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Home Blog The Floret Farm Journal: June 2025
July 14th 2025

The Floret Farm Journal: June 2025

Written by
Floret

We’re so excited to share that the second episode of The Floret Farm Journal is now available to watch! In June, summer spills across the farm, and the green promise that was May bursts into color. The month brings an abundance that feels almost overwhelming at times, and each morning I find new surprises as the farm reshapes itself. 

In this episode, we tend thousands of young plants as we prepare for breeding season, watch as our hedgerows come alive, visit Anne Belovich’s garden one final time before it goes on the market, and explore our rose preservation area where centuries-old European varieties carry scents and stories that feel like impossible memories. Plus, the cutting garden is at its absolute peak, with wave after wave of ridiculous beauty that will stop you in your tracks.  


EPISODE RESOURCES

Plant Care

Handy weeder

Compost Tea Supplies & Equipment

Dr. Elaine Ingham’s Soil Food Web Foundation Course

Featured Plants

  • Hedges and hedgerow information, and favorite varieties can be found in this post
  • Timelapse studio arrangement: Delphinium Highlander ‘Blueberry Pie’, ‘Crystal Delight’, and ‘Sweet Sensation’
  • Rose shelf varieties: Top row: ‘L’Ingénue’, Alba Maxima, Alba Semi plena, ‘Princess de Lamballe’, ‘Sappho’, ‘Madame Hardy’, Foliacea, ‘Madame Plantier’
    Top center row: Dupontii, Sancta richardii, ‘Chloris’, ‘Belle Isis’, ‘Comtesse de Murinais’, ‘Hebe’s Lip
    Bottom row center: ‘Celsiana’, ‘Gloire de Guilan’, ‘Tour de Malakoff’, ‘Perle des Panachées’, ‘Leda’, ‘Pompon Blanc Parfait’, ‘Maiden’s Blush’
    Bottom row: ‘Duc de Cambridge’, Blush Hip, ‘Désirée Parmentier’, Autumn Damask, ‘Nouvelle Pivoine’, ‘Bella Donna’
  • Foxglove in cutting garden: ‘Apricot Beauty

Timelapse Equipment

iPhone 16 

Blackmagic Camera app

Cutting Garden

Trugg

Snips

Custom metal archways created by Metalistics


DIG DEEPER

The Making of a Place: Designing the New Farm: Read about the journey of transforming our 24-acre blueberry farm from a wide-open field into the beautiful space it is today, including the areas we returned to nature.

Becky Crowley: Check out Becky’s beautiful botanical prints and notecards in her online shop. I love that so many of her art pieces were created with flowers grown right here on the farm.

Floret Online Workshops: Learn more about our Flower Farming Workshop and new Flower Arranging Workshop, and sign up for the waitlist to be notified when registration opens.

Floret’s breeding program: Dive deeper into our journey to develop new flower varieties. Read about our dahlia breeding adventures, get an overview of our breeding program, meet the Floret Originals themselves, and catch up with the latest on our 2024 year-in-review and breeding update.

A Rose Story blog series: Learn more about rosarian Anne Belovich’s inspiring life and how the Floret team is helping to preserve Anne’s extraordinary collection of roses in this four-part series.

Interview with Gregg Lowery: Gregg helped establish The Friends of Vintage Roses, a nonprofit organization devoted to the preservation and sharing of endangered rose species. In this interview, he shares about his collection of historic varieties and how anyone, anywhere, can get started growing roses.

How to Take Rose Cuttings: In our new video tutorial, I share the process we use here at the farm to propagate roses, including a few tricks I’ve picked up along the way that have increased our success rate considerably.

The Rose Ark: This new film tells the story of our rose preservation journey over the past few years, and the progress we’ve made since our last update.

Floret Library: Explore the plant collections we’ve documented here on the farm, and discover special treasures to add to your garden, including many of the varieties featured in the cutting garden.

Favorite Bulb & Plants Sources: Over the years, I have ordered plants and bulbs from hundreds of different sources across the country, and these are the ones that I love and highly recommend. You can find more information about each one of them in this post.

Workwear for Women: Read my review of the best brands I’ve discovered when it comes to quality workwear for women, including the things I like about each company, and also a few criticisms.


After you watch, I’d love to hear what resonated with you in this episode as we explore this monthly journey together. Please leave a comment below telling us what you liked, what could be better, and what you’d like to see more of as we continue filming. It will help us shape this special project going forward.

If you haven’t already, you can join our newsletter to stay connected with all the exciting happenings here on the farm, including future seed sale announcements. And if these monthly glimpses into life at Floret speak to you, we’d be grateful if you’d consider subscribing to our YouTube Channel.


Please note: If your comment doesn’t show up right away, sit tight; we have a spam filter that requires us to approve comments before they are published.

Floret only lists companies and products that we love, use, and recommend. All opinions expressed here are our own, and Floret does not offer sponsored content or accept money for editorial reviews. If you buy something using the retail links in this post, Floret may receive a small commission. Thank you for your support!

70 Comments

  1. Debbie Bussey on

    Breathtaking, loved this video! Other then seed production, what does Floret do with all of the flowers? I know you started back when making and selling bouquets, but what now with such abundance?

    Reply
  2. Chris Jamieson on

    Absolutely loved this June update.. very inspiring and I just sent my friend the link to watch. She absolutely loves roses. Will be sending her The Year in Flowers which I know she will enjoy. My husband and I have a little two acre farm in Hendersonville NC and we have enjoyed your tv series. It all makes us appreciate what we have here even though it’s overwhelming sometimes with two mini donkeys and two barn cats. We are retired, my husband is 83 and I am pushing 70 this year. Erin thank you for inspiring us🩷

    Reply
    • Erin Benzakein on

      I’ve always wanted mini donkeys. Lucky you! Your place sounds magical

  3. Kathy B on

    Thank you for sharing your work in this way. I love it so much. It’s all so wonderful and an incredible amount of effort. I eagerly anticipate each journal episode and thank you from the bottom of my heart!

    Reply
    • Erin Benzakein on

      I am so happy that you are enjoying them

  4. Roseman Creek Ranch on

    Beautiful just beautiful. Thank you so much for the inspiration and appreciation of beauty. I think it’s a way towards peace and happiness in the world.
    We bought forty acres of brushy, dead trees, bare land nineteen years ago. Our soil was sand, a marine terrace, but an fairly affordable flatish land, where that’s hard to come by. We cleared, created water, off grid power, roads. Started building soil, the garden kept getting bigger. I planned originally to just grow veggies and fruit, but a few rose cuttings crept in and soon all the veggie beds kept turning into flowers. I finally admitted I needed flowers more than food.
    We built houses from our trees wood. Gardens and cuttings, graftings, grew in. Seeing your flat acreage of poor soil become a garden brought tears of how far we had come too. Not as huge as you though.
    Keep creating peace and beauty in this crazy world.

    Reply
    • Erin Benzakein on

      Bravo! Your place sounds like a slice of heaven.

  5. Laurie Broome on

    I love these monthly videos so very, very much. They are both inspirational and also remind me of all that is magical on our planet. That includes all of you, who are taking care of and finding joy in plants and flowers.
    Thank you for making these and always cheering you along the path, from Wisconsin.

    Reply
    • Erin Benzakein on

      I’m so happy that they connect you even more to the magic of nature.

  6. Cindy Nyberg on

    Once again, you’ve outdone yourself. Experiencing the farm every month through this video is a true gift. A gift of beauty, a gift of information, a gift of your talents and most importantly the gift of your time. Thank you! I appreciate how you’ve included the different areas of the farm and the gardening. Researching soil and making the extract (so important), the beauty of what is blooming, an update on the breeding program, importance of the layout, roses and yes even weeding. You’re capturing the entire gardening experience, and I enjoy this. I agree with the previous comment about labeling plants. While I know most of the names of the varieties of plants that are in bloom there were several that I didn’t know. Also, do you have a favorite of a variety? Music and Photography phenomenal. What are you the happiest with for the month and what do you want to do different next year? I find as I tour my own garden I’m also planning for the next year or season. You and your team are appreciated, and I love that you are sharing your knowledge and experiences! THANK YOU!

    Reply
    • Erin Benzakein on

      I love the idea of answering those questions in future episodes

  7. Jill on

    Do you have issues with Japanese Beetles? If so, how have you dealt with them?

    Reply
    • Erin Benzakein on

      Thankfully we don’t have those buggers in our garden. They seem like such a nightmare

  8. Barbara Wall on

    All I can say is WOW!!!! You are the right people to care for so much legacy and to create your own strands on top of that. Hats off to you and may you continue to learn and take us along with you.

    Deep gratitude for your offerings. ;)

    Reply
  9. Stacey McPhee on

    I loved seeing the hummingbirds and other wildlife in this episode.
    I’m curious about the flowers you are working on for the future, and would love to be able to see more of them.
    The storytelling along with the chosen music and filming is magical in itself. It is just mesmerizing to see it all in this way. Thank you so much for sharing and showing us all what is possible and giving so much inspiration! An east coast Marylander!

    Reply
    • Erin Benzakein on

      Next month’s episode will be centered around the work we are doing in the flower breeding program. I think you’ll really enjoy it!

  10. Mindi Cabe on

    Thank you Erin and Chris for sharing your amazing idyll with the world! It is such an inspiration. I love being able to get a glimpse of all that is blooming on the farm and to learn how you all are still experimenting and improving, such as with the compost extract. I feel that my garden is ever evolving, that I am learning along with its evolution and that I am grateful to experience that beauty and process every day. I see that you have the same sense of wonder and awe when you walk your own property. Keep it coming; I so appreciate how open you are to sharing what is so special about your farm, your work, and your life.

    Reply
    • Erin Benzakein on

      I’m so happy that this is resonating with you

  11. Anita Harnish on

    These are the best. BTW – great music choices. And, as always, stellar camera work by Chris. So good!

    Reply
  12. Anita Harnish on

    Time-traveling with roses…. welp, that reduced me to tears….

    Reply
  13. Pam Adam on

    I can’t think of anything you need to do differently. I love, love, love watching these and they are so inspiring because I am feeling exactly the same way about my garden. Keep up the magic that you are doing and giving to the world. Thank you.

    Reply
  14. Maria Colletti on

    I like the overview via drone. It shows the garden rooms, the plot layout. I was thinking if you created a shot with arrows pointing to plants with labels as you speak about each grouping. Maybe even make it available online. Right now it’s a second blip and my eye is struggling to put it to memory. There you have it, my heart’s desire. Love ❤️ you Erin, Jill, and Chris for working so hard.

    Reply
    • Erin Benzakein on

      I would love to create a tour video where we give you the lay of the land and explore each area of the farm. I hear you about labeling all of the varieties. There are so many that it’s been a bit daunting but I’ll put it on the wish list : )

  15. Roz Theesfeld on

    Truly breathtaking! I’m going to try planting a hedgerow on my property and start a small cut flower garden. I’m so moved—thank you for sharing such incredible beauty.

    Reply
  16. Kim Gunter on

    Such a beautiful story and video. Captured so lovely. I just slow down and listen and watch. I feel like I could smell all the roses!

    Reply
  17. Iris on

    I think is really beautifully how you capture everything like art, I’ll love to see more information, more learning, the worm compost, how it works (more detailed) or maybe a bit of closer look on what you are creating, your favorite bucket of the month or your rarest flower, was there any flower you couldn’t sleep thinking about it??? 😍😍🙏🙏🙏and last but not least when are you selling some seeds 🥹😓??

    Reply
    • Erin Benzakein on

      All great suggestions! Next month we will do a deep dive into the breeding varieties which will be super fun

  18. Cynthia Stretch on

    I love your productions, the way they mix the history of your place, your excitement, the beauty of it, the science of it. What I love most is that I get to know what is happening “behind the scenes” on farms as I travel about the Skagit Valley where I live. So, I particularly enjoyed the sections on the composting, the soils investigation, the planting, the watering, the real nitty gritty …. Thank you so much!

    Reply
  19. Shannon on

    So beautiful and informative! I, too, am curious about rabbit control after losing several young zinnias to the cute but destructive pests. (Zinnias now have a wire fence around them.)

    Looking forward to the next video!

    Reply
    • Erin Benzakein on

      Fencing is the best solution we’ve found

  20. MaryEllen on

    You have inspired me so much. It’s amazing how, even after years of experience, gardening can still offer fresh insights and rekindle our appreciation for plants we thought we knew. I have reconnected with my old antique rose that I had given up on. After listening to you describe them, I have grown to appreciate it’s unique charm.

    I love your gardens and have followed it’s growth. It’s so amazing.

    Thank you so much for sharing it all with us.

    Reply
  21. Anita Harnish on

    Watching now…. MICE! I hear you loud and clear. My magic combo is gluing a nut to the well that would typically hold poison (which i don’t use) and a smear of peanut butter…. that has done the trickc for me!

    Reply
  22. Laurie Segrue on

    Thank you so much for sharing this video with me. Please continue! 😊. You have a beautiful farm and are really contributing such good things to this world. 💕

    Reply
  23. Kate on

    I find these videos, meditative and inspiring all at once. We don’t all have acres and acres of land to creatively beautify and improve like you do… But the fact that that is what you are doing with your acreage is magnificent beyond belief to me. I look forward to the next month!

    Reply
  24. MARIE E HADLEY on

    The last 5 minutes brought tears to my eyes, overwhelmed with beauty! Thanks for so much love and effort, and thanks for sharing.

    Reply
  25. Heather N. Johnson on

    I have enjoyed every aspect of your videos and the education you all give so freely. The hedgerows are amazing to see in such a large space and with such a variety of plants and trees. You inspire me in every aspect of my gardening journey. I am a Master Gardener in Ventura County and we have just moved to a new location and are starting to build a cut flower garden from scratch on a plot of land that was previously an organic strawberry farm. I will talk with my team and share your videos since we have talked about bordering the garden with rows of flowering bushes and perennials.
    Thanks for your inspiration and love.

    Reply
  26. Marci Glenn on

    WOW! What an amazing place. I have watched the transformation of Floret for years and am so inspired and have learned so much.
    This latest episode brought smiles and tears to my eyes as I thought of the roses on Anne’s property. I am thankful that you will propagate and protect the legend of these beauties.
    Looking forward to see what surprises July brings. Thank you taking us along in this glorious journey.

    Reply
  27. Carol on

    A beautiful and almost ethereal story of your Floret Farm! The wonderful melding of personal narration, photo video and music is interesting, relaxing, educational. It was an experience that I had to take in from start to finish. I am inspired. Thank you so much for sharing!

    Reply
  28. Suzanne Le Stage aka Suzi in the Sky on

    I absolutely love seeing how your hedgerow is maturing! You inspired me to create my own on a bare area of my garden bordering my Neighbor who likes to enter her hot tub nude with no worries about being watched lol. I went on a garden tour on a little island ( Denman) and found a woman growing old species of roses and bought two ramblers. So planted these on my old wire fence that is about 8 ft high. I’ve added elderberry bushes, along with the existing ivy, lilac, holly. So now looking at yours I can hardly wait for mine in 5 years!

    I also loved the section of your rose collection. I applaud you for saving these species and cultivating Anne’s collection so they weren’t lost. I hope we will get an opportunity to purchase some of these!

    Watching your videos with the birds and wildlife that have come to enjoy your garden was a moment I felt a kinship with you. I too have the same experiences in my garden and as I sat here watching your video with my morning coffee, the hummers were buzzing around my climbing rose and the trumpet vine that is just opening. It’s part of gardening that is a surprise and a reward isn’t it?

    It’s nice to see your husband joking in on being part of the series. My partner is a vital part of my garden and it will be even more inspiring to see another man being so involved. Mine wasn’t much of a serious gardener when we first began but each year he grows more involved and now even built his own garden bed in which I have been asked not to clutter it up in my old English way of gardening. Yes, I’m aghast!

    Each evening we too go for our garden walk to see what has opened and plan for the future. So nice to see that you do garden walks together 💗🌸

    I’ll be sharing this video with him 😊

    Thank you for all that you do and share!

    Reply
    • Erin Benzakein on

      your place sounds wonderful and how lucky are we both to have such supportive partners?!

  29. Laurie Hoelzeman on

    Ugh, such beauty and inspiration! You’re nailing it and thank you so much for sharing!

    Reply
  30. Tori on

    If Chris is will I’d love to see more behind. Scenes of your soil care processes!

    Reply
  31. Pud Kearns on

    The hedgerows! I loved the variety of plants and the impact its had on your farm. And it has inspired me to consider how I can add more diversity to the planting at the edge of my property. I’ve got baby plants of old roses, beauty berry, redbuds and old hydrangeas growing now that I hope to set out in the future.

    Reply
  32. Dawn Qualey on

    I’m watching the ultimate beauty of the entire endeavor and what came to me was there are those of us who love the land we till, we plant we are outside and receive joy when we grow (like me this year a years worth of sweet onions red and yellow). There are those who need a purse that has a label on it. We all need to live on this planet together.
    I do watch with tears in my eyes as I watch all the small farms and those that bloom and those that don’t. We need our farms Please keep informing us all Erin I love your videos

    Reply
  33. Vanessa Marshall on

    Just stunning. Love everything about the June episode. It’s sad of The selling of Anne’s house but at least the roses were saved to pass on to other generations.

    Reply
  34. Charlotte M. on

    I LOVED the time lapse of the flower arrangements opening throughout the day. I find time lapse fascinating. The farm has changed so much since you planted the hedgerows and I loved seeing the comparison from then to now. All in all I think this is a great collection of film clips and such that truly shows off the beauty of the farm. I too find it a bit overwhelming to see all this beauty at one time. Thank you.

    Reply
    • Erin Benzakein on

      I am so glad that we started documenting the transformation of the farm when we did otherwise I’m not sure I’d even believe it. So much change and growth!

  35. blanche lenine-cruz on

    Omg!!!! I “met” Ann belovich through sailing and here you are guardian of her inheritance 🙏🏻💕
    This June episode brought so much more about you and your life work into focus. You make it look so easy but the science the documenting the liquid fertilizing science all show how beautiful flowers ARE because of all what goes on behind the scenes. I loved chris’s “floret has her flower babies and I have my microbe babies” your videos are lessons and deep sharing, honesty, generosity, inspiration. Black spot that is part of it makes human blemishes so honestly “part of it”- the beauty

    Reply
  36. Donna on

    Another stunning episode for the senses! The Timelapse Flower Arranging segment gave me goosebumps between the photography and music selection. I could watch that segment over and over for the rest of my life. I would love to see an entire video of nothing but Floret’s Timelapse to music as a stress buster! You nailed it on content and resource references. So very educational. I so look forward to every episode in this series.

    Reply
    • Erin Benzakein on

      so glad to hear all of this, thank you!

  37. Kathy on

    Thank you so much for your Farm Journal series. I just finished June and am continually amazed at the depth and breadth of what you have cultivated in such a short time. Each video inspires me and teaches me something new. I love seeing you in the field and then inside with your beautiful arrangements. The production of each video is amazing. Special kudos to the music and photography. Can’t wait for next month!

    Reply
    • Erin Benzakein on

      so glad you are enjoying this series!

  38. Evalin Stearns on

    Stunning and informative! I would keep doing what you are doing combining the beauty of farming and nature with the difficulty of it. Thank you,
    Evalin the retired Caterer in Maine

    Reply
  39. Bridget on

    So beautiful! So inspiring!

    Reply
  40. Lisa on

    As a Microdairy farmer, I love watching and learning about flower farming while comparing so many similarities to dairy! The ebbs and flows of seasons, natures changes and constant wildlife connections— we’re in calving season but watching the radiance of nature and experiencing the farm year after year is all so similar. I love these stories, love the music, the video and the interviews! Thanks for sharing.

    Reply
    • Erin Benzakein on

      love knowing how in sync our farms are while being so different.

  41. Cindi on

    Beautiful video. I loved seeing what all was happening on your farm. What variety of the allium(?) was the hummingbird drinking from”

    Reply
  42. Eloise Luyk on

    So magical ….makes you want to lay in the grass all day and watch nature at its best. Thank you for sharing monthly .

    Reply
  43. Lorri on

    Thank you for sharing your slice of heaven which eases our minds during these uneasy “times” – even for 37 minutes 😊. These episodes relax my worried mind.
    *I so enjoyed the comparison of the before & present of your farm , also I took note of Chris’s brew – “I have a bag of worm casings & a compost 🤔.” The behind the scenes of the daily farm tasks is very interesting too.
    *Questions- How do you deal with your rabbit & deer pressure? Will your zinnia seeds be available in the future (the soft colors are wonderful)? Do you deadhead your perennials ?
    Thank you again for sharing.

    Reply
  44. Linda on

    When I opened your email this morning I was so excited to see June journal. I absolutely love these last month I was enthralled with the field , this month the hedges and hedge rows. I cried about Anne’s and my husband teased. Thanks for sharing your wisdom and soothing excitement. And most of all the beauty of Floret .

    Reply
  45. M on

    Love love love what you are doing

    Reply

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