Erin Benzakein is a well-known flower grower, floral designer and award-winning author from Mt. Vernon, Washington. For years she has shared her vast knowledge of flowers through her workshops, books, very accessible and no-cost online videos, and online courses. Her latest book, “Floret Farm‘s Discovering Dahlias,” is a treat from beginning to end. The
Dr. Arash Ghalehgolabbehbahani and Dr. Margaret Skinner of the University of Vermont gave a fascinating talk about saffron, the world’s most expensive spice, at MOFGA’s Farmer to Farmer Conference. English photo By Jean English Dr. Arash Ghalehgolabbehbahani and Dr. Margaret Skinner of the University of Vermont gave a fascinating and entertaining talk about saffron at
Calendula offers season-long blooms for pollinators, and its flowers are edible and medicinal. Photo by Mary McAvoy By Joyce White There are so many reasons to plant a big bed of calendula, Calendula officinalis. It blooms until frost for cut flowers and medicine, it isn’t fussy about where it’s planted, pollinators like it, it
Raspberry plants are abundantly productive and take only a small amount of work in the home garden. English photo Calendula is easy to grow, produces sunny bouquets and is used in medicinal salves and other skin-care products. English photo Pots of basil set on a deck are readily available for snipping. English photo By Joyce
Lauren (left) and Carole Mapes of Flywheel Flowers. Photo by Ashley Jardim, She of the Woods, sheofthewoods.com Karen Volckhausen. Photo courtesy of Happy Town Flowers Dahlia flower protected from tarnished plant bug by an organza gift bag. English photo Zinnias grow tall in a hoophouse at Happy Town Flowers. English photo By Jean English This session at
Dense floral resources of a pollination reservoir in Maine. Photo by Eric Venturini, The University of Maine Eric Venturini and Audrey Maddox rake a seed bed free of debris before seeding a wildflower mix. Photo by Margaret McCullough, The University of Maine A tiny black bee visits Gaillarida pulchella in a pollination reservoir in Maine.
By Karen Volckhausen I had the pleasure of attending the flower workshop at MOFGA’s Farmer to Farmer Conference in November, presented by flower farmers and florists Carolyn Snell from Snell Family Farm in Buxton, Maine, and Polly and Mike Hutchison from Robin Hollow Farm in Saunderstown, Rhode Island. I was so inspired by their talk
You can start hundreds of native plants in a small area to create your own nursery. Heather McCargo photo By Heather McCargo The traditional nursery industry has been following an ecologically destructive trajectory similar to the path of conventional agriculture. Most plants are mass produced using an arsenal of synthetic chemicals; many varieties are
By Karen Volckhausen “Fresh from the Field Wedding Flowers” By Lynn Byczynski and Erin Benzakein Fairplain Publications, Inc., 2014 112 pages plus 75-minute DVD, $40 Lynn Byczynski, editor and publisher of Growing for Market and author of one of my favorite flower bibles, “The Flower Farmer: An Organic Grower’s Guide to Raising and Selling Cut
Pole beans growing up sunflower stalks. English photo. By Will Bonsall I’m amazed that so many gardeners plant a row of sunflowers along the edge of their garden to feed the birds. What amazes me is that they plant only for the birds (and perhaps for a windbreak on the north side) and that they
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