Christmas came and went. New Years came and went. We had a couple of bad storms, so bad we lost power. Twice. The storms caused mayhem in the back garden, where most of my flowers grow. After the storms came more storms and gale force winds. My plum tree got decapitated and looks like someone sandpapered its leaves (should it stay or should it go? Can it lead a healthy life without a head?). My zinnia seedlings didn’t fare much better. They were either snapped in half or badly bruised.

I'm half-way through my flower growing season. Spring was light years ago. Almost a different lifetime. Such is, the all consuming nature of running your own business. It’s time to look back at how the season has gone, and time to look forward and make plans. I will keep growing all the way into autumn. I will keep growing flowers until they stop. Which will be sometime in April. Or earlier if we get more storms.

It occurred to me that I need to write a business philosophy, an ethos, a framework, a manifesto, a decree. At the very least, a few notes - in no particular order.

Make and maintain a wildlife friendly garden: provide food, water and shelter for a wide variety of animals (not rodents).
Grow a wide variety of flowers/greenery all year round and plant in layers.
Look after the soil.
Compost all food and organic waste.
Practice no-dig gardening and cover all bare soil with plants or mulch.
Embrace seasonality.
Recycle as much as possible.
Craft from hand and design all of my own graphic design elements (business cards, greeting cards, ribbon, etc.).
Keep researching about sustainable flower growing and making a wildlife friendly garden.
Make a proper cottage garden in the spirit of Phoebe Vaughan (my wonderful nana who, like me, made a cottage garden near the sea on sandy soil) and Margery Fish (the late-queen of the modern cottage garden).
I can’t think of anything else. I’ll make more notes another day.

I started this blog in late January, I think. Then the flower business got really busy. Too busy to finish the blog.

I had planned to take out Marigold every Saturday. But, as things turned out (I’m finishing this blog in April 2026), taking Marigold out every Saturday wasn’t possible. As more people bought flowers during the week (from the flower stand and orders) I didn’t always have enough flowers for my mobile shop (I need to grow more flowers!).

There was also the small problem, which many flower growers experience. The late spring/early summer gap. The tulips have finished, the daffodils have finished. All the spring focal flowers have finished. The summer ones, like roses and lilies are still a few weeks away. I think poppies might be the answer next season. Maybe.

I ended up with gaps at other times over summer. That was my own fault. I didn’t sow seeds regularly over summer. This is called succession planting. And I need to add it to another list of things. Things I could do better.

I also discovered that most of the people who buy my flowers, like bright bunches. I planted way too much pink and far too many pastels. Goodbye wholely pastel bunches. I'll still grow pink flowers. I like pink flowers, but I’ll cut back on it. I need more space for orange and red and yellow and blue and purple. And deep moody colours.

Here’s a hotchpotch of summer photos.

Someone threw one of my handmade signs into the stream on New Years Eve. My husband climbed down and rescued it. And buggered his knee in the process.

Blue and purple bunches were popular. I found some purple corn cockle seeds. I hope they’ve self seeded because I forgot to collect dry seed from them before they died.

My Project Coordinator was always close at hand.

Meet the third member of the team. My Retail Manager, Manuel Brush.

I planted lots of gladioli bulbs in spring, but not many of them appeared.

I made these small Christmas table bunches for a customer. I was very happy with them.

I discovered that lilies aren’t very popular with customers.

I love coming across the varied wildlife - with the exception of rats and mice (which scare the crap out of me).

Lily buds are beautiful. Such generous and long lasting flowers. I’m still going to use them.

Gaura is easy to grow from seed and it’s a great seaside flower. It’s a toughie.

I discovered dark blue tissue paper. It’s staying.

Cosmos is not just a filler flower, it’s a star.

And that’s it. Summer suddenly appeared. And it kept me busy. Rat-on-a-wheel busy. It was wonderful and lush and colourful and abundant. It passed in a blur of storms and droughts and happy customers. I was forever staking and watering and cutting. And then it went. Quickly. Over night. Now it’s autumn and that’s a whole different sort of gardening. A different pace. I’ll have more time to tell you about it.