Before sedum turns to a lovely blush pink, it’s got game as a neat textural accent. The plentiful small green buds are an excellent foil for hot-hued focal flowers or more understated white-on-white or pastel palettes. The season for green sedum is fleeting but deserves a nod of appreciation.

Viva zinnias! These flowers love heat and sunshine and they come in a fiesta of colors. Native from the US southwest to South America, they are most often associated with Mexico where many zinnia species originated. We grow the popular Zinnia elegans, in many different colors shapes and sizes. When enjoying cut zinnias, be sure to change the water at least daily as they tend to deteriorate quickly in the vase.

The flower spikes of apple mint may be understated in shades of green and lavender, but the fresh scent is deliciously uplifting in a bouquet. This mint sports large, felted leaves on long stems. It has lovely foliage all season, but is even more special in August when in bloom. It’s a bee and butterfly magnet and useful in the kitchen too.

We all know sunflowers are cheerful. They’re popular around the world and are the Ukrainian national flower. Dark, light, multi-hued, we like them all. So although it sounds like hyperbole to call one “cuddly,” this one is! Sometimes called a Teddy Bear type, we can see why. The petals are so fine and supremely dense you’ll want to pet them.

Smaller blooms than fancy reflex chrysanthemums but with a swirly-curly petal form just like them, bright yellow “Phyllis” marigolds are a new favorite on the farm. We’re also trialing two different “white” marigolds (which are really cream colored but why quibble unless they are heading to a wedding). They all have excellent vase life and can even be dried.

This is a flower that deserves close inspection to be truly appreciated. A ring of green-tipped outer petal-shaped bracts surrounds a domed center of tubular stamens. The flowers are crisp and held in umbels on 14”-18” stems. Superb fresh or dried.

Pincushion flower is a florist favorite with long stems and a fantastic color range. Hybridizers have worked to create ever larger blooms, and the scoop series are premium cultivars. We’re still working to cultivate the extra-large 3” blooms that these plants can produce under optimal conditions, but while we’re learning we can still enjoy the beautiful colors and form of these blooms. First to open are the dark purple with more shades to come by next week.

Rarely seen but quite special, Patrinia scabiosifolia is a long-stemmed umbellifer with ballpark-mustard yellow blooms. In bouquets, as in the garden, it has a see-through lacy quality. The bright color looks amazing paired with hot shades of pink or orange and can brighten arrangements in dark colors without clashing. As a perennial, it has a short season in late July and we enjoy every minute of its brilliant show.

Let the show begin! This beautifully textured paniculata type hydrangea undergoes a summer-long transformation. In July, it opens pure white with dense clusters of small buds like beaded pearls. Soon though, the flowers begin to shift to pink, or “antique” coloration. The flowers become spotted with deep red and tan, looking aged in a lovely way that’s perfect fresh or dried.

Also known as Lily of the Nile, most agapanthus are too tender for our climate – but these beauties are hardy! We’ve grown them for four years and the clumps grow bigger every year. They flowers look like the big alliums of spring, but bloom in the heat of summer. The color is rich blue with just a hint of violet. They are long-stemmed with star shaped florets, and last well in the vase.

Like its perennial cousin Delphinium, annual Larkspur has tall spikes packed with blooms. The spikes of Larkspur are more slender and produced in greater abundance. Very pretty fresh, they are a favorited dried flower too. These usually bloom earlier in the season, but we’re happy to have them now!

Another annual cousin of a classic perennial, we’ve found they hold their florets better with less shattering in the vase. Cherry Caramel is a terrific accent flower, with creamy, slightly toasty petals with rose pink centers – lovely! Somehow, they seem to mix with most everything.

Like an ephemeral purple cloud, this soft filler is the source of the common name for Cotinus, “Smoke Tree.” Purple Velvet sports deep purple leaves that reverse to dark teal green. The plume is the plant’s flowering inflorescence and tiny dark seeds may be spotted amongst the delicate haze of stems. The plumes add unique volume to bouquets and arrangements.

Another beauty in the wonderful allium family, spherocephalum florets are held in tight clusters on long stiff stems. They begin in light green then open to rich purple for a neat bi-color effect. The size varies a bit based on the size of the bulb but they are charming in all variations. Limited supply in 2023 as our beds recover from a move.

The paper-thin petals of cosmos are fragile and show every bruise making them difficult to ship to florists. But they are so refined they are well worth the gentle handling they require for on-farm sales. The abundant, feathery foliage is another plus for filling bouquets.

For years we’ve waited for the flowers of Sputnik to open, only to have pollinators spoil the show. Once an individual floret is fertilized it browns quickly making the white bloom look tired before it’s fully open. This year we realized the buds were interesting texturally before they open. As an added benefit, they last longer in the vase and the leaves are a show in themselves – glossy mid-green and slightly wavy. We like.

Best known as Annabelle hydrangea, this classic flower opens green, matures to creamy white, then ages back to soft green. We love it in both colors! But the white blooms must be harvested only after they have “hardened” or they will wilt. It’s a bit tricky to determine when the blooms are ready but before they begin to green up again. The mature flowers make beautifully bouffant white mound, elegant on their own or whimsical in arrangements dotted with bright pops of other blooms. And did we mention that the late green stage is perfectly useful too and can easily be dried?

This striped, bicolor grass has grown less than two feet tall for us – a nice size for floristry. The mostly upright leaves curve gently when mature and add a countrified look to arrangements without being too floppy. Ribbon grass can also be used in structured arrangements, made into loops by securing both ends of the blade. It lasts for a day or more out of water making it useful for events.

Delightful acid green filler adds airy volume to arrangements. The tiny flower heads may be pressed or dried for craft work. It is reportedly also used as a traditional medicinal herb in China and Japan to stimulate the immune system.

We grew these from a seed packet that boasted to have a complete bellflower garden in the mix. Indeed it had plenty, though only some make good cut flowers. These bellflowers are tall, sometimes over three feet, and come in two colors, pale lavender and white. When we have not been careful and the plants have gone to seed, the following spring volunteer plants seem to show up everywhere, not a bad thing, but a surprise amidst the asparagus.