I’m busy sowing flower seeds.
I love to support my local nurseries, but I just can’t see spending three bucks for a pack of 6 zinnia seedlings when I can get a hundred seeds for the same price.
I find that so many flowers started by direct seeding in the garden grow so much better than those transplanted from the nursery.
No transplant shock I guess, and growing in those tiny 6 pack containers can’t be easy on them.
I plant my zinnias, cosmos, nicotiana, salvia (I especially love ‘Lady in Red’), calendula, nigella and sunflowers all from seed planted right into the garden.
Plus, tucking a few seeds here and there in the perennial borders adds a little punch of color that lasts clear through to the end of the season. And I never feel guilty about cutting them for arrangements – it seems I always have plenty of them to spare!
I’m trying a few new things from seed this year, including blue shrimp plant (Cerinthe major), Gomphrena ‘Fire Works’, and Silene electra. Now if I can keep the rabbits and slugs from eating all the seedlings, I’ll be all set.
