With the growing season slowing winding down for most, it’s just the opposite for Alyssa McDermott and her Newbury micro-farm. At Hay Street Flower Farm, McDermott is elbow-deep in earth, as it is peak season for her garden, which is jam-packed with dahlias. Hardly a home hobby for the one-time nurse with a graduate degree in art history, McDermott began her blooming business three years ago. It started with 25 plants. Today, it’s grown to more than 1,200.”Every week, I will cut. And the more you cut, the more they bloom,” McDermott said. Because of the natural multiplying nature of this colorful breed, it led McDermott to first start selling the blooms to area florists. She soon found that the big business was what was waiting just under the surface. At the root level, dahlias produce what’s known as tubers. Think of them as a bulb for other species. One plant can produce multiple tubers. She then sells those tubers to famers and growing enthusiast. “One of the beautiful parts of dahlias is that they’re kind of self-perpetuating. So, they multiply underground. You have one, you plant it, and you get maybe two or maybe 20,” McDermott said.August and September brought a burst of multiple colors to farm, and now the task of harvesting the tubers is about to begin, and that means a lot of time in the dirt for McDermott. “You plant(ed) one. You pull it up, and there’s 10, and it’s like, ‘Oh my god. That’s 10.’ The hope there, there’s a lot of hope there,” McDermott said. In addition to the flower and the tuber, the plants, some growing more than 7 feet, also offer a hidden surprise. Beneath some of the petals, you’ll find a seed. McDermott said the seeds can bring a unique growing experience for future flowers. “So, it’s a brand-new variety that has never existed in the world before. And that means almost, in some small way, that every gardener who saves a seed and plants it is a hybridizer or a dahlia breeder. Because that variety is something that’s never existed before.” McDermott said. Dahlias will continue to bloom until the first frost. After that, Hay Street Flower Farm shifts focus over to tulips. During the winter months, an inside program offers blooms from December to June. McDermott said it’s a nice way to expand the growing season.
With the growing season slowing winding down for most, it’s just the opposite for Alyssa McDermott and her Newbury micro-farm.
At Hay Street Flower Farm, McDermott is elbow-deep in earth, as it is peak season for her garden, which is jam-packed with dahlias.
Hardly a home hobby for the one-time nurse with a graduate degree in art history, McDermott began her blooming business three years ago. It started with 25 plants. Today, it’s grown to more than 1,200.
“Every week, I will cut. And the more you cut, the more they bloom,” McDermott said.
Because of the natural multiplying nature of this colorful breed, it led McDermott to first start selling the blooms to area florists. She soon found that the big business was what was waiting just under the surface.
At the root level, dahlias produce what’s known as tubers. Think of them as a bulb for other species. One plant can produce multiple tubers. She then sells those tubers to famers and growing enthusiast.
“One of the beautiful parts of dahlias is that they’re kind of self-perpetuating. So, they multiply underground. You have one, you plant it, and you get maybe two or maybe 20,” McDermott said.
August and September brought a burst of multiple colors to farm, and now the task of harvesting the tubers is about to begin, and that means a lot of time in the dirt for McDermott.
“You plant(ed) one. You pull it up, and there’s 10, and it’s like, ‘Oh my god. That’s 10.’ The hope there, there’s a lot of hope there,” McDermott said.
In addition to the flower and the tuber, the plants, some growing more than 7 feet, also offer a hidden surprise. Beneath some of the petals, you’ll find a seed.
McDermott said the seeds can bring a unique growing experience for future flowers.
“So, it’s a brand-new variety that has never existed in the world before. And that means almost, in some small way, that every gardener who saves a seed and plants it is a hybridizer or a dahlia breeder. Because that variety is something that’s never existed before.” McDermott said.
Dahlias will continue to bloom until the first frost. After that, Hay Street Flower Farm shifts focus over to tulips. During the winter months, an inside program offers blooms from December to June.
McDermott said it’s a nice way to expand the growing season.
