I am so glad I found you. I'm a relatively new gardener. Began at age 60. MAD at myself for not starting sooner! Seven months ago, early April, I direct sowed Bachelor Buttons, and by end of summer they had barely sprouted, and never got big enough to make blooms.😢 On the pkg it says to sow in April (in my zone, 7b, west TN). Also, it says Sun to Part Shade. I think the instructions are incorrect!
I am so surprised at how I have been truned around so completely by learning more and more about "cool flowers". The idea is life changing for me. My world has tilted, because gardening, growing flowers is the biggest love of my life, (not counting my beloved family). Everthing has changed simply considering planting based on 1st and last frost dates, and paying attention to the seed/plant hardiness, cool/cold, or warm/heat loving. Thinking about, learning, dreaming, planning, preparing, digging the dirt, getting filthy sweaty dirty, in the heat, in the cold, this is what I want to be doing most of all, no matter how tired or sore I get. Flowers I have always wanted to grow, thought would never be a possibility, are now absolutely a reasonable option to try, and expect success...if I don't make too many mistakes. 🌻🌻 It's all so thrilling for me.
What a beautiful and inspiring post, Lisa! ☺I think you have perfectly captured the emotions and excitement so many of us feel about gardening and growing flowers. Thanks so much for watching, for planting flowers, and for sharing these lovely words with all of us! 🥰
So happy you found this discussion helpful! Yes, it is so important to order the right amount of seed to avoid a big disappointment when you are ready to sow 🙃Thanks so much for watching and for taking the time to leave a comment! 🤗
Found this SO interesting --especially the recommendation to wait until night time temps are 60 degrees. Its RARE in the PNW here in Oregon that night time temps are higher than 60 even in summer. We have really cool nights which are lovely in summer but am now wondering if we could get cool flowers to sprout a bit earlier if needed. Also, I would like to plant in multiple bare areas in my regular beds. I wonder if I can prepare the soil just as you suggest but just in smaller little plots or circles within my bare areas. This will be a fun experiment for sure! Thanks for great information!
Really loving and appreciating all of these tips! I'm hoping I'm getting all of my seeds in early enough! I planted larkspur last week and the rest I'm doing this week. I'm in zone 6a.
So happy you are enjoying the "Seed Talk" series, Kaila! Perhaps you have already listened to our last episode (titled "Seed Talk: Cool Flowers Direct Seeding FAQs, Part 1"), but in that show we discuss tips for determining when to sow your seeds outdoors. So excited to hear that you are sowing larkspur and some other cool flowers! Your hard work now will pay off in the form of a gorgeous garden come springtime ☺Thanks so much for watching and for taking the time to leave a comment 🤗
Thank you Lisa for sharing all your knowledge and experience. It is so, so valuable to us. I am learning from you every day. Thank you Layne for organizing and moving through all of our questions. My questions: Do you have a chart showing or a process to determining the number of mature plants needed for a desired number of stems? I understand every garden's condition differ, but on average how many stems will the mature plant produce? I'm just trying to back into a decision of the number of rows to make or the number of seed to buy. Thank you so much! I am Lisa's number one fan girl! Thank you to all the TGW staff for making Lisa's information available.
Hello! Thank you so much for your kind words - we are thrilled you are enjoying the "Seed Talk" series of podcasts and The Gardener's Workshop's resources in general. I spoke to Lisa regarding your question, and she cannot recommend a particular source for that information. As you mentioned, the number of stems per plant varies greatly depending on growing conditions, the grower's experience, whether a plant was pinched, etc. That would be great information for you to track during the growing season, though! Thanks again for watching and for taking the time to comment - we really appreciate it! 🤗
So glad I discovered y’all. Can’t find the book but am learning via UA-cam. First try w cool flowers. They seem a lot of work for a little show… but am getting weary of just marigolds and zinnias and sunflowers! One more day w Dessicants then into the freezer a bit. I’m in perfect temps now, zone 6a Michigan. Love the Seed Talks. I’m scheduled for first Saturday session coming up in a day.
So thrilled you are enjoying the "Seed Talk" series, Susan! You will be so happy you planted cool flowers come springtime 😊We would love to hear what you are growing 🌱Thanks so much for watching and for commenting! If you ever have any questions, please let me know 🤗
@@LayneAngeloTGW direct sowing in pots- does that work? Bachelor Buttons, Bells of Ireland, have several poppies but need to learn, I think they need cold cold for sowing. Is delphinium scatter sown as larkspur? I plan to put Bacto and fresh home compost over a couple hard clay beds, would that work for snaps? My back deck gets the most sun but it’s north facing. (Works for tomatoes in summer. Have kept ornamental kale there til Feb hard freeze) Condo HOA thinks I’m sketchy already but I did get row cover as I have fall vegetables in the side brick courtyard. Saving cardboard boxes for protection of perennials in pots and grow bags on back deck. Would the cardboard even insulate pots? Everything’s an experiment but I’m compelled to garden! With 4-5 hours summer sun. I have a ton of violas 4” but no buds yet. The other Hardy annuals will be very early spring seedlings from growlights once I can work the compost.
@@Waterlily480 Hello, Susan! It sounds like you have a lot of interesting experiments going on, which I love! A general rule of thumb when growing in containers is that the plants need to be hardy one to two zones colder than your actual hardiness zone (depending on the particular growing conditions, container size, etc.). Just keep that in mind, and remember to take good notes so that you can fine-tune your system going forward. Unlike larkspur, it is not recommended to direct seed delphinium. Delphinium seedlings are best started indoors as transplants, lightly covering the seed as you sow. If you can remember to report back on how these experiments go, we would love to hear about it! Thanks again for watching and for sharing your gardening adventures with all of us 🤗
Thanks for all your help and honesty. Scaling back to mostly very early spring plant. I did my spring veggie greens that way last year. I’m experimenting with container veg against a wall & row cover. & fall root veg on the back deck. Will try bachelor buttons and I have viola & calendula experiments already. Maybe more, it’s next to brick wall on heated garage. Maybe Cardboard box insulation & row cover but Feb is the hard freeze month.
Thank you, I so appreciate your kindness. I am trying to push my zones a little but gardeners have to try. Hard to deal with all the hard clay and the HOA. Lol.
I have decided to make diagrams of each season in my back yard garden. So I don't have mishaps like seeding in the same spot I just did the week before.😂 I just put it in the back of my big yearly day calendar.
I plan on putting cool season annuals in between my perennials. To mark the spot for direct sown seeds, I plan on putting down lightweight row cover in the shape of the sown area plus a marker. That way I won’t be tempted to plant something else or forget what I planted. Think that would work?
Great info for my first attempt at cool flower growing! Thanks to you both!! Question… You mentioned using compost and a dry fertilizer in the bed. Which dry fertilizer do you recommend? Thanks again and have a great weekend!!
Hello, Vernelle! We use an organic, slow-release, dry fertilizer made from composted poultry manure. You can search for "Complete Organic Fertilizer" on our website if you are interested in purchasing or just want to see the label 🙂Best of luck with your cool flowers - I am so excited for you to see the results of your hard work come springtime! Thanks so much for watching 🤗
Hello, Van! In zone 9a, you can fall-plant cool-season hardy annuals that are hardy to zones 9 and lower (i.e. 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, etc.), which actually includes all the cool flowers we sell ☺Lisa's book "Cool Flowers" lists many of the flowers we talk about, their hardiness zones, and their preferred planting methods. The book is currently out of stock most places while more books are being printed, however I believe an electronic Kindle version is available on Amazon. Another option is to reference our website (The Gardener's Workshop), which lists the hardiness zone and the preferred planting method for each seed we sell. If a seed can be started either way, the planting method listed first is the generally preferred planting method. Hope this helps, and please let me know if you have any additional questions. Thanks so much for watching, and have a great day! 😊
Do you consider germination to maturity when planning a cutting garden? Such as zinnias take seventy five days or so and sunflowers 50- 60. And if so do you have a video on that?
Great question, Van! In general, this depends on the flower (whether it is "one and done" or "cut and come again"), pest and disease pressure you may be experiencing, the time of year, etc. I would love to do an in-depth discussion of this in a future podcast episode 🎙Thanks for this great idea, Van! 🤗
flowers aside.. said no one ever😂.. I planted potatoes last fall and put a poblano pepper in the back of the area because I forgot that I planted them there and I even had a marker😅.. but I thought it was just one I left behind or something..❤🎉
Hello, Janell! Remember that very early spring is another opportunity to plant cool flowers! It is never too early to start planning for that 🙂 Thanks so much for watching 🤗
@@LayneAngeloTGW this might be a stupid question but you are Fall planting for cutting in the fall , correct? This is not a fall planting that winter over for spring. Bulbs you can winter over but annuals like larkspur do not over winter. Again zone 5b I’m a first year grower I appreciate your help. 🙏
@@janellnerida8239 Great question, Janell! Amazingly, these are fall plantings that will winter over and bloom in the spring 😃This group of annuals is called cool-season hardy annuals (aka "cool flowers"). These flowers survive (and actually thrive) in cool to cold conditions. Each of these cool-season hardy annuals has a hardiness associated with it. Which cool flowers you can plant in the fall depends on your hardiness zone. In zone 5b, you can fall-plant cool flowers hardy to zone 5 or cooler (i.e. 5, 4, 3, etc.). You can also plant any of the cool flowers in very early spring (although if you live in an area that moves from cool spring weather to hot, humid summer weather very quickly, the success of very early spring plantings can vary). I would highly recommend you watch our very first "Seed Talk" episode called "Seed Talk: Cool Flowers FAQs", as we took an in-depth look at the entire cool flowers concept in that episode and discuss what to plant and when. Hope this helps, and thanks so much for the question! 🤗
Hello, Amy! Did you sow the seeds on Thanksgiving this year, or last year? Poppies can take 14 to 21 days to germinate. Also, when is your first expected frost date in the fall? We recommend direct seeding six to eight weeks before that date to make sure there is still enough warmth in the soil for the seeds to germinate. As discussed in the podcast, poppies are very tiny seeds that need to be surface-sown, so it is imperative that you sow when there is not a lot of wind and be careful about washing them away with water or walking on the bed and inadvertently burying them. Even though they are surface-sown, however, it is still important that the seeds are firmly seated in the soil. Hope this helps! 🙂
@@amytran9718 Hopefully you will try again in the future, using the tips outlined above and in the podcast! Poppies are tricky for a lot of people, so please do not be discouraged 🤗
Great content! So helpful as I’ll soon be direct sowing my cool flower seeds!!!
I am so glad I found you. I'm a relatively new gardener. Began at age 60. MAD at myself for not starting sooner! Seven months ago, early April, I direct sowed Bachelor Buttons, and by end of summer they had barely sprouted, and never got big enough to make blooms.😢 On the pkg it says to sow in April (in my zone, 7b, west TN). Also, it says Sun to Part Shade. I think the instructions are incorrect!
I’ve learned a million things from this video!!! Thank you so much!
I am so surprised at how I have been truned around so completely by learning more and more about "cool flowers". The idea is life changing for me. My world has tilted, because gardening, growing flowers is the biggest love of my life, (not counting my beloved family). Everthing has changed simply considering planting based on 1st and last frost dates, and paying attention to the seed/plant hardiness, cool/cold, or warm/heat loving. Thinking about, learning, dreaming, planning, preparing, digging the dirt, getting filthy sweaty dirty, in the heat, in the cold, this is what I want to be doing most of all, no matter how tired or sore I get. Flowers I have always wanted to grow, thought would never be a possibility, are now absolutely a reasonable option to try, and expect success...if I don't make too many mistakes. 🌻🌻 It's all so thrilling for me.
What a beautiful and inspiring post, Lisa! ☺I think you have perfectly captured the emotions and excitement so many of us feel about gardening and growing flowers. Thanks so much for watching, for planting flowers, and for sharing these lovely words with all of us! 🥰
I am RIGHT there with ya!! Can't wait for planting day!
“Why have 15 tools when 5 will do the job!” -LMZ great quote, thank you for sharing your knowledge
Thanks for the great discussion and realities of flowers farming. I appreciated the advice on multiplying a seed order when planting outside.
So happy you found this discussion helpful! Yes, it is so important to order the right amount of seed to avoid a big disappointment when you are ready to sow 🙃Thanks so much for watching and for taking the time to leave a comment! 🤗
Great reminders! Thanks so much!💕🌸
Found this SO interesting --especially the recommendation to wait until night time temps are 60 degrees. Its RARE in the PNW here in Oregon that night time temps are higher than 60 even in summer. We have really cool nights which are lovely in summer but am now wondering if we could get cool flowers to sprout a bit earlier if needed. Also, I would like to plant in multiple bare areas in my regular beds. I wonder if I can prepare the soil just as you suggest but just in smaller little plots or circles within my bare areas. This will be a fun experiment for sure! Thanks for great information!
I loved this. So much great information.
Thanks so much for the positive feedback, William! So glad you enjoyed it 😊
Really loving and appreciating all of these tips! I'm hoping I'm getting all of my seeds in early enough! I planted larkspur last week and the rest I'm doing this week. I'm in zone 6a.
So happy you are enjoying the "Seed Talk" series, Kaila! Perhaps you have already listened to our last episode (titled "Seed Talk: Cool Flowers Direct Seeding FAQs, Part 1"), but in that show we discuss tips for determining when to sow your seeds outdoors. So excited to hear that you are sowing larkspur and some other cool flowers! Your hard work now will pay off in the form of a gorgeous garden come springtime ☺Thanks so much for watching and for taking the time to leave a comment 🤗
Thank you Lisa for sharing all your knowledge and experience. It is so, so valuable to us. I am learning from you every day. Thank you Layne for organizing and moving through all of our questions. My questions: Do you have a chart showing or a process to determining the number of mature plants needed for a desired number of stems? I understand every garden's condition differ, but on average how many stems will the mature plant produce? I'm just trying to back into a decision of the number of rows to make or the number of seed to buy. Thank you so much! I am Lisa's number one fan girl! Thank you to all the TGW staff for making Lisa's information available.
Hello! Thank you so much for your kind words - we are thrilled you are enjoying the "Seed Talk" series of podcasts and The Gardener's Workshop's resources in general. I spoke to Lisa regarding your question, and she cannot recommend a particular source for that information. As you mentioned, the number of stems per plant varies greatly depending on growing conditions, the grower's experience, whether a plant was pinched, etc. That would be great information for you to track during the growing season, though! Thanks again for watching and for taking the time to comment - we really appreciate it! 🤗
Thank you so much for sharing all this information.
So happy you enjoyed it, Patrina! Thanks so much for watching and for taking the time to comment! ☺
So glad I discovered y’all. Can’t find the book but am learning via UA-cam. First try w cool flowers. They seem a lot of work for a little show… but am getting weary of just marigolds and zinnias and sunflowers! One more day w Dessicants then into the freezer a bit. I’m in perfect temps now, zone 6a Michigan. Love the Seed Talks. I’m scheduled for first Saturday session coming up in a day.
So thrilled you are enjoying the "Seed Talk" series, Susan! You will be so happy you planted cool flowers come springtime 😊We would love to hear what you are growing 🌱Thanks so much for watching and for commenting! If you ever have any questions, please let me know 🤗
@@LayneAngeloTGW direct sowing in pots- does that work? Bachelor Buttons, Bells of Ireland, have several poppies but need to learn, I think they need cold cold for sowing. Is delphinium scatter sown as larkspur? I plan to put Bacto and fresh home compost over a couple hard clay beds, would that work for snaps? My back deck gets the most sun but it’s north facing. (Works for tomatoes in summer. Have kept ornamental kale there til Feb hard freeze) Condo HOA thinks I’m sketchy already but I did get row cover as I have fall vegetables in the side brick courtyard. Saving cardboard boxes for protection of perennials in pots and grow bags on back deck. Would the cardboard even insulate pots? Everything’s an experiment but I’m compelled to garden! With 4-5 hours summer sun. I have a ton of violas 4” but no buds yet. The other Hardy annuals will be very early spring seedlings from growlights once I can work the compost.
@@Waterlily480 Hello, Susan! It sounds like you have a lot of interesting experiments going on, which I love! A general rule of thumb when growing in containers is that the plants need to be hardy one to two zones colder than your actual hardiness zone (depending on the particular growing conditions, container size, etc.). Just keep that in mind, and remember to take good notes so that you can fine-tune your system going forward. Unlike larkspur, it is not recommended to direct seed delphinium. Delphinium seedlings are best started indoors as transplants, lightly covering the seed as you sow. If you can remember to report back on how these experiments go, we would love to hear about it! Thanks again for watching and for sharing your gardening adventures with all of us 🤗
Thanks for all your help and honesty. Scaling back to mostly very early spring plant. I did my spring veggie greens that way last year. I’m experimenting with container veg against a wall & row cover. & fall root veg on the back deck. Will try bachelor buttons and I have viola & calendula experiments already. Maybe more, it’s next to brick wall on heated garage. Maybe Cardboard box insulation & row cover but Feb is the hard freeze month.
Thank you, I so appreciate your kindness. I am trying to push my zones a little but gardeners have to try. Hard to deal with all the hard clay and the HOA. Lol.
I have decided to make diagrams of each season in my back yard garden. So I don't have mishaps like seeding in the same spot I just did the week before.😂 I just put it in the back of my big yearly day calendar.
I plan on putting cool season annuals in between my perennials. To mark the spot for direct sown seeds, I plan on putting down lightweight row cover in the shape of the sown area plus a marker. That way I won’t be tempted to plant something else or forget what I planted. Think that would work?
Such a great idea, JLP! 💡 Thanks so much for watching and for sharing this tip! 🤗
Great info for my first attempt at cool flower growing! Thanks to you both!! Question… You mentioned using compost and a dry fertilizer in the bed. Which dry fertilizer do you recommend? Thanks again and have a great weekend!!
Hello, Vernelle! We use an organic, slow-release, dry fertilizer made from composted poultry manure. You can search for "Complete Organic Fertilizer" on our website if you are interested in purchasing or just want to see the label 🙂Best of luck with your cool flowers - I am so excited for you to see the results of your hard work come springtime! Thanks so much for watching 🤗
What seeds to direct seed or indoor for spring and fall in zone 9a ? Appreciate your help .
Hello, Van! In zone 9a, you can fall-plant cool-season hardy annuals that are hardy to zones 9 and lower (i.e. 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, etc.), which actually includes all the cool flowers we sell ☺Lisa's book "Cool Flowers" lists many of the flowers we talk about, their hardiness zones, and their preferred planting methods. The book is currently out of stock most places while more books are being printed, however I believe an electronic Kindle version is available on Amazon. Another option is to reference our website (The Gardener's Workshop), which lists the hardiness zone and the preferred planting method for each seed we sell. If a seed can be started either way, the planting method listed first is the generally preferred planting method. Hope this helps, and please let me know if you have any additional questions. Thanks so much for watching, and have a great day! 😊
Thank you kindly
Hi again... I was just on a seed company, well known, and they said champagne bubbles can be transplanted. But plant out is after last frost.
Could you please give us a list of the one and done flowers. TIA FOR ALL YOU DO
This would be a great idea for a "Seed Talk" episode, Gayle! Thanks so much for watching and for suggesting this topic! 🤗
Great idea, One and Done Seed Talk. How to plan those crops & Lisa's list.
@@lisafeck1537 Yes, I love this idea, Lisa! 🙌
Do you consider germination to maturity when planning a cutting garden? Such as zinnias take seventy five days or so and sunflowers 50- 60. And if so do you have a video on that?
What rule to follow as to when pull up flowers in beds for each season ? Such as Zinnias . Thank you .
Great question, Van! In general, this depends on the flower (whether it is "one and done" or "cut and come again"), pest and disease pressure you may be experiencing, the time of year, etc. I would love to do an in-depth discussion of this in a future podcast episode 🎙Thanks for this great idea, Van! 🤗
flowers aside.. said no one ever😂.. I planted potatoes last fall and put a poblano pepper in the back of the area because I forgot that I planted them there and I even had a marker😅.. but I thought it was just one I left behind or something..❤🎉
Zone 5b here is Oregon
I went from 70-80 nights to next week 30’s -40s already
My windows I think is gone I think
Hello, Janell! Remember that very early spring is another opportunity to plant cool flowers! It is never too early to start planning for that 🙂 Thanks so much for watching 🤗
@@LayneAngeloTGW this might be a stupid question but you are Fall planting for cutting in the fall , correct?
This is not a fall planting that winter over for spring. Bulbs you can winter over but annuals like larkspur do not over winter. Again zone 5b
I’m a first year grower I appreciate your help. 🙏
@@janellnerida8239 Great question, Janell! Amazingly, these are fall plantings that will winter over and bloom in the spring 😃This group of annuals is called cool-season hardy annuals (aka "cool flowers"). These flowers survive (and actually thrive) in cool to cold conditions. Each of these cool-season hardy annuals has a hardiness associated with it. Which cool flowers you can plant in the fall depends on your hardiness zone. In zone 5b, you can fall-plant cool flowers hardy to zone 5 or cooler (i.e. 5, 4, 3, etc.). You can also plant any of the cool flowers in very early spring (although if you live in an area that moves from cool spring weather to hot, humid summer weather very quickly, the success of very early spring plantings can vary). I would highly recommend you watch our very first "Seed Talk" episode called "Seed Talk: Cool Flowers FAQs", as we took an in-depth look at the entire cool flowers concept in that episode and discuss what to plant and when. Hope this helps, and thanks so much for the question! 🤗
About freezer what temperature?
Standard household freezer temperatures should be just fine. Thanks so much for watching! ☺
Seeds are so expensive. I started collecting seeds so I can direct so lots.
Mostly grasses , bachelor buttons, Amaranthus etc.
Flea beetles are my nemesis . The destroyed my Godetia this season
I sowed thousand of poppy seeds on Thanksgiving and I am in zone 7b and only 1 germinated and one single bloom. 🥲what did I done wrong?
Hello, Amy! Did you sow the seeds on Thanksgiving this year, or last year? Poppies can take 14 to 21 days to germinate. Also, when is your first expected frost date in the fall? We recommend direct seeding six to eight weeks before that date to make sure there is still enough warmth in the soil for the seeds to germinate. As discussed in the podcast, poppies are very tiny seeds that need to be surface-sown, so it is imperative that you sow when there is not a lot of wind and be careful about washing them away with water or walking on the bed and inadvertently burying them. Even though they are surface-sown, however, it is still important that the seeds are firmly seated in the soil. Hope this helps! 🙂
Layne! Thanks for the response I sow the seeds last Thanksgiving. 😀
Hello Layne,
I sowed the poppy seeds last year on Thanksgiving.
@@amytran9718 Hopefully you will try again in the future, using the tips outlined above and in the podcast! Poppies are tricky for a lot of people, so please do not be discouraged 🤗