If you were wooed by our pretty seed packets and grabbed some, you might be thinking – cool. Now what? Let’s talk about it!
If you bought Cosmos:
Yay! You will love these delicate beauties and will be able to enjoy them all summer until frost. A few things you should know:
Cosmos love the sun, and their seeds are no exception. They require light to germinate, so do not burry them! You can literally toss them on the soil, water regularly, and poof! Baby cosmos! Toss your seeds out after danger of frost has passed (May 10 for us here in Jackson, Michigan) and watch them grow. They like well draining soil and are fairly drought tolerant.
Cosmos prefer crappy soil. For real! If you fertilize these babies, the nutrients will fuel the foliage rather than the blooms – so don’t worry too much about your soil.
Cosmos like to be cut. I mean this in two ways – one, they benefit from pinching; and two, they will keep popping out blooms if you keep deadheading. If you are wondering about pinching - once the plant has at least two set of true leaves, cut or “pinch” off the top just above a set of leaves. This will cause the plant to branch out from below the pinch and you will get double the plant and double the blooms!
If you bought Zinnias:
Yay! You will be amazed by the variety in shape and color and how easily these guys grow and bloom. These too will bloom all the way through summer until frost. Just keep clipping off the dead blooms and they will keep blooming.
Zinnias like to be in the sun, and their seeds also require light to germinate, so do not burry them! Plant on top of the soil once danger of frost has passed.
Zinnias like the be watered regularly from the bottom (water the ground not the flowers/leaves). They also benefit from being pinched – clip off the top of the plant after it has at least two sets of true leaves to encourage branching! Clip right above a set of leaves. They get quite tall in the summer heat, so allow them some space!
If you bought Coneflowers:
These also require light to germinate! Again, do not burry.
These wonderful plants are perennials and will spread and come back year after year. They are hardy, sun loving, and produce large blooms. They attract butterflies and are deer resistant – double bonus! They also make great cut flowers.
If you bought Poppies:
Good choice. These are my favorite! But these teeny tiny little seeds can be finicky to start if you don’t understand their needs.
They require light and cold. Plant in the late summer or fall for best results – although they can be planted in the later winter but will produce a smaller plant and blooms. When planting, be sure that there are no weeds at all. Since these seeds are tiny and they take a long time to grow, they will easily be drowned out by weeds if any are present. They love to go through a winter and freeze and thaw period, and you can actually watch them grow over the winter and early spring. They do not require watering until it starts to warm up outside and frost is no longer a concern. These beauties will bloom in the early summer and then die out in the hottest part. They don’t make great cut flowers, but they are very easy to gather seeds from for the following year! Cut seed pods once they turn brown but before they release their seeds – or simply leave them and allow them to self seed!
留言