Now that Winter has finally turned into Spring, the time has come to germinate flower and vegetable seeds indoors to get a jump on the summer blooms.
One of my favorite flowers to grow in summer are giant sunflowers. Now I made the mistake several years ago of germinating those indoors six weeks before planting in the summer garden. They sprouted within a few days, I was pumped. My hope was to have those big yellow flowers blooming earlier than August, which has been my experience when planting seeds directly in the outdoor beds. I had always planted the sunflowers that way, never starting them indoors. But I wanted to get them to bloom earlier than August.
Much to my chagrin , not a single flower made it. All grew long and spindly, slowly dying, never blooming.
Memorial Day weekend is the rule of thumb here in Upstate NY to plant outdoors. By then the soil has warmed as well as the nights.
Summer flowers as well as vegetables are very sensitive to temperature drops at night. You can lose most or all of your seedlings in just one night of cold.
Checking the temperature forecast is a necessity in the early part of growing season.
It's been known to frost in late May here, so we always have cold frames and heavy gauge black plastic at the ready, should the old weatherman or ALEXA tell us the temps are going down. Covering the seedlings saves lives.😉
The shadow is from these.
But in my imagination, that shadow appears from these.
Just to give you a reference ,@thebigsweed is 6'5" tall with a 36" reach.
Now that's what I call, a giant sunflower.
Looking forward to August blooms.
Thanks to our lovely SHOW ME A SHADOW HOST @melinda010100. As well as the entire team @nelinoeva, @galenkp, @annephilbrick and @ecency.
Thanks for all your hard work and support.
Enjoy!