Wise Woman Travel

I must have flowers, always and always ( Claude Monet).

One of my summer fantasies involves being the owner of an enormous cutting garden. I picture myself in a big sunhat and a flower splashed sundress, cutting stems and laying them in a wicker basket, arranging them later in a ceramic milk jug for display on my kitchen window sill.

Unfortunately, my yard has very little room to grow flowers and what I do have doesn’t get much sun. Every year, I plant a few pots of cosmos, bachelor buttons and zinnia on my south facing deck, but none of the containers seems to give me enough blooms at the same time to make a bouquet. My kitchen is too little for a windowsill. The only details of this dream I’ve accomplished so far are the big sunhat and the flower splashed sundress.

So, when a drone-shot ad for Fern’s Flower Garden popped up in my Facebook feed, swooping across fields of bright flowers, I was entranced. Only in its second year of operation in the far northeast corner of Edmonton, Alberta, it’s a 45 minute drive from where I live, including a short detour to pick up my buddy Marilyn on the way.

The lovely Fernanda, who manages the property with her husband Kevin, gave us a quick tour when we arrived. They share the space with Lady Flower Gardens, a nonprofit that partners with other social agencies to provide disadvantaged Edmontonians with mental health and wellness through wilderness and agricultural experiences. The day we were there, we saw several people working in a huge community garden, its produce headed for the Edmonton Food Bank.

The U- pick flower side of the operation is home to dozens of flower varieties. For $35 – $30 if you bring along a partner – you can make yourself a 25 stem bouquet. Fern’s provides shears, a bucket with water to keep the blooms fresh while you’re picking them , and a mason jar vase to take your bouquet home.

Marilyn and I browsed through the fields before we began picking, each of us mulling over the potential components of our bouquets, overwhelmed by possibilities.From time to time after we got started, we lost sight of each in the garden. When we saw each other again, one of us would call out, ” “How many have you got so far?” The answer: ” Don’t know. I’ve lost count.” It took far longer to select 25 stems than we thought it would – so many choices!

The people watching was just as interesting as gathering the flowers. Grandparents with their elementary school-aged granddaughter, who had much less patience for finding the perfect stems than her grandmother did. One woman who’d birthday gifted another with a Fern’s online gift certificate. A mom with two toddler boys, one of whom was picking flower heads, sans stems, the other plopped on the ground, eating dirt.

When we finally reached our stem quota, we dropped by the arranging tent, doing our best to artistically stuff all 25 stalks into our Mason jars ( memo to self: bring a large vase from home next time). Since I was driving, I tried a hack I’d read online to get my jar of flowers home without tipping: buckled it into the back seat as though it were a passenger. Worked like a charm!

With a couple of water changes and a little packaged plant food, my bouquet stayed fresh for more than a week. I’d like to go back before Fern’s closes in September to pick an autumn toned bouquet and to attend the Lady Flower Fall Festival on September 9. I may never have a picking garden of my own, but thanks to Fern’s Flowers, I’ve found the next best thing.