Creating a Spring Bulb Container Garden

Creating a spring bulb container garden is such a simple way to bring some of the beautiful, early spring blooming flowers to enjoy inside while the weather might not be quite that great. Today, we’ll discuss some of the fun bulbs we force each winter in order to hold classes for attendees to make a spring bulb garden of their own.

Our customers love bulb container gardens, because they are perfect for small spaces, or for those who don't have access to a yard. Also, they’re gorgeous to bring inside to enjoy for a few weeks, before you can turn around and plant them out in your yard. It’s the best of both worlds! Enjoying both fresh flowers and the benefit of planting them to enjoy later.

Daffodils are a classic spring flower that are sure to brighten up any container garden. They come in a variety of colors, including yellow, white, and pink. Daffodils are also one of the easiest bulbs to grow, making them a great option for beginners. We especially love a dwarfed daffodil called Tete a Tete. They’re just perfect for small bulb container gardens.

Tulips are another classic spring flower that are sure to add a pop of color to your container garden. They come in a variety of colors, including red, pink, purple, and white. Tulips also come in a variety of shapes, including single-flowered, double-flowered, and fringed. We especially love double daffodils for our spring bulb container gardens, because they typically stay a little bit shorter than some of the other tulips and have a lovely, subtle fragrance.

Hyacinths are another popular spring flower that come in a variety of colors, including pink, purple, and white. They are known for their strong fragrance, which makes them a great option for container gardens that are close to living spaces. You can’t go wrong with any type of hyacinth, but the bulbs are a little bigger in size, so sticking to just a few for your bulb container garden is a good idea, otherwise you’ll run out of room.

Muscari - Muscari, also known as grape hyacinths, are a popular spring bulb that come in shades of blue, purple, and white. They are known for their grape-like clusters of flowers, which make them a unique addition to any container garden. Adam likes to plant these together in clusters of 3 around the bulb container garden for extra ‘sparkle’.

To top off the bulb garden containers, we love to decoratively adorn with different types of willow. We love curly willow and the gray catkins from standard willow are just gorgeous. Put either/or into the container, or combine both together. You really can’t go wrong!

We also encourage guests to add sphagnum moss, large river rock, or small pea gravel to the top of the bulb container garden. This helps provide a little weight to hold the bulbs in the soil and it provides a pretty decorative addition to complete the look for the garden.

There are so many ways to put together a simple, pretty spring bulb garden and lots of options of bulbs to choose from. From classic flowers like daffodils and tulips, to unique options like muscari, there is something for everyone. Remember to choose bulbs that will thrive in your climate and sunlight conditions, and have fun experimenting with different combinations of flowers!

XX Jenn and Adam

How to Extend the Life of Cut Flowers

There's nothing quite like the beauty and fragrance of fresh-cut flowers, but unfortunately, they don't last forever. However, with a little extra care, you can extend the life of your cut flowers and enjoy them for longer. Here are some tips for keeping your cut flowers looking fresh and vibrant:

-Start with fresh, healthy flowers. The longer a flower has been cut, the shorter the vase live will be. Choose flowers that are just starting to open and avoid those that are wilted or damaged.

-Use a clean, sharp floral snips, knife, or scissors to cut the stems. We always try to cut the stems at an angle, which will encourage them uptake more water and nutrients.

-Remove any leaves/greenery that will be touching or in the water. Leaves that are submerged in water will rot and shorten the life of the flowers, because they will introduce bacteria.

-Use a clean vase and fresh water. Dirty vases and water can harbor bacteria, which can shorten the life of your flowers. Make sure to clean your vase thoroughly and refill it with fresh, cool water.

-Add a floral preservative to the water. Floral preservatives are specially formulated to help flowers last longer by providing them with the nutrients and bacteria inhibitors they need. These can be purchased at florists or craft stores. Alternative sources that also work: 1/2 tsp bleach and 1/2 tsp of sugar. The bleach keeps the water clean and the sugar gives your flowers something to eat. Don’t believe us? Give it a try!

-Keep your flowers out of direct sunlight and away from sources of heat. Flowers will last longer in a cool, well-ventilated location.

-Our #1 recommendation! Re-cut the bottom of the flower stems and change the water every few days. This will help to keep the flowers hydrated, nice and clean. We like to rinse the stems under water to give them an extra rinse, aside from changing the water. Anytime you take your flower stems out of water, always give them a 1mm or so trim at the bottom. When you remove the stems from water, it introduces air bubbles into the stem that blocks water uptake into the stem.

We hope these suggestions help y’all to enjoy your fresh cut blooms MUCH longer! These are all suggestions we give our customers and many have reported their flowers last anywhere from 7-14 days. We always love hearing this and it’s a great testament to local flowers and their vase life.

Are there any tips we missed that y’all would recommend? If so, share them along with us by commenting below.

XX Jenn and Adam

EASY Cost Effective Flowers for Weddings & Events

When it comes to hosting weddings or other events, flowers are a part of the decor that always seem to elevate guests’ experience, not matter how large or small might be. Using a little creativity and some DIY skills, you can create beautiful and cost-effective floral arrangements using buckets of blooms from your local flower farm using simple bud vases.

The first step is to find a great local flower farm in order to source beautiful, local blooms for your event. Keep in mind that there is a seasonality of when local blooms will be available, depending on your region. For instance, here in Central Iowa, zone 5, blooms really start to become prolific around the middle of June. Before that time, there are blooms, but it’s a little more difficult to gather buckets of blooms. On the other side of that, the end of the season usually happens the second week of October, when we receive a hard freeze. Knowing when you can source blooms from local flower farms might be difficult to know, but if you reach out to them, they can guide you through availability.

Buying DIY buckets of blooms from a local flower farm is a great way to save money on centerpieces.When it comes to creating floral arrangements, sometimes less is more. Keep your arrangements simple by using a single type of flower in a bud vase, or up to 2-3 stems in each bud vase cuts down on the number of stems. This will not only save you money, but it will also save lots of time and it will create an elevated and elegant look for your wedding or event.

Bucket of blooms used to make beautiful bud vases for an event on our Iowa flower farm

Cut glass bud vases are a great way to add elegance, and visual interest for your flowers and table decor. These are our favorite by far! You can find our favorite bud vases here. However, just about any beautiful collection of vases will work and we have lots of couples who love to go vintage shopping to find bud vases to use for their special day. You can’t go wrong no matter which direction you go with either of option.

Creating your own bud vase floral arrangements can be such a fun experience. This is a wonderful task to have your family help out with. Oftentimes, many family members want to help out at a wedding, but sometimes there aren’t enough things for them to do. This is a GREAT opportunity for them to help out with your special day! Remind them that they don't need to be a professional florist to create beautiful in bud vases. In fact, the wilder they look, the better. They’re organic, garden inspired and just stunning!

Using DIY buckets of flowers and simple bud vases is a great way to add beautiful floral decor to your wedding or event without breaking the bank. By choosing the sourcing flowers from a local flower farm, keeping it simple, using elevated bud vases, you can create stunning and affordable floral arrangements that will impress your guests.

XX Jenn and Adam

One Year Anniversary of the Winterset Tornado 3-5-22

Today marks the one-year anniversary of the EF-4 tornado that hit our flower farm in Winterset, Iowa, on March 5th, 2022. The tornado left a trail of destruction in its wake, and caused loss of lives, widespread damage throughout our neighborhood, greater Iowa community, and to our beautiful flower farm.

Both of our cell phones received an audible alert around 4:00PM that we were under a tornado warning. We were working outside in the greenhouse in the backyard of our home at the time, but when we received that alert we knew that it meant that a tornado was imminent. However, it was strange to receive the alert, because there wasn’t a cloud in the sky and the weather was absolutely perfect. It was 70 degrees and sunny, but we would soon find out how deceptive the weather could be.

Our son’s 15th birthday was that day. He had invited over four of his friends to spend the evening with him in our event barn, setting it up to play video games with his friends for his birthday. When the alerts went off on our phones, the boys came milling out of the barn, looking inquisitive about what they should do. We told them immediately to go into the house until we could make sure it was safe for them to return to the barn to carry on with birthday party festivities.

Around 4:20PM, bored from staying inside, the boys asked Adam if they could return back to the barn and Adam allowed them to go back out, but he stayed outside and kept an eye to the west for a several minutes to make sure everything was going to be safe. By that time, the storm front was starting to move in and the clouds were starting to look ominous.

Keeping a watchful eye to the west, Adam began to see rotation of the clouds 4:32PM. Luckily, one of the kids’ parents had just been out to drop something off for one of the boys and he happened to be walking by when Adam saw the rotation in the clouds. He told the boy to go get the others and tell them to get into the house immediately, because there was a tornado.

The boys came running out of the barn, over to where Adam was standing, looking to the west, and saw the tornado dropping out of the clouds. They froze in place for a few seconds before Adam snapped harshly at them to run into the house and get into the basement. It was 4:34PM at that time and the tornado was beginning to grow in size.

While Jenn, our son and his friends, and our daughter Quinlan huddled in the basement of our home, Adam stayed outside, took further video for the tornado, and watched in disbelief as the tornado approached the farm for a direct hit. Adam’s last video of the tornado as it came closer to the farm was timestamped at 4:38PM, below.

Adam quickly ran into the basement and told us that we needed to prepare ourselves for a direct hit - that the tornado was coming straight for us. We instructed the boys to cover their heads just like the learned in school and we began to pray to God aloud.

We could hear the ferocious roar of the tornado approaching us, debris hitting the house in what sounded like mud hitting your car when you get stuck in mud on the road, the crashing sounds of windows breaking and trees falling all around us.

High winds could be heard hitting our house and our house gave way to a loud cracking sound, almost as though 2X4s in the walls were snapping. Wind blew into the basement and dust hit our faces as we huddled together. It felt like the house was being sucked up and off of its foundation. There was a split second during all of this chaos when Adam said there was a feeling of “either the house was going to go or stay” and said at one point that he was preparing himself during that time to dive onto the top of all of us to protect us.

All of our ears were popping, just like when taking off on an airplane, but with 1,000X more intensity as the pressure from the tornado went right over the top of us. We found it hard to breath as the pressure pressed down on us for the few seconds it took for the tornado to pass over.

From the end of this video, taken at 4:34PM to the time the tornado hit our farm was about 60 seconds

Then everything was absolutely still and quiet.

Adam walked upstairs and instructed everyone to stay where they were and not move. He needed to assess the damage and what we would be dealing with. At that point, we thought maybe a part of our house was gone and that we would be walking upstairs to nothing being there.

At 4:45 Adam called Jenn upstairs to see the damage. Luckily the house itself was still standing with just a small amount of damage, but everything else around the house and around the flower farm was obliterated.

We stepped out of the house and took our first video of the damage at 4:47PM.

Adam told our son’s friends to call their parents and let them know they were safe and asked them to have their parents come pick them up. Little did we know that our driveway was blocked by a large downed tree, which Adam had to push out of the way to get the parents into our property.

Worried about our 9 cats who were all outside during the tornado, our daughter searched for them around the farm and in the wreckage, not finding any during her search.

Time stamp on video 4:47PM

The boys and their parents started helping us gather a few items from our event barn that had survived. Rain was coming in behind the storm and we were rapidly trying to salvage anything we could. Everything was stacked inside our living room and office area, because there was no other place to put these items.

Mud was everywhere. There was no electricity and we found that the tornado had pushed water back up into the pipes. Our toilets were empty of water and we had to run the sink tap for 2-3 minutes before water started coming out again.

A view of the destruction to the Red barn and event barn area at pepperharrow

The first calls we made were to Jenn’s brother, Josh, who’s son had been at our property and to Jenn’s mom and dad who live in Winterset. All of them came out to see the damage and to help out. Josh was in disbelief and had to leave right away to help, because duty was calling. He works at Madison County Secondary Roads and needed to get the roads cleared to help first responders get to people on Carver Road. Jenn’s parents took our two kids and Josh’s son to their house to have a little normalcy as we gathered ourselves and tried to figure out next steps.

The ethereal sunset after the tornado

As we tried to calm ourselves and get some rest for the following day, the long, hard day full of clean up efforts we knew was coming, we laid in our bed, unable to fall asleep. Our minds kept replaying the events of the afternoon and we found ourselves too hyped on adrenaline to find the reprieve of sleep.

Eventually we did rest, but it was only for an hour or so. We roused ourselves around 6:00AM the next morning, pulling insurance policies, ordering PODS for storage and getting ourselves ready for a very long, and difficult day. We were incredibly mentally, physically exhausted and traumatized.

The first volunteer showed up at the farm around 7:00AM and people began to show up rapidly after that. We put a call out to our community through social media and by noon, there were over 200 people at the farm helping with cleanup.

We were walking around in a daze and didn’t have full control over our mental faculties to instruct people on what exactly what needed to be done, besides ‘clean up’, so it was incredible to have Dave Handsacker from the Pumpkin Ranch, another Madison County business, show up, take control and help direct people on what needed to be done. Thank you, Dave!

We couldn’t have done it without these amazing people! Their kindness and willingness to help us with cleanup was extraordinary and we cannot express how humbled we are by this. It was a long, hard day of work and these folks gave up their free time to help. God Bless all of you for all of your help!

For the next several days and weeks to come, volunteers from across the region also stepped up to help, donating their time, money, and resources to assist. The outpouring of support was heartwarming, and it helped to bring hope and comfort to us, after we had lost so much.

Pella boys football team helping with clean up at pepperharrow

Looking back over the the past year, ourselves and our neighbors have worked tirelessly to rebuild and recover from the tornado. Homes and businesses have been reconstructed, and many of our neighbors have been able to move back into their homes. However, there is still so much work to be done, and many people are still struggling to recover from the physical, emotional, and financial impacts of the tornado.

As we mark the one-year anniversary of the Winterset tornado, it is important to remember those who lost their lives and to honor the bravery and heroism of the first responders and volunteers who worked tirelessly to save lives and help those in need.

We’ve seen that tornadoes and other natural disasters like this can be devastating, but we’ve seen that they can also bring out the best in people. The way our community came together to support one another in the aftermath of the tornado was truly inspiring, and it serves as a reminder that we are all stronger when we work together. As we move forward from this tragedy, let us continue to support one another and work towards building stronger, more resilient communities not only in Iowa, but across the country. #wintersetstrong

XX Jenn and Adam

Growing Stock Flowers for Your Cut Flower Garden

Stock flowers, also known as Matthiola incana, are popular cut flowers with us and other cut flower growers, due to their sweet fragrance and long-lasting blooms. Today, w’re going to share some of the best types of stock for cut flowers and share some of our seed starting secrets to grow stock from seed.

The very first step is to look for great types of stock to grow and to find a reputable source to buy them. In order to do that, you’ll have to look for high-quality seed from a reputable source, such as Johnny’s Select Seeds, Botanical Interests, or Burpee Seeds. There are several great varieties of stock to grow, but a few of our favorite types to grow for cut flowers are: Iron Series, Katz Series, Cinderella, and Legacy.

After you’ve selected the varieties you want to grow, it’s not time to get your seeds started! We usually start our stock seeds at the end of January or beginning of February in zone 5b, Central Iowa. Starting them early and getting them outside early will allow them plenty of time to establish before heat sets in.

In order to start your seeds, use either a 72 cell tray, recycled milk jug, or other seed starting container and fill it with seed starting medium. Sow your seeds in a sunny location, or under grow lights (for at least 10 hours a day). We do not bury our seeds 1/8” into the seed starting medium as recommended on most seed packets. We top sow the seeds to allow maximum germination. Keep the soil moist but not waterlogged.

Keeping your growing temperature between 60-70 degrees Fahrenheit is ideal for these seedlings. They don’t like to be too warm while they are germinating. If your sunny place is too warm, consider moving them back just a bit to not take on too much warmth. We recommend buying a digital temperature gauge to monitor your growing temperature.

Once you have your seedlings placed in their seed starting area, be sure to water regularly, keeping the soil consistently moist, but not waterlogged, until seedlings emerge. After your seedlings emerge, water only when the soil feels dry to the touch. After your seedlings are established, feed them with a balanced fertilizer every 4 to 6 weeks. They love just a bit of fertilizer to help them strengthen their growth.

Before we plant our stock seedlings into the ground, we harden them off. Starting on a day that isn’t too windy, we bring out seedlings outside for an hour, then bring back inside. Each day after that we leave them out for longer and longer until they are stiff to the touch. At that point, we know they are ready to be planted.

We plant our stock into either 9” or 6” spacing in our reusable fabric cover to help reduct weeds. The closer you plant them together, the taller the stems you will see. Also, as stock flowers grow, they may need support to prevent them from falling over. Use netting, stake them or use a cage to provide support.

By following some of our tips and tricks, you should be well on your way to growing beautiful and healthy stock flowers from seed!

XX Jenn and Adam