The Secret to Having Blooms All Season Long
One of the questions we’re asked most often, whether during farm visits or messages online, is how we manage to keep the fields blooming for such a long stretch of the season. It’s a great question, and one we love answering, because the reality is that continuous blooms are never accidental. They’re the result of a lot of planning, observation, and intentional growing that shapes nearly everything we do.
The answer is one that’s pretty simple. It’s part of our succession planting plan, where we make a seed starting and planting plan very early in the year and implement this plan to make sure we have have plenty of flowers to use for bouquets, and for visitors to enjoy seeing at the farm all throughout May through October.
For us, succession planning serves as one of the most important parts of our flower growing season. While it may not be the most glamorous part of growing flowers, it is certainly one of the most essential. Behind every massive harvest and every field that looks like a rainbow of color, is the framework of a plan for growing and planting flowers that bloom all season long.
Seasonal Timing
Flowers, by their very nature, are fleeting. No single sowing, no matter how successful, can sustain an entire growing season. Early on, we learned that relying on one planting often leads to dramatic highs followed by big gaps in blooms, creating cycles of overwhelm and scarcity that can be difficult to manage a business.
Succession planting allows us to work in harmony with this natural bloom cycle rather than constantly chasing it. By sowing and planting in thoughtfully spaced intervals, we create overlapping waves of blooms. As one succession begins to slow, another is just beginning to flourish, resulting in a season that feels continuous, and balanced.
Creating a Rhythm
Without succession planning, flower farming can quickly become reactive. A sudden flood of blooms may leave you scrambling to harvest, design, and sell, only to be followed by weeks where availability of blooms feels limited. This pattern doesn’t just affect the aesthetics of the farm, it impacts harvest consistency, sales stability, and the overall experience of growing. These are all so critical when it comes to selling flowers.
By contrast, succession planting introduces a pattern, a mapped out plan. We love this, because harvests become more predictable, design work feels less constrained by supply, and the fields maintain that full, generous look we all strive for. It’s always hard to sit down to do the planning work up front, but the benefits always pay off in the long run.
Succession planting is often simplified into a schedule of “plant every two weeks,” but the reality is it’s a little more nuanced. Each flower crop carries its own timeline, influenced by maturity rates.
True succession planning requires an understanding of these variables and a willingness to adapt. All of this is part strategy, part observation, and part experience. All skills refined gradually over seasons rather than perfected overnight.
The PepperHarrow Tagalong Succession Guide
Our Succession Planting Guide was designed to bring clarity and calm to succession planning. Built from our 15 year long flower growing experience, it offers structure for learning this process, yet gives enough flexibility for success. It’s meant to work alongside you through the season, helping you think ahead, track your plantings, and create a more seamless flow of blooms.
👉 Download the Tagalong Succession Guide
A Season of Abundance
Continuous blooms in the flower fields are often described as magical, with blooms in a rainbow of color that look like they go on and on for days, but the truth that they’re thoughtfully planned well in advance. Behind every flower field are decisions, and a lot of work made weeks and months earlier.
Regardless if you choose to check out our succession plan, we hope that you’ll explore starting seeds and planting and multiple times throughout the growing season to experiment with having blooms throughout your growing season. Once you see how many more flowers doing this provides, you’ll be hooked!
XX Jenn and Adam
The Magic of Dried Flowers at PepperHarrow
One of the fun parts of growing flowers is watching them change through the seasons. From the first pastel stems in spring to the last vibrant blooms of late summer, each variety has its moment. With every season, there’s always something to look forward to, but it’s good to remember: just because the growing season ends doesn’t mean the beauty has to.
Here at PepperHarrow, we love drying flowers to carry a bit of those gorgeous blooms with us through the colder months. There are many different ways to preserve flowers, but over the years we’ve found that simple air drying fits our ‘keep is simple’ way of doing things. Always the best plan! Air drying flowers is easy, natural, and requires very little beyond time and patience.
Why We Dry Flowers
Drying flowers allows us to expand our flower season to diversify into selling flowers when fresh flowers are no longer in bloom, during our off season. This is a great way to keep our business running during the months when fresh flowers aren’t readily available.
We use dried flowers throughout our home and studio to create interesting, creative crafts to appreciate and enjoy. They fill vases, become wreaths for the front door, and sometimes find their way into other creative projects, like installations for friends.
Mini Dried Flower Bouquets
Making mini-dried flower bouquets is one of our most favorite activities during our off season. We enjoy the creative process of making beautiful new combinations to share with our customers.
Our Simple Air Drying Method
Air drying is as uncomplicated as it sounds, and that’s exactly why we love it. We’re usually too busy to be able to handle anything beyond what’s simple and straightforward, because there are always a ton of competing projects going on when we’re in the height of our growing season.
We begin by harvesting flowers when they’re at their peak bloom, where they are open and beautiful, but not overly mature. The timing matters. If you wait too long, petals may fall as they dry. If you cut too early, they may not fully open.
Once cut, we strip the extra leaves from the stems and gather the flowers into small bundles of around 10-20 stems. It’s important not to make the bundles too large, as good air circulation helps prevent mold. We secure the stems tightly with twine or a rubber band, and will hand from a opened paperclip, knowing they’ll shrink slightly as they dry.
Then we hang them upside down in a dry, dim or artificially lit, well-ventilated space. A barn beam, a spare room, or even a quiet corner works beautifully. Keeping your dried flowers out of direct sunlight helps preserve their color. From there, all that’s left to do is wait.
Most flowers take a couple of weeks to fully dry, depending on humidity and the variety. You’ll know they’re ready when the petals feel crisp and the stems snap cleanly.
Air Drying Flowers
Hang a rope, or a metal chain from the rafters, rubber band your bundle and hang using an opened paperclip. Simple!
The Flowers That Dry Best
Some flowers naturally lend themselves to drying. Over the years, we’ve had wonderful success with lavender, statice, strawflower, blue globe thistle, celosia, yarrow, nigella pods, gomphrena, and pennycress. These blooms tend to hold both their shape and color beautifully.
For us, part of the joy is experimenting with which flowers work and which don’t. Not every flower dries perfectly, and that’s okay. There’s beauty even in the unexpected shapes and faded tones.
Uses for Dried Flowers
We transform our dried flower bunches into mixed, mini dried bouquets, straight-stem bunches, and lush bunched arrangements in vases designed to bring warmth and texture into the home. Some dried blooms become flower confetti for celebrations, while delicate stems and accents are crafted into dried flowers for styling, gifting, and creative projects. When the holidays arrive, those same summer blooms reappear as ornaments, wreaths, and keepsakes. All little bits of the growing season that last far beyond it.
In autumn, dried flowers truly shine. We love pairing them with mini pumpkins for a look that feels effortlessly cozy and seasonal. The softness of dried grasses, seed heads, and blooms layered against the sculptural charm of pumpkins creates arrangements full of movement, earthiness, and fall magic. Whether tucked into a centerpiece, styled on a mantle, or gifted as a small seasonal gesture, dried flowers and mini pumpkins together capture everything we adore about this time of year.
Pumpkins with dried flowers on top are a really popular item with our customers during the autumn season. You can see why! The vibrant colors really make these little pumpkins pop.
Bringing the Garden Indoors
Once dried, it always seems like the flowers take on a new life. We love placing them in simple vessels, in old crocks, ironstone pitchers, wooden bowls. They add texture and warmth to a space without a to of maintenance. Also, dried flowers also make thoughtful gifts. A small hand-tied bundle shared in the winter feels like sharing a piece of summer.
There’s something deeply satisfying about preserving what you’ve grown. Air drying flowers is slow and uncomplicated, much like so many good things on the farm. It asks only for patience, and in return, it gives you beauty that lingers long after the last frost.
If you’ve never tried drying your own flowers, we recommend to start small. Cut a handful, tie them up, and hang them somewhere quiet. You may find, as we have, that it becomes a fun, integral part of the season.
Exclusive PepperHarrow Celosia Seeds
Celosia has become one of the most beloved annuals on our farm. With their unique blooms, long vase life, and stunning dried flower presence, these varieties bring vibrant color, texture, and personality as they grow in the garden and also bring a unique touch to bouquets. Whether you’re designing wedding florals or filling a cutting garden, our celosia selections offer something special for every style.
📅 Seeds go live in our online shop on January 17th at noon Central!
Pink Lemonade
This is a wonderful mix of dark pinky-peachy blooms that also sometimes throw a mauve to true pink bloom. They’re a treat!
Pink Lemonade is a favorite addition for growers and florists alike. Its dark pink/peachy blended with warmer tones creates a lively, summery look in gardens and arrangements. Their feathery plumes catch the light perfectly, making it unique. They’re excellent for fresh bouquets and drying for later use
Chester Copperpot
The very first celosia we created, originally crafted from our Peaches mix. This beloved variety has remained our #1 best seller season after season.
Our Chester Copperpot Mix has quickly become a standout. Developed over six growing seasons, this Celosia argentea blend features stunning tones of coppery orange, soft gold, muted orange, and deep magenta red, reminiscent of autumn’s warm glow. Its softer, earthy palette makes it perfect for fall bouquets and more rustic arrangements.
Starlight
This is the best celosia to use for wedding and event work. We love a good plumed (argentea) celosia. This one fits the bill for the perfect shape and excellent, workable color.
For something a little more ethereal, Starlight Plumed Mix is a magical choice. These Celosia argentea plumes have a silvery-blush to peachy shade, making them especially lovely in wedding designs, elegant bouquets, or anywhere you want a touch of soft shimmer. They’re also excellent for drying and retaining their gentle hue long after the season ends.
Rainbow Sherbet
Our customers also really love this funky beauty. You’ll occasionally find a stem that’s both hot pink AND peach-the coolest! There are only a few of this beauty available this year, as we are working to replenish our offering.
If you love color that pops, Rainbow Sherbet Mix delivers crowd-pleasing blooms in hot pinks and orangey peach tones with lush, full plumes. These Celosia cristata plants not only brighten garden beds but also make incredible cut flowers and dry beautifully for everlasting arrangements.
Peaches
This lovely orangey-peach crested mix of celosia is pretty hard to find. Each bloom is perfect, especially for late summer into fall bouquets. They’re a personal favorite for us!
Peaches celosia is our personal favorite for good reason. This Celosia cristata variety produces beautiful, richly hued blossoms in soft peach-toned shades that seem to glow in the summer sun. The classic combed form makes it a standout in both bouquets and autumn displays, and we’ve heard from growers that once you plant it, you’ll be hooked year after year.
Pink Skies
A blush beauty derived from a cultivar of spiked celosia we started growing a few year’s ago, Flamingo Feather. This beauty has morphed into a softer pink shade that’s fun to work with.
Our Pink Skies Celosia (Celosia argentea spicata) brings a gentle, romantic color to the lineup. Think delicate rose tones that drift across a summer garden like, well, pink skies at dusk. This variety is a lovely complement to deeper tones or stands beautifully on its own in soft, pastel-inspired designs.
Garden Lovers Mix
Looking to explore different colors and shapes of celosia to find your favorite? Try this beautiful mix! Colors can vary dramatically in each blend. You’ll get anything from peach, orange, hot pink, to golden yellow, hot pink, or burgundy.
The Garden Lovers Mix is a beautiful mix of varied shapes and vibrant colors of celosia from our farm, each bloom showcasing its own unique texture and flame-like form. There’s a wide selection of different varieties to explore, so you can discover which colors and shapes you love most and how they brighten your arrangements.
2026 Intro Moonbeam Ice Cream
NEW for 2026! This is a fun mix of celosia seeds that are unusual with their color, shape and size. These unique beauties were best sellers in straight bunched bouquets for farmer’s market all season long. They’re so cool!
We’re thrilled to introduce Moonbeam Ice Cream, a brand-new celosia variety debuting with this year’s seed launch! While we’re keeping the full reveal under wraps until the shop opens, imagine a dreamy blend of orange dream sickle with a touch of moonlit glow, perfect for gardens that glow long into the evening and bouquets with a whimsical twist.
Garden Lover’s Mix Celosia
Need a Few Easy Growing Tips?
Most of our celosia varieties thrive when started indoors 6–8 weeks before your last frost and transplanted outdoors once danger of frost has passed. They enjoy full sun, well-drained soil, and reward you with vigorous growth and abundant blooms throughout the season. Detailed seed starting instructions will be included with every packet, but you can also catch our YouTube video on seed starting celosia here.
Remember to Save the Date!
Our celosia seeds, including all of the above varieties, drop on our online seed shop on January 17th at noon Central. Plan your wishlist, mark your calendars, and get ready to grow some seriously gorgeous colors of celosia in 2026!
New PepperHarrow ‘Atlas’ Dahlia Introductions
Introducing the Atlas Collection
Bred and grown here at PepperHarrow Flower Farm, our Atlas dahlias represent years of observation, selection, patience, and a little luck from mother nature. These are varieties that proved themselves not just once, but season after season, through heat, wind, cutting buckets, and long summer days in the field. They are strong growers, beautiful performers, and deeply expressive in color and form.
After everything we’ve walked through as a farm, the rebuilding after the 2022 tornado, the long seasons of hardwork, dedication, and the moments that almost broke us, but asked us to keep going, Atlas felt like the right name to carry these specialty dahlias forward. It honors strength without hardness, perseverance without sacrificing beauty.
This year, we’re honored to introduce four new Atlas dahlias to our collection!
This dahlia glows with warmth! Broad, gently pointed petals open in layered shades of coral, soft melon, and sun-washed pink, creating a bloom that feels luminous rather than loud. Toward the center, tighter inner petals add texture and depth, giving the flower a full, generous presence without feeling heavy. The color shifts subtly with light and temperature, making each bloom feel alive and slightly different from the last. Held on strong stems, this variety is well suited for cutting gardens and floral work where warmth, movement, and seasonal color are essential.
It is so fun to share Atlas Fawkes with you! If you love unique, bright, happy colors, this is the dahlia for your garden. It looks just like a glowing summer sunset, with petals that are a mix of deep orange and pretty coral pink.
What makes Atlas Fawkes really special is how perfect it looks. Each petal is tucked into a neat little circle, with a unique gold tip on each petal, making the whole flower look like a soft, round ball. It’s almost like nature used a ruler to make sure every single part is in the right place!
These flowers grow on tall, strong stems that don’t floppy over, which makes them the best choice for picking and putting in a vase on your kitchen table. Note-there is a slight color change in this bloom seasonally and also as the bloom ages.
We've been excited about this beauty for awhile and are jazzed to get to share her with the world. This dahlia feels cheerful and expressive, opening in layers of saturated purple petals that frame a pretty chartreuse center. The contrast between the velvety purple outer petals and the fresh green center gives this variety a unique look. Held on sturdy stems, it performs well as a cut flower and adds an unexpected pop of color and personality to bouquets, borders, and mixed plantings.
This dahlia commands attention in the field, the vase and it’s Adam’s favorite new introduction. Perfectly rounded blooms form dense layers of velvety petals in a rich, wine-red crimson that reads almost black in low light and glows jewel-toned in the sun. The symmetry is striking but not stiff, with each flower feeling sculptural, substantial, and deeply saturated with color. Strong, upright stems hold the blooms high, making this variety especially valuable for cutting, event work, and bold late-summer arrangements.
The Atlas Collection reflects what matters most to us as growers, beauty that holds up, plants that earn their place in the field, and flowers that feel as good to grow as they do to cut. These dahlias were chosen not just for how they look, but for how they show up, season after season.
We’re honored to send them out into the world and to watch them take on new life in your gardens, studios, and fields. Each tuber carries a bit of PepperHarrow with it, grown slowly, thoughtfully, and with a deep respect for the work and wonder of flowers.
XX Jenn and Adam
Extra Perks Coming this Year for Farm Memberships at PepperHarrow
Life rarely pauses on its own. Days fill quickly, the busyness is constant, and true relaxation often feels just out of reach. People need places that invite them to slow down, places that offer beauty, calm, a sense of belonging and connection.
Over the years, many of you have known PepperHarrow through our traditional Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs, such as our Monthly Bouquet Subscription. As the farm has grown, so has our vision for how we share it. We’ve evolved those offerings into a farm membership model, one that goes beyond bouquets alone and invites deeper connection to our flower farm, the seasons, and the experiences that happen here.
This year, we’re also introducing a more elevated option, the Bloom Membership, designed for those who want to stay closely connected to the farm’s beauty, rhythm, and restorative spirit. It’s not about buying more or doing more. It’s about being a key part of our flower farm, escaping to the countryside to enjoy flowers, appreciate the seasons and for taking time to enjoy peace and quiet.
A Slower Rhythm + Beauty That Supports Well-Being
So what’s a Bouquet Membership like? It’s something to look forward to each month from May through September! We offer members the ability to either sign up to come out to the farm to pick-up a pre-made bouquet (by us), or to come out and cut their own bouquet each month.
From the moment you arrive at PepperHarrow to pick up your bouquet each month, time will seem to slow down. You’ll almost feel the sense of calm and relaxation come over you. You have a chance to actually pause, take a deep breath and not rush around, as you enjoy rows of flowers swaying in the breeze and watch bees move from flower to flower.
New this year, our bouquet membership includes even more time on the farm. From May through September, members are invited to visit PepperHarrow every Saturday during the season.
Bouquet pick-up will still take place on the second Saturday of each month, but now the Saturdays before and after are also open exclusively to members. During these open farm hours, from 10:00 AM–2:00 PM, members are welcome to escape to the farm, bringing family or friends along, or simply enjoying a quiet visit on their own.
Flowers have a special way of helping us feel better. They help us pause, look closely, and enjoy the moment. Beauty isn’t just something you see, it’s something you feel. As a member, you become part of this rhythm. Whether you visit the farm or follow along from home, you stay connected to a place where slowing down is welcome.
Thoughtfully Grown, Deeply Cared For
PepperHarrow is a working flower farm guided by respect for the land and long-term stewardship. Every membership directly supports sustainable growing practices, healthy soil, and ongoing projects like seed saving and flower breeding for new celosia and zinnia varieties we create.
We grow with intention and share openly. Members see the real rhythms of farm life. The planning, the patience, the challenges, and most importantly, the quiet moments of beauty that make it all worth it. Your support helps ensure this place continues to grow with care for years to come.
New Celosia Introductions!
The new varieties of celosia we’ve created have been popular additions for home gardeners and for other flower farmers.
Shown is a new variety that we’re working on that’s slated to be released in 2027. Isn’t the color incredible?!
NEW! Bloom Membership
Bloom members receive seasonal updates and behind-the-scenes glimpses into farm life, along with early access to workshops, festivals, and ticketed events. Members also enjoy priority access to limited releases such as seeds, bulbs, and farm-made goods. From time to time, a small surprise from the farm may arrive, a reminder that beauty often appears when we slow down enough to notice it.
Bloom is designed for those who want an ongoing connection to a place that values calm, creativity, and the natural world.
Other Ways to Become Part of the Magic
In addition to Monthly Bouquet and Bloom Memberships, we offer a limited number of seasonal memberships. These are created for those who want to bring home a little piece of the magic from PepperHarrow to the ease of their own space.
Early in the season, memberships offered are mostly plant based, including the popular Spring Plant-Cutting Garden, Culinary Herb, or Cut Flower Collections: Lisianthus or Lavender.
Join Us
Our memberships are intentionally limited so they can remain personal, thoughtful, and rooted in real connection. This is not about checking something off a list or rushing in and out. It’s about having a place to return to—a place where the seasons guide the pace, where beauty is part of everyday life, and where time feels a little softer.
If you’ve been longing for space to slow down, breathe deeply, and feel grounded again, we’d love to welcome you. Whether you come for the flowers, the quiet, or the simple joy of being on the land, there is a place for you here at PepperHarrow.
XX Jenn + Adam