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In Bloom: ‘Benary’s Giant Lilac’ Zinnias in the Cut Flower Garden
One of the more disappointing aspects of not having a legitimate flower farm is that I never seem to have enough space. While, I’m extremely thankful for the space that I do have – I just wish that I had a little more. This is especially true when the time comes to plan which varieties of zinnias that I’ll grow in the garden. Most of the varieties of zinnia that I grew this year were in shade of purple. One of my favorites were the Benary’s Giant Lilac that I started from seed and then transplanted into the yard. I usually consider lilac to be more of a lighter shade,…
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How to Grow Zinnias from Seed
Zinnias are one of my absolute favorite flowers in the cut flower garden. When it comes to how to grow zinnias from seed, it’s pretty easy. Here in my yard, the zinnia flowers love my hot and humid weather. It’s not uncommon for them to reach heights of 6ft, and to stretch taller than my privacy fence. If you’re attempting to grow zinnias for the first time, you have a couple choices regarding when and how to start the seeds. The easiest way to start zinnias from seed is to direct sow them into the garden bed. First, you’ll need to wait until all chance of frost has passed. Amend…
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Growing Zinnias from Seed for Cut Flowers – Easy Cut Flower Garden
Zinnias are one of the first flowers that I ever started growing. Growing zinnias each year is my favorite garden task! While some people write them off as “too easy”, I absolutely cherish the zinnias that grow in my garden. Not only are the flowers gorgeous, but they’re insanely tough. Here in Kentucky, they have no trouble with our hot and ridiculously humid summers. Even when the Japanese beetles arrive, these flowers will not fade. I love them! Zinnias are also perfect for beginners, as there are so many ways to easily start the seed. While many may choose to start the seed indoors using grow lights and trays, there…
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Picking the Last Dahlias from the Garden – Pretend Cut Flower Farm
So, in my last blog post I said that I was going to start cleaning up the garden to get it ready for fall crops. I still haven’t done that. I haven’t even started. A pile of things that were way more important came up, and I had to just stopping worrying about it. I’m going to try to start working on it next week. The mess out there is honestly really intimidating. Today, I waded through the waist high weeds to pick the last of some really gorgeous cut flowers. I brought them in and knew that I had to arrange them. I recently bought some lights and a…
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What’s in the Garden? Middle of July Garden Update
It’s the middle of July, and it’s still insanely hot. Are you surprised? I’m not, lol. Regardless, let’s take a quick look around to see what’s growing in the garden. Even though there are tons of weeds in the garden, the trellis is loaded with various vines. Most of the vines are pole beans and scarlet runner beans. However, you can clearly see that those ding dang morning glories from last year are on the vine, too. Last year’s morning glories are so invasive this year, I honestly don’t think that I’ll ever make the deliberate choice to grow morning glories again. The tithonia plants are looking really nice…
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Beginning of July Garden Harvest
It’s July, and that means one certain thing – it’s HOT. I know, somehow, I always find something to complain about. But when the heat index climbs to 112F, the last thing I want to do is go outside and work in the garden. That being said, I took a mini “vacation” and went to visit some family and friends. As you could imagine, leaving the garden for 10 days let the weeds go crazy – especially with the heat and humidity. Today, I finally got up the motivation to do a little bit of weeding. Most importantly, I was able to completely clear out the corn and bean patch.…
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End of June Garden Update 2018
I can’t believe that it’s already almost the end of June. That’s one thing about the warm weather – I spend all winter long waiting for it. It feels like it takes forever to arrive, but when it does – it flies by. That bothers me, a lot. Anyhow, let’s take a quick look around what’s going on in the garden. The pole beans have really started to climb! The beans on this trellis are a mixed lot. In addition to some scarlet runner beans, I planted seed that I saved from last year’s pole beans. The varieties I planted were ‘Rattlesnake’. ‘Kentucky Wonder’, ‘Purple Podded’, and some type of…
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Zinnias, Lettuce, Cosmos, and More…
It’s Wednesday! You know what that means – another flower arrangement! I’ll be honest, it’s a total coincidence that I’m posting this on a Wednesday. Like I said, I’m really not good at keeping schedules. Hope you enjoy!
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Beginning of June Garden Update – Cut Flower Patch and Vegetable Garden
It hasn’t been that long since the last time I’ve posted a garden update, but things are growing so quickly! The combination of rain and high temperatures has been absolutely ideal for the various pretty things growing in my yard. Among them are many “first time” flowers. I sowed so many seeds last year for things that I had never grown before, or had tried to grow previously (and failed). One such plant that I’ve tried to grow in the past is canterbury bells. I’m constantly getting them confused with cathedral bells vine – so much so that I’m still not sure if I’m typing this correctly. Anyway, I started…
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Favorite Flowers for Beginners – Growing Flowers from Seed
As a habit, I often browse tons of different gardening forums. I think I started doing it when I was bored one day, and the habit just kind of stayed with me. These days, I usually try to take a mental note of the common questions that are being asked. This week, there was definitely a common thread- flowers for beginners. More specially, “I’m a beginner gardener. What flowers can I grow from seed?” Fantastic! This is also the exact question I asked when I first started to dabble in all things floral! Often times, it’s a very slippery slope. First you grow zinnias, then you add sunflowers – then…
