October 17th, 2019

 Wow it’s been since August since I have blogged!  Time flies.  We are full on into fall,  my favorite season. The lavender/flower farm is still keeping us busy.  Everything had a later harvest than usual.  I was harvesting plenty of tomato, eggplant, cucumbers, and herbs and other veggies until just last week.  I did our final English lavender harvest last week as well and we got a good number of bunches.  Considering what a tough year it was with plant loss and cold winter/wet spring combo, those plants that did survive produced well, but just a bit later than usual.  I still have a lot of big empty spaces in the field.  These were the plants I pulled.  Because it was too late in the season by the time I really learned which plants were going to make it or not, I was unable to order replacements.  I did put in an order for a bunch of Royal Velvet English lavender plants for next spring to fill in the field.  I have decided to keep what Grosso and Phenomenal I have that made it, but not to purchase more and stick more to the English lavender.  For our Michigan winters and sometimes wet springs, these seem to do the best.  Plus I do love a good English lavender. 

Speaking of English lavender.  I have some new designs incorporating it.  I have been really busy creating some lovely wedding parties with English lavender as bridal bouquets and bridesmaids.  They look particularly lovely mixed with baby’s breath and this has been very popular. 

I also have created two new vertical swags/wall hangings. The first is an herbal swag.  It really can be used year round, but the rose hips and sunflower give me a fall vibe.  It’s a great piece for home decor anywhere in your home or in the kitchen.  It has lavender, rose hips, flax, oregano and Sweet Annie.  The other swag I just listed yesterday.  It definitely has more colors of spring and summer with pinks and purples, but again for home decor it can be used any time year round.  Would look lovely in any room in the house.  Both swags are about 20-24 inches long about 18 or so inches wide at the widest point (bottom).  They really make a statement.  I had one hanging a bedroom at my house and the smell was lovely.  Sweet Annie and lavender mix is just wonderful!  These are not intended for outdoor use or outside doors!  They are dried flowers so they cannot tolerate elements such as rain, snow, wind, excessive direct sunlight etc.  

E-commerce site will be up November 1st and possibly before.  You will be able to come to our website and click shop and go to our own personal store rather than directed to Etsy.  Why the change?  Mostly to have more control over our own designs and products and the fees! Etsy is starting to charge more and more and that means shop owners have to pass that on in terms of higher prices.  We will still keep our Etsy shop as some prefer it and honestly there will be some things I offer on Etsy I might not on e-commerce right away.  The bonus and reason to shop online at our own e-commerce is it takes out the middle man and I can price down from the Etsy store on most items on a regular basis.  So please look for the new shop coming very soon!

I am headed to our little log cabin in the woods this weekend with hubby to prep the cabin for coming winter. I will be working on our e-commerce shop from up there as well!  

I hope everyone has a great fall and remember Christmas items are already starting to pop up on our shop!  

Have a great fall!  I  have created a slide show of some of our new designs and some photos that were sent to me from our brides. 

Wedding 1: Photo Credit: Ashley Auger Smitten Mitten Photography.  All photos are copyrighted Smitten Mitten Photography.   Bride is carrying the Cottage Garden Bridal Bouquet.  Bridesmaids are carrying medium English lavender and Baby’s Breath bouquets.  Groomsmen and Groom have English lavender and Baby’s Breath boutonnieres. 

Wedding 2:  The very last photo is the Midsummer’s Night Dream Bouquet, large, with thistle.  This was photo was donated by bride Danielle Denning.  Copyrighted.  

Keep them coming brides!  I love to see and use (with permission) the photos from our brides or photography studios.  How I use them:  On our blog and website, our listings for the floral designs.  I always give credit to photographer and will use watermarked photos whenever possible/provided.