This is where those tiny, slow-to-germinate carrot seeds come from! For leaf and root crops, you often have to go out of your way in the veggie garden to see first-hand how exactly their seeds are produced—the crop is harvested and eaten before the flowering stage starts. Carrots are biennials, they go to seed only in their second year, so unless you’re seed-saving, or accidentally leave some behind over the winter (as we did here), the entire flowering process will remain a garden mystery. For carrots, if it was a mystery, no longer…!
Flowers
Sunflowers come up quick!
Sunflower is my new favorite flower…because it comes up quick. These Claret seedlings, along with Sunrich Orange and the Go Bananas mix, all poked up after barely three days, with even germination down the rows. Flowers this year are lower priority than the veggies, so they got in a little later than they could’ve. Yesterday, I showed my production list to a flower gardener, who nodded as she read, said “oh, cosmos” in what I took to be an approving tone, and finally commented, “well, you may be a little LATE for some” (my emphasis on LATE). She was only referring to the longest possible season for each, but it made me realize what a dread concept LATE has been all along, only usually it’s just in my own head. You’re constantly trying to stay on top of seeding and transplant timing, hoping for early last frost and late first frost, attempting to squeeze in one more planting, and always wondering if this or that will be…TOO LATE. In fact, it always works out… What you learn is, either way, no worries!
Flowers on my mind…
Most of the flower seed for the new cutting garden arrived today. Cool. This is going to be interesting! Apart from growing a couple of hundred glads in Year 1, flowers are new to me. The PLAN is to take it slow. I selected all annuals for direct seeding, and from what I can tell, this bunch will just grow themselves. Really! With all the veggie work to do, it’ll be basically put the seed in the ground and see what happens! (I have faith.)