Spring (May)
Nothing announces the end of winter as well as spring-flowering bulbs. You may have marveled over photos of brilliantly colored tulip fields in the Netherlands and acres of daffodils naturalizing in Midwestern parks. We look forward to these cheerful signs of spring in our front garden each year. In our back farm fields, we grow specialty tulips and daffodils that look quite different from the most familiar spring bulbs. In addition we grow several varieties of alliums (flowering onion). Take a look at the photos below to see the types of flowers that make up our spring bouquets.
Tulips—We Grow More than 80 Varieties!
Many people are most familiar with Darwin Giant Hybrid, Single Early, Triumph, and Single Late Tulips. These tulips are popular for their classic shape and bright colors they bring to the early garden. We grow plenty of these cheerful tulips at Flutterby Flower Farm. We have a soft spot, however, for some of the more unusually shaped and colored tulips, and we enjoy introducing these more exotic tulips as cut flower. We grow more than 80 varieties of tulips, and each year we add a few new ones to our tried-and-true favorites.
The Lily-Flowering Tulips are often described as elegant, with their graceful, pointed petals arching outward atop tall stems. Both Double Early Tulips and Double Late Tulips (also known as Peony Flowering Tulips) are packed with petals and resemble roses, peonies and camellias more than classic tulips.
Our 4-week Spring Subscription bouquets are filled with these gorgeous specialty tulips, and we are fortunate to have a bounty of specialty tulips available in time for Mother’s Day in most years!
Just some of the tulip varieties that we grow at Flutterby Flower Farm. They are shown in the approximate order that they bloom during spring.
Daffodils (Narcissi)
Daffodils aren’t just yellow. They come in many shades and combinations of pink, salmon, orange, white and yellow. Their forms range from robust Large and Trumpet Cupped to the more delicate and fancy Double Cupped and Split-Cup flowers. At Flutterby Flower Farm, we grow more than 30 varieties of daffodils, from miniatures to giant trumpets.
You may have heard that daffodils are toxic to other flowers and should never be mixed with them in a bouquet. It’s true that when first harvested, daffodil stems ooze a sap that causes most other flowers to wilt. This is easily remedied by pre-soaking the stems in water for several hours before adding daffodils to arrangements. All Flutterby Flower Farm daffodils are pre-treated this way.
A sampling of the many daffodils grown at Flutterby Flower Farm.
Alliums (also available in June, and some varieties are available later)
Alliums, or Flowering Onions, may not sound very appealing as cut flowers, but they do not smell like their edible cousins and can be absolutely stunning. Generally blooming in late spring and early summer, alliums range from large globes of purple or white florets atop tall stalks to smaller spheres in black-purple, sky-blue, and even a green and purple mix. There are also alliums that are lacy discs and dainty bell-shaped flowers just inches tall in soft pinks, yellows and white. These last are a bit too small for cut flowers, but we grow them in our garden just to enjoy. The photos below show some of our diverse selection. The photos of the allium flower fields were taken on a well-timed visit to Erik’s family in the Netherlands. What a sight!
Some of the alliums grown at Flutterby Flower Farm.