A Few Flowers
So it's been super busy around here lately – busier than
usual, that is. Each day it seems as if
there is always something going on in my other life (you know – the one that
has nothing to do with the garden) & this has been throwing me off my
gardening game. Ok, who am I kidding…I
don’t think I have ever been on top of things when it comes to the garden. There’s always something that needs doing
and, usually, I’m behind. Sometimes,
waaaay behind. Case in point – I am growing
marigolds from seed this year & I just noticed that I should have sown them
at the end of March. Oh well – better
late than never! At the very least, it
will be a learning experience so that I know what to do (or not do) next
year. And the 1st mistake I
corrected was to update my garden calendar with the sowing date.
I had never seen marigold seeds before so I was fascinated when I opened the packet. The seeds are long & wispy – not at all what I was expecting.
And lastly in the flower lineup is sunflowers. These have never been on my list of desired
plants although I’m not exactly sure why.
I guess they just seemed too large & overpowering compared to other
plants/flowers. Then last year, my kids brought
home sunflower seedlings that they grew in class. They planted them in one of the vegetable
beds & the sunflowers started to grow – and grow – and grow. And we were all fascinated by them - the anticipation
as the plant grew taller and taller, the way the petals unfurled to reveal the
seed head and the amazing patterns created by the seeds themselves. I gotta say, it was pretty awesome. And so sunflowers have now been added to my
list of annual must-haves. I wanted to start out with a sunflower that was known for having lots of tasty seeds, so I chose "Giant Grey Stripe". I decided to sow the seeds in paper coffee cups instead of cell packs ’cause
it just seems wrong to use a tiny cell pack for such large seeds.
I had never seen marigold seeds before so I was fascinated when I opened the packet. The seeds are long & wispy – not at all what I was expecting.
The variety I am growing is “Flame - Janie Series” which is
a 9” dwarf with earlier & more continuous flowering than other dwarfs
according to
William Dam Seeds.
The instructions indicated that they should be just pressed
onto the soil - so that is what I did. I
then gave each cell a light covering of vermiculite & placed it in the tray on the heat mat.
On to nasturtiums - I love nasturtiums. The flowers are wonderfully vibrant and the
leaves have always captivated me – they are so beautifully flat and the way
water beads on them is just mesmerizing.
So I have decided to grow some. But
in the back of my mind I’m a little concerned that I may actually be creating
problems.
I have not had any issue with aphids in the vegetable beds
so far but apparently aphids love nasturtiums. In fact they are often
considered a trap crop, luring aphids away from other plants. My hope is that the nasturtiums will be a beautiful (and tasty!)
addition to the raised beds. My worry is that they will end up being aphid magnets – in essence saying “hey guys – over here!” I’m not putting them all over the vegetable garden, mind you. They will be in one particular spot - but still….
The thing is, I kind of have my heart set on having them, so
I am ignoring my concerns and growing them anyway – I REALLY hope I don’t
regret this later.
The variety I decided to grow (“Tip Top Alaska”) has marble
foliage so I am doubly excited about those leaves! I soaked the seeds for 24 hours
& pre-germinated them. So far so good - all 4 seeds germinated. I
sowed them in cell packs and they are now on the light stand. I started the seeds one week ago and at
this stage, I have one that has poked out of the soil.
Nasturtium Seedling |
The one issue that I did have last year with the sunflowers was that they were super hard to
pull up at the end of the season. In
fact, we still have a sunflower stump in one of the beds. I tried to pull it up before I placed plastic
on the beds earlier this month, but it was probably still frozen several inches
down & wouldn’t budge. So this year,
I am not going to put them in a raised bed. Not sure yet WHERE I am going to put them – all I know is that I have 3 sunflowers
to plant somewhere.
The unfortunate part about not planting them in a raised bed is that the beds get regular watering. In the past I have been notoriously bad at remembering to water plants that are anywhere else – which is why most of the flower beds have perennials that can withstand a week or two with no water. The few times I tried adding some annuals to the perennial beds either the rabbits got to them or I forgot to water – either way they were goners. This year, however, I am determined to be more conscientious about watering. I guess we shall see how it goes.
The unfortunate part about not planting them in a raised bed is that the beds get regular watering. In the past I have been notoriously bad at remembering to water plants that are anywhere else – which is why most of the flower beds have perennials that can withstand a week or two with no water. The few times I tried adding some annuals to the perennial beds either the rabbits got to them or I forgot to water – either way they were goners. This year, however, I am determined to be more conscientious about watering. I guess we shall see how it goes.
Till next time… ☺
Good luck with your flowers! I'm sticking to growing 90% perennials this year because I can't imagine having to deal with this much seed starting every year.
ReplyDeleteThanks! And no kidding about the seed starting - I prefer putting most of my seed starting efforts into vegetables with just a sprinkling of flowers.
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