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Hi, I'm Jennifer, owner and lead designer at Petals a floral design firm in Boulder, Colorado.  Along with my husband and two children, I  grow my own organic blooms using the greenest and most sustainable processes available.  

This blog is where I explore topics from floral design, wedding planning, organic farming and gardening, sustainable living, and our family's quest to find the perfect farm! 

I'm so glad you are here! 

Jennifer

Writer's picturePetals Bouder

Two easy to grow flowers that will fill your house with flowers all summer long!


Calendula (PhotoCred MorguefileMelodi2)

I. FOR EARLY BLOOMS: Calendula

Commonly is commonly known as marigold and is part of the daisy family. Recent breeding successes have resulted in a greater variety of colors and longer stems, allowing for the flowers to become more fashionable and usable as cut flowers. Requiring only 60 days to mature and cut-and-come again prolific nature, these flowers make an excellent choice for cut flower gardens. Calendula the word derives from the Latin form of calendar and means “little clock.”


Zones: Grow anywhere as annuals. 9 and above as perennials.

Type: Annual

Site: Full Sun

Days to Maturity: 60

Height: 18-20”

PlantSpacing:

Start indoors: 4-6 weeks before last frost, start seeds in trays indoors. Transplant outdoors only after all danger of frost has passed. Succession plant at 2-3 week intervals to stagger harvest.

Direct sow: Can direct sow after all danger of frost has passed. Succession plant at 2-3 week intervals to stagger harvest.

Pinch: when 8” tall

Harvest: Pick flowers during the coolest part of the day and when they are half way opened. Keep in water with flower food for an expected vase life of 6-7 days.

Where to buy:

For trendy and newer color choices including mauve, bronze and traditional cream, orange and yellow: https://shop.floretflowers.com/search?q=calendula&post_type=product

For super high-quality, brighter and more traditional color strains:

https://www.johnnyseeds.com/search/?q=calendula&lang=en_US



Zinnia (PhotoCred MorguefileDee88)

II. FOR LATE SUMMER BLOOMS: Zinnia

Zinnia are my all time favorite flowers to grow from seed. Zinnia are super easy to grow, prolific, and come in a stunning variety of colors, shapes, and sizes. The only downside to zinnias is they have a longer “days to maturity” than some flowers and only really get to pumping out blooms in later summer (late July through August and if you are lucky with a late first frost, even into September or October). In an effort to get more flowers from my zinnia earlier and for longer, I always start my zinnias both indoors and direct sow. Honestly though, starting them indoors is more to satisfy my own desire to get my hands dirty as early as possible than anything else. I’m pretty sure all of my pre-work starting zinnia indoors does next to nothing to jump start blooms as by August I can’t tell a difference between the ones started inside in March and the ones direct sowed in May. Additionally, zinnias grown in indirect light or in the greenhouse do not develop as vibrant colors as those grown outdoors in direct light.


Zones: 4-10

Type: Annual

Site: Full sun

Days to Maturity: 75-90 days

Height : type dependent, up to 36” tall

Plant Spacing: 9-12 inches

Start indoors: 4-6 weeks before last frost, start seeds in trays indoors. Transplant outdoors only

after all danger of frost has passed.

Direct Sow: Can direct sow after all danger of frost has passed.

Pinch: when 10” tall

Harvest: Harvest in full bloom only once stem remains rigid when shaken. Will last up to 10 days in water with flower food.

Where to Buy:

For trendy and newer color choices but that tend to sell out quickly:

https://shop.floretflowers.com/collections/zinnia

For super high quality, brighter and more traditional color strains. The only drawback of purchasing seeds from this site is the $10 per order shipping fee:

https://www.johnnyseeds.com/flowers/zinnias/

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