What Does a Flower Farmer Do in Winter?

As we come to the end of our season and pretty much all of our flowers have done their job (although the dahlias are still going strong), I thought I'd shed a little light on what life on the farm is like during the winter months.

You might think there isn't much to do, but in fact it's just as busy as the main growing season.

Winter Bed Preparation

We need to clear all the beds, with some needing to be dug over and compost added, ready to plant our hardy annuals and tulips to give us a head start in spring.

The rest we'll clear and cover to keep the weeds down over winter, so they'll be ready for planting next year.

Decisions for Next Year

To decide what we're going to grow next year, we have to look at what did well for us this year. This doesn't just mean what sold well, but also what grew well.

What didn't grow as we'd expected? Did we have lots of people asking for things we didn't grow? What type of customer do we want to work with next year? Then there's the new one for us – what are we going to grow in the tunnel?!

One of the main things we've learnt from this season is that we grow lots of variety but struggle a little with quantity. So next year, as we want to sell more flowers for weddings, be it to florists or DIY couples, we're going to reduce the number of varieties we grow.

This will give us more room to grow larger quantities of things like tulips, dahlias and cosmos.

The Jobs You Might Not Think About

There are also the unglamorous jobs that need doing too. The hedges around the farm need trimming, making sure they aren't getting too close to the beds.

There's lots of cleaning to do as well. The greenhouses will need cleaning inside and out. The outside is done mainly so that light levels are maximised for our seedlings in spring, while the inside needs cleaning to help prevent pests and diseases from building up.

All of our seed-sowing trays, pots and equipment will need a good clean too.

What Will Be the First Flowers of Next Season?

After getting all these jobs done, it'll be spring and we'll be getting back to picking some beautiful flowers.

Tulips should be some of our first blooms to make an appearance, usually around the middle of April, but they can be earlier if the winter is mild. Orlaya and Hesperis shouldn't be far behind, closely followed by a lovely selection of Sweet Williams.

So there might not be masses of flowers or colour on the farm during the winter, but it's definitely not a time to put your feet up and wait until spring arrives.

We're already looking forward to next season, and it'll be here before we know it.

So join us as we take you through the winter months and watch next season's flowers start to grow.