Garden Flowers

Pulsegleaner

Garden Master
Joined
Apr 18, 2014
Messages
3,567
Reaction score
7,043
Points
306
Location
Lower Hudson Valley, New York
IF you read the literature that comes with these packages, they tell you to weed the beds. I have 3 kinds of weeds in my wildflower bed, fortunately ALL has shallow roots. One of the extra "weeds" is turnip greens, that have taken over many of my beds. THEY.ARE.WELCOME!!
Problem is you never really know what is going to become a weed when you sow it. It took us years to get rid of the Japanese Lanterns, and the Peruvian Four O' Clocks.

And I certainly didn't EXPECT that the senna seeds and rice beans I tossed our for the critters to eat would wind up hiding in the soil and coming up year after year for the rest of my life (the rice beans are almost gone now, but I'm STILL yanking senna plants out of both the cucumber garden and the patio pots.

I suppose I should just count myself lucky I managed to catch the wild soybeans before the spread (given how many seeds those ten plants made, had I let them spread, I'd be up to my ears in vines now) and the Devil's Horsewhip didn't become established.

Theoretically, I also still get a few sprouts from my bindweed relative growing test of three or four years ago in the right hand Side Patio pot, but since none of them seem to be able to compete enough with the lablab beans to not get completely smothered and never make any flowers, that's not exactly a big problem. Ditto whatever comes up in the white pot in the middle (I'd actually be curious to see what some of those legume sprouts turned into, but none seem to reach a flowering size, and the senna THERE tends to shade everything out.)
 

flowerbug

Garden Master
Joined
Oct 15, 2017
Messages
17,115
Reaction score
27,062
Points
427
Location
mid-Michigan, USoA
IF you read the literature that comes with these packages, they tell you to weed the beds. I have 3 kinds of weeds in my wildflower bed, fortunately ALL has shallow roots. One of the extra "weeds" is turnip greens, that have taken over many of my beds. THEY.ARE.WELCOME!!

i think the most useful thing to do with the mixes is to try to isolate groups of seeds and get them going in pots so you can figure out what they look like and how they grow and get them established before transplanting later - especially in the case of perennials that might have deeper taproots and take a few years to get established.

no matter what i've tried in some cases nothing works and i have to move on and try other plants that are more tolerant of our conditions and benign neglect or other things.

i try to grow turnips and radishes each year to give the animals more flowers with bigger seeds to munch on. the deer sometimes will graze them down to almost nothing and then it's a matter of a few survivors carrying on the tradition. i also like them for their yellow flowers. :)
 

digitS'

Garden Master
Joined
Dec 13, 2007
Messages
26,896
Reaction score
33,157
Points
457
Location
border, ID/WA(!)
More Volunteers!


IMG_1048.jpeg

Why they ended up here, I have no idea. Yes, there were snapdragons in 2023 (there's a volunteer poppy in behind them). The snaps were on the other side of the house. None survived the winter but there's one seedling trying to bloom out there in '24. It is in an impossible location – under the climbing rose. The two in the picture look like they were planted there but, I assure you, they were not. How they arrived near that mess of tomatoes and melon vines, I don't know. Homemade compost was moved around the vegetables but the snapdragons were already making their start for the season.

BTW. These deep red snaps (I think Potomac), and no other colors, volunteered in an old flower garden two years after the property was sold and we were no longer using that ground. They finally disappeared.
 

mikethegardener

Leafing Out
Joined
Aug 16, 2024
Messages
7
Reaction score
27
Points
13
More Volunteers!


View attachment 67881

Why they ended up here, I have no idea. Yes, there were snapdragons in 2023 (there's a volunteer poppy in behind them). The snaps were on the other side of the house. None survived the winter but there's one seedling trying to bloom out there in '24. It is in an impossible location – under the climbing rose. The two in the picture look like they were planted there but, I assure you, they were not. How they arrived near that mess of tomatoes and melon vines, I don't know. Homemade compost was moved around the vegetables but the snapdragons were already making their start for the season.

BTW. These deep red snaps (I think Potomac), and no other colors, volunteered in an old flower garden two years after the property was sold and we were no longer using that ground. They finally disappeared.
Love the surprise volunteers! Those snapdragons are gorgeous, and it's amazing they showed up in a spot where you didn't plant them. The mystery of the garden, right? And wow, that's quite a story about the deep red snaps volunteering in the old flower garden years later.
 

Zeedman

Garden Master
Joined
Dec 10, 2016
Messages
3,975
Reaction score
12,296
Points
317
Location
East-central Wisconsin
Stunningly beautiful hydrangeas, @Shades-of-Oregon .

I haven't posted much this year, so playing a little catch-up. Some of the flowers from this year:
20240531_081646.jpg 20240531_081705.jpg
poppies, and "Moly" alliums

20240531_081840.jpg 20240531_081919.jpg
Iris, and peony. The peonies looked better than ever this year.

20240703_121723.jpg 20240817_191001.jpg
Day lilies (which were phenomenal until the deer mowed them), and Resurrection lilies
 

digitS'

Garden Master
Joined
Dec 13, 2007
Messages
26,896
Reaction score
33,157
Points
457
Location
border, ID/WA(!)
Do you have attractive herbs or vegetables in flower?

Thai basil :):

IMG_1086.jpeg

BTW, the marigold behind it is a volunteer. Following the 2023 growing season, what is now a veggie garden path was the location for a pile of frost killed flowers from front yard flower beds.

Steve
 
Top