As I write this, we are enjoying a nice return of our August monsoon season, bringing much-needed humidity and some rain to our local community, but I am dreaming of cooler days and preparing to plant some of next year’s crops. Even though we dip down in temperature during the Winter, many of us are still in the ‘Zone 8’ growing zone meaning that most of the gorgeous Spring flowers you love must be started now and planted this Fall so that they can root through the Winter, and then burst forth in the early Spring. These include larkspur, delphinium, echinacea, foxglove, and rudbeckia, to name just a few, and these are your plants started from seed. We will talk more about all those lovely bulb flowers next month.
Here at Moonstruck, the plants are enjoying the beautiful humidity, but so are the weeds!! We are losing the battle at this moment, but we figure we will gain ground in the Fall as our planting season has changed now, and we are planting something year around, thanks to all the gorgeous flowers available for us to add to our farm selection. We just finished planting the last round of lilies, which are Orientals with their magnificent fragrance for a late Fall bloom, which we are very nervous about. This is the first time we have succession planted lilies throughout the summer and into the Fall. The last round of LXA hybrid lilies with all their gorgeous colors are blooming now, and hopefully, that last round of Orientals will do just as well. We chose Orientals for the last round since they prefer cooler temperatures and are currently rooting in our cool room at 45 degrees. Hopefully, the greenhouse will be cooler by the time they are ready to come out to bloom. As mentioned above, we are starting trays of Fall flowers to plant for a Spring bloom expanding our selection of available farm fresh organically grown flowers.
The markets are thriving, with the Phelan Farmers Market moving back to the Phelan Community Center parking lot each Monday from 2pm to 6pm. The market will be closed for Labor Day; remember, when the time changes in the Fall, the market will close at 5pm. The Wrightwood Farmers Market is 4pm to 7pm each Friday in the Wrightwood Community Center parking lot just off of Park Drive. Thank you for supporting your local markets. We are what you make us with your purchasing power!!