Flower Garden 2024
Back to gardening. (Though this is the only page at the moment.)
All but one packet came from my parents as a springtime activity for their grandkids to watch the flowers grow and bloom.
We’ve leveled a patch of the sloped yard in front of our house and sown in five sections, labeled A-E.
In order to keep track of what was planted, I made this cool map on a piece of cardboard:
All seeds sown on the glorious spring day of April 13th, 2024.
The first sprouts came in just four days in the "Flower Garden Mix. I think these may have been the Amaranthus:
A. "Helichrysum"
The Helichrysum (wikipedia.org) genus has 600 species and is one of those "wastebasket" taxons containing members that didn’t belong anywhere else.
So, after some more reading, I think what I actually have are Xerochrysum bracteatum (wikipedia.org) a.k.a. "golden everlasting" or "strawflower" which used to be in the Helichrysum genus.
(For now, though, I’m sticking with what was on the seed packet label.)
These will apparently be tall, so I’ve planted them in the back of the patch, behind the Forget-Me-Nots.
At the moment, the seedlings are all clumped together at one corner (might have accidentally washed them all there with too much water after scattering the seeds).
From 5 weeks on, they’ve remained a dense green patch of leaves.
Here’s the 2-8 week seedling/plant progression (click thumbnails for larger images):
B. Forget-Me-Not
The Myosotis (wikipedia.org) genus are known around these parts as "forget-me-nots". From a tiny bit of reading, I have a theory as to which species I’ve actually sown here, but I’ll wait until I’ve seen the blooms and fully-grown leaves.
These promise to be quite pretty. They’re growing really well and the seedlings are nicely spaced out.
These have been a real success. They’re pretty "leggy" and kind of growing all over the place, but the blue flowers are nice.
Here’s the 2-8 week seedling/plant progression (click thumbnails for larger images):
C. Flower Garden Mix
This has a huge variety. The packet mostly uses Latin names. All links go to Wikipedia:
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"Nigella damascene" (presumably Nigella damascena)
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Alyssum maritima in white
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"Bupleurum griffithii" (probably Bupleurum rotundifolium ?)
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Callistephus chinensis - a monotype genus with this one species
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"Cheiranthus allionii" (maybe Erysimum ???)
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"Chrysanthemum carinatum" (apparently Ismelia carinata, another monotype genus/species)
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"Collinsia bicolor" (Collinsia verna)
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Delphinium consolida (Consolida regalis) and/or Delphinium ajacis (Consolida ajacis)
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Gypsophila elegans in white
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"Iberis umbellate" (surely Iberis umbellata)
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Linum grandiflorum rubrum (variety of Linum grandiflorum)
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"Lupinus pixie delight" (dwarf variety of Lupinus)
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Zinnia elegans (The picture by Reinhold Möller used on Wikipedia looks amazing. I hope it thrives!)
Here’s the 2-8 week seedling/plant progression (click thumbnails for larger images):
D. Cottage Garden Mix
This packet uses mostly colloquial names for the flowers. All links go to Wikipedia:
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"Annual Baby’s Breath" (Gypsophila elegans, also in "Flower Garden Mix")
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"Black-Eyed Susan" (apparently a name used by a bunch of flowers, but probably Rudbeckia hirta ?)
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"Blue Flax" (maybe Linum lewisii since I’m in North America?)
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"Calendula" (Calendula is a genus, but I’m guessing there’s a popular species here that goes by this name. Calendula officinalis is in the Flower Garden Mix)
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"California Poppy" (Eschscholzia californica, also in "Flower Garden Mix")
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"Coreopsis-Plains" (Coreopsis tinctoria, also in "Flower Garden Mix")
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"Cornflower" (Centaurea cyanus, also in "Flower Garden Mix")
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"Corn Poppy" (Papaver rhoeas)
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"Cosmos" (Cosmos is a genus with a bunch of species, Cosmos bipinnatus is also in "Flower Garden Mix")
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"Foxglove" (Digitalis is a genus)
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"Larkspur" (either the Consolida or Delphinium genus)
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"Lupine" (A Lupinus is in the "Flower Garden Mix")
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"Pheasant’s Eye" (I’m thinking maybe Narcissus poeticus?)
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"Purple Coneflower" (Echinacea purpurea)
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"Shasta Daisy" (Leucanthemum × superbum - I know I should read this as "suberb-um", but I can’t help seeing "super-bum")
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"Sweet William" (Dianthus barbatus). Fun fact: "sweet william" is also a name for the gummy shark (Mustelus antarcticus).
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"Wallflower" (Erysimum, also in the "Flower Garden Mix")
Here’s the 2-8 week seedling/plant progression (click thumbnails for larger images):
E. American Wildflower Mix
This packet came with the Field Notes "Flora" edition. Yes, I have a quarterly subscription to notebooks. Here’s why.
This packet uses mostly colloquial names for the flowers. All links go to Wikipedia:
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"Cornflower" (Centaurea cyanus, also in "Flower Garden Mix" and "Cottage Garden Mix")
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"Siberian Wallflower" (Erysimum, also in "Flower Garden Mix" and "Cottage Garden Mix")
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"Lance-Leaf Coreopsis" (Coreopsis lanceolata)
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"Plains Coreopsis" (Coreopsis tinctoria, also in "Flower Garden Mix" and "Cottage Garden Mix")
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"Cosmos" (this genus also listed in "Cottage Garden Mix"…)
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"Sulphur Cosmos" (Cosmos sulphureus)
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"Sweet William" (Dianthus barbatus, also in "Cottage Garden Mix")
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"Purple Coneflower" (Echinacea_purpurea purpurea, also in "Cottage Garden Mix")
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"California Poppy" (Eschscholzia californica, also in "Flower Garden Mix" and "Cottage Garden Mix")
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"Blanket Flower" (Gaillardia genus. Some of these look really pretty. We’ll see if something appears.)
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"Firewheel" (Another Gaillardia, specifically Gaillardia pulchella. This looks amazing in pictures)
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"Baby’s Breath" (Gypsophila elegans, also in "Flower Garden Mix" and "Cottage Garden Mix")
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"Sunflower" (I guess that’s Helianthus annuus)
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"Candytuft" (Iberis is a genus. Iberis umbellata is in the "Flower Garden Mix")
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"Scarlet Flax" (Linum grandiflorum. Linum grandiflorum rubrum is in the "Flower Garden Mix")
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"Wild Blue Flax" (as with the "Cottage Garden Mix", maybe Linum lewisii?)
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"Perennial Lupine" (a Lipinus, maybe like those in "Flower Garden Mix" and "Cottage Garden Mix")
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"Baby Blue Eyes" (Nemophila menziesii)
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"Common Evening Primrose" (Oenothera biennis)
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"Red Poppy" (Papaver rhoeas, also in the "Cottage Garden Mix")
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"Black-Eyed Susan" (Rudbeckia hirta, also in the "Cottage Garden Mix" and presumably the same flower)
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"Gloriosa Daisy" (hmm… apparently also a Rudbeckia hirta, but a specific cultivar. So, maybe we’ll see how this differs from the other one.)
Here’s the 2-8 week seedling/plant progression (click thumbnails for larger images):
Little Garden Visitors
It’s been fun to see some creatures at the flower garden.
Toad!
A lacewing larva (Chrysopidae). Sometimes called "trash bugs" because they carry garbage (in this case, clearly some other dead insects) on their backs to foil predators.
Blue dasher dragonfly. I love dragonflies.
