Easy annuals for the cut-flower garden

While enjoying the early display of color from our early spring bulbs, many of us are dreaming of the bursts of color that our flowering plants will bring us this summer. While perennials provide color and flowers year after year, annuals can also provide flowers for our indoor bouquets all summer long.

 Some annuals such as petunias are better for landscape purposes. Good cut flower types are those that will hold well in a vase for several days. Here are several that you should be able to grow with relative ease.

Zinnia

The workhorse of any annual cut flower garden is zinnia. The industry standard cultivar is “Benary Giant” which can be many vibrant colors. There are several other cultivars such as “Oklahoma,” “Queen” and “Envy,” as well as landscape types that are low growing with somewhat smaller flowers.

Zinnia seeds can be started inside and transplanted, or direct-seeded. The seedlings are sensitive to cold temperatures so if planted early, ensure protection if cold weather occurs. Zinnia will flower all summer long if the plant is regularly harvested, but the plants eventually do fall prey to powdery mildew toward the end of the season, so two or three plantings throughout the summer can ensure bright, healthy blooms into the fall.

Sunflowers

Sunflowers are a summer staple that those of us who grow flowers cannot do without. It is important to know a few things about sunflowers when choosing which cultivar to grow. Some cultivars like “Joker” are branching, which will produce many flowers, while others are single-stems such as any of the “Procut” series.

“Mammoth Grey Stripe” is a very tall cultivar that will form large heads, and “Teddy Bear” is a miniature that is great for growing with kids.

While sunflowers can be transplanted, they will grow better if they are direct seeded (½-inch deep). They can be planted after the danger of frost has passed and will not germinate in cold soil.

Statice

Statice is one of the most popular flowers in dried arrangements, but it is also used in fresh arrangements (particularly dark purple types). Statice can come in many colors.

“QIS Series” is a popular cultivar mix. The plant will grow in a low rosette and the stems will arise from the rosette. It will flower from spring to summer and will produce more than one cutting, although the first cutting will have the most vigorous stems. Statice is easily started from seed and transplanted in the garden.

Gomphrena

Gomphrena, also known as globe amaranth, is a small flower that adds a little pop of color to the garden. It is low growing and will produce flower heads that resemble clover and are 1 to 2 inches in size. “QIS Series,” “Strawberry Fields” and “Bicolor Rose” are a few of the cultivars that are on the market.

Like statice, gomphrena is better grown from seed and then transplanted after the danger of frost has passed. Harvesting the stems regularly will trigger the plant to form more. The flowers are easily dried by harvesting the stems and hanging them upside down in a dark, dry place with air movement (such as from garage rafters).

Celosia

While not a traditional flower with petals, celosia plants form a head at the end of the stem that can take many forms and/or colors. For example, Celosia argentea var. agentea cultivars, (also known as crested cockscomb) will form feathery plumed seed heads, whereas Celosia agentea var. cristata cultivars form a seed head that resembles a brain.

It is important to know what species you are growing because some species will benefit from being pinched, while pinching other cultivars will result in the loss of the seed head.

Celosia grows very easily from seed and can be grown from transplants or direct-seeded in the garden. Many varieties are hybrids, meaning that if you save seeds it is possible that you will not get the same plant back.

Dahlia

Of all garden cut flowers, dahlias are my favorite. Ranging in size, color and form from petite miniatures to showy dinner-plate size, dahlias are sure to add pizazz to any garden.

There are actually 10 different types of dahlias. Tropical in origin, dahlias are treated as annuals in our region. The plant grows from tubers (similar to potatoes) which should be planted 4 to 6 inches deep toward the end of May. Some gardeners are comfortable planting earlier but be aware that the tubers will rot if the soil is cold and wet.

When the plant is about 6 inches tall, pinch back to the first or second set of leaves to encourage the plant to “bush out.” Dahlias are usually large plants and the weight of the plant and flowers can cause them to topple so it is important that they are staked. Cut back the flowers to encourage continual blooming.

Dahlias will flower from July to frost. Once a hard frost has occurred, wait about a week to cut the plant back. Carefully dig the tuber clump and clean it.

The clump can be separated at this time, but you need to ensure that when separating that you leave a part of the stem on the tuber that has an eye (it resembles a small, raised bump on the stem). The plant will not grow next year without one. Store the tubers in a cool, dark area in a bag with some vermiculite or sawdust over the winter.

For More Information:- Jacqueline Kowalski

Edwards proclaims today Agriculture Day in Louisiana

BATON ROUGE, La. (KLFY) – Governor John Bel Edwards signed an official proclamation on Monday declaring March 21, 2017 Agriculture Day in Louisiana.

National Ag Day is also being celebrated in communities and schools across the country today.

The day is organized by the Agriculture Council of America and Governor Edwards says a great debt is owed to the hardworking men and women who raise the quality produce and livestock that all Louisiana families depend on daily.

“Given the two historic floods in March and August, 2016 was a difficult year for many farms, both large and small. I hope that proclaiming Louisiana Ag Day demonstrates our appreciation for the important work being done by this industry to keep our families healthy and productive, especially when that work is most challenging.” said Governor Edwards.

Louisianians depend on a consistently strong $13 billion annual agriculture industry, with about 60% of Louisiana’s agriculture income generated by crops and 40% by livestock and livestock products.

In terms of income generated, the top five agricultural products in the state are sugar cane, rice, cattle, soybeans and cotton.

For More Information:- Dusty Crochet

Caroline Plouff | why flower subscription services are blooming

Online florists cater for those who want fresh flowers delivered all year round, not just on Valentine’s Day

On February 14 doorsteps across the land will brace themselves against a nausea of red roses and the villainous grins of the teddy bears roped to them. Once a year, like unhinged maharajas, we summon garlands from around the globe — Belgium, Kenya, Ecuador — then plonk them next to the radiator to wilt. Valentine’s Day roses dunked in anti-fungal pesticides somewhere outside Bogotá are not love; they are subtext for “it’s remarkable how long we’ve tolerated each other”. They are for the mistresses, the desperate and the lazy. True love flowers all year round.

In recent years there has been a rash of online subscription services itching for customers to commit to a lifetime of muddy vegetables and organic coffee. We can subscribe to regular crates of free-range bacon (artisan heart attacks in a box) or weekly cases of wine (bottled dipsomania). Ordering repeat deliveries of fresh-cut flowers may once have felt as decadent as Cleopatra demanding her bed of rose petals be refreshed incessantly by slaves; it is now an increasingly widespread proposition.

All week Alice Strange slips through the rooms and corridors of her clients, imparting a drift of flowers in her wake. Blossoms and magnolia; delphiniums and peonies in soft colors and romantic accents. “I go to bed at eight,” she says “wake up at four, leave at 4.15 and am at the New Convent Garden market by 4.30 to buy flowers for that day.”

After working at designer Martin Brudnizki’s studio in London and the florist Wild at Heart, Strange conceived a bespoke service that married interior design with florist, and struck out on her own. “I could never understand why you would pay for an off-the-shelf arrangement when you could pay the same amount for something tailor-made,” she says. “Someone might love pink flowers that look amazing on their own but in a home look really average.”

Unlike the blossoming of letterbox subscription services, which leave the customer to configure a bewilderment of stems, Strange selects, trims and arranges the flowers, pairing them with the interior design of each house. “Flowers should never be viewed in isolation, they’re part of a surrounding — whether that’s a garden or an interior,” she says. “Styling interiors with flowers is like building layers on a canvas; flowers are the final accent of color needed to finish the picture.”

The high-note screams of bright color blooms are notably absent from Strangers arrangements. Her style is singularly her own, informed by the muted tones and impressionistic paintings of St Ives artist Winifred Nicholson: a pot of primulas and the promise of an open window, a grace of pensions on a marble mantelpiece. “Nature has an amazing way of arranging itself,” says Strange, who is inspired by the hedgerows of Lincolnshire where she grew up. “You only have to look at the countryside to know what textures and colors work.”

For More Information: - Jenny Lee

Positive Outlook For Agricultural Sector

Parliament – Agriculture output is expected to increase as South Africa recovers from a crippling drought, which National Treasury is hoping will boost job creation in the sector.

According to the 2017 budget review tabled by Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan on Wednesday, two successive seasons of drought had led output falling for seven consecutive quarters.

The outlook had, however, changed, as rains returned to parts of the country.

According to a table in the review illustrating the relationship between demand, output and employment, "for every R1 million of extra output in agriculture, the economy creates 3.9 unskilled jobs and one skilled job, and overall output in the economy increases by R1.7 million".

Although the outlook on agriculture was mostly positive, treasury explained the importance of the containment of the current spread of fall army worms, which if overlooked, could threaten cereal crop production.

Over the next three years, government would spend more than R5.5 billion on comprehensive agricultural support programmer conditional grants to provide around 435,000 subsistence and smallholder farmers with equipment, fencing, fertilizers, seedlings, improved extension services and repairs to flood-damaged infrastructure.

Gordhan said: "Expenditure is expected to grow to R29.8 billion by the 2019/20 financial year, at an average annual rate of 4.7 percent, accounting for 1.9 percent of total government spending over the Medium Term Expenditure Framework period." 

For More Information:- Andrea Chothia