What Do You Get When You Cross A Sheepdog And A Rose?… A Collie-Flower!
I hope everyone is staying cool during this stretch of hot weather. It is even more unbearable in many places of the United States and parts of Europe where the surrounding ocean water has warmed to such a degree as to kill coral beds and cactus in places where heat is an issue on a regular basis. People who have fallen onto pavement and side walks are being burned to the point of it being a medical emergency and even life threatening. Fires are becoming even a greater threat and with no real amounts of rain expected this will continue to be an issue as well as shortages of water. We have lost four good people who were working to protect us, wildlife and our burning forests. So heart breaking. Now a wildfire from the south is threatening Osoyoos and many more have had to evacuate their homes.
The weather was within the range to be able to hold the Lumby and District Public Market and so far looks to be within the range of being safe to open again this coming weekend. I’m excited to say that as well as Colleen selling my flowers there they are now also available at Jitter Beans. Both the staff at Jitter Beans as well as Colleen will see that your purchase is placed in a plastic bag with wet paper towel that will ensure that they will be protected from drying out while you travel home.
There are so many beautiful flowers now available and most of these are long lasting and some are wonderful dried and there is nothing more uplifting to you or a friends spirit than fresh flowers. Lysianthus is now in full bloom and this is a beautiful long lasting cut flower, it is like a rose but without the thorns and growing it is a joy as it does not suffer from the plight of disease and pest that Roses do. I am still waiting for my Tuberose to bloom this looks and smells like Jasmin.
Once you get your beautiful bouquet home there is a bit of work to be done to ensure that it lasts as long as possible which should be for most flowers up to a couple of weeks and some even longer. Your vase should be clean and thoroughly rinsed as soap residual and bacteria are not good for flowers. Prepare and fill your vase with water that either contains flower food or make a mixture that will feed and hydrate them as well. This is easily done by making a mixture of 2 parts water with 1 part clear pop like 7 up or Sprite with a drop of bleach or you can replace the can of pop with a teaspoon of sugar in about 2 or 3 cups of water and a drop of bleach. Cut the flowers while you’re arranging them about a half an inch from the bottom and place it immediately in the vase. Be sure to use sharp scissors so as not to crush the stem. Make sure that no leaves are below the water level as these will promote the growth of bacteria.
The optimum for storing your flowers overnight is to put them in your fridge but most likely that will not be practical so keep your arrangement in the coolest place in the room and most importantly never place them in direct sunshine. Check the level of the water in the vase, at least 2 times a day as you will be amazed how much they will drink up. Every 3 or 4 days prepare another vase of water, lift the entire arrangement out and cut another half inch off the bottom and place in new fresh water. Remove the spent blossoms and continue to enjoy!
Keep the flowers that can be dried like the Status, Bunny Tails, Sedum and other dribbles for a nice winter bouquet of dried flowers.
Happy Gardening!
Samantha Nason
BS Ranch & Greenhouses
250 547 6567
sam1nason@gmail.com
