Garden Favourites 2017
While we are starting to fill a whole 1 acre field with flowers for our farm, we still try to turn it into one massive garden instead of a row by row production field. Flower fields look great but I still prefer mixed gardens with somewhat meandering pathways. Our annuals are in 4 straight rows with drip irrigation just because we haven’t figured out how to do this in a more garden style. The perennials however are going in bed by bed and in different layouts each time. So far we have three larger gardens that we call: “The Jays” (long story!), “Rogue Peonies” (another story!) and the “Bell Garden”. These aren’t completely filled yet but starting to take shape and we are planning to fill them by next spring.
The next bigger project will be a rose garden. The set up is a bit more work as I want a wooden fence around it with two gated arbours. So far we only have very few roses but will be adding more and more over time. The arbours will be planted with hardy climbing roses and we will also interplant the roses with several herbs.
This year I discovered a few new favourites to add to some of my all time favourites.
As for quick and easy annuals that just keep on flowering I am really in love with Purple Tansy (Phacelia tanacetifolia) and so are the bees! This hardy annual grows quickly, is light purple and has an unusual shaped flower. The bees seem go absolutely crazy over it. No wonder it’s also called bee’s friend. I have never seen bees buzz so much and so frantic around flowers like on these.
All-time favourite Bachelor Buttons (Centaurea cyanus) come in several colours now. The most common colour is blue but there pink, white, purple and maroon coloured ones and every combination of these colours. 
A very prolific plant that keeps throwing out new buds and flowers. A real joy all summer long if one keeps cutting wilted flowers.
And of course some old favourites like Cosmos (Cosmos bipinnatus ) and Sunflowers (Helianthus annuus) are staples at our gardens. Both come in so many colours now, Cosmos in anything from yellow, orange, white, pink to patterned ones, Sunflowers of course in yellow and also orange, reds, bi-colours and very pale white-ish yellows. Cosmos are also going to flower a long time if one keeps deadheading the wilting flowers. They can be seeded really thick to create a mass of blooms. Most sunflowers are getting quite tall and should be placed in the back of the bed, best against a fence or a wall. Bees love all these flowers and will be buzzing around the flowers. 
Perennials are an important part of any garden and undervalued in my opinion. While most are more expensive, they last several years and are very much carefree. With our recent drought, perennials are a real time and water saver. Most were doing just fine. They only need a bit more care until they are established. Anything we planted last year wasn’t watered a single time and are still performing well. They might perform better with occasional watering but we just don’t have the time and means to water them.
A fairly new addition to our collection is Masterwort (Astrantia major). An amazing plant that is quickly climbing to the top of our list. Very unusual and pretty from the leaves to the flowers and seed heads. It comes in white and all kind of pink shades to burgundy and red. I can’t wait to add more Astrantia to our gardens. They are exceptional cut flowers and easy to dry too.
Lady’s mantle (Alchemilla mollis) is a charming old timer that is planted in a lot of cottage gardens in Europe. Unusually soft, velvet-y leaves with little sprays of chartreuse flowers. Great between more colourful flowers to enhance bright colours and as ground cover in apple green. One of my favourites out there especially after heavy dew or rain when the water drops look stunning on the leaves. 
Totally unknown and undervalued in my opinion is a perennial (!) plant called Maximilian Sunflower (Helianthus maximiliani). A mass of leaves that get fairly tall (around 5ft) that will bloom later in summer with many, many small yellow sunflowers. A great plant to screen or hide a fence that needs painting. Very hardy also. Stalks can be left over winter to keep a barrier in place (e.g. for deer) or can be cut down after some nights of frost. 
A list of flowers for the garden would never be complete without one of my all-time favourites: Yarrow (Achillea millefolium). They come in so many colours now and are incredibly tough and prolific. An absolute work horse of a plant. I am growing every colour I can possibly find. White, yellows, pinks, reds, purples and my favourite burgundy. Some of them are also displaying some colour combinations now like a light yellow that is going into red. Just gorgeous. Something really cute happened this year. I had several left over seed packages and just mixed the colours together. When I planted out seedlings they were so tight in there, I grab “chunks” of seedlings. The. Best. Idea. Ever! Planting these “chunks” creates multi-coloured yarrow plants! They look absolutely stunning. A great way to add several colours in one spot! 
This rounds up my favourite flowers for this year. This is an ever-changing list with some all time beauties but also new discoveries. We do use most of our flowers in bouquets but never cut them all. We leave lots for bees and other pollinators and for us and guests to enjoy the gardens. Selling flowers is one thing but planting a garden is never for only one purpose, it’s there to share.
“Happiness lies in the cultivation of the garden” – Voltaire