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Fall Hardy Annual Seedling Update
It’s been a few weeks since I posted about finally starting the process of sowing the seeds of my hardy annual flowers. In this, germination is in full swing for a lot of the fall hardy annual flower seedlings. Let’s take a closer look –Â After I ran out of cell trays, I started using my open trays. At transplant time, I will have to carefully remove the seedlings and separate them. It shouldn’t be too difficult, but I do wish I had done a better job of spacing them. The same is also true for the tray filled with bachelor’s buttons seedlings. I’m definitely not worried about this tray,…
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Kitchen Sink Flower Arrangements
I absolutely love flowers, but wouldn’t consider flower arranging to be my strong point. In fact, that’s the main reason I post so many arrangements. In order to truly get better at something, I believe that you have to keep practicing. Today, we’ll be arranging what I like to call a “Kitchen Sink” vase. This means that I’ve gone around the garden and cut “everything but the kitchen sink”. Let’s get started – Here’s all of the hardy annual flower goodies that I was able to pick. This growing season, I’ve gained a new appreciation for calendula and their role in the cut flower patch. Having overwintered these flowers in…
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A Week’s Worth of Cut Flowers
I know that I’ve been posting tons of different cut flower arrangements lately, but I just can’t help it. Let’s take a closer look at some of the cut flower vases that were arranged – These are the Zeolights calendula that I planted last fall. They don’t have the longest stems. In fact, using them can be a little bit tricky. Even still, they coloring and usefulness in a vase is undeniable. I combined the zeolights with la belle champagne ranunculus, blue monday salvia, and a little bit of mint. The hardy annual flowers have really burst into life over the last couple weeks. This vase was a really simple…
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June Cut Flower Update: Slow Progress
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Spring Calendula and Ranunculus Flower Arrangement
One of my favorite things about growing so many different types of cut flowers is trying different combinations in vases. Since we haven’t been able to donate any flowers this year, I’ve had a lot of choices in terms of arrangement flowers for myself and for my family. Let’s take a quick look at yet another arrangement from the garden. These ‘Zeolights’ calendula were overwintered this year in the hoophouse. As a result, I have been rewarded with huge blooms from the plants. It seems that overwintering calendula here in my Kentucky garden can be really tricky. This is the first time I have been successfully able to do so.…
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December Hoop House Update – Hardy Annual Cut Flowers
It hasn’t been long since I transplanted the hoop house. At the time, I was feeling pretty pessimistic. I was nearly certain that the things I planted wouldn’t grow. Now that it’s December, it’s really interesting to see just how much things have actually grown. The flower beds are filled with a random assortment of flowering hardy annuals. In the photo above, you can see some calendula (top) and tricolor salvia (front, textured leaves). The row on the left side is pretty unorganized. This is mainly because I direct sowed most of these plants. The flowers on the right are planted much more neatly. Whoa! Look at all those bells…
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Direct Sowing Flower Seeds in Fall for the Spring Cut Flower Garden
One of the most common questions that I get about sowing hardy annuals in the fall directly relates to figuring our which plants should be started by direct sowing and which ones should be started in seed trays and then transplanted into the hoop house or into the ground. If I’m being honest, I don’t have an exact answer. While some flowers are happy being started in any ol’ method – others are very specific. The best I can really do is share what I’m doing here in my own yard, and hopefully it will be helpful. New to me this year is ‘Mountain Garland’ Clarkia. I’ve grown godetia in…
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January Hardy Annual Flowers and Hoophouse Update – Cut Flower Farm
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The Beginning of the Winter Sowing Season
It’s that time again – time to start thinking about winter sowing! Hooray! I’m so excited! In the past, I’ve only winter sowed using milk jugs and other containers. Last year, I ended up with well over 200 bottles sitting in the backyard – it was a complete mess! This year, I’ve decided to try something a little different. Instead of milk jugs, I’ll be using seed starting trays and a small low tunnel covered in plastic. Even though I’ve never seen anyone do this before, my gardening instinct tells me that this method will also be successful. Sometime next week, I hope to post about my seed starting set…
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Flower Seedlings in the Hoophouse – Ready for Winter – Cut Flower Farm
Luckily, I was finally able to finish planting the hardy annual cut flower seedlings into the hoophouse. Though most of these flowers are annuals, I did include some biennial flowers under cover, as well. Here’s hoping for a beautiful spring and summer.
