12 awesome Gardening Sites not to miss

12 best gardening sitesThere are many flower sites, seed sites, garden sites, blogs etc on the web.  I thought it would be fun to share 12 of my favorite gardening sites with you. It was not easy to narrow it down to 12.  These are not affiliate links, just my own choices.

Seed and bulb Sites

I have had amazing luck with the seeds from Johhnys seeds. They also have a growers library which is extremely helpful.

Great seeds and dahlia bulbs from Floret.

Amazing selection of Dahlia bulbs from Swan Island Dahlias It was so hard to pick which dahlias that I wanted to grow this year.

Garden hints and tips

I totally enjoy reading facts about plants and landscaping from The renegade gardener.

A wealth of information found here on Daves Garden

This site is also a winner for me.. in your state use the knowledge found at your extension service University of Minnesota Extension Service

Flower Farms

I posted this inspiring site before floret flower farm

Roses…..I would love to do this but just checking out the website is good right now Grace Rose Farm. ( new website launching next week.)

Love following this blooming flower farmer at  Butterbee Farm

and this one Flourish Flower Farm.

Florists and flower design

Florist site Oh flora studio.

Another florist site..Studio Mondine

The reason I love the 2 florist sites posted is that they push the “norm” in flower design. Love it.

I hope you enjoyed my list. Please let me know what your favorite sites are. I would love to check them out.

I posted my flower farming inspirations a few posts back. Check it out if you didn’t get a chance to read it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Starting flower seeds and ranunculus

starting seeds

The time has come to start flower seeds. I am starting about twice as many seeds this year as I did last year…..as I was doing my seed starting calendar….yes i feel super professional, ha ha, I am thinking….space, I need space to plant all of these babies.

I do have my garden spots for this year planned but I think I might need to do a little shuffling around to fit all the plants in. I plan to squeeze most of the plants a bit closer together then I had them last year.

 

 

 

garden journal
garden planner

Starting seeds indoors

starting seeds

I washed all my seed trays in bleach water to kill any left over bad stuff from last year. These trays worked great for me, but next year I would like a soil block maker.

moist potting soil

The potting soil should be moist, not soaking wet.

seed starting

After I filled the trays I went over all the holes with my fingers and pressed slightly down to pack the soil. I then added more soil to fill the holes. This helps keep the plug firm for transplanting. After adding the seeds according to the directions on the package, I watered from the bottom and put the plastic dome on the trays.

seed trays in windows

Here the seeds are in front of a sunny window. Some seeds like warmer soil so those ones are on a heat mat.

Starting Ranunculus

starting ranunculus combs

Ranunculus flowers are so beautiful. They are an early bloom and do not like hot weather.

ranunculus
ranunculus

I did not grow these pictured here, but am crossing my fingers that I can!

They came looking like tiny dried little octopus. I soaked them in water for 6 hours and then put them in a tray of vermiculite and covered them with potting soil.  Now I am waiting for them to sprout roots so I can plant them. I will keep you posted on the progress.