If you’ve ever wondered what goes into a summer full of fresh bouquets, here’s your answer: three weeks of early mornings, sore hands, and a lot of faith that the work you’re putting in now will be worth it come August.
This spring, we got the field fully planted – and I want to take you through exactly how it came together.
Left: where we started. Right: where three weeks of weeding, digging, and prep got us. The difference is all in the details.
The Plan: Rows 1–4 Go to the Zinnias
With the beds prepped, it was time to get organized before a single tuber went into the ground. Knowing what goes where – and in what order – saves a lot of confusion once you’re in the middle of planting.
The first four rows are dedicated to zinnias, and we went big on variety. Pinks, oranges, greens, yellows, whites – a full, joyful range that will give us cutting material across the whole color spectrum. Zinnias are prolific bloomers and incredible for mixed bouquets, and having that variety means we can create arrangements that feel fresh and different week after week.
The full zinnia lineup – pinks, oranges, greens, yellows, and whites. Rows 1 through 4 are going to be something special.
Rows 5–16: 600 Dahlias in the Ground
Here’s where the real work lived: 16 rows of dahlias, 20 tubers per row at Lees Farm, and 5 5 rows, 55 tubers per row at the test field, + any outside of the rows – Over 600 plants total, with so many different varieties.
Organizing the dahlia tubers before planting was its own process. Sorting by variety, making sure everything was labeled, laying out the plan for which variety goes in which row – it matters, because come harvest time, you need to know exactly what you’re cutting. There’s nothing worse than a stunning bloom with no name on it.
Once everything was organized, we planted each tuber one by one, at the right depth, with the right spacing. Then came the labeling – every row clearly marked so that as the season unfolds, we always know what we’re looking at.
Dahlias are a true summer workhorse. They come in an almost infinite range of shapes, sizes, and colors – from soft dinner-plate blooms to tight ball dahlias to dramatic café au lait tones – and ours will span that full range of variety this season.
Every tuber holds a future bloom. Before anything goes in the ground, it gets sorted, labeled, and accounted for – 600 in total.
Three Weeks, Start to Finish
From the first day of weeding to the last label pushed into the ground, the whole process took about three weeks. Weeding, digging, organizing, planting, labeling – each step building on the last, no shortcuts.
There were long days… Days where the progress felt slow and the rows felt endless. But there’s something deeply satisfying about standing at the end of a planted field knowing that everything is in, everything is labeled, and the season is officially underway.
Three weeks of work, 20 rows, and a whole lot of heart – the premium field is officially ready for summer.
Where We Are Now
The tubers are in the ground, the zinnias are settling in, and now the focus shifts to what keeps it all alive: watering and fertilizing.
This is the steady, ongoing work of the season – making sure every plant has what it needs to root deeply and build the strength to produce all summer long. We’re monitoring moisture, feeding the soil, and watching closely as the first green shoots push up through the ground.
It’s the quiet phase. But it’s when everything is happening.
What’s Coming
In a few weeks, those 600 dahlias and six full rows of zinnias will be well on their way – and by August, they’ll be ready to cut.
That’s exactly what our CSA flower subscription is built around. Starting August 8th at Lee’s Farm in Wayland, subscribers will get a weekly bouquet of whatever’s at peak bloom – freshly cut, full of variety, and straight from the rows we just planted.
Spots are limited – sign up before they’re gone.
Follow along on Instagram @STEMSWayland as we watch the field come to life this summer.
