Why I Oughta...

Below is a photo showing one of the Zinnia blooms vs the ball dahlia Wizard of Oz (for comparison).  I think this might be a Zinnia Dreamland Coral from Northwind Perennial Farm, but I don't seem to have posted about it this year.  This Zinnia is tucked into the original IB2DWs bed and besides watering, I've mostly left it alone all season.   One of the things that I'm guilty of is cutting Zinnias 'too early'.  For these blooms, I opted to leave them on for longer (than I normally would) and this turned into a massive ball-shaped Zinnia bloom.

I let the various Zinnias that are in the vertical garden (Greenstalk) go for a bit longer than I likely should have in terms of cutting and ended up with dozens of them all at the same time.  The mass of stems is as thick as a Big Gulp from 7-11, so I ended up using a large, wide-base ceramic vase to hold them all and keep it from tipping over.  Besides bringing in some hydrangeas, I'd say that this is the largest arrangement of the 2025 growing season. 

The bulk of my flower arrangements have been focused on the flowers + some additional foliage plants.  Zinnias + ferns + artemeisa.  Dahlias + artemesia + polka dot plants.  For the most part, I was dealing with shorter-length stems on the 'stars' (Zinnias and Dahlias) and that meant that I was stripping just a few leaves from the stems and filling out the arrangement with those other foliage elements. But, thanks to my FYP, I've been getting served "here's how to get longer stem" videos and the secret isn't...well...it isn't a secret.  It is just doing something that is hard:  Cutting deep.   Why is cutting deep hard?  Because you're sacrificing some flower blooms.  To get the longer stems, you often take out up-to-three flowers.  Typically that means one full-formed and open that has shot up through the middle of the stem.  Then, two smaller, further-behind ones on either side.   I've always hesitated to sacrifice those ...

Cut flower season continues with Zinnias of all colors and shapes and sizes.  I grew these from seed and grew (what I thought) was three varieties:  Envy, State Fair and Cut and Come Again.  And planted them up in my vertical garden .  These are growing on long stems and look good in a vase. Mixed in, amongst the straight varieties appears to be a variegated one.  Earlier this year, I bought Candy Cane Zinnia seeds , but opted to not grow them (based on what I read).  But, did one of those seeds slip into one of my other seed packages?  I think it might have: Cut flower summer continues.  

The most-recent set of cut flower arrangements include a round-up of what is coming into bloom in late July.  This post is going up in early August, but these vases were built in late July.  The first one features some dark red (almost maroon) Mystery Fox dahlia blooms, Oklahoma Salmon Zinnias , Limelight Hydrangeas, Polka dot plant foligae and some upright stalks of Garden Ghost Artemesia.     The second one includes a couple of Wizard of Oz Ball dahlias , some Pablo Gallery Border Dahlias , a bunch of Disneyland Roses and some (of my current go-to accent pieces) like the white Polka Dot plant foliage and sprigs of the white Garden Ghost Artemesia .   Both are in thrifted vases.  My focus at the Goodwill is on small vases that will fit in a cupholder of the car and are priced at 99 cents.  Like shooting fish in a barrel.  

The flats of Zinnias that I planted from seed have been hanging around on our patio for weeks.  Ready to pot-up into their final destination.   I grew three varieties this year - Envy, State Fair and Cut-and-Come-Again in eight-cell recycled containers that I scavenged from some annuals.  I was waiting for the Zinnias to put on multiple sets of 'real leaves' before transplanting them, but then I got busy and probably waited to long.  Here are some photos of the process - from cells to Greenstalk vertical garden.  This is a tiny example of "Flower Farming" in a small space with vertical gardening beds. Last year, I grew a number of Zinnias in this Greenstalk successfully .  This year, I'm leaning into it way more.  They started to bloom in late August last year - after being direct sown.   This post is going up in July, but this process happened at the end of June.  This is about two weeks ago.    I added in some new potti...

Not everyday can be a garden winner.  This week, one of the four Oklahoma Salmon zinnias just went and died.  I started with four plants that were in one pot .  After thinking about it, I dug them up and divided them to give them a little space .  Today...there's now three left.  The photo below shows the brown, dead one in the center/right.  Overwatering?  Underwatering?  Disease?  I have no idea.  The other ones are doing just fine (for now).   One of four Zinnia plants just up and died.

Earlier this month, I started trays of three different varieties of Zinnias:  State Fair, Cut-and-Come-Again and Envy.  I tucked a couple of seeds into each cell and hoped for the best.  I've kept these seedlings in the screened porch for their first few nights, then moved them outside to get full sun.  And...hopefully...to avoid becoming too leggy.  As Zinnias do, the seeds germinated.  And, germinated in big numbers.  Almost every cell has multiple seedlings that I'll need to thin out.  They're just putting on their first set of real leaves, so I'll wait a little bit longer before pulling out and thinning them. Here's how the trays look this week:  My plan is to fill up the Greenstalk tower with one Zinnia plant per pocket.  And, I'll tuck a few into the landscape, too.  Looks like I have seven full trays of eight plants each; giving me 56 Zinnias.  

Last year, I direct-sowed zinnia seeds into the cut flower bed in our sideyard and into the vertical tower on our patio.  And...it...well...worked.  We grew Zinnias.  But, this year I wanted to get them started a little bit earlier (not as early as I should have, though...) and decided to start some seeds indoors.   I showed the three varieties of seeds we bought this year - earlier this winter/spring;  Envy , State Fair and Cut and Come Again.    I had some eight-cell packs on-hand from annuals that I put out front, so I filled those with a potting mix and tucked seeds into each cell.   Pretty quickly, most of them germinated.   I kept the seedlings in the screened porch and they started to grow up and get taller.   In an attempt to keep them from getting too-leggy, I moved them outdoors as often as I could - weather-permitting.  Below is a photo showing the two trays out on the patio - where they live all day...

A few days ago, I posted the details and photos of an Oklahoma Salmon Zinnia that I bought at The Growing Place .  I pinched it back pretty hard to try to get a bush-ier plant and then put it in the ground down near the sidewalk IB2DWs.  I came across an article about zinnias (not sure exactly which article it was...there are lots of them) that talk about how Zinnias do well with air-flow and you can avoid some things like Powedery Mildew if you avoid watering the foliage and give them some space to breath. The Zinnia in question is four plants that are tightly spaced.  I put the whole 'clump' in one hole initially.  After thinking about it, I decided to dig it up, divide it into four pieces and re-plant those four Zinnia plants in separate holes.   Below is a look at the four spaced out down near the sidewalk.

This four-plant Oklahoma Salmon Zinnia just jumped right off the nursery tables at The Growing Place on my last visit.  It was tall, full of blooms and the colors were just in my wheel-house:  salmon, peachy.  See below for the as-bought state of this colorful cut-flower annual: Floret describes the Oklahoma Salmon Zinnia in a way that made me want to buy even more : This gorgeous novelty is one of the most prolifically blooming zinnias I’ve ever grown. Its petite, double blooms are a warm mix of salmon and peach and combine well with anything. Long, strong stems and small flower size make them a winning summer crop and wonderful bouquet addition. After bringing it home (only one, because that's all they had), I wanted those 'prolific blooms', so I knew that I had to cut it back.  Or...pinch it back - as some people say. This has four stems that were shooting way-up.  I counted up three full-sets of leaves and lop'd off the tops.  Below is a before-and-afte...

Day three of Zinnia seeds.   First, I showed the State Fair Zinnia seeds that we're going to direct sow later this Spring.  Then, yesterday, I posted photos and details of the unique, green-flowered Envy Zinnia seed packets .  Today, is the third new (to me) Zinnia variety via seed packets:  Candy Cane Zinnias.    Here, below, is the front/back of the Zinnia Candy Cane mixed seed packet: If you look around the Web, you find photos of these that show the blooms to be MASSIVE .  Are they?  I'm not sure.     The concern I have for these is that I wonder if they'll look 'ratty'?  Look at the photo on the seed packet - and you might confuse them with a Zinnia bloom that is past-its-prime.   You can see at the top of the back of the seed packet, Burpee lists these as an "Heirloom" and Eden Brothers confirms that fact .  

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...

Late last year, I planted a singular Cardoon IB2DWs after seeing some of them growing in the Fragrance Garden at the Morton Arboretum.  It was eaten a little bit by rabbits, but I ended up protecting it over the winter with a ring of chicken wire.  I wasn't sure what to expect, but it seemed to survive all Winter and then grew in Spring and Summer.  By July, it was good-sized and started to bloom .  The blooms were these out-of-this-world purple-spiked blooms that look like they belong on Pandora (Avatar).   After it bloomed, I decided to cut it back to the ground.  I left just a short segment of the stalk that seemed to die-back to the ground.  That was it, I figured. But...something has happened recently.  Foliage started to emerge from the mulch.  What the what?  Have a look at the current state of my cardoon - coming back in late Summer/early Fall.  Is this thing confused?  Will it survive the winter?  Will it b...

2024 is the year of flowers.  Despite these still be VERY outside my foliage gardening 'comfort zone'.  This started last Fall and continued with my 2024 to-do list with #2 - push thru with flowers . I've done A LOT of dahlias - arranged for the kitchen counter .  And, even a small set of pompon, dark maroon ones .    Now, I have a small Zinnia arrangement.  Mostly composed of the direct-sown Cut and Come Again seeds in the sideyard .  And a couple Yellow Flame Zowie Zinnias from IB2DWs .   Below is what I cut on a recent morning: I will certainly plant these Cut and Come Again Zinnia seeds - in the sideyard.  I'll also put some down IB2DWs, too.  Mark it down for Spring 2025.  

Here's a top-down look at the top few tiers of our Greenstalk vertical garden showing off some of the Zinnias (Cut-and-Come Again and another variety that I grew from last season's seeds) popping off.  I direct sow'd both of these and they're doing fairly well as they *just* enter their blooming season.   Also, peeking through (on the left) is a Rosemary plant that is growing in between some of the cut flowers.   #2 on my 2024 to-do list was to 'push thru on flowers' - including cut flowers .  These Zinnias in the Greenstalk help check that box.  Of course, all the Dahlias lead the way on #2 as well.   See below for the current state of the top-tiers of our Greenstalk: Next year, one tweak I'll make is to think about starting some Zinnias indoors from seed instead of direct sowing them to get them starting blooming a bit earlier than mid/late August.  

Yesterday, I posted a photo of a cut flower arrangement with dahlias, zinnias and Disneyland Roses .  I thought it would be useful to document those plants - as they sit at the end of August.  This is when they're going to (or should) pop-off with blooms.   The Dahlias and Disneyland Roses are two totally different stories.  The Dahlias seemingly are thriving.  The Disneyland Roses?  Dying.  Literally. They've dropped so much foliage.  And have so few blooms.  They look sickly.   The dahlias are full and lush.   Below are a few photos showing the current state of the sideyard - in late August 2024. First, below, is a look at - from right-to-left - a Melina Fleur dahlia, a Disneyland Rose in the middle and on the left...another dahlia.    A bit further to the left are a couple of things that I'm NOT certain of- but I think they're Nicotiana Jasmine and some Zinnias.  Next, below, is the middle Disneyland...

#17 on my 2024 to-do list was to keep going with countertop arrangements .  Last year, I started to bring in some cut flowers and arrange them on our counter.  This year, I've grown more flowers (ahem...comfort zone and all that) and have been bringing them in for the past few weeks. The latest is a two-fer.  A container of dahlia blooms and a smaller one full of Zinnias and some Disneyland Roses.   You can see those two below:  Right now - late Summer/early Fall - is when I'm seeing the most blooms, so it is arrangement go-time.  

I bought and quickly divided a nursery-grown yellow, orange and red Zinnia named Zowie Yellow Flame earlier this season in a spot IB2DWs .  It produced a few early flowers that I clipped off some of the tips in hopes that it would 'bush-out' and get bigger.  The result?  Mixed.  It has certainly been pretty prolific with blooms.  But, it is tall and NOT super wide/fat/bush-like.    Below is what it looks like in late August:  I don't know a ton about collecting Zinnia seeds - specifically what happens with hybrids like this one - but I'm going to dry a couple heads and harvest the seeds.  I'll throw them into a mix and direct-sow them in my sideyard next Spring.   And, maybe I'll even throw some down IB2DWs to fill-in all the blank space over there. 

#7 on my 2024 to-do list was to 'do better containers' this year .  That meant doing DIFFERENT containers than I've done in the past.  This goes back to that whole 'get out of your comfort zone' thing that I confronted with flowers in the beds last Fall.  I told myself to resist early Spring and resist the Big Box store.  But, also...lean-in to what I liked about last year.  That 'what I liked' in our containers last year started and stopped with Euphorbia.   Last year, I bought one Euphorbia plant and tucked it in with some Zinnias from Northwind Perennial Farm .  Loved it.  I also saw that the Morton Arboretum used Euphoriba in one of their beds in the Fragrance Garden.  Lovely .  (That's also where I spotted Cardoon, too.) We have two large rectangular containers - one on back patio, one in the shade on our front porch.  Then, we have a large round planter on the patio and a couple smaller companion planters that sit on the ...