A wee hello from the flower field — July has brought, dry spells, seed sowing, wedding flowers, succession planting, a lovely afternoon of flower pressing, and more flowers hanging from every available beam as we dry as many as we can for autumn and winter.
July has arrived in true Scottish summer style — a little bit of everything.
After a very wet few weeks, we are now enjoying a welcome spell of drier weather, and it has made such a difference in the field. There is always something to do at this time of year, and the last few weeks have been full on.
We have been clearing out annuals that have finished flowering for this year and replacing them with young plug plants we sowed back in March. It is always a good moment when succession planting starts to come together — those little trays of seedlings from earlier in the year are now strong young plants, ready to take their place in the beds and keep the flowers coming.
The field might look abundant and effortless from the outside, but behind every bucket, bouquet and wedding flower order is months of sowing, planting, spacing, pinching, watering, watching and hoping.
Wedding season in full bloom
June was a very special month for weddings here at Home Farm Flowers & Crafts. We had four weddings, and we genuinely loved every minute of every one.
Wedding flowers are such a joy to create, but there is also a lot to think about. We want every bouquet, buttonhole, bucket and arrangement to feel right for each couple and their day. From colour palettes and ribbons to delivery times, venue details, weather, flower availability and those tiny finishing touches, there is a lot happening behind the scenes.
Every wedding is different, and that is one of the things we love most. The flowers are grown here in Scotland, gathered from the field, and arranged in a way that reflects the season, the couple, and the feel of the day.
A huge thank you to all of our June couples for trusting us with such a special part of your wedding. It really does mean the world.
We have more weddings coming up this month, and we also have two autumn weddings booked in where the couples have chosen dried flowers. So alongside all the fresh flowers leaving the farm, we are drying as many as we possibly can.
In fact, it feels like we are drying almost as many flowers as we are selling or using in weddings at the moment — and we are very quickly running out of hanging space!
Drying flowers — keeping a little bit of summer
One of the lovely things about growing seasonal flowers is finding ways to enjoy them for longer. Some flowers are best enjoyed fresh in a vase, but others dry beautifully and can be used later in dried bouquets, wreaths, arrangements, botanical artwork and keepsakes.
At this time of year, we are constantly looking at the field and thinking not just about what is ready for fresh bouquets, but also what we can dry for autumn, winter, weddings, workshops and our Seed-to-Art pieces.
Drying flowers is a simple way to keep a little bit of summer for the colder months.
Flowers that dry well
Some of our favourite flowers and seed heads for drying include:
- Achillea
- Amaranthus
- Bunny tails
- Camelina
- Cornflower
- Eryngium
- Grasses
- Larkspur
- Lavender
- Limonium
- Nigella seed heads
- Poppy seed heads
- Scabious seed heads
- Setaria
- Statice
- Strawflowers
- Sweet rocket seed heads
- Sweet William
- Yarrow
Some flowers keep their colour beautifully, while others soften into more muted, vintage tones. We love both — the bright summer colours and the softer, papery shades that dried flowers become over time.
How to dry flowers at home
If you receive one of our bouquets or flower subscriptions between now and September, you could try saving a few stems and drying them yourself.
Here is the simplest way:
- Choose flowers that are fresh, not already wilting.
- Snip the bottom of the stems before drying.
- Make sure the stems are super dry before you hang them up — if they are damp, they are more likely to go mouldy.
- Remove any lower leaves from the stems.
- Gather a few stems into a small bunch.
- Tie them with string, twine or an elastic band.
- Hang them upside down somewhere dry, dark and airy.
- Leave them for a few weeks until completely dry.
A cupboard, wardrobe, shed, garage or spare room can work well, as long as the space is dry and not damp. Darkness helps the flowers keep more of their colour, and good airflow helps stop mould.
Once dry, they can be used in small posies, wreaths, arrangements, gift wrapping, botanical craft projects or simply popped into a vase to enjoy through autumn and winter.
So rather than putting every finished stem into the compost, you might like to save a few and make your own little dried flower posy — a reminder of summer flowers when winter comes around.
A lovely afternoon of flower pressing
We also hosted a really lovely afternoon of flower pressing this month — and some of you reading this may have been there.
It was our first pressed flower workshop, and it was such a joy to share one of our favourite crafts. The afternoon was all about slowing down, looking closely at the flowers, and learning how to preserve a little piece of the season.
We talked about choosing suitable flowers, how to prepare them for pressing, the different parts of a flower, and what helps flowers press well. Everyone then had time to choose their flowers and lay them carefully into their presses.
Although the afternoon was focused on the pressing process rather than finished designs, some beautiful little compositions appeared as people arranged their flowers ready for pressing. It was lovely to see everyone looking so closely at the shapes, colours and tiny details of each flower.
It was a relaxed, creative afternoon with flowers, chat, tea, cake and lots of beautiful presses being filled. Thank you so much to everyone who came along, asked questions, shared ideas and helped make it such a lovely afternoon.
We really do love welcoming people to the flower field and craft room, and it feels very special to share not just the flowers we grow, but the ways we use and preserve them too.
Flower pressing is such a lovely way to keep a memory of the garden, a bouquet, a wedding, or simply a favourite flower from the season.
Seed sowing has started again
Even though we are surrounded by summer flowers, we are already thinking ahead.
This month we have started sowing biennials, including foxgloves, Sweet William, sweet rocket and lots of others. These will grow into sturdy young plants over the next few months, ready to be planted outside in autumn.
Biennials are a lovely part of the flower year. They are sown one year, grow into strong leafy plants, and then flower the following year. It feels like a long wait, but they are always worth it.
And as if that was not enough forward planning, we will soon be thinking about sowing hardy annuals to overwinter — some inside the polytunnel and some outside under row covers. These early sowings help give us strong plants and earlier flowers next year.
The flower year never really stops. Even in the middle of summer, we are already planning for next spring.
Spring bulbs are on our minds
It might seem far too early to be thinking about spring bulbs, but our bulb order still needs to go in.
We are very excited about this year’s tulip plans. Tulips are such a joy after the quieter months, and we are hoping to grow lots of lovely varieties for spring flowers, bouquets and wedding work.
Choosing bulbs is one of those jobs that is both exciting and slightly dangerous — there are so many beautiful varieties, and it is very easy to get carried away!
Meadow boxes and a little bit of making
Haud It and Daud It have also been busy keeping everything tidy and making us some lovely meadow boxes.
We have lots of plans for these, especially for dried flowers. They will give us another way to create natural, meadow-style arrangements using flowers grown and dried here at Home Farm.
We love being able to use every part of the flower year — fresh flowers in season, dried flowers later on, and botanical materials in our artwork and handmade pieces. Nothing is wasted if we can help it.
Where to find us next
We are heading to Johnstone on 18 July, and we are also delighted to be part of the Growing Communities Garden Show on 1 August at Victoria Halls.
This is the first ever Growing Communities Garden Show, and we are really excited to be there and meet other passionate growers, gardeners and flower lovers.
We will share more details nearer the time, but do pop the date in your diary if you are nearby.
Thank you, as always
Thank you so much for following along, buying our flowers, booking workshops, trusting us with wedding flowers, ordering subscriptions, collecting bouquets, chatting to us at events, and supporting locally grown Scottish flowers.
July is a busy, beautiful, slightly chaotic month in the flower field — sun hats, suncream, full buckets, drying racks, seed trays, wedding lists, bulb plans and flowers everywhere.
Just how we like it.
With love,
Paula & Jeanette
Home Farm Flowers & Crafts
Home Grown, Not Flown