Anticipation

This is the time of of year when many gardeners enjoy a rest from their hobby. Bare trees and few flowers make it easy to stay inside and keep toasty, rather than face the chills in the air. Gardening is certainly one of my main passions, and I will admit that for about a month (mid December through mid January), I don't think about my garden very much. I am too preoccupied with holiday celebrations! But around this time in January, I start to think about spring colors and preparing my ornamental garden for planting seeds. And the seed catalogs start arriving, so that encourages me even more to think about how I can create more spring and summer interest in my landscape by planting seeds.

I have always loved seeds for several reasons. They are inexpensive compared to perennials and annuals. A packet of seeds costs less than $4.00 for a pack of 50-100 seeds. Seeds have been the best way to make a mass of color in areas of my garden. And my favorite part of planting seeds is that I am always surprised with the results! In most cases, the surprises are fun and interesting. For example, last year I planted nasturtium, ordering seeds that produced orange, red, and yellow flowers. But something that I did not expect was a beautiful variegated foliage on one variety that was stunning with the orange and yellow flowers. And while I expected the nasturtium to bloom earlier in the summer and fade out in late summer, it actually bloomed in mid summer and lasted to the fall! These are the kinds of surprises that I love with seeds!

Each year, I experiment with different seeds. In my Asheville garden, I plant some seeds in the fall, including larkspur and poppies. I have had good luck seeding both of these beauties in the fall, although my larkspur seems to do well with either fall or spring sowing, particularly if it is very early spring. Larkspur likes the soil to be cool before it will sprout. Last year, I experienced beautiful shades of purple, blue, white and pink larkspur blooms. Some of these plants had come from fall seeding, while others were done in the spring. Starting bloom in early summer, the blooms stayed around until late summer for me.

Favorite mid and late summer blooming plants that I start include nasturtium, zinnias, and cosmos. While my last Asheville garden had plenty of sun, this one has smaller sun areas. The zinnias and cosmos really do require 6-8 full hours of sun, so my growing space for them is limited. But I must sow zinnia seeds every year, as I adore them as cut flowers. I sow the zinnias and cosmos in late April, while the nasturtiums are sown in early April. I direct sow all of my seeds for the garden except one - foxglove.  This favorite of mine does best when I start seed indoors, in containers, and then transplant once they have gotten several inches tall. I have been successful with this for many years if I start the seeds indoors by early March.

There is no great skill to starting plants from seeds. I follow the directions on the packet regarding depth, cover the seeds with packaged seed-starter mix, and water. Watering really is the key to helping your seeds sprout, and this makes all of the difference in whether they will flourish. Water by misting or use a watering can with holes on the spout but water thoroughly. With seeds started indoors, I mist the soil, then put them in Ziploc bags to keep them moist. When they start to sprout, remove the plastic, and keep watered with plant trays underneath.

So the seed catalogs have arrived, and I am ready to order!  I look forward to the sight of my summer blooming seed plants. If you haven't tried seeds before, I suggest that you try it. You never know what kinds of surprises they will bring to your garden!