We have a few side projects going on this summer. These are fun little things we are trying on a small scale, to see how they may fit into out larger homestead vision. One of these projects is experimenting with annual flowers.
In the past, our flowers have been limited to direct-sown sunflowers and zinnias. We have started vegetable from seed for many years, but I have always been fearful of flowers for some unknown reason. During winter, I attended a night seminar on growing flowers at the library, which gave me a little confidence that our experience with vegetables could transfer to flowers. So this year, we are trying some flowers from seed. Back in March, I bought some Globe Amaranth ('Fiery Sunrise Blend') and Celosia ('Flamingo') seed packs, and dug out a couple of packs of marigolds Maggie had bought at the dollar store. I started a half-dozen cell packs of each. The marigold seeds were huge, relatively speaking, and spouts quickly emerged and became established. The globe amaranth were smaller seeds, germinated more slowly, but also did fairly well. The celosia seeds were tiny, germinated fitfully, and grew slowly.
We transferred the marigolds to the garden for pest control, and I planted the globe amaranth and the few celosia into a pair of containers that flank our garden entrance. We also direct-seeded cosmos and sunflowers, and a few zinnias.
The result have been a nice selection of cutting flowers, and marigolds to brighten up the vegetable beds. We also have a little lavender, which is a separate project. I like the pop of color, both inside and outside. I tend to like small bud vases, so the smaller scale flowers are perfect, but a couple of sunflowers will work in a larger vase, or in our case, a maple syrup bottle.
I think the celosia would have benefitted from some vermiculite sprinkled on the soil to control algae. I also tried starting them without a dome on the trays,. Some things to try next year as the experiment continues.
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