10 Must-grows! My absolute favorite varieties from the 2018 flower cutting garden
The end of the growing season is a good time to reflect on what went well and what needs improvement for next year. There is simply nothing that compares to learning things from experience, sometimes the lessons are hard and other times they are joyous.
I’m going to focus on the latter and share with you my ABSOLUTE FAVORITES from my 2018 cutting garden. These flowers stunned me every time I entered the garden with their productivity, abundance and beauty!
The end of the growing season is a good time to reflect on what went well and what needs improvement for next year. There is simply nothing that compares to learning things from experience, sometimes the lessons are hard and other times they are joyous.
I’m going to focus on the latter and share with you my ABSOLUTE FAVORITES from my 2018 cutting garden. These flowers stunned me every time I entered the garden with their productivity, abundance and beauty!
Tickseed (Coreopsis hybrida): this lovely small and abundant flower is GREAT for cutting. It is full of small one inch blooms that will transform from tiny bud to flower in the vase for a super long lasting cut. In the garden this flower looks full and bushy and has colors ranging from white to yellow, to orange and red.
Breadseed Poppy (Papaver somniferum): a super easy to grow flower transforms from a large and delicate lavender flower with a grape colored center to HUGE poppy pods that look super cool cut in a bouquet or dried for a fun project later.
Madame Butterfly Snapdragons (Antirrhinum majus): snapdragons love growing in Alaska - they like relatively cool weather. Mine bloomed continuously from early July through the end of October!! This variety is an open faced frilly bloomed version of the standard snapdragon. I just LOVED these flowers. And they would look great as a dessert topping as snapdragon blooms are edible.
Amaranth - red spike (Amaranthus cruentus): A fun deep red/burgundy grain that looks stunning in arrangements and in the garden. Very easy to grow!
Cerinthe - kiwi blue (Cerinthe major purpurescens): This was my first season growing cerinthe! It is a great early season bloomer. Blue/green foliage with tiny blue/purple bells. So fun!
Dahlias: Linda’s Baby: a pinkish-orange specialty dahlia that is SO prolific in blooms, you will be amazed. Nice and long stemmed for cutting.
Cosmos - double click cranberry (Cosmos bipinnatus): Deep burgundy/pink double blooms that bloom mid summer till first frost. Huge plants and plentiful blooms.
Nigella - love in a mist (Nigella damascena): A fun flower that ranges from blue to white (it is so hard to find a true blue flower and here is one!). You can cut in flower stage or wait for the seed pod to emerge for a funky floral addition to your dining room bouquet.
Rudbeckia - cherokee sunset (Rudbeckia hirta): Simply big and gorgeous! Although the wait for blooms always seems long, they are well worth it. Big, showy burgundy to yellow double or single blooms that have a long vase life and long bloom time on the plant. Very hardy - these can be planted before the last frost.
Dusty miller - new look (Senecio cineraria): These will be looking great till the end of October this year! they’re an easy all season frosted leaf that looks great cut in a vase or in the garden. You can even dry them for making wreaths or dried bouquets.
If 10 varieties seems a bit daunting to you, pick 5 and add them to your garden next year!
I will advise that the garden stores might not carry these varieties, and that’s why I highly recommend starting your own seeds. Then you can grow EXACTLY what you want to grow.
Leave a comment here telling me 2 of YOUR favorite flowers to grow!
Starting Seeds with Soil Blocks
Last year I was inspired to change up my seed starting system to include soil blocking. If you’re not sure what this is, please read on! Soil blocking requires taking a wet grow medium and using a little blocking press to create perfect stand alone squares in which to sow a seed or transplant. I invested in a 3/4” blocker for germinating slow growers and tiny seeds and a 2” blocker for transplanting into or sowing larger or quick growing seeds. These are available from Johnny’s Seeds (my favorite online planting/growing store).
New Methods
A few years ago I was inspired to change up my seed starting system to include soil blocking. I now use it exclusively.
If you’re not sure what soil blocking is, I’ll walk you through the whole process! Soil blocking requires taking a wet growing medium and using a little blocking press to create perfect stand alone squares in which to sow a seed or transplant.
I invested in a 3/4” blocker for germinating slow growers and tiny seeds and a 2” blocker for transplanting into or sowing larger or quick growing seeds. These are available from Johnny’s Seeds (my favorite online planting/growing store).
After lots of experimenting with growing medium (I’ve mixed my own, I’ve purchased all sorts of seed starting mix) I’ve settled on Pro-mix MP Mycorrhizae Organik. I purchase large bales at Southside Garden Supply each spring.
If you’re interested in trying to mix your own starting mix, here’s a recipe from Lisa Mason Ziegler. She’s author of Cool Flowers (a great book about maximizing your cool shoulder seasons for planting early in the spring or late in the fall - I’m still trying to perfect this method in a snowy climate, and honestly still sort of flailing):
Recipe
16 C sifted peat or coco fiber (I used our local Fishy Peat mix available at Mill and Feed)
4 C of sifted compost (I used Susitna Organics humidified compost)
1/4 C greensand (available at Southside Garden Supply - let me put a plug in for this awesome local shop. Thanks to the marijuana industry, this place is loaded with great stuff for the urban farm or garden set-up)
1/4 rock phosphate (Mill and Feed or Southside Garden Supply)
6-7 C water
How To
Mix all ingredients well in a large tote or bin. One batch makes around 600 mini blocks.
If you’re using Pro-mix MP Mycorrhizae Organik or another pre-made mix, just mix a set amount of soil in a tub and add water until it’s a very wet mud.
Once your planting medium is all mixed grab your blocker, dip in a dish of water (aids in releasing blocks), firmly press your blocker down into soil medium a few times to really pack it in, scrape off excess, and while holding just above the bottom of your seeding tray depress the plunger until blocks release.
It takes a few tries to get the hang of it! Seeds can then be planted in the little depression left my the blocking pin.
Get creative about what you use for trays. I use regular seedling tray bottoms with no holes. I reuse these every year for 3-5 years! Folks also use lunch trays, plates, left over styrafoam trays, yogurt lids, etc.
Growing on
To water, less is more. Although you don’t want to desiccate your precious seedlings it’s easy to over water and get disastrous results (like damping off). Be sure to water from the bottom to preserve the delicate soil block structure. They wick up water like crazy.
Once the 3/4” blocks are ready to transplant, plant directly outdoors or up-pot into a 2” or 4” block. I up-block into a 2” block for most of my starts.
The larger seed blockers come with a different blocking pin that creates a square indent that perfectly fits a 3/4” block.
Now go grow some epic plants!