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Laura321
- Full Member
- Posts: 14
- Joined: Wed Apr 11, 2012 5:33 pm
- Location: Victoria, British Columbia
Any flower seeds I can start outdoors during summer?
I'm a novice gardener in zone 8b or 9a, depending on the map you use. I'm eager to grow more pretty plants but I'm on a very limited budget. Seeds are cheap. Is there anything I can start now or during the summer? I'm thinking it would have to be something that grows very fast or something that blooms in the fall. Plants would end up in my shade garden bed or in pots on my sunny deck.
I am in no way an expert, I'm a beginner too. Just from my reading you could perhaps do Brussels sprouts now. They have an extremely long growing season and wouldn't be ready until well into Fall. Apparently they are actually better after a frost or two. Same thing for kale.
I'm in zone 7, but I just last weekend started green beans, broccoli, heat resistant lettuce, and eggplant. The beans are already 2 inches high! Like you said, seeds are cheap, so if none of that works out, it's an inexpensive lesson learned.
Hopefully someone with more sound advice will come in, I'm interested too. Good luck!
I'm in zone 7, but I just last weekend started green beans, broccoli, heat resistant lettuce, and eggplant. The beans are already 2 inches high! Like you said, seeds are cheap, so if none of that works out, it's an inexpensive lesson learned.
Hopefully someone with more sound advice will come in, I'm interested too. Good luck!
You could sow China aster seed.
Altho' I'm not a great distance away, I am unsure of your climate. Asters are rather prone to disease so if things aren't quite right, they can get sick. I sow seed most every year in June and set transplants out when we have a cloudy July day. They require a full-sun location. The plants don't grow quite as large as those started back in April and set out in May but they can be planted more closely together.
I think many people miss out on having China asters. Perhaps they want instant color and these annuals don't bloom in the packs at the garden centers so, they are passed by. When they do bloom late in summer, they put on quite a show.
Many perennials can be started this time of year. It is just a matter of finding a good location where the seedlings won't burn up in the summer sun. Your shade garden may be a good location. The plants can be moved around next spring. I can't think of any that would bloom by this fall, however.
Steve
Altho' I'm not a great distance away, I am unsure of your climate. Asters are rather prone to disease so if things aren't quite right, they can get sick. I sow seed most every year in June and set transplants out when we have a cloudy July day. They require a full-sun location. The plants don't grow quite as large as those started back in April and set out in May but they can be planted more closely together.
I think many people miss out on having China asters. Perhaps they want instant color and these annuals don't bloom in the packs at the garden centers so, they are passed by. When they do bloom late in summer, they put on quite a show.
Many perennials can be started this time of year. It is just a matter of finding a good location where the seedlings won't burn up in the summer sun. Your shade garden may be a good location. The plants can be moved around next spring. I can't think of any that would bloom by this fall, however.
Steve
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rainbowgardener
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 25279
- Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
- Location: TN/GA 7b
I would never start broccoli or lettuce (even "heat resistant" varieties) this time of year; they are cold weather crops.
In BC you are probably not having the heat and drought much of the US is. For flowers in sun you could plant zinnia and cosmos. For shade impatiens. Petunias and nicotiana (ornamental tobacco) do well in sun or part sun. All of those could be started from seed and be flowering in 6-8 wks. They are all annuals so would be done at the end of the year. But if you let some of them go to seed at the end of the season, they may reseed themselves for next year.
In BC you are probably not having the heat and drought much of the US is. For flowers in sun you could plant zinnia and cosmos. For shade impatiens. Petunias and nicotiana (ornamental tobacco) do well in sun or part sun. All of those could be started from seed and be flowering in 6-8 wks. They are all annuals so would be done at the end of the year. But if you let some of them go to seed at the end of the season, they may reseed themselves for next year.
Delphiniums should be a real good choice, Laura. I've started plants at this time of year. Remember that they are prone to mildew so you want them where they have room and can get good air movement and sunlight.
And . . . you can start their annual relative the larkspur.
I once thought that a way for me to have red/white/blue larkspur by the 4th of July was to start them the year before. Problem was that mostly it is the blue and only a few of the red & white that can survive our winters. They will have milder temperatures to contend with in your garden.
Steve
And . . . you can start their annual relative the larkspur.
I once thought that a way for me to have red/white/blue larkspur by the 4th of July was to start them the year before. Problem was that mostly it is the blue and only a few of the red & white that can survive our winters. They will have milder temperatures to contend with in your garden.
Steve
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applestar
- Mod
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- Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
- Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)
Haha I just ordered some more buckwheat seeds myself. Also, ordered Sunset Runner beans -- an unusually fast maturing runner at 60 days with salmon-pink blossoms.
I'm sorry but I'm not very familiar with flowers, but I CAN suggest other colorful edible landscaping vegetables like Bright Lights Swiss chard, Rhubarb chard and (I just ordered this) Cardinal Chard, Red Russian Kale (turns gorgeous almost bluish green with intense red-violet veins when it gets cold), any of the red basil varieties, and if your weather is cool enough, Purple Vienna kholrabi, red cabbage, Falstaff purple Brussels sprouts.
This one is not good if your summer weather is cool, but I'm growing Malabar spinach (substitute) for the first time this year and -- wow oh wow -- it's a beautiful vine.
I'm sorry but I'm not very familiar with flowers, but I CAN suggest other colorful edible landscaping vegetables like Bright Lights Swiss chard, Rhubarb chard and (I just ordered this) Cardinal Chard, Red Russian Kale (turns gorgeous almost bluish green with intense red-violet veins when it gets cold), any of the red basil varieties, and if your weather is cool enough, Purple Vienna kholrabi, red cabbage, Falstaff purple Brussels sprouts.
This one is not good if your summer weather is cool, but I'm growing Malabar spinach (substitute) for the first time this year and -- wow oh wow -- it's a beautiful vine.