What a beautiful weekend! The sunshine and warmth had a huge effect on the flowers – it forced so many of the long-awaited tulip varieties open, and we were swimming in anemones and ranunculus in the greenhouse (in short sleeves!) Never mind that those two lovely spring days were sandwiched between cold and colder weather. Actually, we do mind…with every night in the 10-day forecast in the 30’s (and a few below freezing), this isn’t the welcome to May we were hoping for, especially after such a cold, wet April. Flowers do not like to sit under cold, cloudy skies for this long – we’ll be scouting closely for signs of disease until the weather lets up and we’re looking at more seasonable nights in the 50’s. We’d usually be trying to get a jump on our dahlia planting by now, too, but no chance with this forecast. In the meantime, it’s Mother’s Day week and we’ll be slammed in the barn putting together orders and arrangements with all the beautiful flowers the warm days gave us!