I am so excited for this growing season I can't even contain myself! We've got quite the operation going on and just can't wait to see the garden in full bloom this summer.
So here's what's happening!
Started Indoors
Since I'm trying to grow basically a small farm, I started a lot of seeds indoors. It's still quite cold here and even though we're in zone 9b, it gets incredibly chilly at night and it's been pretty cloudy during the day. I wanted to try my hand at a few new flowers that I haven't grown before and it was suggested to start them inside to give them the best chance of survival once they're big enough!
snapdragons seeds growing on the windowsill!
So far, I've started snapdragons, cosmos, and dahlias indoors. And all was going well, until I found out that I'd let my cosmos stems get too leggy and they probably wouldn't be viable!! This is such a learning process and I'm so grateful for the lessons, but boy when I found out that the growth that I was getting wasn't the good kind, I was bummed. Luckily, because I throw myself fully into my projects, I have about 4 more packets of cosmos so I can try again!
Basically, leggy stems means that the flowers are stressed out. In my case, they were straining towards the grow light in my indoor greenhouse. They were too far away from the light! And were desperately trying to reach towards it, causing them to stretch really far without growing outwards. It's not great.
I took about 20 of the first seeds that got too leggy and planted them directly into the soil outside but I have no clue what will happen there. Wish me luck lol.
On a brighter note, I've also started dahlia seeds indoors which it seems are doing a lot better! I was told to place them closer to the grow light, so I stacked some books to make sure they were extra close and they seem to be doing a lot better than the cosmos were.
And finally, the snapdragons. My poor baby snapdragons died over the weekend. I left them outside, thinking the direct sunlight would work for them, but sadly, they got scorched and were unable to thrive. Luckily, I still have a few growing on the windowsill. BUT, all of this is good because I'm leaning so much about the different flowers and what their needs are.
What's Actually Growing
Tulips?
Fun fact, I didn't plant tulips this year and had absolutely no idea that they are perennials. So imagine my surprise when I saw a few tulip buds popping out of the ground! In fact, last summer I dug up majority of the bulbs to make space for my zinnias, having no clue the grave error I was making. I only wish I could go back in time to right before I pulled them all up and stop me from the past! But even so, some of them survived my mistake and are making themselves known! I can't wait to see my beautiful tulips fully bloomed in the spring.
these babies were such a pleasant surprise
Irises
This is my first year growing irises and it really is so special. My grandma's name was Iris and she really inspired me to pursue the things I love - flowers and gardening being one of those things. So the see irises growing right outside of her old bedroom window brings me so much joy.
I'll be honest, I have no clue what I'm doing with a lot of these bulbs and seeds. But the irises seem to be doing okay. So I'm just holding out hope that I didn't ruin them and we're on the right path. Time will tell!
iris bulbs!
Wildflowers
I planted some wildflower seeds in the thick of Winter so I don't know why I was so surprised that they've taken so long to grow. To be honest I'm surprised they survived at all. We had some extremely chilly days with frost, rain and all the elements. I got a wildflower seed mix at a local flower shop months ago, and I'm happy to report that I see buds!!! Soon we'll be seeing flowers and I just can't wait.
Hoping and praying for beautiful blooms like this again this year!
I filmed this video at the end of last summer and it was such a sweet goodbye to the garden. Join the Patreon for access to videos, podcasts and photos! And click the link here to watch.
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