My flower cutting garden continues to produce beautiful blooms.
This cutting garden has developed so much over the last few years. I enjoy comparing its progress from year to year, and seeing where I need to add more plants to improve the display. This time of year I have hollyhocks, Shasta daisies, balloon flowers, Black-Eyed Susans, asters, yarrow, echinacea, and more. There is always something new to see every time I walk through the space.
Enjoy these recent photos.
My perennial flower cutting garden is one of the first visitors see when entering the farm. It is large and filled with gorgeous blooms late spring through August. These are the showy flower heads of rudbeckia. Rudbeckia’s bright, summer-blooming flowers give the best effect when planted in masses in a border or wildflower meadow.
In general, rudbeckias are relatively drought-tolerant and disease-resistant. Flower colors include yellow and gold, and the plants grow two to six feet tall, depending on the variety.
There are still a few poppies thriving in the beds. Poppies produce open flowers that come in many colors from white and gray to crimson red.
They also come in different forms. Poppies are an attractive, easy to grow flower in both annual and perennial varieties. They require very little care, whether they are sown from seed or planted when young – they just need full sun and well-drained soil.
Here is a poppy seed pod, which is what’s left on the stem once the flower blooms and the petals fall off. As the seed heads turn brown with ripeness, it’s time to cut them and harvest the seeds. One can tell when pods are ripe by shaking the stem. If the pod rattles, it’s ready.
Just outside the flower garden, I have dark pink Astilbe – it adds whimsical texture to every space with its fluffy, pink spikes of flowers. Astilbes are wonderful shade perennials, known for their dark green foliage and plume-like blossoms. Flowers bloom mid-summer and make charming fresh or dried cut flowers.
These are the interesting leaves of variegated Nasturtium. Variegated Nasturtium leaves are circular, shield-shaped leaves that grow on a trailing plant. The leaves are fragrant, with a mustard-like scent.
Another plant with interesting foliage is Pulmoniaria. Pulmonaria are members of the Boraginaceae family and first cousin to other well-known garden favorites such as myosotis, brunnera, symphytum, and mertensia, the Virginia Bluebell. The name Pulmonaria come from the foliage, which is often green with white spots, resembling a diseased lung. In fact, its common name is lungwort. The silver spots on Pulmonaria leaves are actually the result of foliar air pockets used for cooling the lower surface of the leaves.
Achillea millefolium, commonly known as yarrow, is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is a hardy perennial with fernlike leaves and colorful blooms. The large, flat-topped flower clusters are perfect for cutting and drying.
The flower clusters or corymbs are made up of dozens of tiny daisy-like florets. Colors range from white and soft pink pastels to brilliant shades of yellow, red, orange, and gold.
Echinops is a genus of about 120 species of flowering plants in the daisy family Asteraceae, commonly known as globe thistles. They have spiny foliage and produce blue or white spherical flower heads. They are native to Europe, east to central Asia, and south to the mountains of tropical Africa.
This is a balloon flower, Platycodon grandiflorus – a species of herbaceous flowering perennial plant of the family Campanulaceae, and the only member of the genus Platycodon. It is native to East Asia and is also known as the Chinese bellflower or platycodon.
Balloon flowers get their name from the unopened buds, which swell up prior to opening and resemble little hot-air balloons.
The opened flowers resemble those of bellflowers, and while most often deep blue or purple, white and pink varieties are also available.
This is a double, white, bell-shaped flowers. Balloon flowers thrive in sun or partial shade. It likes well-drained, slightly acidic soil; and although the balloon flower plant will tolerate dry conditions, it prefers plenty of moisture. This cold hardy plant also does best in cooler conditions in summer, so afternoon shade is a good idea for warmer regions.
I grow many different asters in the garden. Asters are also called Starworts, Michaelmas Daisies, or Frost Flowers. They need little in the way of maintenance – they just need deadheading for more blooms the following season. Asters come in a great variety of colors including pink, white, red, orange, and their various shades, making them one of the most popular flowers for use in floral arrangements.
Johnny Jump Ups are a popular viola. They are native to Spain and the Pyrennes Mountains and are easy to grow. Small plants produce dainty, fragrant blooms – some in deep purple and yellow.
Phlox has superb heat and mildew resistance. They thrive here at the farm. Phlox is a tall and upright grower that’s great for the back of the border, or even planted at the edge of the garden among the shrubs. Phlox also comes in a range of colors from pure white to lavender to even red and grows happily in most parts of the country. If properly planted and sited, phlox is largely pest and disease free too – a perfect perennial.
Echinacea purpurea, or purple coneflower, is a hardy perennial. Echinacea purpurea has a large center cone, surrounded by colored petals that brighten the garden in mid-summer. Echinacea is a genus, or group of herbaceous flowering plants in the daisy family.
This is Alcea rosea, also known as the hollyhock. These plants can reach five to eight-feet tall and up to about four feet across.
Shasta daisy flowers provide perky summer blooms, offering the look of the traditional daisy along with evergreen foliage. They are low maintenance and great for filling in bare spots in the landscape. I hope your gardens are thriving this summer. What are some of your favorite mid-season blooms? Share them with me in the section below.
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Do you recognize the truck behind me? It was originally a US postal delivery truck from the 80s, which I bought years ago and had painted green for our catalog business, MarthabyMail. We repainted it a bright white to celebrate our new shop at Martha.com. And guess what? The truck still runs beautifully. I am so excited about our new shop. Click on the highlighted link and visit right now! You’ll love everything!
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One of my favorite tools in the garden is the Stainless Steel Hori Hori knife. It’s a true 5-in-1 utensil – use it as a digger, a serrated edge for cutting roots, a knife, a ruler, and a weeder. The knife, which was crafted in Japan, has inch markings on the 7.5-inch blade, a perfect feature for precision-oriented tasks like making sure plants and bulbs are planted at the right depth. Each knife comes with a comfortable wooden handle and a protective leather sheath.
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Our partner Sur La Table offers these Stainless Steel Cooling Grids. Uniquely sized to fit quarter- and half-sheet baking pans, these cooling racks are durable and dishwasher-safe.
I love serving paella at big gatherings. These are carbon steel Spanish Paella Pans from Sur La Table. They’re great to use when cooking authentic, family-style paella. Complete with a wide, flat surface, these shallow cooking vessels distribute heat evenly among ingredients while forming that famous soccarat, or delicious golden, caramelized crust that makes paella famous. They’re safe for ovens, stovetops or outdoor grilling – perfect for summer.
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Getting around my Bedford, New York farm is so much easier with our Polaris all-terrain vehicles.
If you own a working farm like I do or work on a large property, you know how important it is to be able to access all the many areas - on-road and off. Whenever I can, I always take the time to drive around the farm, talk to my outdoor grounds team, visit my animals, and check on the progress in my gardens. My gardeners and crew are also very busy and need to get around easily and efficiently. Here at Cantitoe Corners, we all use Polaris Off Road vehicles. These mid-sized utility vehicles are extremely useful, can get into narrow spaces, and can go anywhere without damaging the grassy landscapes. They are also easy to clean and can be used all year long.
Enjoy these photos.
I have several Polaris vehicles here at the farm. They’re all used every single day for doing a myriad of chores from carrying bountiful harvests from the vegetable garden to towing my 30-gallon sprayer to plowing the carriage roads in winter.
Here is one filled with beautiful lilies ready to be transported to my house. The back cargo area makes it very convenient to move flowers and plants to and from my gardens. We do so much carting around the farm, it is important to have a roomy and durable back space for tools, supplies, plantings, etc.
This Polaris is being used to pull my sprayer when it’s time to treat the boxwood. These Polaris vehicles have excellent pulling power.
Here is the Polaris being used to carry our newly picked crop of garlic – all of it ready to move from the garden to the old corn crib for drying.
In autumn, we use the Polaris vehicles to haul all our pumpkins and gourds from the pumpkin patch to various locations around my home.
We even used it for Halloween. Here’s the back of a Polaris vehicle decorated for a Halloween episode of my television show, “Martha Know Best.”
These all-terrain vehicles are great to use when driving in between the horse paddocks – they are so easy to drive in narrow, tight spaces where no other vehicles can go.
Once it gets cold, all my tropical plants displayed on the terraces and in the courtyards are moved indoors. The Polaris can carry heavy pots with ease.
And in the dead of winter, we hook the plow onto one of our Polaris vehicles, so I can plow the four miles of carriage road around the farm.
My newest Polaris is a RANGER XP 1000. It is always parked just outside my Winter House and carport ready to use. It is among the newest models available with 82 horsepower – one of the most powerful in its class.
It has the same roomy cargo box as all the other vehicles. The tailgate can be pulled down for easy loading and unloading.
The driver and passenger seats are comfortable and roomy – this one has three seats which is perfect for small garden tours around the farm. As an all-terrain vehicle, it can go more than 35-miles per hour. For safety, I never allow fast driving on any of the carriage roads, but all the seats in our RANGERs are equipped with seat belts.
It is also well equipped with the Polaris Ride Command technology, featuring GPS mapping. Ample vents and controls provide heating and air-conditioning.
Here I am with Kevin Sharkey – we’re pulling up to the chicken coops to say hi to my dear chickens and Guineafowl.
During summer, we remove the doors – it’s a very easy process and keeps the vehicles cooler in the hot humid weather.
Here, Ryan separates any straps from the inside of the vehicle. All the parts are very light, but very strong and slip easily into place.
Next, the bolts are loosened. There are two hinges on each door. All the hardware is stored until the doors are re-attached in the fall.
Here’s Doug removing the door from its hinges – just lift and pull. These vehicles are built for easy maintenance.
The doors are all neatly stored in the large Equipment Barn until the end of the season.
At the end of every day, the cargo box is tilted, emptied, and washed so it is clean and ready to use the next morning.
If needed, the cab is also rinsed – these vehicles are so easy to wash, especially with the doors off.
This Polaris is larger and can easily carry four to even six people. There is a lot of room in both the front and rear section, and is designed so everyone can get in and out easily and quickly.
These vehicles are an essential part of my working farm. We are all so pleased to use them each and every day.