Its raining Its pouring

The first peonies are out, the ninebark is looking lovely, and the gladioli we planted back in July are finally starting up. After weeks of rain, the farm has decided it's go time.

It poured again on Thursday, because of course it did. But somewhere between the downpours, everything has quietly shifted into a new season.

This week we staked the July gladioli in the greenhouse. They went in on 16 July and the first stems are only just coming through, roughly 100 days on. The lesson: winter gladdies take closer to 100 days to flower, so next year's planting plan has been updated with that little gem. Farming is mostly taking notes for your future self.

The big batch was planting the second batch of lupins which went in this week. Next week the planting plan is back in a big way: the dahlias go in on Tuesday, Bec is seeding celosia and zinnias in the greenhouse on Monday, and the plant-out list is stacked. Phlox, nigella, Queen Anne's lace, Shasta daisies, hollyhocks, sunflowers and cosmos are all pencilled in. After two weeks of rain delays, the crew has some catching up to do.

Meanwhile, the snowballs are mostly all white now. It feels like a changing of the guard: snowball season bows out just as peony season walks in, with peonies, ninebark and the first of the gladioli now flowering.

And some big news from us: our website overhaul is now live. There are lots of new and exciting things coming from September Peony, including our wedding flowers: bespoke, bold, and led by what is beautiful and flowering on the farm. Watch this space.

Right. Back to the peony rows.