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garden:about:plants:flowers:varieties

Varieties of flowers we grew in 2015

Marigold

Most success came with the Dwarf French Marigold seeds intended for use as a cover crop. These germinated well, grew without attention, and may have repelled predatory bugs. Last year the cucumber beetle ran rampant over most leaves in both Fall City gardens. It may be the warmer, dryer weather, but there is much less damage by the cucumber beetles, though still some from the flea beetles.

Chamomile

The only flowers I had any success with were chamomile I planted in the ground near a cabbage patch. Eventually, they germinated and when I went to thin them I found over 25 seedlings. I took the thinned seedlings and planted them in another area. A month or so later I had a flourish of small yellow and white blossoms.

I read up on how to harvest chamomile and now I have lots of matured blossoms. As they dry and the seeds disperse from their nest a wonderfully fragrant aroma fills the area.

For the most part I wait until the white petals droop down away from the yellow center (which is where the seeds are). Then I harvest the blossoms, place them in shallow layers in a pan and let them dry. We’ll have chamomile tea for Christmas presents.

Anise Hyssop

Along with the Chamomile I sowed some Anise Hyssop in the ground near the cabbages. I have no idea what such a seedling is to look like, but I know the usual weeds in the garden and I didn’t see anything here that was unfamiliar. So I believe none of these seeds sprouted.

Others

I wanted to plant several other varieties: Calendula, Echinacea, Borage and Valerian. So I tried germinating all my flower seeds in my greenhouse. This was remarkable unsuccessful. I ended up with 3 Chamomile, 2 Borage, 1 Calendula and 1 Echinacea. I never saw a sprout of Valerian or Anise Hyssop. The lone Echinacea disappeared after I transplanted it. So, I ended up with 2 Borage plants and 1 Calendula in my garden.

garden/about/plants/flowers/varieties.txt · Last modified: 2015/10/05 13:11 by davidbac