Alex’s Birthday Floral Story

Hey there! This is Alex writing this blog update. I sit here on Wednesday March 4, 2026 — and it’s my birthday! I wanted to do something fun to celebrate, and when I think of celebration I think of flowers. So, in honour of my big day, today’s update is all about one of my favourite crops here on the farm. They’re not edible, but they’re real pretty to look at and during the season we are so fortunate to get to look at them as we drive in and out of the farm each day, and while walking our dogs in the evenings. I am counting down the days until our views look a little more like that and a lot less snowy.

You may remember another blog post I put together around this time last year, explaining the influence of my two beautiful grandmothers and their gardening expertise on my own floral journey, along with an overview of my trials learning to grow and sell flowers. If you missed it, check it out below!

The 2025 growing season was much of the same.

I looked forward to weekly visits to Grandma Nancy’s house, admiring her adorable porch and gorgeous garden plots. She continues to be an inspiration and her home and gardens are total goals! We also celebrated her birthday in September, and of course her cake had a gorgeous garden on it! Shoutout to our local Dairy Queen (our family’s fave ice cream spot) for putting together this masterpiece.

Now, backing up a bit in the year to March. Nathan and I travelled to Spain for two weeks, spending some time in Barcelona as well as renting a car and driving south down the coast. We were celebrating our 10-year anniversary a bit early, before the farm season kicked into high gear. We saw lots of beautiful flowers and floral art, and it left me feeling excited and inspired for our own farm florals to come.

When we returned home in early April, it was time to get to work! We began seeding and preparing the flower plots, and our own personal gardens started to bring some pops of colour as well.

By mid-May, temperatures were warm enough for transplanting, and our flower seedlings made their way into the great outdoors.

Transplanting day was grey and wet, but it was so satisfying to see all those little seedlings lined up. Thank goodness for weather-proof boots and wet suits!

We had a few extra plants leftover, so we used them to fill up some backyard planters, and add a little extra colour to our personal space (top left). We truthfully don’t get to spend too much time out here, but the more flowers the better in my opinion!

Those of you who subscribed in 2025 will remember that we had to delay our first week of deliveries. And once we did get started, there were a couple of moments where we had to get creative and do some ditch-diving to round out our offerings. Thank goodness we have lots of land to pull from! (top right)

By mid-July the flower patch was overflowing with blooms. The weather quickly switched from wet to dry, with one of the longest stretches of drought we’ve experienced in a long time. Fortunately we have trickle irrigation set up, so were were able to provide our flowers with consistent access to water when Mother Nature could not. We loved putting together the weekly flower subscription jars. It was so fun to mix and match varieties, colours, and texture, and see them on your kitchen counters and windowsills.

In between harvesting flowers for delivery, we tried to take some moments to stop and admire and enjoy the many beautiful blooms. As always, our farm dogs Blueberry & Peach enjoyed sniffing around for creatures hiding in the patch, and I picked many a bouquet to gift to family and friends. Like the photo on the bottom right — I was invited to a friend’s baby shower, and you better believe I showed up with some flowers for the mama-to-be along with a gift for the little one!

By late-September, right around Grandma Nancy’s birthday, the temperatures began to dip and we experienced some frost. We experimented with some overhead irrigation for frost protection, something we have lots of experience with on strawberries, but was new for flowers, and were delighted to find that it worked! This helped extend our flower season until just before Thanksgiving, allowing us to design and deliver some pumpkin bouquets.

All good things come to an end though, and after Thanksgiving we decided to say goodbye to our flower season. I filled up the back of my car with as many blooms as I could, and soaked up every tone of pinks, oranges, yellows, and purples.

The weather surprisingly cooperated, and we didn’t experience another heavy frost until the end of October. This allowed us to host a couple of final events, and decorating with both pumpkins and flowers was such a treat. We’ve now officially started to plan for this coming season: ordering new seeds, scheduling seeding, and mapping out our planting.

And so, that brings me to today’s pitch: would you consider purchasing a 2026 Flower Jar Subscription, as a birthday gift to me? I’d love to share my flowers with as many of you as possible, but there are a limited number of subscriptions available and once those are gone, they’re gone for good!

A Flower Jar Subscription would make for a perfect gift for a friend or family member, or a self-care treat for yourself. Order ahead for a birthday, Mother’s Day, or just-because.