Planning and Preparing
2023 is here and we have been planning and preparing. Truthfully, our year never slows down, as there is always plenty of work to be done during the cold weather, and this winter has been no exception.
Sometime in November we start working on the next season’s map in order to buy seeds and tubers well ahead of time. If you aren’t familiar with purchasing Dahlia tubers, online shops often sell out within seconds of opening, and must be aggressively shopped if one wants to get certain tubers.
Between Dahlia shopping, tray washing, and setting up an automated water system on our germination shelves, it has been a busy few months. We are upgrading everything we can to make it our best growing season yet.
Hopefully our watering system works as intended! Trying out some upgrades this year.
Watering is one of the most labor-intensive tasks a grower faces, and coming up with an affordable system that fits our needs has been a bit of a challenge. Many growers prefer to hand-water their seedlings, but for us it is not very feasible. Here’s hoping we cracked the code with a setup that fits our lifestyle!
Meanwhile, our daughter is fascinated that the Dahlias are “sleeping in the basement” until Spring. We have had issues in the past with excessive shriveling, so last year we opted to create a cozy little spot with a humidifier to keep our precious tubers from drying up. So far so good!
Dahlia tubers “sleeping in the basement,” according to our 3-year-old.
Soon enough, these little gems will be waking up to soak up the sun and give us the most amazing blooms.
We always feel full of hope and optimism this time of year as we continue to plan, prepare, and adjust for the season ahead. Here’s to a great season of flowers!
We’ve Been Busy
We can hardly believe we are already more than halfway through the summer! We have been busier than ever with weeding, taking care of our Dahlias, and tending to our shrubs so they can bless us with beautiful blooms to share with you in coming years.
It has been a hot and dry summer growing season so far, which is a big change from last year. Thankfully, we plant a number of varieties such as Celosia and Globe Thistle that thrive in the heat and can withstand some dry spells. We spend a great deal of time thinking about water management and how to be the best stewards of our shared resources that we possibly can, so we are continuing to plant more and more perennial shrubs that require little water, such as Lavender and Russian Sage.
We hope you are having a peaceful and joyous summer.
-Fox Ridge Flowers
Launch Year Lookback
It has been an eventful year on our budding farm! Like many of you, we have faced unforeseen challenges, with the effects of COVID continuing to ripple everywhere you turn. Fortunately, the vitality of nature has never felt more present or more relative to us as it has this year. The truth is, nature is inclined to flourish if we let it. Flowers want to grow, and it is our joy to spend time among them. In such turbulent times, the humble and quiet peace that a flower can offer has been reassuring.
To end the year, we thought we would share a few photos that are a bit more behind-the-scenes. Here you can see one of our gardens progress through the season. We tend to hold off on full views of our growing spaces, from fear of showing just how small of an operation we truly are, but if you have been wondering how our fields look, here you go. Side note: if it seems that we have too much grass on our property, we couldn’t agree more!
It’s pretty clear that we have been a bit obsessed with Dahlias. The photos speak for themselves. We did not produce as many bouquets of spring flowers as we would have liked, but flower farming will teach you very quickly that setbacks can transform into opportunity—less space devoted to other varieties meant more space for Dahlias!
We did have other items that gave us quite a bit of joy and happiness this year—strawflower and celosia were particularly good to us, and to the many bumblebees we have on the property. You can see one here taking a nap in one of our celosia plumes.
Our lavender plugs have more than tripled in size, and will provide ample material for propagation in future years. Currently this little shrub is dormant and asleep for the winter, but we expect that in the spring, it will be just as ready as we are for a great new year of growth.
Our growing season ends with a few snapdragons tucked away for the winter in a low tunnel, as we enjoy the holidays and plan out next year’s production. We will soon be seeing daffodils and tulips. Believe it or not, our next season already feels very close, as we will be starting seeds in just a couple of weeks! We want to thank all of you who have contributed to our success this year, and we are hoping you and your family have a refreshing holiday season.
Wishing you warm thoughts from Ellington,
-Fox Ridge Flowers Staff
September Means Dahlias
There is no dispute—Dahlias are simply the most gorgeous, luxurious blooms you can find in the late summer and autumn. From soft pastels, to vivid gemtones, to warm autumnal hues, Dahlias continually knock our socks off, year after year.
The farming community in Connecticut has faced some setbacks this growing season, with severe swings from drought conditions into prolonged rain and intense flooding, but fortunately our Dahlias have been thriving since we put them in the ground a few months ago.
Our CSA members have been enjoying our Dahlia harvest since late July, and while we hoped to offer more bouquets for purchase this season, we have had a hard time keeping up with demand. Turns out, Dahlia fever is alive and well in Connecticut. But never fear—if you missed out this year, we will have expanded capacity in 2022, and will even be offering advanced purchase of shares this holiday season. We do expect to sell out very quickly though, so be sure to sign up for email updates if you would like to treat yourself or a loved one to an unforgettable flower season next year.
Bouquet Subscription Update
Great news! We have partnered with LuAnn’s Drive Thru here in Ellington as a pickup location for our bouquet subscription, and we couldn’t be happier. LuAnn’s was our top choice of a local, family-run operation, because of their commitment to ethical/charitable business practices, and because they have the best pastries you could ask for. Who doesn’t love a great coffee house to help you live that brunch lifestyle? We here at Fox Ridge Flowers can’t think of anything we’d rather do than drink a latte and eat a confection while enjoying the natural beauty of flowers.
Fortunately for you, we’ve made it as easy as possible to do all of that, without even leaving your car. If this sounds as wonderful to you as it does to us, check out our bouquet subscription here.
Unfortunately, supply chain issues have hit the floral industry hard, and we had to delay our subscription by a couple of months. Our tulips have done well both in the snow and under cover, but many of our other spring items became unavailable. We lost track of the number of times in the past two months were we have received word from a supplier stating that the purchases made last November or December are not available. Many of these respected suppliers are in the top of their field and have been in business for decades, but the supply chain has experienced an unprecedented upheaval that will continue to generate ripples in the coming months.
But not to worry—we have used the spring gap as an opportunity to shift our production into extra field space for additional summer and fall blooms. Although we are disappointed to delay sales by a few months, we are turning the delay into free flowers for you! All purchases made in May for our July-Oct subscription will receive a free bouquet of tulips during the month of May, and also a bonus bouquet of exquisite dahlias in the summer or fall.
We hope you will visit our shop and consider giving the gift of flowers to yourself or a loved-one, and if a drive-thru pickup sounds like a great idea, be sure to let LuAnn’s know by purchasing an edible treat when you pick up your flowers—you’ll be glad you did!
Lavender For Autism - 1 Week Left!
Lavender For Autism 2021 is coming to a close. This is the final week to order plugs, so be sure not to miss the chance if you are interested.
Our little plugs have been doing well in the greenhouse for nearly two months now, and sadly we cannot keep them going in their cell trays any longer, or they will suffer.
We will be potting up a very limited amount for some possible sales in May/June, but the price will nearly double due to labor/materials, and we will not be able to ship the plants.
Plugs will be unavailable after May 8th, but Lavender for Autism will be back. In future years, we will be working on perfecting the art of taking our own cuttings for some on-site propagation of these amazing and versatile plants.
Thank you to all who have participated!
Lavender for Autism
We are proud to announce Lavender for Autism 2021!
To coincide with the launch of our cut flower business, Fox Ridge Flowers is selling special live organic lavender plugs, with 50% of profits donated to charities providing autism therapy services.
Lavender is a gorgeous, low-maintenance plant that is resistant to drought, deer, and rabbits. These small, first-year plugs were propagated by a family-owned organic greenhouse, and will double in size each year for three years until fully grown. Plugs are a highly economical way to fill any space, as each plant will grow into a two- or three-foot dome, with hundreds of blooms per plant.
Irresistible to pollinators, lavender thrives in sunny, well-drained locations with little care once established. Widely regarded as a calming and therapeutic fragrance, lavender has many uses, and is known for its beauty, resilience, and complex essential oil. Blooms can be used for fresh cut flowers, for cooking, or dried for crafting projects such as wreath making. Some varieties are also known to produce a second bloom in the autumn if spring stems are harvested.
Our goal is to raise $2,000 for Strong Foundations LLC, and Shepard Meadows Therapeutic Riding Center, Inc. The 50% of profit not donated will go directly towards our own propagation facilities, so we can donate 100% of profits in future years.
Plants will be available starting April 5th, and we recommend that they be planted by June. If April is warmer than expected, we may release plugs early.
Your favorite variety may sell out quickly, so order early!
Logo Reveal
The logo is here!
After working with a few designers, we landed on something that suits us. There are a few different versions that should look quite nice if we decide to commission some T-shirts or other swag later in the year, all of which feature a lovely fox-in-lavender motif.
Speaking of lavender, we have a large order arriving in just a few weeks, and will have some exciting news to share, so stay tuned!
-Fox Ridge Flowers Staff
Trial Season Recap
Our exploratory year of growing has come to a close, and we wanted to take a moment to share our progress, and some plans for the future.
We started the 2020 season last February, purchasing seeds and burning holes in landscaping fabric for weed protection. Our home gardening experience had taught us that the time demands of weeding even a modest garden can be too much when you have young children, so we were very happy with the results of investing some time in advance for a no-weed setup.
These plastic sheets will last us many years--some growers report 15 years of use. You can see one of our plywood templates below, and some young Chinese Forget-Me-Nots getting off to a good start in the field.
During our trials, we set out to grow about 20 different species of flowers, totaling 50 or so individual cultivars. With prolonged cold weather stretching into late April, we encountered some challenges, but by midsummer we had harvested some cool-weather blooms, hung a few bunches of lavender to dry, established a couple thriving rows of heat-loving annuals, and tended to 20 different cultivars of Dahlias that were ready to bloom. We also found ourselves constantly wanting to add additional rows of growing space for upcoming years.
Summer consisted of harvesting Bee Balm, Celosia, and Dahlias, as well as putting together some raised beds in an old garden space. By the time November hit, we had developed just over 2,000 square feet of growing area, planted 1800 bulbs to overwinter, and set up our production schedule for a full launch in 2021. Other tasks for the year included setting up the bones of a website, as well as reading and re-reading every book on professional floriculture we could find to supplement the treasure-trove of information found online.
Dahlias will remain a core focus for the '21 growing season. After some propagation magic in the spring, we should have over 150 tubers in the ground, and we expect that we will quickly be in need of more land to grow every variety that we love. In addition to more than quadrupling our stock of Dahlias, we have increased our overall species count to a total of 33, with approximately 150 different cultivars.
With so many great things in store, we hope you will sign up for our occasional email updates to stay informed about how we are getting along. Our social media footprint is still to be determined, but will likely remain limited for a while, so if you'd like to hear about the latest news from the farm, email updates are definitely the best way.
Currently, we are sprucing up our greenhouse, drooling over seed catalogues, and putting the finishing touches on our online marketplace so we have a way to get flowers to you. Although we are currently not planning on making deliveries or shipping our flowers, we are working on some local pickup locations and retail vendors, and we might consider deliveries in the future.
We also will be unveiling our new logo any day, so stay tuned! Before you know it, we will be starting another round of seedlings and putting in some of the many organic lavender plugs we have ordered for the spring. We may have gotten carried away with our lavender order, but more on that later.
Happy growing!
-Fox Ridge Flowers Staff