As a child, two signs told me spring was here. Firstly, my grandmother’s flowering cherry trees burst into bloom. Soon her lawn would be covered in pink snow, which is the name she gave to the fallen petals.
Secondly, her tulips started to bloom in many of the same colors I painted my Easter eggs. This spring, with my state like so many others under quarantine, and strict social distancing orders from the governor, I was unable to walk through the commercial tulip fields and gardens. Instead, I ordered some tulip bulbs to plant in the fall.
Tulips, my Grandmother felt, are best enjoyed outdoors, because they don’t last long in the house. Walking through outdoor gardens, whether large formal ones, or just someone’s home garden, is something I’ve enjoyed since I was a young girl.
While I wait for the bulbs I ordered to arrive, I am starting more flower seedlings for fall bloom so that I can enjoy my own backyard garden longer.
When Social Distancing and Quarantine Didn’t Work
In my first post, Why Did I Wait so Long to Start a Blog?, I talked about caring for my mother at home. Shortly after I wrote that, her condition became worse. The last week of January, my husband took a couple of days off work to help me with her until we could move her to a nursing home. That event, pretty much turned our lives upside down for a few months.
However, at the time, Covid-19 seemed like a far off thing that would be stopped before it reached our countries’ borders. But by the end of February, her facility went on lock down. Even her dog, Barney, was not allowed in. I still take him with me when I visit twice a week. I write her letters, and bring snacks. We wave at her through the glass door. Sometimes the nurses open it a crack, but she can’t hear me.
Unfortunately, their social distancing and quarantine didn’t work. Somehow the disease found it’s way in anyway. The good news is, when I visited this past Sunday, the nurse told me they had tested her again, and she is now completely clear of the virus!
Someday, I will be able to hug my mom again, and take her dog to sit on her lap. In the meantime, I take her little bags with snacks, magazines, romance novels, and flowers.
My Village is Empty
Much of my state is still in stage 2 of the governor’s “stay at home” order.
I worry for the local shop owners. Especially because many of them reply on summer tourists. I worry for my hairstylist and dental office, who had to cancel all of their appointments for months, and are still severely restricted. And I wondered why big box stores like Target and Walmart could remain open, but not small boutiques?
We do need to protect our vulnerable populations. However, the rest of us need fresh air, to be in nature if we can, and to calm our minds, because anxiety weakens our immune systems.
Social Distancing Changed How We Work and Exercise
Most of us still need to work. Thankfully, my husband was able bring his computer, and two monitors to work from home. I love having my husband at home! Hopefully it will be a permanent thing, him working from home.
We share our small space in what is suppose to be a formal dining room. I paint, and he responds to emails, or whatever it is he does. But not everyone can work from home.
I’m lucky to live in the forest, far away from a big city. I’m so grateful the state parks opened again. I prefer to walk near my home with my dogs.
I’m an introvert. Thus, I love being at home. Social distancing is easy for me. I just don’t like being told what to do.
Viewing the Tulip Fields Online and Through the Car Window
Every year for I don’t know how long, my family drives to Skagit County in Washington State to tour the tulip fields, buy bulbs, and take photos. This year, I planned to take along a couple of my BJD dolls for the photo-shoots.
However, for the first time in forever, the festival is canceled. Unfortunately, it’s not like a Comic Com that can be rescheduled. Tulips only bloom once a year.
One of the main growers, Roozengaade, started growing tulips 50 ago. Although this year their gardens and fields are closed to visitors, they shared virtual tours through their Facebook page daily. On their website, they sell both cut flowers and bulbs which are shipped in the fall. We were hoping to purchase flowers there to take to my mom, however they were completely closed to the public.
Luckily, the other large grower, TulipTown was allowing people into their parking lot to buy flowers at their small stand, and view one of the fields still in bloom from a distance. They also gave us a map of where the different fields were located, but many of the bulbs had already been harvested in early April, or the flowers headed.
If I Can’t Walk the Tulip Fields, at Least I Can Paint Them
Originally, I planned to write about my sadness for the festival’s closure, and concern for the local tulip growers. It’s what I thought about when I started my tulip painting. I reflected on the hard work of the farmers gone to waste since people will not be able to walk through the fields of flowers, or the formal gardens, or see the beauty of everything in bloom.
If you look carefully at the painting I made though, notice there are tiny people in the background touring the fields, which we will be doing next April. As the banner on the TulipTown website says, “Live to grow another year”.
One bright spot is that the growers donated many flowers to local hospitals and nursing homes.
Sad Discoveries About the Commercial Flower Industry
While researching this article, I learned something interesting. Many of the flowers we purchase throughout the year come from far away countries, produced by large-scale growers. Many flowers are not grown responsibly, either for the environment, or the conditions the workers are exposed to due to pesticides.
A large proportion of cut flowers purchased for North American weddings and funerals are grown in South American hothouses. Some of these large commercial growers spray heavily with pesticides, many of which are banned in North America because of their dangers. An example is DDT. I remember my dad used to sprinkle something called diazinon dust on everything in our garden when I was a child. I looked it up, because I know it’s banned now, and it causes all sorts of bad effects.
Some of the commercial farms are starting to use beneficial insects to cut down on the amount of toxins. Hopefully their positive actions helps the local water supplies, and benefits local bird and animal populations in the future.
Working Conditions and Exposure to Toxic Chemicals
The flower industry, especially large growing operations in 3rd world countries, generally employ low-wage workers to plant and harvest their crops. These flower growers sometimes even use child labor, and frequently they fail to pay their workers a living wage. In addition, according to Pesticide Action Network, “A study of fern and flower workers in Costa Rica found that over 50% of respondents had at least one symptom of pesticide poisoning.” And of course, with weakened immune systems from the pesticides, and being unable to have social distancing they are at even greater danger for Covid19. However, just like with clothing, you can buy fair-trade flowers.
What Else You Can Do
1. Look for flowers and house plants what are certified to be sustainably grown. Some places to find these are your local co-op market, or health food grocery. Look for the VeriFlora™ Certified Sustainably Grown label, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Organically Grown label.
2. Buy from local growers. It helps the environment as well as your local economy. We are just heading into the season when farmers markets are opening around the country. In addition your have a chance to talk to the growers about their farming methods.
3. Plant your own flowers or bulbs. You will have bouquets throughout the summer months, and best of all, you can plant bulbs in pots, to bloom in a sunny window! During the winter months, buy flowering houseplants that are responsibly grown. Some houseplants flower for months, and with proper care, can be brought into bloom again.
4. Spend time out in your garden, even in the winter. The fresh air and sunshine helps us stay healthy. This year, for the first time, I spent at least a half hour out in my garden all winter, even on crummy weather days, because I wanted to let my chickens out, and didn’t want an owl to eat them. And this year for the first time in a long time, I was never sick, even through this was suppose to have been one of our worst flu seasons.
Plan a Cut Flower Section in Your Garden for Fall
Many of us live in an areas where the first frosts don’t happen until late October. That means that we still have over 90 germination days left for flower seeds to grow and bloom.
In September or early October, when you are out in your garden planting tulip and daffodil bulbs, you’ll be able to pick a bouquet to take into the house.
These are some of the best flower seeds to pick up at your nursery and plant this weekend. All of these have shorter growing periods and will make lovely bouquets.
- Sunflowers come in so many varieties and colors. And they make beautiful bouquests on their own or mixed with other fall blooming flowers. They bloom 53 days after planting.
- Asters take a bit longer, but if you plant now, you will have lovely blooms by September.
- Zinnias are a favorite of mine. I love their bright colors. There bloom 60 to 70 days after planting.
- Cosmos are a plant native to Mexico. There have more than 25 varieties. Their colors include pink, crimson, rose, lavender, purple, and a new chocolate shade. They all have bright yellow centers. They grow 2 to 5 feet in 83 days.
- Sweet Peas just like their edible cousins, can be planted for a sweet smelling fall crop in mild climate areas. One thing I love about peas, they grow well in poor soil, and even improve the quality of it by adding their own nitrogen. Sweet peas mature in around 62 days. Many people, depending on their climate, feel peas actually do better in the fall.
- Snap Dragons are a winner for fall because they can withstand some of the early frosts.
In addition planting flower seeds, you can also plant these bulbs for fall bloom: tuberous begonias, cannas, dahlias, daylilies, glades, lilies, and iris. If your spring was filled with too many rainy days to get your planting done, take heart, do it now, and go plant yourself a fall cutting garden!
Our Ancestors Instinctively Knew How to Make the Right Choices
If you want to live more sustainably, think what your ancestors would have done. My family was always out on the border lands, on the frontier, so maybe it is bred into my genes to behave responsibly, or know how to stay safe and survive. There is probably also a bit of rebellion bred in too. But I must have also inherited a love for all things beautiful.
I only have stories of my ancestors, and the challenges they faced, but I had the privilege of spending a lot of time with my grandmother as a small girl. She would have been an Edwardian Lady when she was a young woman. Her garden bloomed from early spring until late in the fall.
In her day, only the very wealthy could afford year round cut flowers in their homes. These were probably grown locally in a greenhouse. For the middle class, they waited until spring to buy from the local market, and they grew their own flowers for bouquets.
I’m sure my grandmother spent many happy hours planning additions to her small backyard garden. She was also a talented watercolor artist. She not only loved to grow beautiful flowers, she loved to paint them too.