Why do I grow flowers?

Why do I grow flowers? I get this question a lot from people: mainly those that think that growing flowers is a waste of space and time and energy. I don't think that way obviously.

. (A zinnia in my kids' pollinators garden)

I do actually grow herbs and vegetables every year along with my flowers but the flowers are my true passion. I have nothing against growing only vegetables. My dad loves to grow vegetables and that is his passion and I understand that. (In fact, I already purchased his Christmas present for him . . . something to do with his garden.)

. (A native aster which supports bees and butterflies late in the season when not much else is blooming.)

I digress. Anyway I grow flowers because when I had postpartum depression it was one of the only things that made me excited and want to live. I grow flowers because it gives me goals and because looking at a new flower bloom makes that part of my heart open up and live again. I grow flowers because it makes me happy. I love the surprises that new flowers blooming bring.

(Roses have a wonderful fragrance and make good cutflowers to bring inside.)

There are practical reasons to grow flowers too. Flowers attract pollinators and other beneficial insects and some flowers such as marigolds and alliums have other protective properties for your vegetables. Flowers also make for beautiful bouquets to bring inside and brighten your house. Flowers bring wonderful scents to drift into your open windows in the summer. Some of them have medicinal value such as lavender and chamomile and some are edible like nasturtium. I hope this inspires you to plant some flowers next spring.

(A beautiful edible nasturtium)

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A few fun varieties. . .

I found a few fun varieties of flowers to grow next year that were not on my list to buy. They seemed so interesting that I bought them anyway. #1 A beautifully pink sunflower #2 Something fragrant #3 The bright patterns caught my eye. #4 What can I say? I'm a sucker for purple. . . #5 This one was on sale. . . That's it for now but I haven't finished reading my copy of The Whole Seed Catalog so there may be a few more purchases between now and spring. After all my Dad could use some more vegetable seeds. . .

Nasturtium

I planted two different varieties of Nasturtium this year: Caribbean cocktail mix from Select Seeds and Vesuvius from Migardener. Both of them were beautiful. I think the Caribbean cocktail mix was my favorite though. The Caribbean cocktail mix: As the raspberry colored blooms aged, they turned a delightful pink. These are the Vesuvius nasturtium. I planted these ones in the ground while the Caribbean cocktail mix were planted into large pots. I didn't notice any difference in amount of blooms or plant health. The blooms start out quite neon orange and then fade to a beautiful apricot as they age.

Garden Failures for 2021

I would love to talk about all my successes but along with the success I have had a lot of failures and that's a good thing because failure means there is usually a lesson to be learned. This year I made so so many mistakes that I learned from. Mistake #1: I tried starting Lisianthus from seed and overwatered the seeds causing the seeds to rot and producing a ton of nasty fungus gnats and wasting tons of very expensive seed. (Fun morning glory picture since I did not get any Lisianthus to even germinate. . . sigh) Mistake #2: I started my hosta seedlings too late not realizing how long they take to grow/germinate. They were super small when I planted them out. This year I will be starting the seeds within a few weeks and that should help out a lot. (Hosta seed parent's flower) Mistake #3: I planted my very expensive hostas and forgot to tell my father in law where I plant...

Briar Lane Flowers

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