3 Easy Annuals Every NEW Flower Farmer Can Grow

Looking out over the raised cut flower garden at the perennial beds, ( out old greenhouse which is being replaced with a flower studio) and our hen house to the left.

 Are you dreaming of a flower farm of your own some day? I'll let you in on a little secret. You don't need multiple acres to begin. In fact, a small suburban plot can serve as the perfect trial ground for your " someday" farm. I farm my garden on less than 1/2 acre where I grow many different annuals, perennials, herbs, and flowering shrubs. I grow all of my annual cut flowers in 4 x 12 raised beds, 12 inches deep. This makes planting, weeding, deadheading and harvesting manageable for beginners. 

Here are a few things to consider before you sow those first seeds.

Start with just a few raised beds to build confidence.

•  Make sure you plant in an area that gets a minimum of 7 hours of daylight.
•  Have your soil tested. Fast growing summer annuals need a nutrient rich soil to thrive. I order a horticultural mix  from our local landscape center. It arrives premixed and ready for planting flowers, herbs, and veggies. 
• Determine your water needs. Will you rely on nature, install a drip system or, will you hand-water your garden?  I hand-water everything ( and rely on frequent rainfall) here in New England. I own a 100' garden hose that reaches every corner of the garden.

Zinnias, sunflowers, dahlias, gladiolus, and pumpkin on a stick, ( ornamental eggplant)

Today I'm sharing some of my favorite easy annuals every NEW flower farmer can grow. They all have a few things in common. They're easy to start, have long blooming seasons, are great for cutting and require very little care in between. 

Let's start with the easy Zinnia!

Zinnias grow best when you direct sow them after the last danger of frost in your gardening zone. Most seed packets have planting instructions on the back or inside of the envelope so plant accordingly.  Zinnias will give you brilliant blooms from summer-frost and the bees and butterflies love them.

 3- 4 seed packets will be sufficient for one or two 4x12 raised beds. Try a few different varieties for fun!  

 Let's talk Sunflowers!

No flower garden would be complete with out sunflowers.  I love growing sunflowers. I just wish I had a field so I could grow bunches and bunches of them. Even still, they are worth growing in smaller amounts just because they are such a summer time favorite. Sunflowers aren't just yellow either.

They come in varying shades of deep red, chocolate ( almost black) and tawny golden oranges too! 

Three great varieties to try! 

Sunflowers can be started inside ahead of time in a greenhouse, or sunny windowsill but they grow just as well when planted directly at the proper sowing time.

This pretty lady isn't an annual, she's a perennial called Lemon Queen.

It's fun to let your perennial sunflowers, mingle with annual sunflowers. 

Below is a pitcher full of Black Eyed Susan's ( perennial), lemon queen ( also a perennial) and 

drop dead read, sunflowers ( annual ).

Sunflowers don't need much arranging for adding simple beauty to any occasion.

Let's talk Cosmos!

Cosmos are so easy to grow you barely need to think about them at all once you've planted them. 

 This one below is called, Rubenza for it's deep burgundy red color, although this photo makes it look almost hot pink.

Here they are in full bloom about mid-September. They make great cut flowers and will bloom well into fall until the first frost takes them out for good. I love using the baby green foliage for filler too so plant more than you need and you'll be able to enjoy multiple uses from this beauty.

Cosmos look amazing in loosely gathered arrangements.

I hope you'll give all three of these lovely ladies a try this year. No green thumb necessary. With a few prepetory steps in the beginning you'll have vases full of cut flowers right out your backdoor all summer long. 

When I fist started out I bought seeds from my local nurseries and big box stores. If you want more variety and better pricing for larger quantities there are some great sources online.

Johnny Selected Seeds
Baker Creek  
GeoSeed 
Floret Seeds NEW!

One of my dreams is to have my own seed line, Dandelion House Seeds...Put down some roots and BLOOM!

Keep me posted on your progress and feel free to contact me if you have more questions.  

Garden Notes: Amazing Autumn Asters

 Are these the cutest, frilliest little fall flowers you've ever seen? I'm in love with these adorable Asters from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.

I planted a few packets of these in a trial bed as a late crop to see how I would like them.

Talk about beautiful and hardy. They survived the first frost and are still going strong in the garden when everything else is done for the season.

See  how luscious they still look!

The variety of colors and petal shapes in one mix of seed packets is brilliant! 

This mix includes single petals, flat petals and curly ribbon-like petals. The multi petal flowers look almost like a Chrysanthemum. My daughter said they reminded her of those big curly ribbon bows you find at the supermarket in the gift wrap section.

It begins with pure white,

  followed by lilac, then  light pink, dark pink and deep purple.

These little cuties are very easy to grow and Baker Creek Heirloom seeds has a near perfect germination rate. Plant them after danger of the last frost all the way until early July and you'll have blooms into late October. They take a while to put on buds but once they do, watch out!

The mix well with the bolder colors of late summer/fall bloomers such as,dahlias, zinnias, pincushion flowers and sunflowers. 

If you've got some extra room in your cutting garden or an extra row or two on your flower farm, I highly recommend them. If some of the other varieties are this easy to grow I'm up for more amazing Asters next season.

Garden Notes With Deb : Farmhands and Flowers

These two cutie pies are my sweet little farmhands. Well, sort of.  Our son and his girlfriend were over last weekend and helped us get started on installing 5 additional 4x12 raised beds for our backyard flower farm. They helped my hubby with measuring the distances between beds and some minor construction.

 Have you ever seen a tape measure like this? Every time we do a project my hubby pulls out some old tool I've never seen before. He must keep them hidden away just to surprise me when the time is right. He paid five bucks for it at a yard sale nearly 20 years ago. How have I never seen this? Anyway, it's 100' long and the handle on the side winds the tape in or out as needed. It worked great for our project and surprisingly the linen tape is still in very good condition. From what I can barely make out of the faded print, this one is a Non Metallic Rule Tape Measure made by the  made by Lufkin Rule Co.     A manufacturing company that came about during the Civil War.

 I love the aged leather-clad casing. I think it would make a great decorator item just sitting on a shelf with some vintage books and drafting props. 

It was pretty light work that day.  Then again, I was just carrying a camera around. The guy's worked out the distances and Tid-bit ( that's my nickname for Zach's girlfriend  )and Max helped with the measuring. 

You can see the zinnias are just abut 4 inches out of the ground now. Soon we'll be neck high in flowers! 

I planted the bed in the front of this photo with the summer annual, cockscomb which I purchased from Bakers Creek Seed Co.They are just starting to sprout.

Source Wiki

The shape and texture  of the large curly flower heads look just like a rooster comb which surely inspired its name. I hope they come up nice and tall. They are supposed to be good sellers at the Farmers Market, and I think they'll be fun fillers too! 

The dahlias are doing very well. I only had a few that didn't come in and I'm not sure why exactly. I need to dig them up and check for rot, mold or insect damage. I'm happy to report there have been no trace of slugs ( yet ) so I haven't had to do any pest control but I check daily because those slimy buggers could show up any minute and make a meal out of those lush green leaves.

 Its always a good idea to mulch dahlias as well. I've adding three inches of mulch to the tops of the dahlia beds. That will keep them nice and hydrated during mid-summer hot spells. 

All of my hydrangeas are loaded with buds right now.  They must have really liked the freezing weather we had this past winter. It's hard to believe this plant was under 6 feet of frozen snow all winter long. It looks so healthy and vibrant. I've also mulched all of my shrubs and perennials so they won't be quite as shocked when the heat and humidity return.

Ah.... what a relief it is to have farmhands and the promise of flowers again.

 

Now, who's gonna help me fill the new flower beds?  Looks like I might have to call on my loyal farm dog if not for muscle, then at least for moral support. He's always smiling and eager to ( get right in the middle of everything and drop his Frisbee at my feet) help. 

How are things shaping up in your garden? June weather has been a little cool and wet in places and that always makes us gardeners/farmers nervous. Rain brings pests and cool weather stunts newly seeded rows of summer loving annuals. Anticipation can quickly turn to anxiety. After all, we can plan, till and toil with every intention of making our garden dreams come true, but we can't control the weather. I have flower farming friends who are waging wars on aphids, and others who are battling too much water due to flooding. Losing plants whether it be a few precious blooms in pots on your doorstep or a field of flowers or veggies is a loss deeply felt to the tender hearted gardener.

  So... I'll leave you with this hope-filled garden quote by Audrey Hepburn.

" To Plant a Garden is to Believe in Tomorrow" 

I believe. Do you?

Till next Wednesday!

Wedensday Garden Notes with Deb: Late-Spring Sprouts

 

Isn't this the sweetest bird-feeder? I call it my flowerbird ( yes, one word) feeder. It's made from a re-purposed silver-plated dish attached to copper tubing. My dear friend and artist  Sally Jo Pollard created it for her Patina collection. Sally loves to hunt for foundlings to use in her mixed media artwork. On of her many talents is to bring out the soul of an older piece by giving it a new purpose, and therefore a new life. My hubby and I were was thrilled to be her guest at one of her winter art shows this year. The day was a blustery, wet and dreary February day but this little flowerbird beeder sung to me from across the room and so it came home with me!

I've been waiting for the garden to come to life a bit before bringing it outside for the season. Last week I planted it in the deck garden where I can see it shining out of my kitchen window. I've yet to see any birds visit it but that might be due to the heavy rains and unusually cool temps we've had this week. I am happy to report, however that I've not seen one squirrel in my flowerbird! I think this may be the first bird feeder we've owned that's actually squirrel proof! The copper tubing the dish is perched on must be too slippery for them to climb up. Not that I have anything against feeding the squirrels, but I put that seed is for my winged friends!

All eight of the 4x12 raised beds are planted out. 

One bed is filled with snapdragons ( I purchased two flats already started) and some dusty miller which will make lovely fillers for bouquets.

Oriental Lily's and Gladiolus are all sprouting fine. I've only spotted a few red beetles on the lilies which I took care of with an organic soap spray. I may have to reapply more often than if I used something toxic but I don't want that stuff in my soil or near my pets.

Most of the dahlias are coming up beautifully. I'll need to keep an eye out for slugs with the rain we've had this week, but I'm ready for those little buggers... I've got my trusty Sluggo at the ready! 

In  two of the other raised beds I direct sowed Cosmos Rubenza. It's my first year growing them and I'm so in love with the deep, rich, ruby red petals and that cute little yellow button nose of a center.

I also planted Cockscomb... A popular market flower and gorgeous filler for bouquets too.

 

Now, if the temperatures would get back up into the 70's I'd relax a little and my zinnias and sunflowers would too!

It doesn't really matter if you're in the garden for 20 minutes or 2 hours. Spending time with your plants and flowers is sure to make any day in the garden a great one!

I hope you enjoy each and every minute ( yes, even the ones where you're so sore the next day you need assistance to get out of bed the next morning). 

How's your garden growing? 

Wednesday Garden Notes with Deb: Direct Sowing Annuals

Dear friends, Welcome to my new weekly series, Wednesday Garden Notes with Deb: Through out the growing season I'll be checking in each week with notes from my garden. This week, I'm sharing my low-tech tips for direct sowing annuals in raised beds and a simple way to keep track of what you've planted and where.

I'm a fanatic for seed packet art. I partially blame the artists behind these beautifully illustrated seed packets for turning me from hobby gardener to backyard flower farmer. There are just too many to choose from but every year I try to sneak in a few new varieties.

I've had my eye on the Zinnia Pink Senorita for a couple of years. So this year while I was making my seed list I was sure to add it along with the Will Rogers Zinnia and the Giants of California. All new to my cut flower collection this year.

 I fell hard for the Cosmos Rubenza, Scabiosa Tall Double Flowered Mix and the mixed Cockscomb.

Dampen your planting area lightly then make your rows. You will be able to see the distance between rows better this way.

I''m gardening in Zone 7-A in the northeast. The temps have been very moderate with danger of frost behind us so I feel quite confident with getting my annual seeds in the ground now.

 I'll be experimenting with succession planting this summer as well, but more on how that goes in a future post! 

 Before any seeds can be planted the raised beds were raked and weeded. I sprayed each bed lightly with the garden hose so that when I make my rows for seeds I can see the distance between rows better. I can make 4 rows in my 8x12x4 raised beds which gives me the equivalent of a 48 foot row and 96 square feet of growing space.  

Once the rows are made you can begin planting your seeds. Most annuals should be planted between 1/4 and 1/2 inches deep in fertile, well draining soil. I tend to plant my seeds closer than recommended. 

 I like the fullness of flowers crammed together, leaning in to one another as if they're long lost friends. 

Once your seeds are in cover them loosely by brushing the soil back over the top of them with your hands or the back of your garden trowel. Lightly water and keep moist until they germinate. Then water lightly daily until they area few inches above the ground.

I keep a small notepad nearby to record what seeds go in what bed and the date I planted them. When winter comes I can easily transfer my garden notes to an excel spread sheet with notes about what was successful and what wasn't. Now, I'm not saying I will actually do this but it's a good thought!

That's it for today friends...The garden calls! 

What kind of system to you use for keeping track of your plant collections?

Dandelion Wishes,

Deb