WRITTEN BY VALERIE EASTON PHOTOGRAPHED BY BENJAMIN BENSCHNEIDER

	Sylvia Matlock begins most days in her cut-flower fields, pinching back, deadheading and cutting for bouquets.

The proprietress of DIG Nursery on Vashon Island long dreamed of growing enough flowers for a bouquet subscription service. She's now planted the reality, and every morning at 5 a.m. she wades into her field next to the nursery to spend the first two hours of her day pinching back, deadheading and cutting.
 

Now In Bloom One of the prettiest new annuals for pots and hanging baskets is a sky-blue vining sweet pea with lacy foliage and a sweet, pansy-like face. Lathyrus sativus 'Cobalt Blue' winds and swirls around other flowers, its soft shade of blue playing off of summer yellows, apricots and oranges. This is the flower that will stump visitors to your garden with its unusual color, lovely little bloom and delicately rambling growth habit.

Subscriptions for fresh farm produce have become popular for those without enough space, sun, expertise or time to grow their own vegetables, so why not flowers for the house? Matlock may well set a trend with her subscription business for fresh flower bouquets. She's sold out her first two years, with a waiting list of eager customers.

DIG staff prepares the soil, plants, waters, weeds and harvests, while subscribers, or "partners" in this cut-flower business, simply drop by the nursery each week and pick up a bucket holding two large bouquets of fresh flowers, foliage, grasses, grains, berries and even some edibles. While most subscribers choose what Matlock calls "grandma bouquets" of old-fashioned mixed flowers, she also offers tall, architectural-style bunches that feature more foliage than flower.

Two years ago, Matlock and her husband, Ross, owned a field overgrown in horsetail and broom. They cut it down, plowed, tilled and dug in plenty of compost and alfalfa. Now, wave after wave of flowers undulates from the back of the nursery to the far horizon. Most originate at Langley Fine Gardens on Vashon, a wholesaler that grows the plugs Matlock prefers over seed to get the flowers off to a fast start. The variety is astonishing, from lacy little self-sowing Nigella damascena to statuesque cardoons and dinner-plate-sized dahlias. Most beds are neatly edged in vegetables. After contributing their foliage to plump up the bouquets, plenty go to the local food bank; still more are sent home with the staff.

DIG is well known for its connoisseur's selection of edgy plants, and the cut flowers are no exception. While customers find familiar favorites in the old metal buckets they pick up (and return for refills), Matlock grows plenty of unusual flowers as well. This summer, she's planted a veritable Van Gogh canvas of 3,000 sunflowers in shades of red and apricot. Amaranthus 'Golden Biscuit' has curious chenille-like blooms in a softer color than the usual red, and giant reed grass (Arundo donax) is a showy addition to the architectural bouquets. The first flowers to bloom in spring are campanula and the dramatically dark Sweet William (Dianthus barbatus 'Sooty Black'), while the season ends with plenty of bee balm, daisies and sunflowers.

Which flowers would Matlock recommend for gardeners with far less space? The Versailles strain of cosmos has strong stems, grows to 3 feet, bushes out nicely and won't stop blooming if cut once a week. For fragrance she suggests heirloom sweet peas, (particularly 'Cupani') calendula for nostalgia's sake and Mexican marigolds (Tagetes lucida). The flowers that Matlock tucks most often into the bouquets are button-like, multi-colored China asters (Callistephus chinensis), canterbury bells (Campanula medium), delphiniums, which have the useful habit of reblooming after being cut back, spidery cleomes, Zinnia elegans Blue Point mix, dahlias, Asian lilies, chard and red-toned sunflowers.

Even if you find the room to grow your own, it's worth a midsummer trip to DIG to see the two acres of stunning bloom. For more information, or to sign up for next summer's flowers, call DIG at 206-463-5096. The nursery is at 19028 Vashon Highway S.W.

Valerie Easton is a Seattle free-lance writer and contributing editor for Horticulture magazine. Her e-mail address is valeaston@comcast.net. Benjamin Benschneider is a Pacific Northwest magazine staff photographer.

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