'I AM DAZZLED BY YOUR CHARM' Fields, meadows and grassy places, bristling with golden Buttercups, can be found throughout the northern temperate regions of the world. Look for these lustrous and delicate looking beauties near creeks, ditches, lakes or other damp places. Ranunculus is a genus of about 600 species including the Buttercups, Spearworts and…
Author: Marianna
I am a floral designer and urban flower farmer, growing flowers sustainably in underused and neglected areas in my North Portland neighborhood. I create floral designs for all occasions and also sell flowers at the flower market.
Sweet William
Sweet Williams (Dianthus barbatus) member of the Caryophyllaceae family is as popular as cut flower as a garden plant. Usually grown as a bi-annual it will grow foliage the first year and then blooms the second year. Sometimes it’s a short lived perennial but when given a chance, it will reseed itself generously and behave…
Snapdragon struggles.
During the second half of Spring, when my daily garden walk leads me eagerly to the row of Snapdragons, I keep my fingers tightly crossed in the hope to find strong healthy shoots that will have ample strength to keep upright those beautiful inflorescence which hopefully will soon appear. Snapdragon's raceme-inflorescence are composed of many…
Whimsical moods.
Two Thousand Flowers A Day
Did you know that a Hummingbird has to visit one- to two thousand flowers per day, to get the nectar it needs for survival? Some sources put the number even higher at up to four thousand flowers. Now you see why there should be flowers everywhere. Hummingbirds use their specialized beak and tongue to get…
What is your favorite flower?
In the floral industry we get asked that question quite a bit and no one in their right mind will answer with just one favorite flower, simply because in the flower world there is simply too much beauty to behold. The colors, the shapes, the smells, the wonders, the legends, the secrets and promises, the magic…
Sweet Peas
One of the very first plants to find a place in the ground for Petal Passion's 2016 season is Sweet Peas Lathyrus odoratus, a cool weather annual native to Sicily, souther Italy and Aegean islands and I expect them to be blooming late May to early June, maybe longer if I get the successive plantings…
Cut-flowers seeds
Delphinium, Amaranth, Forget-Me-Not, Zinnia, Cosmos, Kiss-Me-Over-The-Garden-Gate, Sweet William, Foxglove, Armenian Basket Flower, Osteospermum. We may be Oregonians through and through, shrugging off the copious rain, or maybe you're a transplant from a dryer region but either way, planning our summer garden is a great way to make it through these winter months with a little…
Hellebore, a winter flowering plant.
Not many plants look their best in the winter time and even more plants are completely gone this time of year. So maybe that is one reason why the Hellebore can get away with nodding her head down towards the roots and still catch the attention of a passerby. Often called Winter- or Lenten Rose,…
Poinsettia, everything you wanted to know.
One of the pleasure nearing the Christmas season is the flood of Poinsettias everywhere. The plant also goes by the name Christmas Star, not surprisingly as the dentate shape of the vibrant bracts form a blazing star, which remind us so clearly of the Star of Bethlehem, that Franciscan friars in Mexico included it in…
Continue reading ➞ Poinsettia, everything you wanted to know.