By Lorne McClinton
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A lifelong love of flowers turns PEI acreage into a riot of colours
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Isobel Forrester and her husband, John Vallentin, own a five-and-a-half acre
property near Rusticoville, Prince Edward
Island (PEI) that is a riot of colour
by mid-summer. Their lilies, dahlias,
gladiolus, snapdragons, and strawflowers
are in their full glory, but it's still a little early for sunflowers. The flowerbeds are so spectacular that it's not uncommon to find tourists, on their way to the Anne of Green Gables National Historic site in Cavendish, wandering through their gardens taking photos.
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"I've been interested in flowers since I
was little girl," Isobel says. "My mother took
pictures of me picking daisies and dandelions
when I was 2 years old. In others, I have great
armloads of Black-eyed Susans."
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Forrester and Vallentin started growing
elaborate flower gardens in the early 1980s,
when the couple moved from PEI to Scarborough,
Ontario, shortly after their marriage.
The gardens were so spectacular that people
were constantly stopping and commenting on
the blossoms as they walked by.
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Giving bouquets. "People showed so much
interest in our cutting garden that we found
ourselves constantly giving away bouquets,"
Isobel said. "After awhile we started to think,
'Gee, we should be selling these.'"
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Years later, in the early 1990s when the
couple and their growing family moved back
to PEI, Isobel got her chance. She began selling
flowers and herbs with her sister at the
Charlottetown Farmer's Market. She loved the
business, so when her sister didn't want to do
it anymore, Isobel and John decided to take
over. They bought their property in 1998 and
went into the flower business full time.
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Fabulous market. Although they are best known for cut-flower bouquets from their
gardens through the summer months, Isobel's
Flower Farm is a staple fixture at the
Charlottetown Farmers Market throughout the
year. Their wares change with the seasons. In
December, for example, they sell Christmas
wreathes that Isobel hand-fashions out of the
salal leaves she brings in from Vancouver
Island. While they import flowers for Valentine's
Day and Mother's Day, for the winter
and early spring they feature tulips that are
grown locally in a greenhouse on the island.
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Isobel's floral arrangements have played a
major role in their success. Her wedding bouquets
are locally famous. She prepares flowers
for at least one country wedding somewhere
on the island nearly every weekend.
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"Among my favorites last summer were
the dozen I did for one lady using maple
syrup cans," Isobel says. "I made great tall
arrangements full of bull rushes, wheat, and
our own flowers. They were beautiful."
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Thanksgiving is their busiest weekend of
the year. People come from far and wide for
one of her signature pumpkin centerpieces.
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"I cut the top off a pumpkin and insert a
piece of oasis floral foam for a base for the Thanksgiving arrangements," Isobel says.
"Then I build a flower arrangement using a
lot of natural things like bull rushes, wild
flowers, and local greenery. I’m no longer the
only one who does them but we have our own
style and people seem to really like them."
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Having a continuous source of fresh flowers
is important when you make your living
selling them. The couple uses several
techniques to maintain a steady supply from
mid-April to freeze-up. They start by selecting
flower varieties that meet their needs. For
example they plant perennials, like lilies, for
the first flowers of the season. Monkshood and
delphiniums are also early bloomers. The first
annuals start blossoming in mid-June.
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Personal favorites. "Dahlias are probably my favorites." Isobel says. "You have to plant them every year, but they keep flowering all season. You can cut them again and
again right up to frost. I also like to grow flowers from bulbs, like lilies and gladiolas."
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From early August until the end of the
season, brightly colored sunflowers dominate
Isobel’s garden. Thickly planted rows of
sunflowers not only produce colorful flowers,
they also provide flexible windbreaks. Forrester
and Vallentin plant them everywhere
to protect their more delicate flowers from
the brunt of the island’s wind.
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While some varieties, like dahlias, flower
continuously, sunflowers don't. Isobel has
found that she can maintain a steady supply
of these simply by staging her planting dates.
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"I like to have sunflowers as early as possible
and as late as possible, so I do multiple
plantings," Isobel says. "I plant them every
two weeks, from mid-May right up until the
end of July, and I have beautiful sunflowers
right up to the frost. I use the same technique
with snapdragons, and a few others too. It’s
a simple trick but it works really well."
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The couple uses a similar technique
for perennials. For example, they get
a second crop of lilies by planting a
new set of bulbs in the spring once
existing ones are a foot tall.
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"We plant gladiolus seedlings
three times; in mid-May, mid-June and again
in early July," Isobel says. "This gives us an
early season crop, a mid-season crop, and a
late crop. Another trick we use to extend flowering is to scatter the bulbs in a trench when we plant them. If some of the bulbs are upside down, or sideways, instead of all sitting
upright, they don't all come out of the ground
the same day. We have found that doing this
will give us at least six weeks of blossoms out
of a single gladiolus planting."
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Isobel has just main two criteria that guide
her new flower variety selections. First, she
has to like them; and secondly, they have to
last for at least a week in a vase.
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