Central Texas flower farm withered by extreme weather conditions, unable to supply flowers to nearby florists
Flowers from Central Texas flower farms may be hard to find in florist shops or at farmers' markets this summer because of constant extreme heat, drought conditions, and water restrictions.
During normal summer weather conditions, Orchard Hollow, a flower and herb farm in Moody, would be full of flowers, but this year, the garden is full of withered sunflowers, large cracks from dry dirt, and other flowers that are holding on for life.
Growing up gardening in Central Texas, Amelia Nolan, an owner of Orchard Hollow, says she plants flowers that thrive in hot, dry summers in Central Texas. She plants Zinnias, Celosia, Gomphrena, Amaranth, and sunflowers, starting in the spring, but because extreme heat started as early as May, she says those flowers struggled this year.
"Most of our heat tolerant flowers, they're surviving the heat, but they're not giving out consistent blooms," Nolan said. "They're alive, and part of the reason for that is we went through and cut most everything down very low and added extra mulch around the base of the plants to keep the plant alive."
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