Organic gardener growing food and flowers, lovin' pollinators and birds.

Floral Friday: Amaryllis


Blooming now in my houseplant haven is 'Temptation' amaryllis. This is my first time growing this variety and it is a stunner! I purchased three bulbs from Van Engelen and potted them all together into one medium size pot.

It took a long time for the bulbs to wake up, but once they did, they grew quickly.

What drew me to try this variety was the description of the flowers on the website: "It is white with diffuse raspberry to crimson splashes on its upper petals, less on its lower petals, variable crimson petal edges, a dark scarlet-red starburst and pink-to-white stamen."

I even included it as a potential present for the gardener in your life in the gift guide I assembled for holiday shopping.


Each bulb sends up two bloom stalks, each with four flowers. With three bulbs in one pot, this planting will feature six bloom stalks. 

It's a starlette in its own right, even giving 'Dancing Queen' a little competition. 

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Zinnia blooms are easy on the eyes



When Spanish colonists first encountered zinnias in Mexico, they nicknamed them mal de ojos, or evil eyes. The wildflowers were considered a weed, with dull-purplish red flowers.

Thanks to this guy for discovering zinnias. Johann Gottfried Zinn (Schwabach, 1727-1759) was a German anatomist and botanist. Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons, public domain.
The zinnia has come a long way since then, but the allusion to eyes doesn't end there. Zinnias were officially named after Dr. Johann Gottfried Zinn, a German botanist, who was the first to detail the anatomy of the human eye.

According to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Zinn collected seeds of Zinnia elegans while in Mexico in the 1700s. He was accosted by bandits who, after searching his bag, found the seeds and decided to leave him alone, believing him crazy and therefore unlucky.

Today there are many different types of zinnias, and the one that is most popular to grow in gardens is Zinnia elegans, the tall, bright-colored annual grown during summer. Two other popular zinnia families include Zinnia grandiflora (which is low growing) and Zinnia marylandica (which is ideal for extreme heat, humid and drought-stricken areas).

And let's just say that now all zinnias are much easier on the eyes.

Easy to grow and attractive to pollinators


Zinnias are native plants, originating in the Southwest U.S., Mexico and Central America. They attract pollinators, such as bumblebees, butterflies and hummingbirds. They are members of the aster family (Asteraceae).

Depending on the variety, they can be short edging plants (six inches tall) or grow as high as four feet. You'll want to find a sunny spot to grow them. Zinnias are heat and drought tolerant once established.

You can plant them directly in the ground after your last frost and the ground has warmed up a bit. Or you can start them indoors to get a jump on the blooming period. For larger plants, make sure you amend the soil with compost. I added a bag of Coast of Maine Lobster Compost to my main zinnia planting area last year and it definitely made the plants happy.

Zinnias were some of the first annuals I started to grow in my Connecticut garden. 

Zinnias can start blooming as early as June and will continue through frost. Be sure to pinch them when they are young so you get bushier plants — which also helps create sturdy plants that won't need staking. To keep them blooming, you'll want to deadhead regularly, but at the end of the season you can leave the spent blooms in order to collect seeds. (Let the seed heads dry out and then store them in a cool, dark place until next spring.)

The flowers range from single to double forms, in a variety of colors. In recent years, the Queen series have become very popular, but Benary's Giant is a longtime favorite for cut flowers. They make excellent cut flowers, and come in every color of the rainbow — even green! (How cool would a rainbow-themed planting of zinnias look?)

The one issue zinnias sometimes have is powdery mildew, which is directly related to airflow around the plant. If you live in an area that tends to be on the humid side, look for zinnias that offer powdery mildew resistance, such as Benary's Giant, Pumila or the Zinnia marylandica varieties. When watering, avoid getting the leaves wet — try to water only at ground level (at the roots).

They are reported to be deer resistant, but I haven't tested this myself. The area rabbits do leave them alone in my garden. They even tolerate being near black walnut trees — if they receive enough light.

Zinnias with Black Eye Susans in my 2016 garden. 


Which zinnias am I growing?

'Queeny Lime Orange' zinnias. 

Oh — a bunch! (I am Mrs. Zinnia after all.)

For many years I grew the same type of zinnias over and over — a basic pink dahlia style.

But at last count, I had 64 different varieties of zinnias in my seed stash. Zinnias have a lifespan of about three to five years, so some of these are older packets with leftover seeds from past growing seasons.

Two of my favorites to grow have been 'Queeny Lime Orange' zinnia (an AAS Winner) and 'California Giants' zinnia (Botanical Interests). Both attracted many bees and butterflies to my garden.

Every year I try to fit a few more zinnia varieties in my garden. This year I am devoting more space to milkweed in my garden for the monarch caterpillars, and I plan to grow more zinnias alongside them.

Last year I grew a large group of 'Queeny Lime Orange' alongside the driveway. The plants started out small but filled in quickly. Large groupings of zinnias really add a 'wow' factor to your garden beds. (I highly suggest it!)



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Floral Friday: Romantic roses


It's the perfect time to start going through garden catalogs and dreaming of which roses to grow in your summer garden.

On my wish list is 'At Last' (Proven Winners) and two new David Austin Roses introductions: 'Vanessa Bell' and 'Félicité Parmentier'. Of course, I still have a 'Zephirine Drouhin' rose overwintering in my garage that I still need to plant in the garden...

What roses do you grow in your garden?


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Sowing seeds by the moon



Last evening, I sowed my pansy seeds by the moon.

Well, not under the moonlight specifically, but instead by its guidance.

Planting by the moon, or lunar planting, is supposed to help plants grow faster, stronger and larger.

This year I am making a concerted effort to align my seed sowing activities with my Gardening by the Moon calendar. I have purchased this calendar in past years and have tried to also use it as a record of what I am sowing.

Not only does it offer recommendations on when to best sow seeds based on the current moon phase, but it also makes suggestions for appropriate gardening tasks, such as "plant for root growth" or "harvest, cultivate, weed and clone".

In past years of using the calendar, I started out the growing season by recording which seed was sown when. But I would stop recording regularly as spring advanced and life became busier with tending the garden (and well, life). I also had trouble following the recommendations because either I was not home to sow seeds on the recommended day or time, or — shocker — I fell behind in my seed sowing tasks.

But this year I really want to align my efforts as best as possible with a lunar planting schedule. I want to see how it makes a difference.

These seven varieties of pansy seeds kicked off my 2019 seed sowing season.

Using the moon to grow healthier plants

In the past I have shared why you should start pansies and violas from seed. Based on my experience, it takes almost two weeks for the seeds to sprout. It would be great if the moon helps them sprout faster!

According to Gardening by the Moon, lunar planting is influenced by the Phase and Sign of the Moon. The lunar phase controls the amount of moisture in the soil, reaching its peak during the new and full moon. Just like how the moon affects the ocean tides, it can also make moisture rise in the earth, which benefits germination and growth.

Makes sense to me.

The calendar provides four sources of information to provide its suggestions:

  • The astrological sign the moon is in and the best activity for that sign and phase. (Some are fertile, others are barren.)
  • Symbols that indicate the elemental qualities of the moon sign (root, leaf, flower and fruit).
  • What time of day the moon transit takes place.
  • When the moon is not on course — meaning you get to take a break.
I use the Medium Growing Season calendar, which is aligned with hardiness zones 5 and 6. The information is also presented in Eastern Standard Time. There are two other versions of the calendar:  the Short Growing Season (zones 4 and 5) and the Long Growing Season (zones 7, 8 and 9, but on Pacific Standard Time).

I have seeds that I expect to sow each week leading up to my first frost-free week in May. (I am being more conservative with my last frost date this year. In the past I have followed the recommended time frame for my growing zone but have found it's still a bit chilly to move or start the warmer season plants outdoors.)

Not every week is conducive to seed sowing, but I plan to align my seed sowing to the moon when possible. And let's face it — life is so busy that a little help in the garden from the moon would be a bonus.
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Floral Friday: Witch hazel


Proof that spring is coming: Today the Hamamelis vernalis 'Purpurea' (witch hazel) started to bloom. This is the first time that I have had success in growing witch hazel, and seeing its bright flowers made me genuinely happy.

This is a new shrub that I added to my front garden this past fall. In order to see the flowers better, I did have to remove the leaves individually, since they were still holding on.

Don't you just love the ribbon-like, curled petals?

Even better, there must be a beekeeper in town, because there were some honeybees visiting it today as well. Imagine that — honeybees in February! (Granted, today was a warmer day in the 50s.)

Over time it can reach six feet tall, so it is possible it might outgrow its current spot. But I think I will need to purchase another one of these for the garden border.
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