A Visit to Jello Mold Farm in Summer

Harvesting sunflowers in the morning before it gets too hot

Zinnias, Jello Mold Farm

Jello Mold Farm is a busy place in mid-summer.  The sun was already bright when we arrived at 9:00 a.m.  It’s best to pick flowers early in the day before it gets too hot.  We stayed out of the way of the workers as we walked the flower beds looking for photo opportunities.

Picking sunflowers

Walking the fields

Cut flowers were loaded into the back of a pickup truck parked in the field

Tall artichokes

Scabiosa beds in one of the green houses

Scabiosa silhouettes

Wasp nest in the corner of the green house

Getting ready to harvest some dahlias

Dahlias in the green house

Baptisia alba

Glowing pods of Baptisia alba

Zinnia

Plant starts

Flower ties in the workroom

Straw hat in the workroom

Diane Szukovathy, proprietor, with an order

Diane, Jello Mold Farm

Driveway, Jello Mold Farm

Early Summer Morning at the Seattle Wholesale Growers’ Market

Diane Szukovathy of Jello Mold Farm checks an order at the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market

You have to get up early to catch the action at the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market.  The doors open at 6 a.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and by 6:30 a.m. the warehouse is already a whirl of activity.  Florists and buyers arrive at sunrise for the freshest blooms.  I can image the local growers on the road in the pre-dawn darkness hurrying to get their flowers to market in time for this buying rush.

Seattle Wholesale Growers Market is open to the public on Fridays from 10 – 2 (small fee for admission)

Ready to load up the car with new purchases

The back of another florist’s truck

This has obviously been a good year for our local flower growers, and it is gratifying to see the market flourishing.  Summer is a season of abundance in the flower fields, and inside the warehouse was a bounteous array of choices for bouquets and floral arrangements.  Here are some photos:

The morning sun casts a shadow through the open warehouse door.

Nicole, the front desk manager, greets buyers and keeps the operations flowing.

Oregon Coastal Flowers section of the warehouse

Such an assortment of colors and textures for unique floral arrangements

Deep purple calla lilies lined up for purchase, Oregon Coastal Flowers

Buckets of calla lilies, Oregon Coastal Flowers

Floral lamp shades, J Foss Garden Flowers

Green and orange gladioli, J Foss Garden Flowers

Calla lilies await wrapping

Wrapped and ready to go

Wrapping supplies

A buyer backs up to the loading dock for her purchases

Dahlias in yellow bucket

Sneezeweed assortment in brown wrapping paper

Eremurus

Check out counter

Fallen blossoms and petals on the loading dock

Scabiosa, Jello Mold Farm

The loading dock at 7:30 a.m. — the early morning rush was over.