November Hoop House Update – Hardy Annual Cut Flowers

To say that the weather over this past month has been wacky would be an understatement. It was less than three weeks ago that I was complaining about temperatures in the 90s – and now, it’s snowing and in the teens! With such a wide fluctuation in temperature, I’ve  not done a very good job at planning and getting the seedlings into the hoop house. Alas, I’ve finally completed the process. Let’s take a closer look at what’s growing.

I’m experimenting with growing freesia again this year. I have some in the ground, as well as in pots. I’ve read that they’re hardy to zone 8, so in my mind, it would stand to reason that they might over winter in the hoop house with a little help from me. So far, none of the leaves have unfurled – just these little green spikes.

I’m also trying with the Robinson’s painted daisy again. I had really great germination this time around. Supposedly, they’re hardy to zone 4. I guess I technically didn’t need to put them in the hoop house, but I wanted to give them the best chance possible. I’ve heard that these flowers hate humidity in the summer – we’ll see what happens.

Of course I had to plant sweet peas. There’s a big row of various sweet pea varieties going right down the center. As the plants get bigger, it also becomes more difficult to move up and down the aisles. I guess I should lose some weight. 

The bittercress weeds are already making an attempt to take over the snapdragons. This variety is called ‘Madame Butterfly’. I’m insanely excited about this one. It comes in a wide range of dreamy looking colors – but more importantly, the flowers are double. Hopefully all will go well with these.

Looking down the row, you’ll also see some love in a mist and other various odds and ends. I’m really not the best at staying organized. The frost blanket I’m using is Agribon 30. Most of these plants on this side should be fine with a little bit of cold.

The other side of the hoop is covered with agribon 50. The main reason for this is that that’s where I planted the scented stock. Last winter, my stock plants were severely damaged during the coldest weather. This time around, I’m hoping that I will be able to prevent that and pamper them just a little more. This year I’m growing ‘Quartet Rainbow’ and ‘Katz Mix’ varieties.

Last, but not least, we have a lot of ranunculus. I seriously planted just about every variety of ranunculus that I could find. I couldn’t help myself.