Finally! Finally!  Our replacement plants have arrived!  We lost about 70 plants last year with our polar vortex winter/super wet spring.  I really wanted to switch those Phenomenal plants - by far they were the largest variety to die - with more English lavender.  While I love intermediate because of the long stems for floral design, my true love is for the English lavender, which are shorter stemmed but they are generally more vibrant in color.  I  will post some pictures of English vs. Intermediate Lavender at the end of the post. 

We still have quite a few Grosso plants (intermediate) which I do like.  It's odd because I have always been told Phenomenal is hardy to zone 3 and handles winter better than most intermediates.   I found the opposite to be true last year.  I salvaged most of the Grosso and some of the Phenomenal.  I decided to not replace the Phenomenal plants and replace with English lavender instead.  Almost all of our English lavender survived the poor weather last year.  

I do usually purchase plants in state or locally if possible.  However, I wanted a very particular type of lavender - Royal Velvet- that I have had difficulty finding around here.  Some other lavender farms have it in Michigan, but because of the number of plants I needed to purchase I wanted a wholesale price. Back in the fall 2019 I pre-ordered plants from Victor's lavender. If ordering frin Victor's, it does usually require advance ordering for larger wholesale orders. If you want plants for fall planting, you should order now.  If you want plants for next spring order in early fall.  Plants were shipped and they arrived in wonderful condition.  I am already so impressed with the look of Royal Velvet!  I have always had a good experience ordering from Victor's in the past. 

There is a new perennial greenhouse in Carleton, Michigan called Perennial Beginnings.  They have a lot of Munstead (English lavender) they recently posted for sale.  I believe my first lavender plant was a Munstead and they are VERY hardy and great culinary lavender too. I purchased some yarrow and some other perennials from Perennial Beginnings.  They are very responsive on their business page and the plants are nice. 

Another options for larger orders for those looking is Telly's in Shelby Township.  When we started our lavender field at our new house in Frenchtown Twp in 2017, we ordered over 300 plants from Telly's and picked them up.  They were very good quality and price.  

Last shout out was to Diaz Greenhouse on Exeter Road in Carleton.  This year was my first time shopping with them.  I went out to pick up curbside online orders from them a few weeks ago.  They sell most annuals, baskets, flats, and also veggies.  I ordered all my annual needs from baskets, to flats to our vegetable plants for our rasied beds this year through them.  Excellent service.  Check out  Diaz Greenhouse.  It was a great experience and honestly preferred it to hitting the larger, more crowded garden centers at big box or larger greenhouses.  

There a lot of other greenhouses here in Monroe County.  We have also used Parrans in Monroe and Ida locations.  They have a great mix of perennials, annual, baskets, and veggies.  I got all my vegetables from them last year and they were great plants.  We also have showed Schwartz greenhouse in the past, which always has good quality and a mix of perennial, annual, roses, veggies etc.  I have gotten Lavender also from both Parrans and Schwartz. 

I am drinking coffee and then getting ready to start planting these guys.  Have a great day! 

The shop has been bustling!  Things have been really picking  up and I have been working 7 days to keep up with Mother's Day Orders!  Just a few quick announcement and reminders.  

Mother's Day Shipping: Last day to ship for Mother's day is early morning of Wednesday, May 6th. I will be out of town May 6th through May 10th. 

SHIPPING DELAYS DUE COVID-19 -  Shipping carriers such as USPS, UPS, and FedEx are experiencing delays. This can affect shipping times from our end as well as delay supplies reaching us. Please allow additional time for your order to arrive.

I may be shutting down the shop on Monday to get caught up on orders before going out of town. I will see how caught up I am after the  weekend and go from there. 

Farm News:  It's been fairly quiet.  Our weather has been back and forth and not really suitable for planting yet.  We passed our last frost date on April 30th.  I have some Sweet Annie plants to get into the ground and some Bee Balm.  I  am getting our Royal Velvet lavender replacement plants later this month.  We have over 70 plants coming.  The rest of the lavender looks good this year.  It's greening up.  I should be planting seed soon for our cutting garden and getting our raised beds prepped.  May is a great month for planting here in Michigan. 

I am hoping to get some other flowers planted for the cutting garden this year and continue with our veggies and lavender!  Beyond that, I have put on hold any other expansion plans as I have my plate full where we are! 

Still praying for all those fighting COVID-19.  We have been hit hard here in Michigan.  We have been practicing social distancing and honestly I have been so busy filing orders here at the farm/home that I have not ventured out very much.  We have been doing mail pick ups rather than taking anything to the postal carriers.  I usually have every other day pick ups so that is usually  3-4 times a week. .  Please stay safe and hopefully we will be on the other side soon.  

Here are some products and designs I have been working on this month. Enjoy!