Soil

Well-drained soil of average fertility.

Position

Full sun.

Frost tolerant

None. Morning glory is a warm-season annual.

Feeding

Mix a light application of a balanced organic fertilizer into the soil prior to planting. In midsummer, drench plants with a liquid fertilizer to prolong bloom time.

Companions

Melon. Vigorous morning glory vines will twine up any type of support and grow into lush, heavy-blooming plants. They are at their best on a sturdy fence.

Spacing

Single Plants: 7" (20cm) each way (minimum)

Rows: 7" (20cm) with 7" (20cm) row gap (minimum)

Sow and Plant

Sow morning glory seeds indoors to get a head start, or you can plant the seeds where you want the plants to grow at about the time of your last spring frost.

Our Garden Planning Tool can produce a personalized calendar of when to sow, plant and harvest for your area.

Notes

Morning glory vines are fast climbers that will run up fences, poles, or taller plants such as sunflowers. Morning glory flowers close up during the afternoon hours.

Harvesting

Gather up the old vines after they are damaged by frost and compost them. Morning glories are related to tomatoes, sweet potatoes and other members of the nightshade family.

Troubleshooting

Many older strains of morning glory quickly become invasive weeds in warm summer climates. ‘Heavenly Blue’ and ‘Flying Saucers’ are safe choices because they set few seeds compared to many other varieties.

Soil

Well-drained soil of average fertility.

Position

Full sun.

Frost tolerant

Limited. The varieties sold as bedding plants can tolerate light frosts, but are meant to be grown as summer annuals.

Feeding

Mix a light application of a balanced organic fertilizer into the soil prior to planting. In summer, drench plants every two weeks with a liquid fertilizer.

Companions

Ageratum and Petunia. African daisies look best when planted in groups or masses, perhaps framed with dusty miller, ageratum or annual verbena. Osteospermum make great flowers for containers.

Spacing

Single Plants: 11" (30cm) each way (minimum)

Rows: 11" (30cm) with 11" (30cm) row gap (minimum)

Sow and Plant

Only a few varieties of osteospermum are grown from seed. The heavy flowering varieties are propagated from rooted stem cuttings and sold as potted plants in spring. Set plants out at about the time of your last spring frost.

Notes

Osteospermum colors include pink, white, and shades of yellow. The plants will bloom for eight weeks or more if old flowers are removed.

Harvesting

When cut as soon as they open, osteospermum make good cut flowers.

Troubleshooting

As plants age, they sometimes develop problems with powdery mildew. Aphids may occasionally feed on new growing tips and buds. Pinch off large colonies.

Soil

Average garden soil with excellent drainage.

Position

Full sun.

Frost tolerant

Good. Where winters are mild, seedlings sprout in fall and survive until spring.

Feeding

Fast growth is encouraged by mixing a balanced organic fertilizer into the soil before planting.

Companions

Echinacea, Oats and Monarda. Upright larkspur makes an ideal flower to grow behind shorter mound-forming bloomers.

Spacing

Single Plants: 11" (30cm) each way (minimum)

Rows: 11" (30cm) with 11" (30cm) row gap (minimum)

Sow and Plant

Sow larkspur seeds where you want the plants to grow in fall, or first thing in spring. Larkspur can be transplanted with care, but plants grow best from direct-sown seeds.

Our Garden Planner can produce a personalized calendar of when to sow, plant and harvest for your area.

Notes

Well-pleased plants can grow quite tall and may need staking. In many climates, larkspur will reseed with a little encouragement. Colors include pink, purple, lavender, white and many bicolors.

Harvesting

Larkspurs make wonderful cut flowers. As flowers fade, snip them off with scissors to keep the plants looking neat. Pull up plants when blooms become scarce.

Troubleshooting

The biggest challenge to growing larkspur is getting the seedlings up and growing. Larkspur is poisonous to pets and horses, but is seldom nibbled due to its bitter taste

Annual zones 2-10

5-6 feet tall, space 18-24" apart

full sun/part shade, average water

Great cut flowers

Sow seeds 1/4-1/2" deep

Sunflowers are best used as outdoor border plants and can be planted in fences or crowded fields. They will bloom throughout the summer and collect seeds at the end of the season.

This mammoth Grey Striped Sunflower produces nutritious white and grey striped seeds. The massive bright yellow blooms have feathery petals and large chocolate brown centers full of seeds. Thin-shelled, striped seeds are plump and meaty with high oil content. Plants grow 6-12' tall and produce flowers that range from 10-12″ across.  

Sunflower seeds can be planted directly into the garden soil.

Sow seed directly into the garden in late spring to early summer or start seeds indoors in 4 weeks before spring frost danger has ended. 

Plant seeds 1” deep and 6” apart. They should come up in 8-10 days depending on the soil temperature and grow quickly in warm weather. After the seeds sprout thin plants to at least 12" apart. First blooms appear 60-90 days after emergence.

They grow well in poor soil and will tolerate heat and dry conditions.

Each packet contains 15 Organic Sunflower - Grey Stripe seeds. Helianthus annuus.  Annual. Open-pollinated, heirloom, Non-GMO.Harvest after 100 days.

This has to be one of the easiest and most rewarding Perennials available producing beautiful flowered, long spurred blooms in a multitude of colours and combinations. The attractive divided foliage forms a basal clump of fresh apple-green, leafing up early in spring to make a lovely foil for bulbs and early Primroses in the garden. They start pushing up flowering stems as early as April and go on producing a sequence of blooms until early June. The abundant, bee-pleasing flowers are 5cm (2in) in width, each with short, curled spurs are produced in in May, a month when flowers tend to be in short supply.

Full double, star-shape blooms ranging from deep cherry wine - light pink and rose shades. 

This old-fashioned cultivar of the species has a mounding habit and grows up to 18 inches tall and a foot wide. From summer to frost, it bears blossoms in shades of yellow, red, and orange which are held clear above the foliage.

Noteworthy Characteristics

These annuals are native to South America. They are suitable for garden edges, herb gardens, covering banks, hanging baskets, and other containers. The leaves and flowers are edible.

Care

Provide moist, well-drained soil in full sun. T. majus flowers best when grown in lean soil.

Pansy 'Swiss Giants Mix' seed mix is a large-flowered, heirloom pansy that comes in a mix of blue, orange, purple, red, white and yellow. Flowers have a contrasting, dark blotch. Pansies are perennials but are generally treated as annuals. They are quite cold resistant, and the flowers are edible.