Why I Oughta...

Cut flower season has arrived with the first Cut-and-Come-Again Zinnias.  These three followed the first Dahlia that I showed yesterday - a Melina Fleur Dahlia .  These were direct sown seeds and are being over-shadowed by what I'm pretty sure is Nicotiana Jasmine stalks.  I might have to thin those out to keep these happy - not to mention the Disneyland Roses that are tucked back in there. I did exactly what their name implies:  cut them.  Here's to...ummm...coming again. These took a little more than four weeks from seeds being sown to the first cut flowers. 

A month or so ago, I scattered a couple of seed packages of Nicotiana Jasmine in the new cut flower bed on the southside of our house.  Nicotiana seeds are TEENY TINY.  Like, REALLY teeny tiny.  You can't really place the seeds, rather...you have to scatter them.   So...that's what I did:  scattered them in the new cut flower bed.  I also tossed in some Zinnia seeds.  Here's a look back at the bed before I planted anything, but soon added some Dahlias, too .   These Nicotiana alata grandiflora - Jasmine Tobacco - were in seed packets that had a 2022 date on them, so I wasn't sure if they were viable.  Below is the seed packet: Looking back at my Google Photos archive, I see that I put these seeds down on May 21st.  Exactly one month ago.  What does the bed look like today?   See below: Those are direct-sown seeds of Nicotiana Jasmine in just four weeks.  Some of them are almost up to my waist.  They're crowding each other - and the Zinnias and Dahlias - out, so I

I've said it before:  I'm a foliage gardener.  I'm most comfortable talking about, working on, planting foliage plants.  I'm also a shade gardener, so that's (kinda) why I'm a foliage gardener.  Last Fall, I began to address a significant garden deficit:  conifers .  Via CSCF. Conifers Should Come First .  Those conifers came in a flurry in the late Fall. But, so too, did something else:  flowers.  I planted some new (to me) perennial flowers: Midnight Masquerade Pentsemon , a Pow Wow Wildberry Echinacea and some May Night Salvias - all in the IB2DWs extended bed.  I also tucked in a pair of Stachys monieri Hummelos (Betony) on the other side of the driveway that has upright, purple flowers.   In my 2023 recap post , I included a mixed list of lessons learned/things to think about going forward and included on that list:  plant more flowers.   Get out of my comfort zone and think about adding flowers to a combo bed and cut garden.   I started the 2024 season

From their Grammy, the kids received these six packages of flower seeds as part of the effort to keep the kids occupied while being home during their social distancing period.  I showed recently that some of the Cut and Come Again Zinnias had germinated and mentioned that we didn't plant all the cells with Zinnias. That's where these seeds come in:  the kids are choosing from these six varieties to plant the balance of their little greenhouses. The six seed sets they are choosing from include: 1.  Butterfly Wildflower Mix - North American Mixture. 2.  Forget Me Not - Cynoglossum Blue. 3.  Shasta Daisy. 4.  Marigold Sparky Mixed Colors - Heirloom variety. 5.  Four O'Clock 'Fairy Trumpets' - Mirabilis longiflora. 6.  Night Phlox 'Midnight Candy' - Zaluzianskya capensis. The one that I'm most drawn to are the Four O'Clock 'Fairy Trumpets' from Select Seeds.  From their product page, they talk about the historical significance of

Just a few days ago, I posted some details that I've found in terms of the timing of when to sow flower seeds indoors in Northern Illinois (the answer....4-5 weeks before the last frost which usually takes place at the latest on April 30th. So...Right around April 1st). Today, we already have some Zinnias that have germinated.  Be still, my socially-distant heart. The kids took wooden plant markers and decorated their own little sections.  Here's one of them showing seven of eight cells have germinated:   Each of the kids planted at least eight (and up to 16) cells of two zinnia seeds each.  You can see that in many of the cells, both seedlings have emerged.  I'll thin them after the first true leaves appear. Here's another container showing six of eight cells germinated and a couple of cells to the left - still under the 'propped up' dome that have germinated, too. These are Zinnia "Cut and Come Again" mixed color flowers.    With