Jul 20, 2015 – Farm News – by Kevin Nelson

There was a time not so long ago when July, or even late June, was the beginning of little more than vacation season in the commercial floriculture industry. However, with the development of larger containers and a broader pallet of flowering plants to choose from, the planting season was eventually extended later and later each year. Instant color for beds, borders, containers, and window boxes was now easily attainable with plants ranging from pack-size to 4” and 5”, then all the way up to 6.5” and to a lesser extent 8”, and every size in between.  Consumers, both corporate and residential, could now spruce up their grounds with plants that could cover more area more quickly. As with some of our other Summer/Fall items, we decided a few years ago to take our Annuals to the next level by offering a 9” pot...

In recent years, some time between Father’s Day and July 4^th has marked the end of the regular spring season here at Cavicchio and we turn our attention to higher impact color items like our expanding line of 9” annuals (FAPA). With our nine inch “FAPAs”, which originally stood for “Fall Pans”, tired beds and large containers can now be rejuvenated with a fresh assortment of colorful annuals and tender perennials, specifically chosen to provide exceptional heat-tolerance during the dog days of summer in New England.

Simultaneously our growers start filling other fields with Garden Mums, Ornamental Cabbages and Kales, and yet another wave of flowering perennials and grasses, allowing landscapes to be beautified with quality material, from that long-awaited Spring thaw until the first hard frost of Autumn- all without skipping a beat.  At the same time, our space under glass begins filling with Poinsettias- which will make their debut at an even later transition time here at the farm.