Lovely Flowers & the End of Summer Blues

by Lori Trotter

Last week we experienced "false fall" temperatures. It was amazing! This week the 90+ degree temps are back, and as I've gotten older, I cannot handle the high temperatures as I did as a youngster. The older I get, I find that is the case with many things in life. 

This week in Randolph County, kiddoes started Back to School. As a parent, I recall the dreadful feeling of adhering to a school schedule again after the long, carefree days of summer with the girls, and I never looked forward to preparing school lunches again. I am lucky for my husband Todd, who studied culinary, made school lunches more than I did. But after all the activities of swimming, playing, visiting different parks, going to the beach, staying up and sleeping in late, by mid August, I was ready for the autumn colors and cooler temperatures to return. As a kid though, I began feeling the summer blues when talk of back to school began.

Today, I still get the summer blues, but for a much different reason. Simply, I don't want my flower garden to stop producing flowers! Can anyone else relate? I absolutely love flowers, and everything about them - photographing them, smelling them, walking through them, and growing them. I especially love my flower garden at Trotters Sewing Company (TSC). There is sunshine there unlike my home, so each spring I prepare my garden spot for zinnia, cosmos, celosia (this year), sunflower and calendula seeds. I also planted wildflower seeds outside UpStyled Salon for the first time, and it has been a joy watching the wildflowers sprout and grow with much needed assistance from Alisa Lee (cosmetologist) and her dedication to watering the plants.

This year we started a project called Flowers for a Cause at UpStyled Goods. I've been asked why I don't sell the flowers, and who knows? Maybe one day I will. Besides watching the plants grow & seeing all the pollinators flock to the blooms, I enjoy sharing flowers with others. This year the store provided me another opportunity to do that while also helping the community.

Flowers for a Cause began with a thought when hydrangea bushes at TSC exploded with blooms. One hydrangea bush produces more and more blue flowers every spring. I cut the blooms, and usually share them with others, but we decided to ask the community to donate whatever they could for a vase of the hydrangeas, and 100% of the monies went to our local soup kitchen, Our Daily Bread. It began in June, and it was a success! I also had help from Lori Hicks (cosmetologist) and her neighbor who allowed me to cut their hydrangeas, and a friend brought yellow yarrow to add to the bouquets.

In August, we brought the program back, and we've shared colorful zinnias, celosia, cosmos, etc., and those donations are going to a local elementary school in Asheboro for school supplies. It's a joy to cut the blooms not only so the plants will produce more and more flowers, but also because Flowers for a Cause on Wednesdays has helped our community. I've said several times I should have studied botany and took horticulture classes instead of all those English classes, but at the time, I didn't know I'd grow up and want to be a flower farmer. 

Today is the final Wednesday for Flowers for a Cause, and the summer blues are slowly creeping in me again. The flowers are still blooming, but I can tell it won't be long before they stop, and the plants turn brown. It is already occurring at the bottom of the plants. I have begun collecting some seeds to hopefully use in next year's flower gardens, something I am learning about now.

Next planting season, I hope to bring my daughter and soon to be son-in-law into my flowery world, and who knows? Maybe they will start the flower farm I'd like to work on one day. But if not, I hope they experience just a 10th of the enjoyment I feel watching lovely flowers grow & bloom. It is similar to the enjoyment I've received watching our beautiful children and grandchildren grow & bloom also.

Do you have something or a hobby you can lose yourself in but when it comes to a close, you miss it? If not, find out what that is very soon! Do not miss out on the really happy moments of life which may turn blue once they stop ... but hopefully, that only lasts for a short bloom.