Today, we’re diving into the wonderful world of Echinacea, which is both an herb and a flower commonly known as coneflower. With its striking daisy-like appearance and vibrant hues, Echinacea is not just a beautiful addition to your garden and bouquets, but also a powerhouse in eco-gardening.

Yarrow is a must-have perennial. It is deer and drought resistant, pollinator friendly, and naturalizes easily (which means it can grow on it’s own and produce a new generation without human assistance).

At Sweet Earth Co. farm it is an early summer workhorse we count on to bring filler blooms to our bouquets and its medicinal herb properties to our teas. For our landscape clients, it’s ideal for cottage, pollinator, meadow, and low-maintenance xeriscape gardens.

One of the last big fall tasks on a flower farm is getting the bulbs in the ground so we can share them as soon as the winter wanes and warmer temperatures return. Amidst all the covid-19 anxiety, it’s a small comfort to watch the winter give way to spring. The allium (Allium acuminatum), daffodils (Narcissus), and tulips (Tulipa) are all on their way up through the earth. Perhaps even a little earlier than usual, given our mild winter.

Dicentra spectabilis, commonly known as Bleeding Heart, has quickly become one of my favorite spring perennials. Its arching stems laden with dangling heart-shaped blooms may make this plant seem dainty and ephemeral, but it is actually a hardy garden workhorse.

When I started growing cut flowers no perennial plant in my garden was safe from my shears. I took cuttings from all of my flowering perennials to see which had good vase life. My Geum stems lasted 5-7 days in fresh water with no preservative. They were a great addition to my spring bouquets, adding bounce, movement and whimsy. For the longest lasting cut flowers, pick when the blooms are half open. Geum will bloom from May through July, and if you cut or deadhead, they will reward you with a second flush of blooms in early fall.

They are both dainty flowering plants, more commonly blue, but they are also available in pink and white shades. For many, it conjures up nostalgic childhood memories and images of cottage gardens. While these two plants look very similar, they have different growing conditions and different uses. I grow them both, one in the cutting garden, the other in the landscape.