Specialty Gardening: growing flowers for a wedding!, 1 by warriorswisdomkathy

warriorswisdomkathy wrote:
Do you have a hort college in your area? I would definately give them a call if possible...You want to make sure your timing is good.. And remember the weather can set thing s back or move things up too... I see you live in California.

1. What stage are your plants at now...how big, how old, etc...Have they been in the garden for a month? Few weeks? Need more info... (I just had 5.5" of snow yesterday, all my babies are still under lights or remay on them). I see your in Zone 9, so let me know what stage they are. Include pix and descriptions if you like... We'll try to time it for you..

Geums will bloom the whole summer if deadheaded..In fact you might want to pinch off blooms and any branches that don't have blooms yet. Every branch that is pinched will produce TWO more. Then in a few weeks you can pinch those back. I would stop pinching by the first week of June, definately the second..

Are your plants in the ground yet or still in pots? Have you used any fertilizer? Miracle Grow, truely is fantastic...Liquid would be the fastest for those in the ground.

Stop potting on if they don't need it, give them a chance to fill in and out for a week or so, they have to readjust every time. Are any ready to go into the garden? If they are big enough to plant them, give them some peat moss mixed well with the g. soil (mix good, no more than 1/2 and 1/2. And mulch if possible, keep the soil moist. ( dried leaves, dried grass clippings 1 week to dry fresh, not big bark crud, they might smother your babies..)

Of the flowers you listed above: snaps, zinnias, larkspur, linaria and roses. They can all be pinched. If they are seedling wait till they start to develop the third set of leaves and then pinch. Remember, the first set of leaves are not true, only the second set is true to the plant, the first set will always drop off.

Remember to harden off any that are new seedlings before going into the garden. A few hours a day, for several days. When planting in the soil can water in with a root stimulant, they work wonders....Available at Home Depot, or could even
use 'SUPERthrive'. It's not cheap but works miracles, it's a root stimulant also. Sometimes it's even available at the grocery in the floral dept.

Hope a few of these ideas will help, you would be suprised at how fast they will grow if you do some of the things I've shared, they are some of my personal favorites..lol. Good luck, and get back and share more if you can...

Might try to get some zinnia seed and direct sow them into the garden, and keep them moist til they sprout. They will catch up in a short time... Also Cosmos grow fast when seeded into the garden, they begin blooming fast, again pinching would do wonders after they are up and growing.. Kathy