Seeds, Seeds, Seeds

 The holidays are now behind us and the seed catalogs are arriving daily in my mailbox, My thoughts these days are turning to what I want to grow from seed this year for the garden.   Many gardeners love to grow from seed.  It can be so rewarding to plant a tiny seed and delight in the plant it becomes.  As farmers it is amazing how a small kernel of corn or a bean seed can produce so much and provide a livelihood as well. I'm not one for starting seeds indoors although many gardeners thoroughly enjoy this process.  I get too busy and neglect them.  My preferred methods are direct sowing and winter sowing.  There are some seeds that are just so easy to direct sow.  For instance zinnias, cosmos, marigolds and many vegetables.  Winter sowing is a process of growing from seed started in mini greenhouses and set out in the snow or early spring to sprout when the time is right.  The mini greenhouses can be anything such as milk jugs, 2 liter soda bottles etc. To learn more about this easy method of growing from seed check out the winter sowing forum on GardenWeb by clicking  here .  I don't get into like some of the people over there but before I know it I have around 20 jugs of seedlings. Every year I like to try a few new things.  Some are so successful and become favorites that my garden needs every year.  Others are duds.  Annuals from seed are a great way to change things up in the garden from year to year.   Many of these plants aren't found at your local nursery.  The only way to get them is to grow them yourself.

Zinnias in the potager grown just for cutting.

Celosia

Zinnias, salvia and castor beans in the red garden.

Euphorbia marginata aka Snow on the mountain

Angelica gigas

Salvia argentea

Celosia 'Pink parfait'

Marigolds are traditional in potagers.  Behind is dinosaur kale and bronze fennel.

These little zinnias are so sweet.

Amaranthus and a castor bean.

I grew these guava colored zinnias for my son's wedding rehearsal supper.  I had them in blue Ball jars on the tables.

How fun is a 12' tall sunflower in my granddaughter's Secret Garden?

.

Castor beans make such a statement.  I've grown purple, red, green and these green with a red stem.

Cardoon

Bloom Day August 15, 2012

At this time of the year I have lots of annuals blooming.  I actually use very few bedding plants.  Most are grown from seed or overwintered as cuttings.  I like the taller plants you get when growing from seeds compared to purchased bedding plants.  

Celosia 'Pink Parfait'

I grew these zinnias to use at my son's wedding.  Their color is guava.

  

Red salvia and red zinnias in the red bed.

Clematis 'Duchess of Albany'

I just love 'Pretty Much Picasso'

One annual I buy each year is salvia 'Queen Victoria Blue'  here it mingles with blue oat grass and hosta 'Sum & Substance'

Clematis 'Arabella' hasn't stopped blooming since spring.

Euphorbia marginata

Lots of lamium.

Rudbeckia Cherry Brandy

Hydrangea 'Limelight'

Salvia 'Black and Blue' along with a small celosia.

Lot of zinnias in the garden. I thought this basket of veggies and flowers from the Potager looked so pretty.

Containers

Why bother with containers when you have lots of room to plant in the ground?  After all they need all that watering and fertilizing.  There are lots of reasons to include containers in the garden.  One of the reasons is that they add height.  Containers can be raised up or hung, bringing it to eye level and adding another plane to the garden.  It is also a great way to add color and plants on a patio or by the front door where there may be concrete or some other hard surface.  You can also move containers around to spots that may not have much going on at the moment.  Then there is the container itself, you can make quite a statement with just the container.  I'm particularly fond of urns and love cobalt blue containers.  I also like containers that are rustic or repurposed.  Anything from an old watering can, to a chicken feeder, to an old lamp as you see below.  Furthurmore there are so many great annuals that work well in containers.  Some of the containers in my garden have a number of different plants in them and then there are some that are mono-pots. Containers are a good way to change things up every year.  

This old stand lamp certainly brings the planting to eye level.

                

This old sink has been repurposed as a container.

There are two pillars at the end of the front walkway.  I plant them up differently each year. 

I love urns!  This one is the centerpiece of my potager.

This one is by the front door.

Anything can be used such as this old hollow stump.

My husband gave me this one for my birthday.  Now to find the perfect spot.