Growing Flowers from Seeds
For a long time, I bought seedlings and live plants from the garden department of various home improvement stores. Growing flowers from seed seemed very hard, and with some things it still is. The only things I still buy every year are lobelia and fuchia seedlings. These are too hard to get going from seed and are pretty cheap anyway. Using a plastic seedling tray with a clear lid, most seeds can be started indoors with light from an east or west facing window. These seedlings can then be hardened off by taking them outdoors for a couple hours a day, increasing the time gradually until big enough (different flowers take deffent amounts of time to mature, adjust according to individual directions).
Some seeds with hard husks or shells need to be soaked overnight in water or nicked with a knife to open better. These include nasturtiums, sweet peas, morning glory and some beans. I like to invest in reseeding varieties of plants and flowers for economic reasons. An added benefit is being able to share seeds with your friends and family. A book called "Seed-to-Seed", by author Suzanna Ashworth, is a complete seed-saving guide, include methods for harvesting, drying, cleaning and storing seeds. Invaluable for beginners like me.
The following is a short list of seeds I have had success with
- Amaranth - Hopi red dye mix
- Calendula - Kablona mix
- Cosmos - Picotee
- Marigolds - Sparky mix
- Poppies - Red and Pink
- Strawflowers - mixed colors
- Sunflowers - all kinds
- Snapdragons - Rocket mix
- Zinnias - mixed colors
Here are good seeds, but the don't flower until the second year :
- Columbine - McKanna's
- Flax - blue
- Nigella - Love-in-a-Mist
- Sweet William - intense purple
