Months ago I was sitting in our tiny garage apartment in Utah, thumbing through seed catalogs and reading flower design books for hours. I daydreamed of Spring and all the spaces around Root Bottom Farm's yard that I would transform into perennial flower gardens. This was a huge undertaking considering my yard was hundreds of miles away, not just outside my window.
Over the last two years, we have transformed this once forgotten tobacco
farm turned hoarder's paradise into our dream farm. We have established annual vegetable plots, four types of berries, an asparagus patch, a fruit orchard, a herb garden, built two
greenhouses, renovated a 100 year old cabin, renovated a guest house, threw away years of someone's hoarded junk, bought an art studio, started a successful business and put in a well and a septic. This year, I was finally
able to give my flowers more attention.
The farm came with some great established plants. We have thousands of
red hot pokers (torch lilies) around the property and through out the season we are
rewarded with a few patches of established irises,
lilies and a mix of wild flowers. Each year, I plant my annual flowers and sunflowers
for market in the fields with the vegetables, but I wanted to enjoy my perennial flowers all over the property. All Winter, I chose flowers based on color,
flower shape, height, growth patterns, light and blooming times.
Back at the farm, we started everything from seed (thanks Morgan & Kathleen!!) and we have spent the last four months reclaiming old beds, redesigning previous owner's unfinished projects
and building new beds around the property. Every flower bed is built out of
things I gathered around the yard; logs, bricks, cinder blocks and
creek rock. I couldn't decide on which style I liked the best in my
research, so I made each flower bed a unique design utilizing different
materials. In between farm work, I fit in flowers projects everywhere I
could. Sometimes, if I was lucky, Kathleen would join me for "Flower
Thursdays" and we would make a big push towards a certain project. Overall, I was happy with the germination rate and only a few flowers will have to be tried again next year.
Over the last few weeks, I have finished most of the big projects. It was a huge undertaking, but its done. All seedlings are out the greenhouse and planted in their new permanent homes. Here are a few before and after images of the farm's flower transformation. I still have two large projects left for the fall. A large garden connecting two smaller established gardens in the middle of the yard. I plan on filling it up with bulbs this fall and mass plantings next spring. I also have to some how cover up our ugly septic boxes. I foresee forsythia hedges in my future.
I LOVE watching things grow.
A few annual bouquets. Next year, these will be so different with added perennial flowers.
The flowers that made it from seed to planting: Alyssum Gold Dust, Butterfly Weed, Aubrieta, Beebalm, Blue Sea Holly, Cat Mint, Chamomile (2 varieties), Chrysanthemum, Columbine, Coreopsis, Daisy (3), Delphinium (2), Foxglove, Echinacea (3), Feverfew, Forget me not, Gaillardia (3), Lavender, Liatris, Lupine (2), Passion flower, Pyrethrum (2), Rudbekia (3), Sage, Scabiosa, Siberian Wallflower, Maxmillian Sunflower, Creeping Thyme, Veronica, Yarrow (3).
PROJECTSThe flowers that made it from seed to planting: Alyssum Gold Dust, Butterfly Weed, Aubrieta, Beebalm, Blue Sea Holly, Cat Mint, Chamomile (2 varieties), Chrysanthemum, Columbine, Coreopsis, Daisy (3), Delphinium (2), Foxglove, Echinacea (3), Feverfew, Forget me not, Gaillardia (3), Lavender, Liatris, Lupine (2), Passion flower, Pyrethrum (2), Rudbekia (3), Sage, Scabiosa, Siberian Wallflower, Maxmillian Sunflower, Creeping Thyme, Veronica, Yarrow (3).
Around the house
I reclaimed and re-imagined old, almost non existent beds with river rock. I leveled the beds with fill dirt, mulched and planted the annual flowers that were extra from the field plantings. Every year, I see this garden changing and evolving.
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Next to the house
This was a big project. We had to hand prep the land before we could till it. We built new beds, designed a walkway along the existing bed, dug drainage, put in landscape fabric and used found bricks for the design.
The Rock wall garden
I found a beautiful rock wall hidden in a forgotten bed. I reclaimed, mulched and filled in holes. I built two large beds in an area that was difficult to mow and extended the bed all the way to the road. I also created a walkway with gravel and homemade stepping stones so guests don't have to walk in the road to come to the cabin.
Jill's Wildflower Garden
My friend, Jill, in Utah gave me a ton of wild flower seeds as a present and I turned our old compost pile in front of the greenhouse into my "wild garden." Liquid gold soil and no plan. Every year, I will toss whatever wild flower seeds I have and see where it goes. This colorful garden will always make me think of her and her beautiful spirit.
Mom's Garden
Last year, my Mom helped me build my first raised beds around my art studio using two types of cinder blocks that were scattered all over the property. She was visiting again this year just in time to help me finish the project by leveling the beds and putting in landscape fabric. My Mom was here when we first bought the property and helped us clean out the cluttered cabin. She has come every year since and is one of the only people who really knows how far this dump has come to be the farm it is today. This colorful garden will always make me think of her and her endless support and love for me and Morgan.
Jen's White Garden
My friend in Utah, Jen, saw me dreaming away on my flower projects all Winter. I would excitedly show her my spread sheets and color ideas. She would happily talk about the good old days when she worked on Sundance Flower Farm. Living in a dark canyon in Utah, your flower options can be limited. She told me that she always wanted an all white garden. I loved the idea and Jen's garden was born. I used old logs from the property and the garden sits high above the creek in one of my favorite places on the farm. I planted 12 varieties of white flowers and plan on finding more. One day we will sit here with a large glass of wine and enjoy it together.
The next project: Large Connector Garden
I am composting on site and using landscape fabric to kill the grass for this large area. This is my largest garden and will be tilled in the Fall. It connects three small existing flower areas and creates a better flow through the yard. We also built a rock walkway out of creek rock and left over fireplace rock to split up the large area.This garden will be a mix of bushes, bulbs and mass plantings.
