Why I Oughta...

Last year, I direct sowed a couple packets of Zinnia seeds in both the sideyard cut flower bed and in the vertical garden (Greenstalk) and they produced a good number of cut flowers for bouquets.  I used the variety named "Cut and Come Again" and they lived up to their name.    They produced a variety of colors - pinks, reds and more .    That (direct sow) experience has lead me to think that I *might* be able to do even MORE with Zinnias this year.  I'm going to try even more packets this growing season and I picked up some new (to me) varieties this past weekend.   The first one of the bunch is below - named "State Fair Zinnias" - they're larger than the ones I grew last season. Below is the front/back of the seed packet from Burpee: From Burpee's site : This one is a sure winner. State Fair Mix has jumbo 5" flowers, a wide range of colors and tall, robust plants. Colors include red, yellow, orange, purple, pink, white and bicolors. Disease res...

Like most every year in the past, I received a nice set of Sunflower seeds for my birthday.  This year, I received five different varieties including:  Carmel Hybrid, Velvet Queen, Italian White, Autumn Beauty Mix and Evening Sun (below).  I put these down in a the rear, south fence line amongst some natural areas.  I've posted a few times over the years.  The first time was in 2011 when I had our initial growth  in our backyard by our playground.  By 2013, I moved the location and planted them in the front of our old fence .  And had some good growth.  In 2014, I went, again, with a wide variety .  And in 2016, I received some seeds , but since we had already moved out, I don't remember if I ever planted these at Equation Boy/Man's house in Elmhurst.  I soaked these seeds for about 4 hours before planting them, so I'm hoping that they'll germinate quickly and we'll get some decent growth, knowing they take about three mon...