The picking garden will be there this year! I think it would be so nice to be able to pick flowers from your own plants. Every year around June I have so many regrets that I didn't try. So last year I made a little plan and I started on time! Last Saturday I finally planted some seeds and a lot of seeds have already sprouted!
This blog series is really a personal project, and may not have much to do with the webshop. Feel free to skip the blog, I just thought it would be fun to share my experiences with you. It cannot have escaped your notice that I am crazy about flowers, which is why I ended up with paper flowers. My love for flowers started as a little girl, when my mother regularly told me that I was not allowed to just pick flowers from the municipal beds. So I always made little bouquets for my mother. So I secretly think that my mother didn't always mind that I picked some flowers sometimes ;). I have always liked flowers, and since then I have tried several times to grow flowers from seeds. A picking garden is of course a step further, so I am very curious to see how it will work out!
Now you may be thinking: you live in an apartment, right? Yes, we do. So it certainly won't work there. But thanks to my parents-in-law I can try it out. My office is in the back house of my parents-in-law, who have a very large garden. Super sweet, so I can keep a close eye on the flowers every day.
What really helped me on my way was the book 'Cut Flower Garden' by Erin Benzakin. I bought this in June last year and in a few days I read the book from cover to cover. I had been following Erin on Instagram for a long time, she runs a flower farm together with her family. Her photos are really fantastic and she also shares a lot about growing flowers. It is also a very nice reference work for looking up things in the book. The book explains everything per season and per plant, Erin explains what the plants need and how you can cut the flowers, etc. Definitely recommended!
Well: let's get started! Last Saturday I picked up some other seeds at the Welkoop. I had ordered a lot of nice and somewhat special flower seeds online somewhere. In the confirmation I suddenly saw that the delivery time was four weeks. Whuuut, so they were quite behind in packing orders. Quite inconvenient if you are in the high season and you actually want to start asap. So a learning point is to order the seeds even earlier, or just check the delivery time. I actually didn't want to wait that long anymore, so I probably bought a few types of seeds. The nice thing is that you can really buy it for €1-2, so it's super cheap!
Last Saturday I sowed these seeds in the steps, put them in a growing brush and placed them on the windowsill. The seeds I used are: snapdragon/snapdragons, scabiosa, zinnia, various dahlias, dill and beautiful purple basil. This may seem like a rather random selection, but the rest will come. They are all annual plants (except the dahlias), and quite easy to grow.
In a week the zinnias, dill, basil and some scabiosa seeds sprouted. I think one greenhouse was a little warmer and therefore came out earlier. Oh and there was some mold on a few pieces, which isn't really a good sign. I always removed it with the hairdryer, so not very professional haha. I'm very curious whether that has much effect on the plants. Still a lot to learn ;).
Love,
Judith
[lang2]
The picking garden will be there this year! I think it would be so nice to be able to pick flowers from your own plants. Every year around June I have so many regrets that I didn't try. So last year I made a little plan and I started on time! Last Saturday I finally planted some seeds and a lot of seeds have already sprouted!
This blog series is really a personal project, and may not have much to do with the webshop. Feel free to skip the blog, I just thought it would be fun to share my experiences with you. It cannot have escaped your notice that I am crazy about flowers, which is why I ended up with paper flowers. My love for flowers started as a little girl, when my mother regularly told me that I was not allowed to just pick flowers from the municipal beds. So I always made little bouquets for my mother. So I secretly think that my mother didn't always mind that I picked some flowers sometimes ;). I have always liked flowers, and since then I have tried several times to grow flowers from seeds. A picking garden is of course a step further, so I am very curious to see how it will work out!
Now you may be thinking: you live in an apartment, right? Yes, we do. So it certainly won't work there. But thanks to my parents-in-law I can try it out. My office is in the back house of my parents-in-law, who have a very large garden. Super sweet, so I can keep a close eye on the flowers every day.
What really helped me on my way was the book 'Cut Flower Garden' by Erin Benzakin. I bought this in June last year and in a few days I read the book from cover to cover. I had been following Erin on Instagram for a long time, she runs a flower farm together with her family. Her photos are really fantastic and she also shares a lot about growing flowers. It is also a very nice reference work for looking up things in the book. The book explains everything per season and per plant, Erin explains what the plants need and how you can cut the flowers, etc. Definitely recommended!
Well: let's get started! Last Saturday I picked up some other seeds at the Welkoop. I had ordered a lot of nice and somewhat special flower seeds online somewhere. In the confirmation I suddenly saw that the delivery time was four weeks. Whuuut, so they were quite behind in packing orders. Quite inconvenient if you are in the high season and you actually want to start asap. So a learning point is to order the seeds even earlier, or just check the delivery time. I actually didn't want to wait that long anymore, so I probably bought a few types of seeds. The nice thing is that you can really buy it for €1-2, so it's super cheap!
Last Saturday I sowed these seeds in the steps, put them in a growing brush and placed them on the windowsill. The seeds I used are: snapdragon/snapdragons, scabiosa, zinnia, various dahlias, dill and beautiful purple basil. This may seem like a rather random selection, but the rest will come. They are all annual plants (except the dahlias), and quite easy to grow.
In a week the zinnias, dill, basil and some scabiosa seeds sprouted. I think one greenhouse was a little warmer and therefore came out earlier. Oh and there was some mold on a few pieces, which isn't really a good sign. I always removed it with the hairdryer, so not very professional haha. I'm very curious whether that has much effect on the plants. Still a lot to learn ;).
Love,
Judith
[lang2]
The picking garden is coming this year! It seems so nice to be able to pick flowers from your own garden. Every year around June, I regret not trying so much. So last year I already made a small planning and I started on time! Last Saturday I finally planted some seeds and a lot of them have already come out!
By the way, this blog series is really a personal project, and may not have much to do with the webshop. Feel free to skip the blog, I just thought it would be nice to share my experiences with you guys. You can't have missed the fact that I'm crazy about flowers, which is why I ended up with paper flowers. My love for flowers started as a little girl who I was regularly told by my mother that I couldn't just pick flowers from the church gardens. I always made little bouquets for my mother. So I secretly think that my mother didn't always mind that I picked some flowers sometimes ;). I've always liked flowers, and since then I have tried several times to grow flowers from seeds. A picking garden is a step further of course, so I am very curious how it will work!
Now you may think: you live in a flat, don't you? Yes, we do. So it will indeed not work there. But thanks to my in-laws I can give it a try. My office is in the back of my parents' house, who have a very large garden. Super sweet, I can keep an eye on the flowers every day.
What helped me a lot is the book 'Cut Flower Garden' by Erin Benzakin. I bought this one in June last year and in a few days I read the book from front to back. I've been following Erin on Instagram for a long time, she runs a flower farm together with her family. Her photos are fantastic and she also shares a lot about growing flowers. It's also a very nice reference to look up things in the book. In the book everything is separated per season and per plant Erin indicates what the plants need and how you can cut the flowers, etc. Definitely recommended!
Well: let's get started! Last Saturday I already got some other seeds from the Welkoop. I ordered a lot of nice and some special flower seeds online somewhere. In the confirmation I suddenly saw that the delivery time was four weeks. Whuuut, they were quite behind with packing orders. Quite inconvenient if you are in high season and you actually want to start asap. A learning point to order the seeds even earlier, or just to check the delivery time. Actually I didn't want to wait that long anymore, so I probably bought a few kinds of seeds. The nice thing is that you can really buy them for € 1-2, so super cheap!
Last Saturday I sowed these seeds in the steps, put them in a cultivation brush and put them in the windowsill. The seeds I used are: snapdragon, scabiosa, zinnia, various dahlias, dill and beautiful purple basil. This may seem like a rather random selection, but the rest is yet to come. They are all annual plants (except for the dahlias) and quite easy to grow.
In a week the zinnias, dill, basil and a number of seeds of scabiosa hatched. I think one greenhouse has been a bit warmer and therefore came out earlier. Oh and there was some mold on a few pieces, which is not really a good sign. I have always removed it with the hairdryer, not very professional so haha. I am very curious if that has much effect on the plants. So still a lot to learn ;).
Love,
Judith
