Who here likes to grow flowers? Favorites?

[nctomatoman]

Big time into flowers here - the types/numbers I start from seed ebb and flow year to year. Some constants - the early spring perennials (Jacob's Ladder, Celadine Poppy, Virginia Bluebells, Epimedium, etc) - and all sorts of Salvia (Guaranitica thrives in our yard), though we've kept a beautiful Regla plant going for years, and in the fall, van Houttyii...also various clumps of Greggi and Microphylla here and there. Our male dog Buddy has taken down quite a few of our perennials with his "fire hose"! Right now I am waiting to see if the Columbine I planted last year bloom in the new location - one of my favorites. The only flowers I have up and growing are Salvia Coccinia - Lady in Red, and Coral Nymph. I am going to direct seed some Calliopsis around my garden border.

Oh, to have the appropriate land (and lack of deer) to spread great perennials all around our property!

[cdntomato]

I got majorly into flowers and perennials when I worked at the Toronto Hysterical Board.

Major loves: daylilies, columbines (yes, yes, Craig!!!), hellebores, hostas (the fragrant ones!), campanulas, bleeding hearts and hardy geraniums and...

Jennifer sitting on tons of dead and dormant seeds, no doubt but nowhere to grow

[flowerpower]

Luckily, I inherited lots of perennials with the house. I have a ton of scented phlox, which is great. I like the cottage look, so I just have all sorts of things growing everywhere. daylillies, hosta, peonies, sweet william, forget-me-nots, coneflower, daisy. And all the annuals I can squeeze in- whether in the ground or in pots.

[nctomatoman]

I used to grow many cool weather annuals from seed when I gardened in PA - I really miss them....in particular, snapdragons and sweet peas. Oh well - maybe someday...what is amazing is when looking back on old seed catalogs, gardeners in the late 1800's/early 1900s had much greater color ranges to choose from. Whereas today we will have a mix of colors or perhaps a few for such as Cosmos, Sweet Peas, etc - back then there were often 5-6 pages of individual colors, named varieties for Sweet Peas. I wonder how many of them were saved and handed down?

[bluelacedredhead]

I paid little or no attention to Sweet Peas until I found a full page dedicated to the heirloom collection of Mr. Peter Grayson in a local Canadian seedshop catalogue.
http://www.terraedibles.ca/Merchant2...tegory_Code=SP

Are they easy to grow? Do they reseed themselves, or must I start new plants every year?

(And yes FP it is me posting on an ornamental link.. I'm blaming this on you, )

[shelleybean]

Oh, I love snapdragons, especially in mixed colors. I can usually keep them blooming all winter here but we had it colder than normal here this time and they don't seem to be bouncing back like I had hoped. My pansies and violas still look great though.

[Tomstrees]

Big fan here - my grandparents have a huge rock garden in back of their house that I grew up in and is how I eventually found vegatble growing ~
I'm working on planning a flower bed this year at my house ~

Tom

[spyfferoni]

I have some Iris and Tiger lilies and I also planted Snapdragons and Sweet Williams in that bed. I tried to plant some bare root roses I got on clearance lat summer, but none of them made it. I think it was too hot.

I want to plant some lilac bushes this spring, and some more flowers and bushes. Still pretty new to flowers. I'll be thinning out my Iris' if anybody wants some. They are a pretty light purple color. This picture was taken last year on Easter.

[shelleybean]

Nice picture. Looks like you had some ham for Easter Your irises look great, too.

[dcarch]

Originally Posted by spyfferoni

I have some Iris and Tiger lilies ----- This picture was taken last year on Easter.

Best impersonation of an iris I have ever seen.

dcarch

[Tomstrees]

Started some but not all of my flowers for a bed I'm preparing this spring:
Purple & White Cones
Marigolds
Chinese Lanterns
Burgundy Hollyhock
Pink/Yellow Hollyhock
Larkspur
Red Poppy
Black Eye Susan
Plains Coreopsis
Four O’clock Fuschia
Alyssum
Orange Giant

~ Tom

[Spatzbear]

I have just fallen in love with my first hollyhocks! Salmon coloured. Incredibly beautiful.

I love all flowers, really. But my all-time favourites are probably sunflowers. Wish I had the energy in spring to sow and plant tons of them.

[lavandula girl]

I have a Hemerocallis fetish - all daylilies are wonderful, as far as I'm concerned. I also love my peonies. Kniphofia is another one that always has a spot in the garden, as do the irises. Bulbs - tulips, crocosmia, daffodils, agapanthus, hyacinth, peacock orchids, glads... I have a bunch! It's a wonder I get any veggies at all out there. Interplanting is my friend.

[flowerpower]

LG, welcome to TV. Any chance you'll save me seeds for the Spiney Bear's Breeches? Pretty Please. lol

[lavandula girl]

FP - I don't think I have that Acanthus, but I'll double check. If I don't I'm sure one of my buddies (the ones I can actually see ) has them, and I can find seeds that way. Thanks for the welcome, though... took me long enough to get over here, didn't it? I was afraid I'd suffer from low tomato esteem, since I don't grow more than 3-6 varieties a season, but so far, I haven't burst into tears!! In terms of sharing, by the way, my brother-in-law has some dahlias that were trials on the Farm Station in CT. I don't know what they look like, but you can have a couple if you'd like. He sent me about 6, of indeterminate parentage.