The Fluffy Dog Flower Farm

The Fluffy Dog Flower Farm A little sustainable flower farm in Acton, MA, growing fresh, seasonal, irresistibly fluffy bouquets!

June is my favorite 🤩
06/08/2024

June is my favorite 🤩

For the first few years after you plant a peony, you’ll want to cut the stems very short in order to leave as much folia...
05/28/2024

For the first few years after you plant a peony, you’ll want to cut the stems very short in order to leave as much foliage as possible still on the plant. (That’s because those early years are all about establishing a big, healthy root system, which takes a lot of energy - energy that foliage provides through photosynthesis.) Anyway: these are third-year peonies, and the stems are still too short to sell. But not too short for me to enjoy on my kitchen table!!

I’ll have to take some more glamorous photos later, but holy cow: here is Pastelegance in full bloom this morning. Took ...
05/24/2024

I’ll have to take some more glamorous photos later, but holy cow: here is Pastelegance in full bloom this morning. Took my breath away!!

Looks like Pastelegance - maybe the most coveted peony of all right now - is going to be the first to bloom! I’m not sur...
05/14/2024

Looks like Pastelegance - maybe the most coveted peony of all right now - is going to be the first to bloom! I’m not sure I’ll have any to share this year, as these are still young plants and I don’t have a lot of them (because the roots cost about 10x as much as normal peony roots!). But get ready for lots of pictures!

This mix of lilac fringed and pink peony-flowered tulips is kind of tremendous, isn’t it? I love the creamy edges on bot...
05/10/2024

This mix of lilac fringed and pink peony-flowered tulips is kind of tremendous, isn’t it? I love the creamy edges on both of these varieties! These three large (“Great Pyrenees”) bouquets are going to some very beloved teachers, but I’ve got this blend of Cummins and Columbus tulips lined up for Mother’s Day, too! Order by tonight for delivery tomorrow - and add on a half-dozen home-baked gourmet cookies from while you’re at it!

Having dahlias in July is usually a pipe dream here in Massachusetts, but today I found a baby bud on a KA’s Cinder Rose...
05/08/2024

Having dahlias in July is usually a pipe dream here in Massachusetts, but today I found a baby bud on a KA’s Cinder Rose cutting I ordered from *3 weeks ago.* I knew Cinder Rose was supposed to be an early bloomer, but still: wow!!! 🤯 I’m almost tempted not to pinch it!

French tulip “Menton” is the most elegant spring flower around. She’s super tall (30”) with large, satiny, goblet-shaped...
05/05/2024

French tulip “Menton” is the most elegant spring flower around. She’s super tall (30”) with large, satiny, goblet-shaped blooms that remind me of ballet slippers. Que magnifique!

🎶 Her name was Amazing Parrot, she was a showgirl…🎶 After 5 or 6 days in the vase, parrot tulips open up for an utterly ...
05/04/2024

🎶 Her name was Amazing Parrot, she was a showgirl…🎶 After 5 or 6 days in the vase, parrot tulips open up for an utterly spectacular display!

Argh! Now here is something a dahlia grower never hopes to see. The big bump on this dahlia tuber is crown gall: a bacte...
05/01/2024

Argh! Now here is something a dahlia grower never hopes to see. The big bump on this dahlia tuber is crown gall: a bacterial infection that will damage the health and productivity of this plant, and that may spread to my other dahlias if I plant this tuber. Of course, I won’t plant it: into the garbage it goes, along with the other tubers in the same bag, and I’ll Lysol the heck out of everything it touched.

Crown gall (and its even-uglier stepsister, leafy gall) is pretty rampant in dahlia tubers bought from places like Wal-Mart, Costco, and Eden Brothers, which import their tubers from the Netherlands. But any tuber can be infected. I got this one from a US-based small grower whom I *know* to be extremely careful; I’m sure the bump wasn’t there when she mailed me this tuber last month. That’s why - now that it’s almost planting time here in the Boston suburbs - you’ll want to inspect all your dahlia tubers before you plant them.

Lots of folks are trying out dahlias for the first time this year, and I’m thrilled about that! Dahlias are amazing plants, but they come with a *lot* of health issues (unfortunately, they get viruses too!) and they need super-careful treatment. I’m planning to do a series of posts on them in the coming months - but for now, the American Dahlia Society is a great resource for info on gall, viruses, and best handling practices. Check them out - and look over your tubers for weird bumps and growths before you plant them in your garden! If you see an out-of-place bump like this one - or a bunch of fused-together shoots coming out of one tuber, which is symptomatic of leafy gall - throw that tuber in the garbage (not the compost) and sterilize everything that touched it.

For those keeping track, I just tossed my homegrown tulips in the compost today. Here’s what they looked like this morni...
04/30/2024

For those keeping track, I just tossed my homegrown tulips in the compost today. Here’s what they looked like this morning - about like the grocery store tulips almost a week ago now! The final tally: 6 days for grocery store tulips vs. 12 for locally-grown. So locally-grown tulips aren’t just twice the size of their grocery store cousins - they also last twice as long!

I’m a tulip-pulling machine in today’s warm weather! Here’s one I didn’t get to in time, and her oh-so-appropriate name ...
04/29/2024

I’m a tulip-pulling machine in today’s warm weather! Here’s one I didn’t get to in time, and her oh-so-appropriate name is Amazing Parrot. The tequila sunrise of tulips! Tulip Mania subscribers, you’ll meet her soon!

This is Exotic Emperor, my favorite tulip on earth. I’ve so regretted not planting it last fall!! But today, when I walk...
04/23/2024

This is Exotic Emperor, my favorite tulip on earth. I’ve so regretted not planting it last fall!! But today, when I walked my kids to the playground, I found this little clump of them outside the . Thank you, garden fairies, for letting me see this stunner this year! I’ll never not plant her again!

Address

Acton, MA
01720

Telephone

+19787651701

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