Old-fashioned Flowers from a Pack of Seeds

-
When you first became aware of flowers they probably included roses, zinnias, wisteria, iris, pansy, snapdragons, and peonies. There are many hybrids now but the old-fashioned flowers are making a comeback because they are so easy to grow. 

In the 1950s, Cosmos were vegetable garden companion flowers that brought pollinators. Cosmos means harmony and balance in Greek, and to the Victorians they signified modesty. Their original single ray flowers may have been replaced by 40 new varieties (www.swallowtailgardens.com) but the originals are still lovely.

Love-in-a-mist, Nigella damascena, is a European native.  They have powder blue, dark blue, pink and white flowers with a mist of foliage in the middle. After they are visited by bees and butterflies, the seed capsule forms a little ball on a stem that is used in dried flower arrangements. Mediterranean native Love-in-a-mist is a long lasting vase flower. (www.johnnyseeds.com)

Spider Flower, Cleome hassleriana, has globes of airy pink and white blossoms on 4 to 5-foot tall stems.  Native to South America, there are 170 Cleomes in their Caper family.  Spider Flower makes a large plant that attracts butterflies, hummingbirds, hummingbird moths and bees.  (https://www.harrisseeds.com)

Sweet William, Dianthus barbatus, has clove-scented, red and pink flowers Their common name of Pinks comes from their petals being shaped as though they had been cut with pinking shears. (www.dianeseeds.com).

Four o’clocks, Mirabilis jalapa has scented flowers that open as the sun is fading.  The color choices used to be pretty basic but now they range from salmon to hot red. Their native range is North and South America and they were lost to cultivation for years. They are sometimes called the Miracle of Peru. (https://parkseed.com)

At one time Bachelor Buttons, Centaurea cyan, were found in every garden. They bloom from seed in a matter of weeks, putting out tall stalks of blue, purple, red and pink flowers. Plant them anywhere because Corn Flowers are happy with little care. (https://www.jungseed.com)

All of these historic annuals are easy to grow from seed and many return the following year as seedlings scattered around flower beds.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Moldy Tulip Bulbs

-
Image
Moldy tulip bulbs are a big disappointment when you are hoping to fill a bed or some pots. It is not that unusual for their skins to have a bit of penicillin mold but these are beyond that tad bit stage. Mold penetrating tulip bulb  Mold on emerging tulip bulb growth  So, what to do? The plant references say to throw them out and buy new ones but I already spent $22 for 50 of these white tulip beauties. First, they got a soak in 1% bleach solution in the kitchen sink in the hope that the bleach would stop the mold from continuing to grow without killing the life force in the bulb itself. After a good slosh around, I wiped them off to see how much damage was beneath the blue and black.  This tulip bulb is soft to the touch and there is little chance it will thrive in the soil. This basal root on these have been ruined by mold. The final step I took to try to salvage part of them  was to spray them thoroughly with fungicid...
Read more

Propagate Begonia Stem Cuttings in water - Cane-like Angel Wing Begonia

-
Image
Propagating by stem cuttings is just about the easiest way to make more begonias for next summer's garden. During the fall, I regularly trim off 3-node long cuttings and put them into the growing pots where they take root. Now that cold weather has arrived, I root the stem cuttings in a vase of water. It's a great way to produce more pots of Begonias for next summer's garden. Water the plant well the day before. Take a cutting about 4-inches long, with 3 nodes, from a healthy stem. Use a perfectly clean container. Rinse the container with a drop of bleach if you are uncertain about its spotlessness. Remove all but the top leaf or two. There should be no leaves in the water. The cutting should  have a healthy leaf node at the bottom. Don't leave a stub below the node. Place the cutting into the water, and place the container out of the sun. In a couple of weeks, you will see new roots beginning to form. Check the water periodicall...
Read more

Create Nesting Areas for Birds and Wildlife

-
Image
From the website, Choose Natives , this lovely and instructive article helped remind me to continue to increase the amount of habitat and nesting that we provide in our garden. Many, though not all, are native or considered to be native in Oklahoma. So, I did a little research on each recommended plant and provided a link to more information. You'll see the plant name in italics - those are my links for your edification. Here's the post Derek Stoner, Project Coordinator for the Delaware Nature Society, helped restore the 860-acre Middle Run Natural Area by “intensive habitat management”, including planting 12,000 trees and shrubs.  His lecture, ‘ Native Plants for Nesting Birds: Connecting Flora and Fauna’,  given to a group of enthusiasts at the Millersville Native Plant Conference   in Pennsylvania, focused on his observations. Here are Derek’s landscaping recommendations for attracting birds: Plant shrubs in clusters (“habitat circles”) that will c...
Read more