Simple ingredients for your first cut flower garden
It was mid-1999 and I was working in my dream city of San Francisco. Stuck at a computer calling satellite offices around the world to make sure their printers, fax machines, computers were Y2K compliant.
It wasn’t the worst job I ever had, that would be the breakfast shift washing dishes in my college cafeteria, but it was the most boring job and it was obviously not going to last after January 1, 2000 when we would know if the world went dark or not. Spoiler alert: nothing went dark.
Before we got to Y2K I bailed. I bailed without a net and no savings. I just walked in and said I am giving you my two weeks. From that moment I had to sink or swim.
I never over thought it I just went with my gut and took action. I kept it simple.
I landed a receptionist job at a web design company. Taught myself to code, moved into engineering and was commuting to Chicago to build Orbitz.com a year later.
What does this have to do with growing flowers?
Sometimes simple action is better than over planning.
You want a cut flower garden then just pick 3 or 4 seeds and put them in the ground!
Stop reading all the books. Save those for winter when you are desperate to see the sun and be back out in the garden. They will give you something to hope for on those gray days.
It took me way too many evenings to come up with my garden plan. I was surrounded by graph paper, sharpies, colored pencils, highlighters, seed catalogs and books on flower growing.
All that got me was more overwhelmed and spending more money than I needed to get started.
All you need to have a cut flower garden are 4 ingredients.
Sun
This should be your first priority. Put the garden in the wrong spot with too little sun and nothing you do will make your garden grow.
Water
Not telling you anything you didn’t know. Pro tip: put your garden in the sunniest spot closest to your hose. Watering isn’t a “I will get to the tomorrow task.” Make it easy so you will get it done even if you would rather Netflix & Chill.
Good soil
Good soil is like a Vegas buffet for your plants. They can tap in and get as much as they need. If the buffet is empty the good times are over and the plants will pack up and go home or never arrive.
Easy to grow flowers
Are you a Magnolia junkie like me? I could devour those shows and watching Erin from Floret is a personal favorite. Did you know she started that amazing company and farm by growing one kind of flower?
You could just grow zinnia or sunflowers and still be able to share beautiful flowers with your friends and neighbors. I can guarantee that if you love that your hobby and confidence will quickly grow. Don’t grow ALL THE THINGS at the beginning!
Start simple. Keep it Stupid Simple!
