Ashley has been gardening in New Hampshire since childhood, helping her dad with seeds in the greenhouse and watching her mom tend to beautiful perennial gardens every year. As a one-woman operation (but often with help from family and dogs), Ashley is primarily a garden hobbyist with a passion for spreading joy through her flowers.
The Woodhill Farm property sits elevated in zone 6a in New Hampshire where winters are cold and summers are hot! Garden operations begin in January when we start dividing dahlias that were dug from the previous season (though some years we start as early as December). Next in February comes seed-starting in the basement of our 1830s farmhouse, which serves as both a cool storage for dahlia tubers and also a great environment for seedlings! We grow mostly flowers for the gardens but also some vegetables like tomatoes and peppers.
Our frost-free date is early May, which is when we get the perennial gardens cleaned up and dahlias planted. We are finding that with the milder winters lately, more and more cool annuals are surviving the winter or self-seeding, making the gardens fuller every year! Our first frost in the winter is generally around Halloween, but sometimes we can extend the growing season by using blankets, tarps and Christmas lights!
Gardens over the years:
Woodhill FARM 