In This Issue
- Open by appointment for perennials and shrubs
- Fertilize your annuals
- Minding The Garden by Brian Bixley
- Bring back your empty pots and trays
- Thank you 'Flower Team'
- We are truly grateful to YOU!
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Open by appointment through the summer
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Shrubs and perennials available
Although our 2020 'regular' season has now drawn to a close, we remain open by appointment through the summer. We have a great selection of shrubs and perennials available and with a private shopping experience thrown in, what more could you ask for?! Please e mail me at
katie@cutdriedflowerfarm.com or call 705 424 9319 to set up an appointment to purchase perennials or shrubs.
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If you do one thing
So now you have your annuals planted - either in the ground or containers. Believe it or not the most important care that you can give them is not deadheading or other pampering - it's fertilizing. There are two types of fertilizer that you can use.
Slow release granules are placed on the soil or mixed in slightly and release food slowly over the course of the season. All our planters and hanging baskets have slow release fertilizer added, but it would be best to add more once or twice through the season, especially if the plants are heavy feeders such as Petunias.
The second method of fertilizing is with
soluble fertilizer. This is a soluble powder that is mixed with water and applied at least once a week. At the farm we fertilize with every watering and you can do this too. A combination of these two types of fertilizer is ideal for annuals and will give you fabulous blooms and strong healthy growth until or even after frost hits.
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Local author launches new Gardening book
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Congratulations Brian!
Brian Bixley is one of our long time customers and a real gardening guru in these parts. He has recently written a beautiful coffee table book about his own gardening triumphs and challenges. Brian and Maureen's garden is in the Mulmur hillls and is a real labour of love. Brian's book is a beautiful gift for your favourite gardener. I can't wait to get my hands on my own copy!
"The creation of a garden, particularly if the gardeners are ignorant, as we were, and if they are confronted with a more-or-less bare space, is a history of setbacks and failures as much as it is of successes. The art of garden design is at least partially the process of undoing earlier errors, and we were not short of those. It was the process of trying and failing, of not getting things quite right, that slowly alerted us to the similarities with other creative endeavours, and it was from those frustrations and jubilations that
Minding The Garden began to emerge." From the Preface.
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Bring back your empty pots and trays
Many customers have been asking whether with Covid concerns we are taking back empty plastic pots and trays this year. The answer is Yes. We will have you unload your own empties and then leave for at least 48 hours in the sun before we handle them. We are always happy to reuse our own pots and reduce the need for using new plastic and we appreciate our customers thinking and acting on the issue too. A few things to remember, please!
- We can only reuse our own containers. Please do not bring us any containers that you did not purchase from here. We have the costs of sorting unusable containers and then have to dispose of them ourselves.
- Do not return broken pots or trays. Again, we only end up having to dispose of them ourselves.
- Please do not leave on our driveway or at our gate. Call the phone number indicated on our sign so that we can show you where to put the containers.
Thanks for your help! Every small action helps our planet!
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When the going gets tough, the tough get growing!
This season, our staff have really gone above and beyond to help make the year a success. They have made the difference between our business staying afloat or sinking. I really hope that by writing this note, I can somehow not only convey my feelings of gratitude towards them, but also let you, our loyal customers know how much our staff mean to us.
In mid March, I was seeding in our propagation greenhouse and others were potting bare root perennials when it was first announced on our greenhouse radio that we were officially in the throes of a pandemic and that society as we knew it would be closing down. It took us approximately 5 minutes to decide that since we were growing food crops and were therefore classified as an 'essential business', we would carry on growing our crops with new safety policies and procedures in place.
Our staff were beside us all the way, supporting our decisions and offering up their help in any way needed. Right the way through the season, with all the ups and downs that were thrown at us, all the practical problem solving and quick solutions that had to be devised, our staff stood by us, understanding the dire consequences for us if our business did not make it. It was almost as if the pandemic made us all put our heads down and push on even harder. I would like to take this opportunity to
thank each of our employees one at a time...
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And finally, thank you, our loyal customers
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We are truly grateful to YOU!
Words cannot express how grateful I am to you - our loyal customers. We really did not know what this year, our 28th in business would bring, but we were blown away by your support. It hasn't been an easy year for us, dismantling our traditional selling methods and rebuilding from scratch. Thank you for your patience as we set up and and operated our order ahead system. Thank you for patiently waiting in line to enter our Drive In.
Over the season, we received so many positive comments and notes of support. You told us that you were grateful to be able to buy plants, that you were feeling safe shopping here, that you enjoyed our happiness and that you appreciated all the running around that we were doing. Thank you, lovely and kind customers for taking the time to say 'Thanks'! Your support means a lot. I feel relieved knowing that we were able to operate safely through the pandemic and so grateful to be in work, busy doing the job I love.
My staff, Chris and I thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
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Thank you so much for your continued loyalty and patience as we remain firmly seated on this roller coaster and navigate our business through these turbulent times.
Let's plant hope together!
Katie Dawson
Cut and Dried Flower Farm
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