Gill Hodgson, of Field House Farm, Everingham, near Pocklington, was shocked to learn that only ten per cent of the flowers sold in the UK were sourced from this country – the majority coming from as far afield as Columbia and Kenya.

Now, in a bid to encourage farmers and landowners to grow flowers for cutting and to generate awareness amongst consumers Gill, with daughter Peggy, has formed a marketing co-operative – Flowers From The Farm – and is looking for members.

Gill said: “Many of the flowers we buy have clocked up thousands of air miles and can be more than a month old by the time they hit the shelves. We are all aware of the major benefits of buying food locally but somehow flowers seem to have slipped under the radar in our quest for local provenance. “The aims of Flowers From The Farm are twofold – to encourage more farmers to become growers and to put potential customers in touch with growers in their area.”

Gill began growing her own flowers three years ago and now has a regular stall at the Driffield Farmers’ Market. She also provides for weddings and special events and to local businesses such as restaurants.

She points out that an incredible array of flowers can be grown on half an acre and set-up costs are not high. Farmers have the land, the skills and the machinery – they may not have grown flowers before, but are used to cultivating crops and these are no different. The co-operative will provide members with advice on which varieties to grow, where to look for new markets and how to get the best results from a small area.”

To become a member of the not-for-profit co-operative costs just £55 per year and Gill has calculated that with 633 members she can cover the whole of Great Britain. Gill said: “I want to see British flowers in every florist and supermarket. We can grow foxgloves, sweet peas, zinnias, dahlias and cosmos. Our flowers look beautiful, smell glorious and I need the help of other British farmers to put them back into every vase in the country.”

The new initiative is being supported by the Yorkshire office of the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) in Easingwold, whose regional director, Dorothy Fairburn, said: “This is a marvellous, low-risk business opportunity for farmers and landowners in the region.”  By Ron Godfrey, York Press

As spring officially got underway yesterday, the Royal Horticultural Society predicted one of the best seasons for daffodils, tulips and bluebells in many years.

The experts say conditions were ideal over the summer and autumn for bulbs, and that the freezing December and mild February have paved the way for an explosion of blooms.

Guy Barter, the RHS’s chief horticultural advisor, said: ‘The warm, dry, sunny weather in early summer last year was well-suited to bulbs.

‘These conditions allow them to lay down resources for flowering, but before they can flower bulbs need to experience a period of cold weather.’

The exceptionally cold start to winter – which saw the coldest December in more than a century – was followed by average temperatures in January and the ninth warmest February on record.

‘The very cold periods in December brought bulbs to the stage where they are able to flower as soon as warm weather arrives,’ Mr Barter added.

‘Last year the soil remained cool, but this year the warm February has brought on vigorous growth. With warming days forecast, bulbs such as daffodils will flower abundantly, and the first day of spring should be celebrated with a bumper crop of spring flowers.

‘We’ve been planting thousands of spring bulbs at our gardens over the last few years, so we expect a real show stopper this spring.’

Daffodils and tulips are expected to be particularly good at the RHS’s gardens in Wisley in Surrey over the next few weeks.

This time last year the cold January and February had delayed the start of spring, creating havoc for daffodil growers and postponing blossoms by weeks.

Although the recent chilly December delayed the arrival of late winter flowers, nature appears to have caught up.

Mr Barter added: ‘Daffodils are bursting into flower across gardens at the moment, as are grape hyacinths and fritillarias. As the weather starts warming up in April and towards May, we’ll see some fantastic displays of tulips, before the lilies bloom in early summer.

‘The last few years have seen a huge variation in the start of spring. Last year, the prolonged cold temperatures held back the arrival of spring bulbs so the flowering season was much shortened.

‘This year, with the warmer start to the year, we’ve returned to the expected pattern of spring, and expect to see the bulbs flowering prolifically over the next few months.’

Although there is a strong risk of frost in March and April, spring bulbs are resistant to cold nights and are unlikely to be badly hit.

‘We can never predict exactly when the bulbs will flower, as a few sunny days or a few cold days can see them burst into flower, or hold them back slightly, but we do know that the good warmth, high light levels and sufficient amounts of summer rain of last year are the perfect conditions for a really impressive display this spring,’ he said. By David Derbyshire, The Daily Mail

Hundreds of men have been through the doors of the Cherry Street Mission and now they are trying to get their lives back together by digging in the dirt. Duke Wheeler brought more than 20 companies together this spring to hatch his plan: a victory garden for the men of the Cherry Street Mission.

The vacant lot behind the Mission at the corner of 18th Street and Monroe used to be filled with garbage and was a place for crime. Now, it is a place filled with fresh soil and a place for growing. “If we use this plot in a tough area of the city to revitalize, I think we can change the city from the inside out and come up with some great results,” Mr. Wheeler says.

Jaimon Schuster of Toledo is 30 years old and homeless. He’s stayed at the Cherry Street Mission for the past year. “This is the first time I have ever been out of work like this. I’m ready to help and I pitch in when I can.” He says he’s never done anything like this before and is willing to try to learn some new skills. “Everyone’s trying to pull together to make the best out of a bad situation, and that’s a positive, right?”

A brighter future

The dozen rows of raised vegetable beds hold food for the men of the shelter. Cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli, and kale have been planted, and soon tomatoes and sweet corn will be put in the ground. Chickens are roosting around the garden to help fertilize the plants. Volunteers brought in the soil and installed an irrigation system to keep the garden lush through the hot summer months.

Ed Munhollon has lived in the Cherry Street Mission for a couple of years. He is in the Caleb Transitional House nearby and says, “I’m no gardener, I’m a carpenter. But I talked to Duke and he said, ‘know somebody that can build me a fence?’ I said, ‘yeah, I can!’ ” Mr. Munhollon finished that fence and is on a new project to build a chicken coop for the garden’s permanent residents. He says, “It is all about giving back and getting back on our feet and being productive tax-paying citizens.”

The City of Toledo, Toledo Grows, and the Ohio State Extension Office are pooling their resources to keep the project on the right track. Amy Stone, Lucas County Extension Agent, says, “We can help them with the basics on gardening like what is a weed, what is a good insect, what is a bad insect and most importantly, what it takes to have a successful garden. And if they are learning next to someone that knows how to garden, they can only become better.”

Mr. Wheeler and his small army of Cherry Street Mission gardeners and other volunteers want to start other gardens like this around the city. He says, “It isn’t about the vegetables, it’s about giving the sense of pride, self-esteem to these men, a sense of worth to the people that have the least.”

It’s planting a seed in their lives to see their own bounty in the future. By Kelly Heidbreder, Toledo Blade

Before summer ends, mark these garden chores off your checklist:

Shrubs and trees

Fertilize roses one last time and prune rambler roses.

Prune to remove any diseased and dead rose canes.

Perennials, annuals and bulbs

Plan your spring bulb garden now and purchase bulbs locally while supplies are at a peak. Now would be the ideal time if you want to mail order your bulbs. Planting should wait until October.

Divide and transplant perennials. Complete divisions by mid-October to allow roots time to establish themselves before winter. Be sure to keep newly divided plants watered.

If you’ve grown tender bulbs this summer such as caladium, gladiolus, and elephant ears, this is the month to dig them and put them into storage for next year’s use.

Collect seed from perennials and annuals for next year’s use. Continue to cut flowers for drying: yarrow, strawflower, gomphrena, cockscomb, etc.

Plant late-season annuals like pansies, snapdragons, Dianthus chinensis, ornamental kale and cabbage for fall through spring color.

Lawn care

De-thatch and core aerate existing cool-season lawns to promote root growth and improve fertilizer absorption and seed germination.

Lime your cool-season lawn if a soil test indicates it is necessary. Fertilize your cool-season lawn. It is the ideal time to establish a new cool-season lawn from seed or to over-seed an existing one which may be thin or have bare spots.

Get your bermuda grass or Zoysia lawns ready for winter by increasing the cutting height this month. This helps buffer these grasses from cold damage.

Applying a fertilizer with potassium can increase the hardiness of your warm-season grasses to cold. Look for fertilizers formulated with a pre-emergence herbicide to prevent weeds.

If you find your lawn is too shady for grass, now would be a great time to remove lower limbs and “dead wood” from large trees, greatly increasing the amount of light reaching your lawn.

Fruits and veggies

You can still plant cool-season veggies including leaf lettuce, spinach, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, Swiss chard, parsley and radishes.

If rain is lacking, keep an eye on watering your cool-season garden. Add organic matter such as manure, compost and/or leaf mold to improve your garden soil.

Keep harvesting herbs, especially tender herbs like basil. Make pesto and freeze it, or put the basil in sealed plastic bags in the freezer.

Keep harvesting tomatoes and peppers. Harvest onions and garlic as soon as the tops fall over and begin to dry out. By Dr. Sue Hamilton, Director of the University of Tennessee Gardens which are part of the UT Institute of Agriculture..

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