We have come a long way since lugging big pots of fresh herbs to market over 15 years ago. Since then we have tried so many wacky ideas. In exploring options for our current niche, we are banking that there are people who love the old-fashioned garden flowers as much as we do.
We have been prepping since November to launch the bigger and better Spongetta's Garden. Our dining room became design central as we set our priorities. The biggest one is outwitting the deer and woodchucks. Step one is lots and lots of garlic. Step two is figuring out what they really don't like and planting that as border fencing. Expect lots and lots of Snapdragons, Black Eyed Susan, Zinnia and Asters.
This winter has been a crash course in growing and marketing cut flowers. Many hours were spent studying seed catalogs. Even more hours watching youtube videos of successful growers. I made a spreadsheet and ordered over 70 varieties. We have 22 main varieties of flowers with many more experiments.
I have fallen in love with fillers. By this I mean both branching flowers and charming greens to add substance to bouquets. Think Chocolate Dara, Bupleurum, Forget-Me-Not Cynoglossum, Orach Plume Atriplex and Snow on the Mountain Euphorbia. I'm also looking at herbs in a new way. Several varieties are a hundred times more interesting as a cut flower like Apple Mint, Marjoram, and the speciality Basils. I'm keeping a list of the ones that got away to buy for next year including many perennials.
We hope you will follow us along as the Spongetta Bouquet becomes a reality!