Show me the money.. . and a beautiful flower
Growing annual flowers from seed is money in your pocket!
Annual
flowers are great to grow but, can be costly when purchasing at a nursery or
garden center. Face it, we usually only buy a pack or two at a time when we actually
need six or twelve. The cost for flower packs can be quite expensive. When you're an avid gardener, we don't like to pay much for garden supplies because, we have so much to buy each season.
Annuals grow continuously from early spring to late Autumn
and completely die by November. If you were smart, you would have saved seeds
for next year’s planting and most of us are a bit lazy or forgetful when it comes to saving those marigold or bachelor button seeds, right?
Buying flower packs at a garden center takes a lot of time out of growing them yourself. There's purchasing seed, buying or finding the potting supplies, planting the seed, tending to the seeds daily and then finally the day comes when you can actually transplant your beloved home grown flowers.. . that's if they survived! It takes a minutes compared to weeks to buy a pack of flowers then go home and put the in the ground. So there's definitely a convenience factor in buying annual flowers rather than growing them yourself from seed.
Because
annual flowers only grow from Spring to Autumn, this gives you another chance
to have an entirely new garden every year. You can change annuals out in a garden
to play up color, size, texture, aroma or just because you can!
Most
gardeners like to use annuals to accent their gardens that already have
perennials or biennials planted. Annuals can be easily be changed out or
rotated. Most annuals don’t mind being transplanted as long as the root system
isn’t harmed.
Starting plants from seed is less expensive than purchasing from
a nursery, there are more varieties to choose from than most garden centers
even offer, you can grow expensive higher quality plants and you will
absolutely enjoy the satisfaction of growing your flowers from start to finish.
Added bonus: seed saving!
*Popular annual flowers include cosmos, aster, black eyed Susan, bachelor button, daisy, marigold, poppies, zinnia and more. A compiled list of annuals is listed below.
If you live in cold weather climates it’s probably a good idea to start
your seeds indoors. You can use any container you want as long as it’s sturdy
and has good drainage. I like to reuse containers from items purchased at grocery
stores. Foods that come in a bowl with a lid are usually sturdy. Cottage
cheese, yogurt, tin cans, Starbucks coffee cups can all be repurposed for
growing flowers from seed.
Note: There are annuals that don't do well grown indoors or some that are soft or delicate that can be grown indoors but, don't like to be transplanted.
A packet of flower seed can cost pennies to a few dollars. I’ve purchased
American Seed Company for 10¢ from Walgreens to Burpee for $3.48 From Walmart. If you choose an heirloom variety, you can save seeds for next season. Just think of the savings! It's always wonderful to share seed or use them for seed swapping too!






With time and patience, a packet of seed will give you far more flowers
than a four or six pack of flowers from Lowe’s. I completely recommend growing
flowers from seed because, it’s far cheaper than purchasing flower packs from
your local garden center, seeds grown in your own soil will be hardier and will
adapt to your soil’s ph condition and lastly, there’s far more variety of seed
packets available than actual plants grown at any nursery. Most nurseries have
the usual annuals as like marigold, petuna, zinnia etc.

I’ll sow flower seed when I want a block of flowers usually of one or two
variety. I like to have more control
over where I plant my flowers. I’ve also been known to change my mind about
where I want particular flowers to grow. I like to change things up each year.

Sowing seed directly can be a risky if you reside in a windy area, have
roaming animals that walk through garden beds or even pecking birds like
pigeons, crows or chickens.

Note: There are tender annuals that don’t do well started from seed
indoors. Alyssum, poppies, larkspur, or even sweet peas are examples of tender
annuals. It’s best to direct sow these types of flowers after the danger of the
last frost or in containers outdoors. For some reason they just don’t like a
control environment and like to start their little lives outside.
Purple fountain grass, Zinnia (Profusion Orange), Pelargonium (Tango Violet) and English ivy
Remember, if your container doesn't have good drainage, it will be bad
for the seed and rooting system. Just take a hammer and a nail to the bottom of
the container or an electric drill to make holes.
Seed sells for starters can be purchased at any garden center. Jiffy pots
are a good brand that can be used over and over. I've even seen them sold at
pharmacies. The biodegradable paper flower pots are great but, I’d rather save
money by using something made of hard durable plastic or tin that can be
cleaned with vinegar then reused.
Note: Sometimes tin cans in the summer can be too hot for growing tender plants
in. We all know how hot it gets in the southwest. Painting tin cans yellow,
light blue or orange can keep the cans cool. Your best bet in not baking your
plants when using tin cans is to keep them in indirect sun.
Soft Annuals That Are Best Started
Outdoors – Less Successful Growing Indoors
Most flowers will germinate fine indoors because they need a warm soil temperature but, for some reason flowers that are considered 'soft annuals' like to actually grow outdoors once leaves begin to divelop.
Amaranth
American Annual baby's-breath (Gypsophila elegans)
Ammi Majus – Bishop Flower, Queen Anne’s Lace
Asters
Bachelor Button
Begonia
Calendula
California and Shirley poppies (Papaver)
Caster Bean
Celosia
Cosmos
Forget-me-nots (Myosotis)
Hyacinth Bean
Larkspur
Lavatera
Linaria
Love-in-a-mist (Nigella)
Marigold
Mexican Sunflower
Morning Glory
Nasturtium
Pansies - Viola
Pincushion
Dianthus - Pinks
Salvia
Snapdragons
Spider flower - Cleome
Sunflower
Sweet peas
Zinnia Bachelor buttons
Hardy Annuals That Grow Just Fine Indoors and transfer with no
problem.

Ageratum
Amaranth
Balloon vine
Bloodflower
Browallia
Cape Primrose
Coleus
Cleome
Coleus
Geranium
Goldfish Plant
Impatiens
Lavatera – Rose Mallow
Miniature Roses
Petunia
Petunia
Sage
Sweet William
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Howdy!
Thank you very much for your comments and questions.I will be sure to reply as soon as I can. With Regards ~Emma