Hardy Annual Seeds What flowers can be direct sown in zone 4?
I know poppies can before last frost.Can hollyhocks,sweet williams,or any others be directly sewn now?I am in Wi.& fragile plants are usually safe by Memorial day from frost warnings.Are there hardy seeds of other flowers,perrenials,biannuals,annuals? My tulips started opening this week,daffodils are ready,dandelion greens are growing but we are going down to 32 tonight & will again.
I gardened in zone 4 for almost 20 years but I was right in the city which made it just a touch milder, I guess, at least for the plants. In my experience you could plant most perennial and biennial seeds within the next week or two.Those take a while to germinate anyway so by the time they sprout you'll be much closer to the last frost. After they've sprouted you might need to protect them if it sounds like it's going to get down into the 20's but if it's just hovering around 30 they'll probably still be OK. When you think about it most of the plants that are hardy here drop seeds which survive even the worst of the winters our region can dish out, which is pretty nasty! My only concern is that where I am it's been a pretty wet "spring" and a bit chilly as well. You want to be sure that seeds, especially annuals, don't have to huddle in the cold dark mud for TOO long. I used to plant most of my annual seeds between the 15th and the end of May, depending on the kind of spring we were having. Even the years I had to wait though, they did fine, grew fast and bloomed profusely. Of course I didn't do anything very picky from seed either, just the tough old stand-bys. Morning glories can go out with the perennials, by the way, and really, so can alyssum, though that will take off no matter when you plant it so there's no real advantage to getting it in early.The annuals I had great luck with from seed include: Cosmos, Zinnia, Marigold, Nasturtium, Candytuft, Alyssum, Morning Glory, Nigella, Sunflower, and Bachelor's Buttons. Perennials include: Lupine, Coneflower, Aster, Daisy, Phlox, Joe-Pye Weed, Heliopsis, Flax, and Mallow. They mostly won't bloom the first year though Lupine often does and the others can surprise you too.
Have fun with your garden, be a little patient (I know, I know, it's hard after this particular WI winter!) and good luck!
BLUEBONNETS Flowers....When it's spring, the Bluebonnets are in bloom in Texas
Annual Flowers are Excellent Choices for the Garden
Flowers are one of nature’s heralds of the seasons. The various flowers that bloom in the different seasons can inform us what season we are in. For instance flowers like the Poinsettia are known to bloom only during the winter season, more specifically during December. Annual flowers on the other hand are wonderful flowers to plant in your gardens.
You will find that many of these flowers are excellent choices for the garden as they can be grown in the different seasons. The best way to select the type of annual flowers that you want is to decide which flower varieties you want to see. You should buy the annual flowers that are appropriate for the required season otherwise your flower plant will rot even before you have a chance to plant it.
When you start selecting your annual flowers you can buy hardy annuals, half hardy annuals and tender annuals. These differences reflect the type of weather and soil conditions that these annual flowers will grow in.
Hardy annuals are beautiful plants that will produce flowers even in the cold winter season. These annual flowers are planted during the spring season or fall season when the weather is not that cold. Unlike other annuals these hardy annual flowers don’t like hot weather as they are not heat tolerant.
The types of hardy annual flowers that you can buy include calendula, foxglove, viola, sweet alyssum, stocks, cornflowers, pansy, larkspur and the many varieties of dianthus cultivars. The half hardy annual flowers include torenia, snow-on-the-mountain, blue sage, strawflower, baby’s breath, candytuft, bells of Ireland, celoma, love-in-a-mist, and forget-me-nots.
These half hardy annuals don’t mind damp cold weather but they can’t live during the cold harsh months of winter. You will need to plant these annual flowers after the last spring frost. Unlike tender annuals these half hardy annuals have no need of warm soil conditions for the seeds to begin sprouting.
While some flower species can’t tolerate lots of hot summer weather the half hardy annuals may sometimes droop for the weather but they will perk up in the later summer months. You can choose some tender annuals like scarlet sage, morning glory, petunias, begonias, celosia, balsam, nasturtium, and verbena.
These annuals as their name suggests are not comfortable in the cold winter months so the ideal time to grow them is three weeks after the last spring frost. Since these annual flowers grow well in warm climates you can expect to see them in all of their glory in the late spring and the warm months of summer.
These are just a few of the many annual flowers that you can grow in your garden, and the riot of colors that they bring will absolutely make any garden look great. You will also have the added benefit of flowers that grow in different seasons adding a burst of color right through the year.
About the Author
Muna wa Wanjiru is a web administrator and has been researching and reporting on internet marketing for years. For more information on annual flowers, visit his site at Annual Flowers
We live in a nice subdivision- landscaped and manicured everywhere. In May, I had some grape tomato seeding which I started in pots on our apartment balcony. They were already outgrowing their pots and I didn't have time to make a proper bed for them when we moved into the house, so just stuck them out in my flowerbeds, figuring they be finished producing sometime in late June and I'd remove them. Now in early August, they have grown into the huge ugly monsters. They are over 6 feet tall, flopping out of their cages, and the bottom leaves are all yellow, brown, and dying. However, they are loaded with tomatoes. I'm picking 8 or 10 every day, which my family is eating, and is helping keep our grocery bill down. They are also still making blooms at the tops of the plants and setting new fruit. Problem is my neighbors hate them because they are unsightly and have begun to complain and ask when I will pull them up. Do I pull them up to be a good neighbor, or wait until they finish making?
It seems like such a shame to pull up plants that (although unsightly) are still producing fruit. Why not just apologize to the neighbors and offer them some of the tomatoes with a promise that you will be more prepared next year to locate the plants where they won't offend anyone's senses. Tell the truth, just as you did here -- you just moved in, had already started the plants, etc. I really think that since the end of the season is coming up, they might be more understanding than you think. Hmmm, maybe you could get a good salsa recipe and make up a few jars to offer with a little tag on them that offers the apology -- draw a silly picture of the gangly plant and make it from the plant!
There are many sayings that rush into mind as I'm crafting this article:
"Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm."
"Anyone can make money in a bull market!"
And to build this short list, I'd like to offer a third:
"Anyone can teach selling skills in a good economy."
I say this because when the economy is growing, money and credit are abundant. Buyers are in a good mood, with the discretion to invest and to spend. Monetary mistakes are forgiven or quickly forgotten, because "There's more where that came from."
When times are lush, typically people aren't hired to be order-makers, but instead to serve as order-takers, and there is a huge gulf between the two. Makers have to pick up the phone, for instance, and make cold calls.
Order-takers simply need to answer the lines when they ring off the hook and take orders.
Makers need to arouse needs and then satisfy them. Takers simply satisfy needs that buyers already feel they have.
If you're training people in good times, you're creating more efficient clerks, money-takers and bean counters. In harder times, you're building teams of moneymakers, relatively speaking, much more aggressive or at least proactive, folks.
In great times we are led to believe by gurus that magical thinking will produce results, i.e. if we simply intend to receive money, we will. And when our mailboxes were filled with unsolicited credit card enticements, this actually seemed to be the case.
Money was manufactured for us out of thin air, in the form of seemingly limitless credit.
Now, in hard times we need intention, as well, but to earn, not to simply receive.
That is the difference, once more between "taking" orders and "making" them.
You may have heard of the idea called "permission marketing." It is the apotheosis of good times and easy money. It says we should ASK people if they'd be interested in our proposals.
In hard times, this is nothing less than laughable, a sure invitation for a summary rejection of our offers.
I offer this Chinese saying for your consideration: "A person must wait a long time with an open mouth for a roast duck to fly in!"
If you teach selling skills, train your people to hunt instead of harvest, to actively pursue deals, instead of waiting for seeds to bloom. It is a surer path to a meal and to survival and prosperity in the most challenging times.
About the Author
Dr. Gary S. Goodman is a top speaker, sales, service, and negotiation consultant, attorney, TV and radio commentator and the best-selling author of 12 books. He conducts seminars and speaks at convention programs around the world. His new audio program is Nightingale-Conant's "Crystal Clear Communication: How to Explain Anything Clearly in Speech & Writing." His web site is:http://www.customersatisfaction.com and he can be contacted at gary@customersatisfaction.com.
Allium Flowers Can these flowers be planted in the shade?
I was just wondering whether the following flowers can be planted in the shade and whether they do well in the shade;
Tulips (all varieties)
Allium
Clematis
It is probably not best to plant these in the shade, as all three are sun-loving plants. While you can get away with partial shade, having them in full shade will slow their development and not allow them to make enough sugars and food to maintain them for multiple years.
Tips for Planting Spring Flower Bulbs : How to Pick Allium Bulbs
Flowers That Won't Be Beat By The Heat
There are two things brides wish for when planning an outdoor wedding—clear skies and sunny weather. But the heat and sun can really take their toll on your wedding centerpieces. At the start of the wedding, the tables are lovely. But halfway through the ceremony, flowers are drooping, sagging and wilting all over the place. Why? Probably because the wrong flowers were chosen. Rather than picking the flowers solely on color and style, you should consider sturdy, robust flowers that can take the heat if you're planning to be outside. According to Nancy Liu Chin Designs, planning centerpieces for weddings that will be exposed to the sun is a lot easier if you know which flowers to avoid.
Flowers That Can Take It Most tropical and warm-weather flowers are used to being in the heat, and, in fact, they actually thrive in it. Consider sunflowers, birds of paradise, yarrow, thistle, statice, carnations, protea, marigolds, craspedia, Viking mums, button mums, celosia, mini callas, cattail, chinese lanterns, cornflowers pods, curly willow, branch materials, hypericum, montbretia, peonies, safflower, viburnum berry, berzilia pods, peres, agapanthus, allium, amaranthus, anthuriums, kale, crocosmia, gomphrena, sedum, skimmia, trachelium, nigella, and bells of Ireland.
Flowers That Can Fake It Although not as sturdy as the ones mentioned above, these flowers should hold up fairly well in heat. You'll probably be okay if your wedding centerpieces include lilies, gerberas, godetia, hyacinth, ranunculus, zinnia, delphiniums, snapdragons, queen anne’s lace, kangaroo paws, asters, astible, freesia, gladiolus, lysimachia, ornithogalum, lilac, irises, veronica, snowberries, fall antique hydrangeas and tight green hydrangea.
Flowers That Won't Make It At All Whether they droop, shatter, go limp, brown, wilt, sag, shed, fall apart or open too fast, these flowers are known for fainting under fierce temperatures: roses, sweet peas, dahlias, garden roses, gardenias, hydrangeas, geranium, tulips, lisianthus, scabiosa, solidago and italian ruscus.
Of course, if there's an option to have the reception under a tent or at least where there is indirect sunlight, your chances of having beautiful centerpieces throughout the reception greatly improves. But if you're still not sure about about flowers or you want to avoid the hassle altogether, use branches and interesting foliage combinations. They will give your reception something a little unexpected and give a modern look to your wedding.
About the Author
Karen Sullen is a writer for Centerpiece Studio, an online store specializing in wedding and table centerpieces as well as centerpiece accessories.
