Planting Flowers This Year?

The catalogs are finally here! I received 5 in the mail yesterday alone. Sure more are to come. I love looking through the catalogs, planning my garden for the spring and summer. Great way to spend a winter day inside, dreaming of flowers to come.

If you are thinking of growing some flowers this year for your garden or wedding, now is the time to be planning. Every plant has a timeline for maturity, the number of days before the plant will produce flowers or fruit. Some seeds need to be started 12-16 weeks before your last frost date, to meet this timeline. Many are much quicker to bloom, though.

Some of my favorite catalogs to buy from include Johnnys and Select Seeds. Johnnys is great for their selection of organic seeds and just the vast number of flowers they offer. They also offer the best information on how to grow each variety (growing conditions, temperatures, maturity dates) . Mostly geared toward gardeners that are growing for farmers markets (buying seeds in large quantities), they do offer a home gardener side with smaller seed packet offerings. Select Seed is great for finding heirloom flowers. They often have the seeds I am searching for that no one else does, like Coreopsis 'Plains Mix'.

If you are thinking of growing flowers for your wedding, check out County Bouquets Floral classes. We offer a class to help you choose the right flowers to grow and how to grow them. As you can see from the catalog photo, there are a lot to choose from. I can help narrow the choices down and suggest plants that are the most successful to grow.

Here are a list of links to seed companies:

www.johnnyseeds.com

www.selectseeds.com

www.burpee.com

www.kitchengardenseeds.com

Also, check your local garden and farm centers for a selection of seeds. They many times carry growing trays, soil and other supplies needed to get started.