Important dates:

September 21, 2025 6:00pm: There is still time to register for Flowers and Sound, led by Kristen from Graceful Serenity Yoga. We will gather and do a light meditation followed by a hands on flower activity to tickle the artsy part of your brain for you to make something of your own design to take home with you. The evening will end with a sound bath at sunset. I mean, can you even? Reserve your spot today!! If you know someone who might enjoy a night out like this, feel free to forward this email on to them. New faces are most definitely welcome.

October 1, 2025: (today!) monthly email subscription giveaway drawing.

The last of the fresh summer flowers are sort of fading, but we still managed to cut some real beauties this week for a last minute order that went to Scarlet Begonia’s Flower Truck in Covington. They needed some locally grown flowers for a special pop up and we were so honored that she trusted us enough to ask if we had anything. We cobbled together some deliciously smelling basils, a bunch of solidago, a huge bunch of sedum and a bucket of mixed flowers from around the farm.

I must say the bunch of sedum we cut for it was probably one of the most beautiful things we have ever sold. The stems were almost 2 feet long and the color was spectacular. The timing of the request for these flowers happened to correspond with a visit to our friend Kim’s place the evening before delivery day at Blooming Valley Flower Farm so we got to bring two bursting buckets of her blooms with us too! Of course I took a group photo of all of the flowers before schlepping them up north. There was a sense of pride and excitement pulling up to Scarlet Begonia’s with such a beautiful collaboration of flowers from our neck of the woods. We normally only sell our lemon basil to them so I hope we made a good impression for the coming year as we value our relationship with her business (and as a friend) so much.

Kim from Blooming Valley Flower Farm was literally the first person to speak to us at our first farmers market meeting in 2021 when we showed up to sell flowers along with her. Our Fleming County Farmers market is small y’all and she never made us feel weird for being the “other flower farmers” at our market. In fact, our experience was exactly the opposite. Over the years, both of our businesses have evolved, and Kim continues to be a source of inspiration, collaboration, education, and friendship. She calls us to go in on her lisianthus plugs and shares all of the seed from her beautiful flower beds that we could want. We have a thriving willow that she gifted us a few years ago, “Kim’s Willow”.

It was so much fun helping her cut flowers for our run to Covington, seeing all of the beauty she has continued to nurture throughout the summer drought. There is something so special in getting to work with another flower farmer in their element, delighting together over individual flowers that caught our fancy, exclaiming to one another, “look at this one!”, knowing for sure everyone will agree it is perfect in its uniqueness.

Speaking of sharing plant splits and seeds, I have to spend a moment to review some treasures folks have gifted to us over the years. The responsible farmer in me will preface this by saying you should be mindful of the introduction of diseases and pests when you accept plants from places outside of your farm. It is a lesson we learned at our Kentucky Farm Launch class a couple of weeks ago and there is absolute truth in it. We do it though. All the time.

There is something so special about receiving the gift of splits or bulbs or tubers or trees or seeds from someone. When you manage to help the respective plant thrive, it feels like there is some eternal connection foraged between the person who gave it to you and the plant. Walking by it every time pulls out even the briefest recollection of how dear that person is to you. I jotted down a few of these that I could remember from shares we have received over the years.

Linda across the tracks shared most of our sedum (all of the ones we sold this week were from plants she gave us). Linda and Larry also have contributed to our Canna lillies that are looking good this year, the two little columbines that both flowered for the first time this year, and a few peonies we are patiently waiting on blooms from. We even have a spot across from their house specifically titled, “Linda’s Garden” that Perriee and I know exactly where it is.

Every tomato or pepper that grew this year are from Sherry or Jen and maybe Valetta too! Bethany’s cucumbers did not grow to be eaten this year as the ones we found were already too big and yellow by the time we discovered them so you better believe we kept them and saved their seeds for next year. The blue balloon from a packet she gave us in 2023 provided its first flowers this season and they are spectacular!

We have these tiny coxcomb flowers from seed that Kim shared in a little envelope marked, “Old fashioned coxcomb” that we will be sharing back to her when she shared that she might not have any of that particular variety left. She gave them to us at the market several years ago and they have made it into our seed mix every season since.

We have a gorgeous and mysterious voodoo lilly split from Andrew that flowers once a year for the shortest time in the spring. It never disappoints. Something stirs within us around the time it blooms, which gets us to look for it on the side of a hill next to the house. It has come up each year since we planted it. We also have a couple of cattails by the tracks from Andrew’s family that have survived some herbicide applications the past two years. Hopefully they can begin to thrive again with the addition of our new “no spray” signs.

Caroline sent us so many seeds this year that we started and subsequently are trying to save, our favorites being a pack of Floret dahlia seeds that we will attempt to overwinter in the bed, and these marigolds that grew to look like teddy bear sunflowers!

Andrea shared so many starts with us the year we moved here in 2020 and her amaranth pops up reliably each year since. The spirea and daisies from Phyllis, one of our neighbors in Newport, continue to get stronger each year since moving them here after a visit to her place 3 or so years back.

Alice shared some mystery starts with us in 2022 that have grown into the most beautiful pink hollyhocks we have ever encountered. We think of her every time they bloom.

Duane brought us yucca this spring that is making it. The tuber rose and sulpher cosmos from Nick and Ashley made our summer. The tuber rose has been saved year after year from Nick’s grandma. Felicia’s New England Aster from last fall is blooming now. Lori’s daisy we grew from seed is so tall and leggy and wild in all of the best ways.

Most of our peonies are gifts: Susan, Rose Ann, Daryn, and Linda have all contributed. The hostas from Rose Ann are thriving, moved here (with the peonies) from Charlie’s mom’s farmhouse that is part of their farm today. Who knows how old they are? I can still remember the praying mantises who kept us company the day we dug them up and how cool it was that Perriee got to drive their tractor to move the brush pile from the weeds we pulled while getting the plants.

We used to call our baptisia, “Daryns” before the time of the easy plant identification apps. Thanks to Kim for cluing us in on its name, otherwise known as “false indigo”. All of the irises are gifts from Gen, Susan and Lori. We have never bought an iris bulb.

Last but not least, I have to shout out Maria and Gene from Radford, Virginia, who shared their zinnia seeds with me way back in 2003. That was probably the first time I learned that seed saving was even possible. It was the gateway to today.