.  The photography is excellent but a lot of the bouquets are using flowers we cannot grow here.  

The Flower Recipe book explains how to use various vessels to arrange your flowers and the types of flowers to use and how to arrange them in the vessel.  The Flower Recipe book will be used a lot more as it utilizes a lot of flowers that we can grow here in Saskatchewan.

Another first for us this year is becoming members of the Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers.  Members are from around the world with the majority growing in the United States.  Cut flower growing is a much bigger industry in the United States than in Canada.  The Association is proving to be a wealth of information regarding cut flower trials, seeding, harvesting, post harvest and everything flower growing.  Using these cold winter days to research as much as I can about flower farming.

We have also been busy with inquires from soon to be brides for the upcoming summer months.  Lots of interest in local flowers as well as many brides and grooms wanting to support local in every aspect they can, on their wedding day.  Sure do appreciate their determination as it certainly takes a lot more research and time on their part to source a fully local wedding. 

July, August and September (till freeze up) are the months we can supply wedding flowers.  If you are interested in local flowers for your wedding check out our facebook page at www. facebook.com/mistikacres.  On the page we have created albums of weddings we arranged flowers for as well as albums of Do it Yourself brides.  Lots of ideas and flower variety.  We grow at least 150 varieties of flowers, grasses and herbs, so lots of selection available.

August 2013 Wedding

Melanie contacted us via e-mail after finding us by searching the internet.  We conversed throughout the winter, sending photos and ideas back and forth.  By the end of the winter we pretty much had figured out what flowers would fit into their colour scheme.

Melanie, Emile and their Mom's came out to the farm a couple of weeks prior to the wedding and toured the gardens.  They finalized the flowers they liked and what would work for the bout's, bouquets and centrepieces.  Throughout our walk in the gardens Emile kept commenting how much he liked the Sunflowers and wanted a boutonniere made with a Sunflower.  So we made a small bouquet of sunflowers, just for Emile, and delivered it along with the wedding flowers.

The Boutonniere's consisted of Gomphrena, Sedum, Juncus grass, Baby's Breath and Stock.

The flowers ready for delivery.

We needed a lot of soft pink flowers for this wedding, as you can see.   We ended up cutting flowers the morning of the wedding, before we headed off to the market, in the light of dawn.  We were able to find enough flowers that were ready for picking that morning to finish off the mason jar centrepieces.  That's cutting it close!

The blue mason jars consisted of Dahlias, Cosmos, Sweet Peas, Bell's of Ireland, Zinnias, Frosted Explosion Grass and Queen Anne's Lace.  We delivered and set up the centrepieces.

Notice the playdough for the children on the chairs.

My daughter Mandy, helped me set up the flowers at the wedding venue and took a few photos with our point and shoot camera.

Once the flowers were on the tables they really transformed the room.

Lots of details.

Bridesmaid bouquet.

The bouquets consisted of Dahlias, Baby's Breath, Dusty Miller, Bachelor Buttons and Hydrangea. 

Professional photos courtesy of "Flash'On Photography".

Beautiful!!!

Pretty in pink.

Emile's boutonniere.

We created a flower crown for the flower girl and she carried a basket of flower petals. 

Stunning!!!

I love this photo!

Thank you for choosing Mistik Acres to be part of your wedding Melanie & Emile!