Summer is officially here, and I’ve survived another spring season at Bates. Yesterday was our last Sunday to be open, so I’ll have two days off for 3 blissful months, until we open on Sundays again in the fall. I’m still plugging away, writing my little heart out. I have 9 essays that have made it through final edits. I’m very pleased with my progress. To date, I have submitted my essays to 38 different publications. I’ve received 11 rejections, and no acceptances. I’m disappointed, though I must say, each email declining my work has been affirming and encouraging. I will not be deterred. I will continue to send my work out and hope it lands on the right desk at the right time. 

I know a lot of my southern brothers and sisters bemoan our hellish summers. After spending the day in and out of a 100+ degree greenhouse, I do my fair share of complaining. But mercy do I love the summer. My brain gets quiet and I can dream about all of the creative endeavors I enjoy. Currently, I am obsessing over plans for a bigger and better cutting garden. In the spring, I suggested a Bates Nursery webinar on cutting gardens. We put a date on the calendar and I got to work researching all of the possibilities. This got me excited about cutting my own flowers and made me a bit greedy for more space to try growing things I never have before. Shortly after I did the webinar (which you can find here), one of my coworkers suggested the idea of a weekly social media post highlighting the arrangement of the week. I thought it was brilliant and volunteered to pull the arrangements together for Flower Power Friday. Here are my first three:

At the beginning of June, I stumbled onto a podcast on which the topic was cut flowers, the farmers that grow them, and the push to encourage florists and consumers to buy locally grown flowers in lieu of all the perfect blooms on commercially grown flowers. Of course I said, “Tell me more!” Nearly 3 weeks since I found that podcast, I’ve purchased 15 books (one hasn’t even been released yet) on growing and arranging cut flowers and ordered hundreds of seeds and bulbs. That escalated quickly. I have fallen in love with dahlias this year. I started with a few small ones I purchased at Bates, then made the mistake of checking out some end-of-season sales online. Y’all, I have planted 42 different varieties now. I need an intervention.

My dear sweet husband has given me free rein of the back yard. All he asks for is a path to get the mower from the shed to the front yard. After 30 years together, he’s gotten used to my propensity to get some wild and over-the-top ideas. I think he’s decided to just go with it. I told Tim that my goal for next year is to grow so many flowers, I have arrangements in every room, and bouquets to give away. This weekend, I met a man who does just that.

His name is Richard, and he lives in Nashville. He’s been a Bates customer for decades. He was chatting up my coworker, and she called me over. Richard and his lovely wife of 60 years (!!!) tend a garden every summer filled with dahlias. And when I say filled, I mean FILLED. He grows about 800 dahlias and has 150 different varieties! I hung on his every word, drooling as he showed us picture after picture of his stunning collection. We asked if he grew the flowers to sell and he replied, “Absolutely not!” He gives them away. Y’ALL. My heart melted, and I thought I might cry. He’s living my dream! I can’t even imagine the profit he could make by taking these blooms to the farmer’s market or local florists, but he is fulfilled by spreading joy to his neighbors without expecting a thing in return. He left us a business card with his contact info and told us that we should come by sometime for a tour. “And bring a bucket!”

Many of you have told me how much you enjoy my floral arrangements. Get ready, because I’ll be posting pictures of them all summer long. And one day, I hope to be just like Richard, handing out bouquets to anyone who needs a little pick-me-up.