Step One of Starting a Cut Flower Garden (HINT: Choose Seeds!)

I wake up from a nap on the couch. It’s not even noon. Why am I so tired? Maybe it’s just that kind of day, gloomy. Or maybe it’s been Arya’s sleep schedule changing and with it my own. “Her 13 month sleep regression has started,” the forums tell me.

I suck down some tea and look back up at the page. Maybe I’m tired because it’s week 4 into 2020 and I’m just making it over that, “F this. Blogging Sucks, I’m gonna quit, phase.” Only 4 weeks into 52 and those thoughts are popping up, scratching at me like a wounded animal. I already wrote the, “I’m depressed” piece and scrapped it. Maybe it’s just the winter. And that point when we’re all feeling a bit defeated by it. When will the spring show up? The days have been warmer but the browns and grays are holding fast. There may be greens peaking up under the dried leaves but they are still holding back. Still waiting for the gunshot to go off. Still napping like me.

But it’s Monday in a humans life. Lists have been written for the week and things are planned. We can’t hibernate in our modern world. There are this’s and that’s to get to. For me a book to write, blog posts to share with seemingly no one. Except Holli, thanks for reading Holli! There are calendars to check and people to call and supplies to pick up for projects still not complete. We’re getting so close to finishing our pantry project we can taste it. But each new step is a completely new thing to learn. Took us most of a day to build and put in one drawer. 9 to go. But with each step we’re learning and mistake after mistake makes us better. Rolling with the, “hate to tell you but that didn’t work”’s, only gets easier. I think.

And then there are the plants. Shops are starting to bring out their seed stands and I get antsy, making up list after list of plants I’d like to get but can’t bring myself to press “buy.” This morning I did. I bought seeds from Johnny’s, because I’ve always had very good germination rates with their seeds and I can get a lot more plants for your money when you start your own seeds. (All photos from JohnnySeeds.com) Here’s what I got, nothing like flowers to cheer you up right?

Pink “Elegant Salmon” Clarkia’s
Honestly I don’t know anything about these flowers other than that I’m not usually a fan of pink but this dusty salmon pink is in the category of “I likey”. I really want to start a cut flower garden this year so this order will be my start. These are an annual no matter how you cook it but maybe they’ll self seed? I guess I’ll find out.

Sunball Crespedia’s,
How could I pass these up? They are so cute they look man-made! And while here in my zone 5 they’ll only be an annual, I think they’ll be fun and worth the effort. But this year will be my first dabble into the annual flower garden so we’ll see how they do and how I do with it all.

Blue Delphiniums,
Nothing like blue flowers in the garden. I have my periwinkle flax plants they I absolutely adore and are native perennials here but I don’t think I have any other blue flowers. So here’s my mix! The first time I ever noticed these flowers was at my last house in Boulder the season after the flood hit. That year I had a lot of new plants show up that I’d never seen before and I remember weeding with a vengeance. But you never can get them all and since I was curious I let a few grow taller. And to my surprise I had purple and white Delphiniums popping up everywhere along with Queen Anne's Lace neither of which I’d ever planted. Johnny’s says they are a short lived Perennial and that may be true but I know they self seed well here in zone 5 and after that season I had them all over the place. I like that kind of plant as long as they don’t take over and I found that these were just the perfect amount of self seeding that I liked. Welcome to the new property Delphiniums!

Dill,
I probably have some dill seeds in my packets somewhere but many of my seed packs are old and I figured what the hell, I’ll throw them in. I can use them for food but mainly I find them gorgeous in the garden. They’re grown as an annual but easy to collect seed from for future plantings.

and Dusty Miller
I kinda just last minute threw this one in the cart because It’s always nice to have that whitish grey color in the garden. While picking all of these seeds I didn’t at all think of what kind of flower arrangements I could be doing with them. Instead I just chose what I thought were pretty. We’ll see if this plant can help tie together any of the others in my up and coming cut flower garden. These are only hardy to zone 8 and wont produce seed until their second year so if I want to keep them around, I’m going to have to pot up a plant and keep it through to next year for seed collection. I’ll probably only plant ½ of the seeds so that next year I can have more to plant and the following I’ll have the ones I’ve collected from my own plant(s).

And more,

Silver Drop Eucalyptus
I actually wanted the “Silver Dollar” cultivar more but they were already sold out. I’ve been obsessing over this plant for a while but it is no way hardy here in zone 5. Australia has so many plants I’m swooning over right now but that I can’t have as perennials here in Colorado. This plant will be gorgeous in flower arrangements or wreaths or garlands, it smells amazing, and is great for natural dyeing which I’ve flirted around with a few times in the past. It produces a brownish red color. I’ve been reading a lot about making my own natural inks so this could be a fun pigment to try. And although they are certainly not hardy here, I can pot one up and bring it in as a house plant! Too many good things about this one!

Purple Majesty Millet
Speaking of New Zealand plants, I’ve been looking everywhere for something, anything that looks like the Bronze or Purple New Zealand Flax (Phormium) that will grow as a perennial here in zone 5. I’ve found nothing! It’s gotten me to the point that I’m toying with the idea of trying to breed my own plants just so I can have something like this but until then… this purple majesty millet is a fast growing annual that should give me the look I’m going for. It’s dark purple almost black and grows to look like a more bushy corn stalk with a head I can cut off for flower arrangements. The neighbor has been going on and on about how I need a bigger fence out front to keep out “bad guys” and if we don’t get around to it (our hedge certainly will be a while) then these could be at least a visual barrier along the front of the property. They are so unique and stately!

Sweet Annie Artemisia
My good friend told me about this plant and how one of the farms she worked at in Vermont had sweet Annie growing everywhere and that the smell was one for memories so when I saw they had it I figured I’d need to smell it too. And if Arya can grow up with that memorable smell in her childhood, well that doesn’t hurt either. Johnnys says these are annuals but I’m wondering if they will self seed. I have the feeling they may… It’ll be a surprise.

Apricot/Peach Mix Strawflower
This is another I chose just because I love that dusty pink. I’ve decided I’m going to dig up some of my asters this year because they turned out to be the most hideous color of bright neon pink and I can’t stand them. If only they’d been this color instead!

Verbena bonariensis
I chose these seeds because I recognized the flowers and was shocked. I somehow had these Verbena’s growing at my old house in zone 5 as a perennial. They were right up against the wall of my south facing garage and they didn’t do great but came back every year and I always liked them but never knew what they were. According to Johnny’s they are perennial in zones 7 and up?! I guess the previous owner found a good microclimate for them and I figure I outta try to do the same. A zone 7 plant growing as a perennial in zone 5 gets my heart beating fast, especially since I never knew and so never gave it extra special care. This time, I will.

And finally Bronze Fennel
I’ve grown fennel before and it’s gorgeous but it wasn’t until I saw some of Piet Oudulf’s gardens and his use of Bronze Fennel that I really fell in love with how well this plant can mix with others. It has so much texture and it’s color is just superb. I can use it for flower arrangements or food. It’s a perennial only up to zone 7 but maybe if I place it right I can keep it going like the Verbena at the old house. I’ll have to somehow keep it alive until the second season to get seeds so it’ll be a challenge… I like challenges.

Maybe that’s why I like this challenge of keeping this blog going for a year. Even with the low points I’ve found myself in already only 4 weeks along. Thank goodness for flowers and my imaginings of the future, not just in the garden, but in what this blog could turn into if I could figure out how to get followers! I’ll just keep posting and something is bound to happen.

Any of you have a cut flower garden? Any tips to share? This is just a grand experiment so we’ll see together how it all turns out.

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