Why Paying Attention to Bloom Times Can Help You Reclaim Balance & Prepare for Life’s Next Chapter
We live in a globally accessible world where we can get pretty much anything, all the time. Businesses try to avoid feast and famine by finding some way to operate stably year round. People try to operate productively like a machine without off days. Everybody is ‘fine’ when you ask. Burn out is all to real. A feeling of disconnect, lack of inspiration & motivation strikes regularly.
What if a return to seasonality could better equip us in our daily lives? Could a connection to seasonal nuances give us the tools to handle the challenges in life?
In July 2016 I made one of my most embarrassing flower blunders to date. I still feel the need to act like a know it all around bloom times because of it, but I’m working on that.
I was on my first ever solo road trip, starting in British Columbia and working my way down the Pacific Coast to Southern California where I’d be meeting up with my boyfriend (now husband thanks to that trip!) for a final leg to Vegas. Much of my inspiration for spots to see on this trip came from Instagram. Since I was traveling solo I meticulously (or so I thought), mapped out each destination, rest stop, hotel and photo op. There were a few bonus spots I had in mind along the route ‘just in case’ I somehow was able to manipulate the hours of the day and find more time.
A naive Christine working her way down the Pacific Coast in 2016.
The flower fields at Carlsbad were one such ‘just in case’ idea. Tulips were the flower flavour at that time. Now in 2024, Ranunculus have taken over the spotlight. However all the pictures online showed lots of different types of flowers blooming. Their Instagram account constantly had new tags of peoples beautiful visits. Somehow in all of my excitement I failed to observe their seasonal schedule, aka the fact that they are open from March to May… and I was visiting in July.
Screenshot of @the_flower_fields tagged photos on Instagram in November 2024. To someone unaware of local bloom times, it looks like the fields are still currently lush.
In fairness to my ever so naive self, July in Southern Ontario is very different from July in California as far as agriculture goes. Our July in Ontario is usually pretty generous with the annual flowers. However, what escaped me altogether was that Tulips would not be available in the heat of a California summer. After all, tulips were pretty much available year round from florists in Ontario, they flooded grocery stores long before they were blooming in gardens, even this week, in November, there were tulips at the grocery store flower stand, so the farmers must just have a production method that us home gardeners lacked right?
I was so embarrassed when we pulled into such a hot tourist spot, only to find the parking lot completely empty. The stretching hill, that was supposed to be painted with brilliant colours and women taking selfies in sundresses, was brown and barren, devoid of both tourists and flowers. I can’t recall what destination we had given up to squeeze this location into our itinerary but I wanted to cry from humiliation. My boyfriend, knowing I was really into plants just assumed I wanted to visit despite the empty fields, unaware of my complete rooky move.
I’d love to say I learned my lesson fully, but again just 2 years later I found myself pulling the same blunder trying to visit a Lavender farm after it had been harvested.
Sometimes it’s those jarring life lessons that catapult us forward into our life’s path. It was just the month before where I had decided that something to do with gardening/nature/being outside was my future calling. I had just set up Buying Thyme Designs as a legal business, choosing the moniker as a play on words for what I was seeking, time in nature, but paid (alas, I was not born into generational wealth). This moment in the parking lot at the Carlsbad flower fields was like embarrassment-soaked-kindling to my educational fire for me.
The Disconnect Between Modern Life and Nature
8.5 years later I know a little bit more about bloom times. But I also can admit that the learning never stops when it comes to the natural world around us, and I still have a lot left to discover.
One thing I have learned is how common my faux pas is. Every month I will get messages pulling on older pictures asking if they can order that bouquet today. Or a message about something I do have in bloom at the moment but they want it 2 or 3 months from now.
And with traditional florists, that could very well be provided, perhaps at an increased cost and lowered plant quality for getting it out of season from somewhere else in the world. But with seasonal flowers that are locally grown, that just isn’t how it works.
And this is why I believe it’s a really good thing to disappoint a potential customer in this way. It can potentially be their moment to realize how out of sync they are with the natural rhythms around them. These are often called ‘aha moments’ and when they happen, something ‘clicks’ and our perspective changes.
Maybe it’s me wanting to passionately share my experience and it’s importance with everyone, and more than likely they won’t even bat an eye. In today’s world where everything is available all the time from anywhere in the world, they’ll likely just move along to someone who can say ‘Sure, I can get that ordered in for you’. But maybe, they’ll start to take note that…
Sunrises and sunsets no longer dictate our active, productive hours. We buy red light devices rather then greeting the morning sun. Our workplaces actively strive to remove the seasonality and keep workflow consistent and profitable year round, avoiding feast and famine periods. We can have fresh fruit year round, and most have absolutely no idea why eggs are a part of the Easter season**. We use walking pads at desks or a treadmill at the gym instead of taking a walk outside. We heat our homes, or cool them with the touch of a button and dash from home to car to office, possibly even without a coat, rarely spending more then a few fleeting moments outside in the elements.
Life is predictable and reliable this way. Profitable.
We get caught up in our own daily rhythms of grocery shopping (everything always available!), working, sleeping. We are so in the thick of the daily grind, just trying to make it through each day and not drop any balls that we miss the opportunities to observe and be in sync with the rhythms around us that would fuel and rejuvenate us rather then draining us. It usually takes hitting a real low or a hard place before we can reset our trajectory in life. But it doesn’t have to get to that point.
In a Rut? There’s a Season For That.
Once you hit that wall and face that frustration of a rut, the impulse is often to make huge or disruptive changes to shake it off. This usually leads to even more overwhelm or is at the least, very hard to stick to and implement with regularity. If we can instead, step into the gentle grooves that nature has carved into the environment around us, we can gain traction again.
One of the first steps to correcting course from a rut is to stop, and apply some self-care. Facing that block is often a sign of burn out. As much as we love machines and their efficiency and never ending productivity, we as humans operate in cycles and rhythms, like nature, because we are a part of nature.
The (free) basics of adjusting your sleep to match the daylight rhythms of the sun, grounding and neutralizing your electrons by physically touching the earth without shoes or other materials in between, nourishing yourself with whole foods (ideally seasonal), moving your body (a walk in nature), and removing distractions and inputs from screens and apps, can work absolute magic on a body and mind.
Boredom is widely accepted as one of the keys to creativity but when we are so caught up in our busy hectic cycles of modern living, and we do not give ourselves space to dally in our environment and to be observant of what may cross our path that day; if we aren’t paying attention we can have many muses pass us by.
Why Bloom Times Matter for Your Inner Balance
What I love about nature is that the same space never looks the same. The light and the way it sweeps over the landscape in the morning does not look the same way once the sun has fully risen. The fullness of August will never be found in the minimal freshness of May.
Most are familiar with the changes of leaves each season but even the flower structures change as the seasons pass. The delicate papery, large petaled blooms of spring flowers against the more rugged, angular blooms of late summer. The changes occur minute by minute and inspiration can be around any corner.
Winter encourages a sense of hibernation, rest, of rich warming foods to offset the cold environment. Summer is full of energy, new experiences and abundance. To live like it’s summer year round is like pulling an all-nighter. It’s exhausting. Our bodies respond negatively (often resulting in illness) and our minds turn to mush. Each season has a role in allowing us to live to our absolute fullness.
When we become familiar with how fleeting each season is, how the flowers only bloom in a particular month we can begin to see the parallels in our own days and learn to appreciate them in that moment. Certain seasons are harder to weather then others, but they too are fleeting and will eventually pass us making room for the next.
Seasonal Flower Tips for the Busy Woman
If you’ve made it this far then you have likely found parallels in this to your own life and now you need some practical steps to make this a part of your daily routine; tips to find inspiration in the mundane.
Chase the sunrise: One of the perks of Winter in Ontario is the darker mornings (say what?!). I know, it’s not what everyone feels but I am not a morning person and I otherwise miss the sunrises. Winter somehow creates the more dazzling displays of colour and form across the sky (perhaps the dry, crisp air and stronger winds and the lack of smog have something to do with that) compared to other seasons. Bonus points if you are able to do it barefoot! Not only are you getting the health benefits of the red light, and syncing your circadian rhythm, but it can be a blast of inspiration and awe.
I often take a picture of the sunrise and then use an eyedropper tool to pull out the different colours and see what colour theory palette I was presented with that day. (I share these on my Instagram Stories.) These inspire me in the moment but also give me beautiful case studies for colour pairings for the next seasons of flowers.
“Awe affects a number of cognitive processes. For example, awe broadens attention, increasing awareness of others. Awe can also alter time perception... awe increases feelings of connectedness with other people and can lead to greater satisfaction towards life. In particular, the disposition to live awe frequently prevents from several health risks such as depression or stress-related disorders.”
Walk like a Toddler. My kids were the ones who got me into meandering. I was always a destination walker. A hiker, proud of how many kilometers I had covered. With extremely long limbs, speed walking is second nature. And then I was suddenly responsible for toddlers. Everything is so new to them. They stop and look at everything. They want to touch everything. Beyond frustrating at first. But suddenly I was aware of the fuzzy moss and the differences in the bark and the texture of the different materials under my feet. I began to spot mushrooms and insects I never knew existed.
Getting our steps in is important, but if you can get a few ‘mind-steps’ in on that walk by really slowing down and noticing the little details, you’ll find that your mind gets that same lovely refreshing feeling that your body does and inspiration can begin to flow in. The combination of little surprises, curiosities, movement and fresh air can keep you present, in the moment and calm the mind.
Even in a concrete jungle there can be beautiful examples of resiliency in the form of plants growing in side walk cracks, coordination of street alignments to the setting sun, and ingenuity of rooftop gardens and planters.
Keep fresh flowers at work: Posies are small bouquets, or an informal handful of flowers. These can be anything from ‘weeds’ in the ditch, a few stems from your garden or some that you’ve purchased from a flower shop or a flower stand like mine. I suggest keeping them at your workspace rather then at home since this is often where we are often needing inspiration and a pick me up, and it’s a location we are consistently at. Studies have found that having fresh flowers around can ease anxieties, promote happiness and compassion amongst others but I like it because of the proximity.
In the garden, or on a walk, you don’t get the opportunity to deeply study the details in a flower. To take the time to appreciate all the variations, nuances and delicacies. When they are at your workspace you can enjoy their scent, their colour, they can be a conversation piece as well as art. However, you also get to see the intricate details and patterns that make them unique, up close. Perhaps you might even spot a Fibonacci Sequence! Seeing all the details and how they contribute to the big picture of the whole bloom can help you find inspiration in your own scenarios. If they are seasonal flowers and not imported ones, you’ll begin to spot similar flowers outside of the posey throughout your day (like getting a new car and suddenly everyone is driving one) and find a connection to the world around you that you had otherwise missed.
Can you spot the Fibonacci Sequence in the sunflower? Once the pollen erupts it’s much harder to spot.
Being a seasonal expert takes a lifetime and then some, yet we can begin to synchronize our habits with natural rhythms in little steps each day. These little moments can bring us closer to finding some balance and wellness in a world that either feels chaotic or mundane.
For some of us, the reminder of seasonality can be a balm in a trying time where it feels they might break before it’s over. For others it can remind them that these great times can be fleeting and they shouldn’t be held lightly but rather savoured and prioritized.
**In case you were still wondering: In March chickens respond to both the increased light hours, and rising temperatures which signals their bodies to increase egg production. Easter falls right around the same time.
It is my goal with Buying Thyme to connect the community to nature and practice sustainability practices so we can better our patch of the ecosystem. Our flowers invite you to slow down, savor simple joys, and celebrate the beauty of the seasons wherever you take them, but our blog teaches you how you can apply everything we have learned, on your own property! For our Southern Ontario specific gardening tips make sure to peruse our other blog articles here.
Buying Thyme is your local source for seasonal, sustainably grown flowers. Visit our flower stand where we offer locally gown, cut flowers, to Durham Region. All grown right here on our North Oshawa/Hampton micro flower farm.
Unlike most florists offerings, these flowers have a negative carbon footprint with no transportation, sprays or pesticides. Each year our collection of Ontario native plants grows, which not only offers more beautiful flowers to our clients but also contributes to restoring the local ecosystem.
To learn more about our floristry services and products or to visit the flower stand click here.
