Growing Zinnias from Seed

One of the most rewarding experiences for me is the opportunity to grow flowering plants from seed, and it can be for you too. An easy plant to start with is the zinnia, and now is the time to get your seeds for some GREAT summer blooms.
For years, I have used Johnny's Selected Seeds www.johnnyseeds.com/  for my cut flower zinnias. They carry the Benary's Giant Series (the best zinnia for cut flowers), and Johnny's offers them as separate colors as well as a mix of colors.
I purchase seed starting trays from the big box stores such as Lowe's or Home Depot. Many come with potting medium plugs (I take these out and save them for other seeds). I prefer to bagged seed starting mix for my zinnias and this is what I fill the trays with.

Simply pour some of the medium into a bucket. Mix with just enough water to make a crumbly mixture- you don't want it to be soggy wet.

 Fill the seed tray up with the mix, and tamp down a little. I then press a zinnia seed into each cell of the tray and cover with a little of the mixture and water. NOTE: the bottom has no drainage holes so be careful with your watering. You want to keep the mixture moist. You do not want to have the cell tray sitting in water. If this happens, carefully remove the cell tray and dump the water from the lower tray. 

In about three to seven days, you should see the zinnia seedlings starting to emerge.

 I use grow lights and a heat mat for zinnias. With the warmer weather coming you could place the tray in a protected sunny area outside, BUT be sure to bring it in overnight when temperatures drop into the 40's or below.
If you are concerned about forgetting your seedlings outside, you could opt for a sunny window, or delay planting until the temperatures are warmer at night. Zinnias can be planted outside anytime after our frost date of April 15th. I usually do several plantings up through late June.

You will be rewarded with tons of beautiful flowers. Questions- don't hesitate to email me!

From the Garden Today

Last week we received about two inches of rain. It was truly a blessing, and I am very grateful that the Lord sent it our way!!!
So there are still flowers to pick even in this very HOT, HOT weather. Some of the foxgloves that weren't mature enough to give springtime flowers are pushing up short spires now- I think they are still very pretty. And Black-eyed Susans are in their glory now. I am sorry that I didn't plant more of them.
I have two colors of zinnias that I am keeping my eye on- Salmon Rose and Creamy Yellow. Katherine and Jared have an upcoming October wedding, and there will be some softer muted autumn tones added to the color palette. I started a new batch of seeds that will hopefully give plants that will be blooming well then.
Here are some more Mexican Tulip Poppies with some purple magenta gomphrena in the background.
Summer flowers are a rich mix of saturated reds, oranges, and yellows with mellow pinks, creams and lavenders. There is a little something for everyone!

Summer Bouquet- Zinnias, Nigella, and More...

The nigella (the common name is Love-in-a-Mist) started blooming around early May, and in mid May was followed by zinnias (one of my Favorite flowers-see the post "My Wedding"). Then there were the calla lilies and the Fairy Roses and yarrow and the foxglove. Whew... everyday the garden has been changing. So I wanted to work up some designs that featured late spring/early summer flowers.
These sweet little flowers are called Love-in-a-Mist because of all the fern-like wisps that surround the sky blue petals. Nigella also comes in pinks and whites, but blue has been the one that reseeds in my gardens for years. The green centers of the flowers eventually turn into little fat pods with whiskers. I sometimes cut the whiskers off. And those pods are full of seeds that can be planted in mid to late September, and after that you'll have Love-in-a-Mist come back every year!
These flowers are just made for each other. Pink zinnias, foxglove, yarrow and Fairy Rose mingled with the soft blues of nigella and lavender. I would love it if they would all stay around for the summer, but here in the South, the nigella, lavender and yarrow will soon be gone. The Fairy Rose will bloom slightly during the heat, but will put on a better show in early fall. I am soooo thankful for the zinnias... keep them watered and they will bloom like crazy all summer long.
I guess I'll settle for zinnias for now. Oh yes, and the celosia and hydrangeas and gomphrena and coneflowers and the dahlias. Summer is coming FAST....

Flowers From the Garden- Larkspur

Larkspur usually starts blooming in Cary, NC around Mother's Day and continues through mid June or later if the temps stay on the cool side. Since we are experiencing way above normal temps it may be coming to an end. Be sure to look for it this weekend at the State Farmer's Market in Raleigh. There are several flower farmers there on the weekends.
Here's a close-up of pink larkspur in a sweet summer bouquet. More on this bouquet later- it has zinnias from my garden too!!!

I prefer growing the double flower form of larkspur which show off full blooms in wonderful shades of pinks, lavenders, purples, blue-purples, whites and even some bi-colors. Larkspur is VERY Versatile- I use it in fresh arrangements and bouquets and I also dry the flower stems and press the individual floral heads. The colors remain true for about one to two years. I used dried larkspur for a DIY project back in January and pressed flowers in April- Check the labels on this blog for these DIY projects. I will be doing more with these flowers later.

This sweet form has soft lavender-purple edges and white centers.

Here's a pink flower edged in purple in the garden.

Here is another shot from the gardens of purple and pink larkspur.

Going to Seed. I always let a lot of my flower stalks go to seed. I write the color of the flower on florist tape and wrap it around the stem with so that when all the petals have dropped, I will know what color I will get from these seeds next year. I dry the small pods out and remove the black seeds and keep them in separate envelopes until fall. Larkspur is planted in the South in late September through October. The new plants emerge in about three weeks and may even grow a little before frost. Then the little plants overwinter in the garden just waiting to jump up in March and bloom again next May. I will try to give instructions about planting in September.