Growing Flowers From Seed

I always thought it would be cool to be able to have my own cut flowers in a vase from my own garden.

A few years ago when I’d started vegetable gardening, I thought to attempt flowers around the front of my house as well. I’d grown Shasta daisies, hollyhock, and attempted tulips, lilies, and daffodils. Some grew well, others not as much.

I haven’t tried growing flowers since. Except for adding nasturtiums, marigolds, and yarrow to the vegetable garden, but the purpose of those flowers was for the benefit of the vegetables, not for cutting or admiration.

I realize that in order to regularly have flowers to cut and add to vases, I’d need a much bigger flower garden. But I wanted to start small and get comfortable learning each flower plant and what its needs are before expanding a flower garden.

Soo I’m starting with flowers I can keep in pots and care for more closely. And also, some of these flowers have additional benefits, like the ability to make teas or salves (like lavender and calendula), which is pretty cool!

Here are the flowers I’m currently attempting:

Lavender
Calendula
Baby’s Breath
Bachelor Button
Zinnia
Alyssum (Royal Carpet)
Alyssum (Carpet of Snow)

I’m very excited for Baby’s Breath! It’s one of my favorites, and I love that it can be elegant and lovely as a bouquet on its own or added to other flowers as an accent.

So far, some of my seeds have already sprouted! I'm shocked because it's only day 3 (I planted them on Thursday, 7/22/2021 and it's currently 7/25/2021). Here are the expected germination periods:

Lavender (15-90 days)
Calendula (5-15 days)
Baby's Breath (10-20 days)
Bachelor Button (10-14 days)
Zinnia (6-10 days)
Alyssum (Royal Carpet) (10-12 days)
Alyssum (Carpet of Snow) (7-12 days)

It's only day 3, but so far, here are the results:

Lavender 0/2 sprouted
Calendula 1/1 sprouted
Baby's Breath 3/7 sprouted!
Bachelor Button 3/6 sprouted
Zinnia 5/6 sprouted
Alyssum (Royal Carpet) 0/12 sprouted
Alyssum (Carpet of Snow) 0/12 sprouted

See photos below!

Lavender

Those 2 little dips are where the seeds are planted. Don’t worry if you can’t see it, you will when the seeds sprout!

Calendula

Ahhh can you see the little baby sprout toward the bottom of the photo? 😍 Again, don’t worry if you can’t just yet, as it grows you’ll be able to see it more. It’s only day 3 after all. 🙂

Baby's Breath

Bachelor Button & Zinnia

I am still in shock these sprouted so quickly and so proud!

Alyssum (Royal Carpet) & Alyssum (Carpet of Snow)

Well as you can see, I did something totally different with the Alyssum seeds to germinate them. The seeds are so small, I thought to attempt to germinate them in wet paper towels first. I’m keeping them wet with a spray bottle. I started these a day later than the others, so they’re actually only 2 days into the germination process in this image. I’m excited to see these find a home in a pot. 😊

And now here's the hard part. Now that they've sprouted, I've got to keep them alive. 😅

But this is also the fun part! Getting to learn what each plant needs in order to grow and thrive.

I won't be planting them in the ground outside. They're all going in pots. I just ordered a few hanging pots, and I have a few pots that will sit on the floor or on stands.

They'll either go in the sunroom or in the screened in lanai.

Also, this copper watering can has been a wonderful addition to the mix. The way it gently releases water has made it perfect for watering the new seeds without moving too much dirt, and with a single spout, it's easy to control how much and how quickly water is flowing. I recommended it in the Mother's Day gift guide and I have fallen in love with it myself! Plus, it's so cute that I feel like a proper little gardener when I use it.

Here's the current set up in the Florida sunroom. On that second shelf, the white pan all the way to the left is where the Bachelor Button and Zinnia seeds are, and right beneath it in the gray pot is Baby's Breath. Behind the Baby's Breath in the blue planter box is where the Calendula and Lavendar are (and the plant you currently see in that blue planter box is Basil).

See the heat lamps on the second and third shelves? It does stay pretty warm in here during the day, but these lamps help the plants get more ample sunlight. Unfortunately our indoor plants aren’t as vibrantly green as they should be and that can be due to insufficient sunlight.

The lights are on a timer that runs from 7 PM to 7 AM, so they automatically turn on and off without my having to touch them.

That's the flower growing journey so far! The goal is to be able to cut the flowers for vases, but at the very least, I'd love to just be able to enjoy them. I feel like plants and flowers bring extra life and vibrance to a space. It'll be so fun to have them hanging around from the ceiling and in stands to enjoy!