Notes from the Flower Field — May

From the field 🌱

May has arrived in a whirl of seedlings, muddy boots, watering cans… and battles with blackfly, greenfly and whitefly.

After what felt like endless weeks of rain, we’ve suddenly swung into weeks of near-dry weather with bright sunshine during the day and chilly evenings at night. There’s never any in-between.

The polytunnel is bursting, the first proper armfuls of flowers are appearing, and suddenly every single job feels urgent all at once. It’s that point in the season where everything shifts gear overnight.

And despite the chaos, we absolutely love it.

The great aphid battle 🐞

For a while it felt like every tender stem in the polytunnel had become an all-you-can-eat buffet. We tried all the old faithful methods first — soap and water sprays, squishing them by hand, regular checks morning and night — and honestly, it was relentless for a bit.

Then reinforcements arrived.

This year we ordered ladybirds from Ladybird Plantcare and they have absolutely annihilated the aphid population. Tiny spotted heroes.

It’s been fascinating watching nature do what nature does best. Between the ladybirds, the soap sprays, and our rather unglamorous squishing routine, we finally feel like we’re getting on top of things.

Flower farming certainly keeps you humble — one minute you’re admiring anemones and ranunculus, the next you’re negotiating with aphids before breakfast.

Seedling Tetris ☀️

The weather has also created a new seasonal challenge: “seedling Tetris”.

With scorching daytime sun followed by colder evenings, trays are being shuffled around constantly trying to protect young plants from both extremes. We’ll honestly be glad when many of them are finally planted out into the ground and can stop living this temporary nomadic lifestyle.

We’re also keeping a much closer eye on watering needs just now as conditions change so quickly from one day to the next.

New beds, sore knees & nursery plans 🪴

Alongside the pest patrol and seedling juggling, we’ve been deep into one of the biggest seasonal jobs — planting out seedlings and creating new growing beds.

Back-breaking is probably the polite description.

There have been wheelbarrows, endless compost shifting, and much discussion afterwards about our hips and knees.

At the same time, we’ve been revamping part of the growing space to create a dedicated little nursery area for all our propagated herbs and young plants. It’s still very much a work in progress, but we’re excited to finally see it taking shape.

Our latest obsession: Wool Pots 🐑

And then came one of our favourite discoveries this season — Wool Pots.

Honestly… genius.

These clever biodegradable pots are made from wool. You can grow seedlings or nursery plants directly in them and then plant the whole thing straight into the ground. The wool naturally breaks down, feeds the soil, and even acts as a slug deterrent around the top edge.

Sustainable, practical and completely in tune with the way we want to grow.

Safe to say we’re slightly obsessed.

We’ll have Wool Pots with herbs and other lovely plants with us at Scone Palace Garden Fair on 30th May, alongside seasonal flowers and pieces from our dried flower botanical “Seed to Art” range.

Daud It goes to Chelsea 🔨

Daud It is currently at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show helping build a garden alongside internationally renowned driftwood sculptor James Doran-Webb. James is known for his extraordinary large-scale driftwood animal sculptures displayed in botanical gardens and public spaces around the world.

This is Daud It’s second time helping at Chelsea, and while we’re missing him here at the farm (especially with the mountain of jobs still to do), what an incredible experience to be part of.

A huge mention also goes to Jonathan Bishop of Foliation Limited — the plantman who brings everything together behind the scenes, coordinating the team to install and plant up James’s incredible design.

Daud It has also been having a brilliant time meeting some very famous faces from the gardening world including Monty Don, Adam Frost, Kazuyuki Ishihara and one of our own inspirations in flower farming, Georgie Newbery.

Back home, Haud It has been keeping everything going — mowing, strimming, building us an amazing new nursery area for all our propagated herbs and plants, and even creating a new wildlife pond area complete with Froglife visitors already moving in.

We absolutely love it.

Wedding flowers & farewell flowers 💐

Back home, wedding season is beginning to bloom and our subscription flowers are underway too.

We’ve also had the privilege of creating farewell flowers for families during difficult times. Those arrangements are always made with enormous care, gentleness and thoughtfulness. It’s a real honour to be trusted with something so personal and meaningful.

Flowers really do become part of life’s biggest moments — joyful ones and difficult ones alike — and we never take that trust for granted.

Craft fairs & Seed to Art 🎨

We’re also getting busy with upcoming craft fairs and events, which we’re really looking forward to.

Meeting customers in person is always one of the loveliest parts of what we do, and we’re busy drying flowers and preparing new pieces for our Seed to Art botanical range.

There always seems to be a mixture of creativity and chaos here at this time of year — flowers drying everywhere, half-finished ideas on tables, and regular searches for missing secateurs.

Already thinking about 2027 🌷

And while we’re still trying to keep up with this season… we’re already planning for the next one.

In the coming weeks we’ll be ordering our 2027 tulips and sowing biennials for next year’s flowers too.

Flower farming is always an odd combination of living in the present while planning seasons ahead. There’s never really an “off” switch — just different kinds of busy.

Daisy update 🐾

Daisy continues taking her supervisory role very seriously.

She spends her days following us around the flower field, “helping” with planting out, guarding us from absolutely everything, and keeping the mouse population firmly under control.

By evening she is completely exhausted from all her hard work and happily sleeps for at least ten hours to recover.

Thank you 🌱

The polytunnel is full, the lists are endless, and despite the aching joints and constant to-do lists, we wouldn’t change this life for the world.

Over the next few weeks we’ll be in full swing with our early summer flowers, so do keep an eye on our Facebook page and website as both are regularly being updated with flowers, events and seasonal orders.

If you’re visiting Scone Palace Garden Fair, do come and say hello — we’d love to see you.

And as always, thank you for supporting our little seasonal world here at Home Farm. Every order, workshop booking, message and kind word genuinely helps our small Scottish flower farm keep growing.

https://homefarmflowersandcrafts.uk/