A Garden of Wildflowers
My flower gardens continue to delight all who visit.
Fortunately, there are many flowering plants that blossom this time of year, including sunflowers, cosmos, coreopsis, calendula, and baby's breath - and one of the gardens here at my farm is filled with them. Earlier this summer, I gave my head gardener, Ryan McCallister, a packet of wildflower seeds from Pennington. Not knowing whether they would do well, he tried them out in the bed next to my main greenhouse. The flowers came up beautifully, creating a meadow-like mix of gorgeous orange, yellow and white blooms.
Enjoy these photos.
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- This area behind my main greenhouse was long used for growing gooseberries. Last year, I decided it would be a wonderful bed for flowers. It gets great sun and because this spot is surrounded on two sides by the structure, it is also protected from strong winds. Last summer, we planted dahlias. This year, we first planted it with our garlic crop, and now we have a miniature “meadow” of wildflowers.
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- Cosmos are annuals with colorful daisy-like flowers that sit atop long slender stems. They attract birds, bees, and butterflies and come in a variety of colors including white and various shades of pink, crimson, rose, lavender and purple, all with yellow centers.
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- The lacy foliage and silky flowers bloom from midsummer to frost.
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- The flowers measure three to four inches across, and may be single, semi-double or double.
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- The leaves are formed of narrow, pointed, deeply-cut lobes curving outwards slightly from a central vein or spine.
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- Here is a dark pink variety. Depending on the type of flower, cosmos can grow anywhere between 18 to 60 inches tall.
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- And another cosmo in beautiful lavender.
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- This cosmo produces luscious white petals with a deep yellow center. Cosmos are vigorous, versatile and resilient wildflowers that are adaptable to both sun and partial shade.
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- Coreopsis, or tickseed, is an extremely adaptable and easy growing perennial flower. Coreopsis is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. It develops mass quantities of yellow, orange, rose, lavender, white, or bi-colored blooms.
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- Many of you recognize baby’s breath, Gypsophila paniculata. This plant may be annual or perennial, and grows white, rose, and pink, single or double blooms.
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- The baby’s breath plant likes an alkaline or sweet, well-draining soil.
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- In one corner, we also have a group of sunflowers. Sunflowers commonly bloom during summer and a portion of fall.
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- Sunflower is the only flower with flower in its name. “Helia” for sun and “anthus” for flower. Sunflowers are also the symbol of faith, loyalty and adoration.
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- Young sunflowers turn to face the sun as it moves across the sky. They face east at dawn and then slowly turn west as the sun moves. During the night, they slowly turn back east to begin the cycle again. This is known as heliotropism and is due to the presence of auxin, a growth hormone in the stem. This process continues until the sunflower is mature. Sunflowers have different colored petals, but their centers also vary in different shades.
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- Sunflower leaves can grow up to six-inches long and two-and-a-half inches wide, tapering to a pointed tip. The leaf base is rounded and tapers abruptly to a short “winged” leaf stem. Sunflower stems are also quite sturdy, but if possible, plant seeds in a spot that is sheltered from strong winds.
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- This bed is also planted with a row of boxwood at the front. The boxwood was nurtured from small seedlings right here on my farm.
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- The leaves on boxwood branches are arranged opposite from each other, making pairs. The boxes are native to western and southern Europe, southwest, southern and eastern Asia, Africa, Madagascar, northernmost South America, Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean. Boxwood is one of my favorites – I use a lot of it here at the farm.
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- Growing low to the ground are some calendula plants. Calendula has daisy-like bright orange or yellow flowers, and pale green leaves. Commonly called the pot marigold, Calendula officinalis, the calendula flower is historically used for medicinal and culinary purposes.
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- Here is a calendula flower just about to unfurl.
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- Nicotiana is a genus of herbaceous plants and shrubs of the family Solanaceae, that is indigenous to the Americas, Australia, southwest Africa and the South Pacific. It is also called tobacco flower, or flowering tobacco – and yes, Nicotiana has high concentrations of nicotine.
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- This miniature “meadow” has been blooming for weeks, catching everyone’s attention. It has been a nice addition to the flower gardens here at the farm. What are your favorite wildflowers? Share your comments in the section below.
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