Garden Wisdom Blog — flowers

With pollinator conservation in mind it’s a good idea to plant flower seeds for bees. But which are the best pollinator plants? Which bee flowers are the easiest to sow and grow? What flowers can be grown in containers or schoolyards to attract pollinators? Certain plants produce flowers that are really generous with nectar and pollen in order to ensure good pollination. The plants and the bees (and other insects) that pollinate them have evolved in harmony to form important relationships — one can’t survive without the other, but together they will thrive! So the first consideration is to think...

The wildflower seeds in our Knee High Meadow Blend produce a waist-high field of brilliantly coloured flowers that bloom over a very long period from spring to fall. This blend is best for areas that will be protected from foot traffic, and it will lure hummingbirds, butterflies, bees, and other pollinators to the area. Planted less densely, this blend works just as well in containers and raised beds. African Daisy (Dimorphoteca sinuata) Baby’s Breath (Gypsophila elegans) Black-Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta) Blanketflower (Gaillardia aristata) Blue Flax (Linum perenne) California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica) Candytuft (Iberis umbellata) Catchfly (Silene armeria) Chinese Forget-Me-Not (Cynoglossum...

One day this past summer several of us got together to photograph some of the flowers and produce from the trial fields in a more studio setting. Jill, who normally works in customer service, has some professional experience as a florist, and her arrangements were amazing. Several of our team would cut the flowers and herbs (and vegetables!) and bring them into the farm house where Jill would set them up, and I would light and photograph them. We have tagged the most traditional of our cut flowers on this website so they can be filtered as a group. These...

The Biodiversity Blend provides the widest, most diverse combination of flower types in any of our wildflower blends. There are flowers to tempt every sort of pollinator, but particularly butterflies, wild bees, and hummingbirds. Several species are included that produce edible seeds, so they will continue to nourish songbirds and other critters long after their colour has faded. This mix of perennials and self-sowing annuals is intended to demonstrate one of the foundations of organic growing — that biodiversity begets biodiversity. In diverse systems, plants grow healthier and wildlife is enriched. Basil Ocimum basilicum Bishops Flower Ammi majus Blue Lupin...

The much maligned dandelion actually has a lot to offer. It has been vilified in our culture as the invader of lawn spaces, thrusting its dazzling yellow colour into an otherwise tranquil field of green. Homeowners pour millions of gallons of weed control chemicals into their lawns each year in a vain attempt to vanquish this foe. So what is it about dandelions that most homeowners hate so much? There is a degree of old fashioned thinking of lawns as symbols of wealth and status. This historical memory seems to harken back to England in the 17th Century, when tightly...