A Change In The Season
August 18, 2012 at 5:43 pm 14 comments
What? The seasons change, you say? Yeah, right. If you’d asked me yesterday, I would have said the season hadn’t changed since November.
I’m afraid you’ll have to indulge me here as, before we get to the photos, I just need to have a quick rant about this so-called summer. I know we’ve all been suffering but, as a grower, I feel I have been uncommonly punished by the appalling weather. Quite apart from the toll it wreaks on the flowers and the extra effort it demands in every aspect of the job from sowing to harvest, it has completely robbed me of the conviction that my job is better than anybody else’s! I am grieving for those days in previous seasons when the traffic-free hush of the early morning, the dewy perfection of the new blooms and the promise of a beautiful day to come made picking, and life as a flower-grower, such a joy. This year, picking has seemed more like a wrestling bout with the wind and the rain – oh, the endless, ceaseless, unremitting rain* – and I am really, really, missing feeling utterly smug of a morning.
Anyway, that was yesterday. Today, the sun actually came out – not like it has in the east apparently, but enough for me to regret having worn socks** – and all is right with the world again. And the colours of this weekend’s weddings made me realise that the seasons are indeed ticking over as normal. The days of pale pinks and peonies are well behind us.
I love these colours. For years, I have been trying to find a paint that perfectly captures the orange of crocosmias to no avail. And then there’s the seedheads, and the grasses, and the dahlias, and… Well, see what you think.
* Talking of which, when is somebody going to invent a hood that turns with your head? Is it too much to ask not to have to work blinkered?
** Yes, socks! In August!
Entry filed under: Uncategorized. Tags: British cut flowers, English cut flowers, flowers, seasonal, weather, weddings.
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JW Blooms 
1.
Belinda Norrington | August 18, 2012 at 7:11 pm
Heyheyheyyy, don’t you dare even think about giving up now will you? (she says with unforgivable bossiness!) – you are far too talented! So hearing you on the graft though, the weather has just been so cruel to growers this year, really hoping next year makes up for it. Your zany colours rock, ma’am. xx
2.
jwblooms | August 19, 2012 at 9:50 am
Hello, you! I must admit there have been times when the thought of giving it all up for a nice little job in Waitrose has crossed my mind, but the good thing about this job is you’re always making commitments for the following season. That, and the fact that, the minute the sun comes out, it all seems lovely again! Jx
3.
Sue Pratt | August 18, 2012 at 10:06 pm
Great pics Jan! love the colours!! x
4.
jwblooms | August 19, 2012 at 9:51 am
Hi, Sue. Thank you! Hope all’s well your end. x
5.
Anja | August 19, 2012 at 9:38 am
It’s been a tough season, I have found some areas in my field where the drainage is so poor that the roots of the plants rot in this kind of weather, and this is sadly where I had placed my dahlias and zinnias. It is painful to pass them every day, now that I should have buckets and buckets full of them..
The challenge for me now is to complete this year, my thoughts are already wanting to focus on what will be the perfect year of 2013..
The bouquets are lovely, so nice to combine the autumn colours with light summer colours. I am sure we all will have a nice and warm and dry september..
And by the way, wear a cap under your rainhood, and the hood will actually turn with your head 😉
6.
jwblooms | August 19, 2012 at 9:55 am
Not the dahlias, Anja – how heartbreaking! I have had the same problem with some of my annuals. Normally I have masses of ammi and nigella hispanica, as it self-seeds like mad, but this year I have about three plants of each. A lesson well learnt – don’t assume anything! Still, like you, I am going to do everything perfectly next year! And thanks for the tip about the hood – although gardening in a hat as well as a coat in August may just be too depressing to cope with… J x
7.
Martine | August 19, 2012 at 8:44 pm
Hi Jan, I have been amazed at how well some of the flowers have done, in spite of the weather. Although Ammi supposedly don’t like being transplanted I do it with mine and they have been great this year – possibly because they were getting rained on to settle them in! It is a lovely season for colour. I thought I had died and gone to heaven once the dahlias got going!
I wear a mesh sunhat, rain or shine, it is light and appears to screen me from the worst effects of both elements.
I have done minimal trade this year due to a back injury I sustained at the end of April. I have planted nearly everything on my hands and knees in the mud! Bending to cut and lugging full buckets was beyond me though and has meant I haven’t been selling apart from my regular weekly order. Still there is always next year 🙂
8.
Jan | August 20, 2012 at 9:55 am
Hi, Martine. Sorry to hear you’ve been injured – how miserable for you. Thank God there is always “next year” to keep us going! Jan x
9.
Sandra | August 20, 2012 at 8:18 am
Beautiful as ever Jan, I almost want to get married again just so I can hold one of your bouquets! Still, seems a bit drastic. Will do a sun dance for you and see how that goes, or blow some of the sun from France over to you here. Surely, surely, we can’t have the wettest August on record – I mean, April, May, June and July… isn’t that enough? Hope you’re feeling a little less down about it all, though looking out the window today, I’m not sure. Still This Is England and one must keep one’s chin up and soldier on. Left, right, left, right.
xx
10.
Jan | August 20, 2012 at 9:57 am
Thanks, Sandra. If you want to hold one of my bouquets, we could always do something in the garden(like 6-year-olds)! J x
11.
Katherine at Florist in the Forest | August 21, 2012 at 10:09 am
It really has been a tough season, don’t get me started on the pesky wind – so much damage. Good to see you still have some beautiful flowers though.
Loving the idea of a hood that turns with you, let me know when you find it!! x
12.
jwblooms | August 24, 2012 at 2:18 pm
Thanks, Katherine. Think how easy next year will be in comparison! x
13.
Tracey Wright | August 27, 2012 at 10:42 am
Hi there lovely lady, Simon and I featured you on our Eco-Matters radio programme some months back and I’ve banged your drum on many occasions since! What you’re doing is wonderful and…as the lovely Simon has just proposed to me, I wondered if you’d like to do me the honour of taking care of the flowers…we’re getting hitched on 29th September…THIS YEAR lol…and I cannot wait…looking forward to hearing from you and seeing what wonderful, proper local creations you can bestow our day with…with love and respect, Tracey x
14.
Julie | January 23, 2013 at 5:48 pm
I didn’t have a single bloom in one field last year! Absolute soul destroyer. This year has to be better surely. For me new premises and new fields fingers crossed, so hoping the sun shines for my new start! Really hope it shines for you too!