starting your flower garden
I’m often told by friends and clients that they do not have a “green thumb”, which I can understand, but I would love to help everyone feel more comfortable planting a garden. There are a few basic flowers that I always suggest the beginning flower grower try. These flowers are easy to start by seeds and can be cut and continue to grow as the summer goes on, making them the perfect garden for a hobby florist.
Choosing What Cut Flowers to Grow
Winter months are the perfect time to request seed catalogs and curate your dream garden of the summer! I recommend starting with these six flowers. Maybe get a few varieties of each flower to add more elements to your garden. These flowers will provide a lovely variety for any arrangement you’d like to create. Just a few square feet planted of each flower and a branching sunflower plant or two will be more than enough to harvest each week for yourself for months!
celosia try flamingo celosia as an additional variety
zinnias Queen Lime, Cactus, and Benary’s Giant are awesome varieties that will provide showstopping blooms
statice try a few different colors, I especially love the QIS series in blue
snap dragons Rocket Mix variety in different colors will give you very long stems for a spikey element
branching sunflowers Pro Cut, Greenburst, Soraya & Teddy Bear varieties will continuously produce unique sunflowers
cosmos Double Click cosmos have a beautiful papery feel without being as delicate as other varieties
I chose these flowers because they are the most basic to grow, they are beautiful, and they will give you a hardy harvest throughout the summer. If you would like to start your flowers early inside, I recommend starting with celosia, snap dragons and statice. (I will explain that process in another post!)
Planting Your Flowers
Once there is no fear for another frost, you can plant outside. Check on your areas last frost date. I always wait til the end of May.
To plant your flowers, rake the area of soil to ensure it is flat . Scatter your seeds onto the freshly tilled and even soil. This process works best for zinnias, cosmos, and celosia. The soil should not be too chunky or in an area that may possibly flood. Your garden should also receive full sun all day. If you are planting sunflowers, each seed must be planted into the soil according to the instructions on the seed pack. Sunflower plants will need lots of space between each other to branch out, but each variety is different! I recommend marking each sunflower plant once its in the soil.
Spread the seeds, then lightly drag a rake over the seeded area to cover them.
Water the area you just planted and mark which flowers are planted there.
The hard part is when the weeds start appearing… we will get to that in a later post. Til then, plan your flower garden and imagine all of the bouquets you will be able to make this summer right from your yard!
