Saturday, June 14, 2014

Success with Seeds in hot, dry conditions

My backyard faces due South and is baked by the sun, and I also have a severe gopher problem so planting flowers and shrubbery starts has been an abject failure, with the gophers feasting on my tender new plants.

Therefore, I have turned to seed, as a way of starting new plants that would escape the gopher's predlilections.  So far the following seeds have been successful, although often they have only seemed to germinate months or even years after they were sown:

  • Bachelor's Button - a tough wildflower that comes in pinks, blues and purples, very attractive en masse.  I planted these seeds over a year ago and this summer they finally made their appearance.
  • Cosmos - lovely pink and white wildflowers.
  • California poppies - these ubiquitous orange blooms often re-sow themselves the next year.
  • Nasturtium - comes in hues ranging from butter yellow to orange to red to "mahogany" - lovely large seeds grow easily and often volunteer the next year too.
  • Violas - these adorable flowers look like tiny pansies, and are perrenials.
I recommend the "Wildflowers" brand of seed available at Home Deopt as they sell large packets of many hardy flowers including the ones mentioned above:






 

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