I got here to flowers later in my gardening life. I reduce my enamel rising edibles. As a brand new gardener, I had a set of self-proclaimed black thumbs, little data, a restricted quantity of sources, and couldn’t fathom why anybody would spend time cultivating crops that couldn’t be eaten. What was the purpose of flowers, actually?
I quickly discovered how necessary flowers are to a wholesome vegetable backyard – and which of them could be eaten! As Lisa Mason Ziegler teaches, Greens Love Flowers. And so do bees and birds and different bugs that assist our ecosystems thrive.
The yr we began the farm, following a lesson on pollinators throughout the OSU Grasp City Farmer coaching program, I planted a bee freeway in two beds that stretched throughout the farm east to west. Most of the crops have been native perennials I bought by the Worthington Gardening Membership – Aster, Coneflower, Bee Balm, Sedum. Over time I added extra; Yarrow and Columbine, Chives, Coreopsis and Black-Eyed Susan to call just a few.
When these crops outgrew themselves, I began dividing them and promoting the offspring to generate further funds for our work. At our first sale in 2017, I offered possibly 100 crops.
Quick ahead 5 years and we’ve over 40 various kinds of seedlings on the market and have partnered with our fabulous buddy Bernadett Szabo who grows principally medicinal and culinary herbs. I’ve expanded my choices past native and perennial flowering crops to annuals as properly.

Over my time on the farm I’ve come to appreciate flowers have plenty of functions. Along with supporting pollinators and including coloration to the panorama, folks love to present and obtain flowers. Flowers deliver folks pleasure. They make an event really feel particular. Our CSA members take pleasure in receiving bouquets alongside their edibles, and the neighborhood has supporting the farm and different nonprofits by further gross sales.
At a sale I had final fall – “Purchase the flowers earlier than the frost kills them!” – a ladies who bought a bouquet turned me onto Lisa Mason Ziegler’s work. Along with her treatise on companion planting talked about above, she has a ton of sources on extending the flower rising season. She even partnered with Johnny’s Seeds, like Eliot Coleman earlier than her, to supply tutorials and proposals on seeds and different provides for rising Cool Flowers.
This season we’re making an attempt a few of Ziegler’s strategies for jump-starting the flower season, and following a few of her suggestions on varieties to develop. A few of these can be obtainable at our fifth Annual Pollinator Lovers’ Plant Sale and Open Home on Could 1st.
I’m not prepared to surrender rising greens and tomatoes for flowers, however I’ve discovered discovered my love for them. And I look ahead to sharing with you.