The Art of Flower Gardening

My empty and spacious flower bed looked so large that I wondered how I would ever determine what flowers to plant in what location. I liked the layout of the previous flower bed but I had vague memories of what was planted, and where it was planted. As I began to weed and till the soil a mental picture of the garden in full bloom formed in my mind. I began to see a distinct flow that if followed would give me a colorful pattern from one end of the garden to the other. It would also give me a pleasing variety of depth and height throughout. So taking the bed by sections I planted my offering. A mixture of seeds; Bluebonnets, Mammoth Sunflowers, Sweet Pea, Spinach and Imperial Blend (Butterfly bush) were interspersed with transplants; hostas, New Cana, Day Lillies, Irises, Marigolds (newly planted but doing poorly in the original location) and Ice Plant. There are several transplants, the names of which I do not know, that were transplanted as well. Discovering the names of those plants will be a task unto itself. I divided the flower garden into four sections, each with its own flow yet flowing into the next section for continuity. In the narrowest part of the bed I reviewed the seed packets to ensure that I had my seeds planted by the height of the mature plant (lowest to highest).

I mainly used Burpee seeds. Having used them before I knew I was getting a reliable product. I have had success in the past using seeds, except for sunflowers. It's not that they won't grow, it seemed that lots of creatures loved to eat those edible seeds. Some animal (squirrel) thought he'd made the find of the century and dug them up as soon as they were planted. If by chance some of the sunflower seeds went undetected the leaves and stalks were quickly eaten once they emerged. This season to deter any animal from eating my sunflower seeds or other incredibly edible seeds I mixed Miracle Gro Blood Meal into the soil. I had never used blood meal before but I heard it was a great deterrent. Upon reading the package I noted that there were other benefits to plants. Time will tell if it will help my plants grow to maturity. With my seeds and flowers planted and my iced tea in hand I surveyed my handiwork and hoped that I had planted each one in just the right place.

~GG in the house