I'll NEVER order these 10 flower seeds again!

Hi everyone, it's April here at Blossom & Branch Farm. This week we are talking more about seeds. You might have seen my video from just a couple days ago where I went over all of the seeds that I absolutely never skip ordering every year. And so today I'm going to go through the opposite, which are the seeds that I never order anymore because it can be very overwhelming. You know when you get your seed catalog and you start flipping through and you start marking all the things you want and then before you know it, you're ordering way too many seeds. So sometimes it can be actually more helpful to know which ones I've crossed off my list. So again, this is just my personal opinion. I won't be offended if you feel differently. Please don't feel offended if one of the seeds that I list is something that you really, really like. Now these are all seeds that for me either create more work than they are worth in terms of trying to keep them from reseeding or they just don't really pull their weight when I'm talking about my purposes as a cut flower farmer or for bouquets. It doesn't mean they're not fun, cool flowers, it just means that for what I like to do, they're not worth it for me. Quick reminder guys, my book comes out in three short weeks. It would mean the world to me if you have gleaned information from me, if you have gotten good advice or good tips or if I've given you really anything that you've used and you feel like you would like to do something for me, grabbing my book would be a great way to do that. I'll link it below. It is all about regenerative gardening, it's got all of the tips that I always give about soil health and cover cropping and all of that stuff all in one nice little handbook. So it's also very affordable, it's less than $24 so it would mean the world to me if you could grab a copy. Today I'm talking mostly about flowers. So cut flowers, obviously I grow things like vegetables and herbs and all those things but mostly what I do here is flowers and so today's video is going to be about flowers. So the first one is lavender. Now I do have a lot of lavender growing so you might say, well then why don't you buy lavender seeds? Aha! It's because lavender is actually somewhat difficult to start from seed. Also the varieties that I prefer to grow are actually the hybrid lavendin. So phenomenal, sensational. Because they are more adapt to heavy clay soil like I have, they are more tolerant of different types of soil and also more tolerant of cold. Those ones I cannot start from seed. Those have to be purchased as plants or propagated. So my choice when I am growing lavender is to propagate it. That is to take small cuttings and to root them and then to plant them out in spring as small plants versus starting from seed. Lavender is also very slow to start from seed so it's just quite a commitment. So lavender is one I don't buy the seeds for. I will do a video here in a little bit actually showing because our lavender still hasn't gone dormant. It's been so warm this winter and I can take cuttings from it now. So I will do a video showing how to take lavender cuttings in case you're wanting to grow more lavender. Okay, the second one that I do not start from seed, I do not order seeds for is this one. So popular this one. The Dara, aka Chocolate Laceflower, which sneakily is actually just Queen Anne's Lace. It's the same Daccus carota plant that is the invasive Queen Anne's Lace. And that is why I do not grow it. As much as I like the appearance, I like the color of the Dara, the Chocolate Laceflower, very invasive and it has shown itself to be that way. This is another one that I have planted years ago. I think I planted it my first year on the flower farm before I really had a lot of knowledge about invasives and it still grows on my property because the seed, it makes so many seeds. So I would say if you are going to order it, I always discourage ordering invasive plants or ones that might be invasive. If you are going to, please make sure you are cutting all of the flowers, constantly deadheading, do not let it go to seed, be responsible with your plant choices. Okay, so that's the second one I don't grow. Number three is Asters. I always get sucked in with the pictures of Asters because they do look so fluffy and pretty and cute. And I have grown Asters in the past and that's why I don't grow them anymore. Number one, they are fairly prone to Asters yellows disease, which is very easily spread from plant to plant, especially if you have things like leaf hoppers. And also it's very easy to spread to Echinacea, which as you might remember I said in the last video that I love to grow a lot of Echinacea. So Echinacea is also very prone to Asters yellows, so one of the reasons I don't grow Asters is because I don't want to spread that disease to my Echinacea but also because they just don't flower that well and it could be my zone, it could be my soil. So I'm not saying don't go in on Asters. There are a few flower farmers that I know who grow Asters and have no problems. So for me personally, I do not grow the Asters anymore. They were just too much work for too little return. They only bloomed well for a short period and then no longer. All right, the next one up that I do not grow, Amaranth. I never water these seeds anymore. Now I will say if I were doing a lot of big installation work, so you know arches or big dramatic installations for weddings, in that case I would go back to growing things like these hanging Amaranths because they're very, very visually interesting. They're great for those big kind of art installation style pieces. But what I found was that for what I do, which is mostly bouquets, they get too large. So the Amaranth, by the time it puts off seeds, and you can kind of even see this in some of these, by the time it really kind of gets its color, you can see how large the blooms are. So they can be a little difficult to work into a bouquet. Not to say, you know, they often have little side shoots and things that are smaller and more usable. I just found that between the fact that they tended to get too big for what I use them for, matched with also the fact that they put off so many seeds. So one Amaranth head has probably thousands of seeds. And even as we'd be harvesting and carrying them out over to the cooler or out of the field, they would drop seed everywhere. I had Amaranth growing in my ditch. I had Amaranth growing in my side gardens. They just really spread everywhere. So, you know, maybe I'll try them again. I don't know. I did them for three years and then I just finally quit. But they are a very interesting flower, I will say. And if you want something that people are like, oh wow, what's that? Then Amaranth might be great. But just like the Daccus carota, the Dara chocolate leaf flower, be very careful about letting it drop seed. Next up is Calendula. Actually, there's a bunch on these pages as well. Okay, so Calendula. I do like Calendula. It's not that I don't like Calendula. In fact, they have this new mix that I might try, which is called the Flashback mix. Just as I mentioned in my past video, I tend to have a color palette, which is a little bit more peachy, pinky, neutral, subdued, not so much primary colors, which, you know, the true Calendula, very bright, very primary, doesn't go that well with most of the things that I grow. But I do use Calendula medicinally. So you might remember my salve, my balm that I make. I infuse the oil with Calendula blossoms or I use them for teas. So I do grow them. But I don't buy the seed because once you grow Calendula once, you will have Calendula seed forever. So it's not that I don't like Calendula. It's just for what I use them for, which is medicinal. I want that straight, just the original version, not any of these like hybridized versions. And so I grow that straight orange. Now, the other downside of Calendula is that they're very sticky. So the stems are very sticky when I'm stripping the leaves. They're very sticky. They're a pain to harvest and they're another pain to keep deadheaded. Like I said, once you have Calendula, you will always have Calendula. So if you don't want Calendula all over your garden, you have to deadhead it. And if you don't deadhead it, then you will know in the spring that you forgot. For the work, I'd rather grow a Zinnia. If I were being honest, you know, to get this similar look, I would probably just grow some Zinnias because they're an easier harvest. They're not sticky. I'm not having to deal with that. All right. Next up, Bachelor's Buttons. Bachelor's Buttons, obviously very popular if you're looking for a blue flower. Often included in wildflower mixes, but non-native to North America. Invasive in many parts of North America. Again, a heavy reseeder. So no, I don't tend to grow Bachelor Buttons and I don't like them when they're included in mixes either. Okay, the next one I'm going to say is always very controversial. If you can guess what it is, it starts with a C. Cosmos. Yeah, I don't buy these anymore. You know, last year I went back on this and I changed my mind and I was like, you know, I'm going to buy some Cosmos again and I'm going to try them. And I regretted it because I can never, you have to keep up with cutting Cosmos to keep them blooming. So they are a true cut and come again. If you don't cut from them, they will go to seed. They are a heavy reseeder. So if you let them bloom and you don't deadhead, they will go to seed and then the plant shuts down production. Then you have to clear the whole thing out, start a new batch and you have to quickly catch them if you're harvesting. So you want to harvest Cosmos before they start to open. So just as they're about to open to get the best base life. Now that to say they are good for events. So if you're, you know, growing flowers for a wedding, then they can be great. Especially those white ones because you only need them to last a day or two. Then they're a great cut flower. But for me, again, they just tend to go to seed too quickly. They tend to be a trickier one to harvest in terms of catching it at the right time and just the thinness of the stems. And they're just very delicate. And then, you know, even one of my favorites, which is this, this color, uh, Apricot also sometimes called, um, maybe pink lemonade, even these ones, they just don't bloom that well for me. So really, if you are going to do a Cosmo, you know, the ones that I find have the best base life are the double clicks, those ones that have multiple layers. Or in terms of prolificness, you know, the cupcakes, these straight white ones are really nice. So, you know, sometimes I'll grow a few here and there, but again, between the poor base life and their reseeding-ness and the frustration that I just get personally when I'm harvesting from, no, thank you. Okay. Next up on my list of controversials. Okay. The next couple, specifically, there's a reason that I don't order these seeds or grow these. The first one is Gonferna. And Gonferna is known for being a really good dried flower, a really good cut flower for drying. And it also is very prolific. So if you're growing Gonferna, you don't have to have a very big patch. They're cut and come again. They put up a lot of stems. You're going to get a lot of flowers, but you have to keep up with harvesting. And because they're a smaller flower, harvesting is very time intensive. It takes a lot of time to harvest Gonferna. I will also say that they are a very good dried flower. So if you're trying to get more into dried flowers, yeah, definitely grow tons of Gonferna. For myself personally here at the farm, I just don't have enough storage space in the winter to really justify doing a lot of dried flower sales. I've just found that it makes the most sense for me not to focus that heavily on dried flower sales. So Gonferna has been crossed off my list. For the same reason, I have also crossed the next one off my list, which is Status is one that I actually used to grow a lot of. And back when we did a lot of dried flower sales, I did love Status because Status holds its color really well. So if you're looking for a dried flower that's going to hold its color, this like Seeker Blue, there's some more pastel-y mixes, but these really bright colored Status mixes will hold their color. They're a great one if you're doing lots of dried. Again, it was just a personal choice for me to not do as much dried flowers anymore. And so as a fresh flower, I don't love them as much. They're another one that's difficult to harvest. They actually have kind of spiky flowers that when I'm cutting from, they would annoy my hands. I'd get kind of like rashy from cutting them and harvesting them. And they were another one that was time intensive to harvest. So for me, I stay away from the Status, but I do still think it's a good cut flower. I wouldn't say like it's a bad cut flower by any means. Just one that I've chosen personally not to grow. This brings me to my last one. Oh, I love poppies. I really, really do. Look at how cute they are. I have grown many poppies in my day. There's a couple reasons why I don't order seeds anymore for poppies. One is that they're an early spring flower. And by early spring, I mean even before, at least in my zone, five, six years, Colorado Rockies, they bloom before even my peonies do. I mentioned in my last video that I actually don't do Ranunculus anymore and I'm not doing Stock this year either because what's been happening in my zone with spring is that we run right from a heavy wet snow period into hot. So the trend for the last several springs, and this is important in gardening to watch your trends, is that our springs have been getting very, very warm very, very quickly. We're talking about up into the upper 80s and 90s, very quickly in May. And so what that means is that's right before my peonies start to bloom. So what that means is I have like poppies growing and maybe a little stock, but not much else. And then I kind of get my next big flush of things like peonies and Baptisia, but by then it's actually really too warm even for my poppies. So what I'm finding is I'm having poppies blooming, but I don't really have anything else to sell with them. So this is from a flower farm perspective, right, is that if I don't really have anything to mix and match them with, with bouquets and my Ranunculus blow open too quickly. And because of the heat, if I do get good poppies, they blow open really quickly and I have to be constantly trying to keep up with harvesting them. And then honestly, people aren't really willing to pay what a poppy is worth. So when I'm harvesting a poppy, I have to catch it right at the right stage before it started to open. But just as the little seed pods about to pop off, and then I have to sear the end with a match to help give it good base life. And even then it doesn't have the longest base life. So it's hard to convince a customer, a retail customer to buy them. If I were selling more to florists, then it would make more sense. But I sell more to retail to the public. So it doesn't make as much sense for me to grow the poppies. So as much as it makes me sad, as much as I love a poppy from an effort point of view, for me, it does not make that much sense. But I do love poppies. Again, follow those little tricks. Make sure you're starting them early. They need cold stratification. These fancy ones like these champagne bubble varieties are more expensive seed. So I know people will tell you like just sprinkle them on top of the snow. I would not do that with these. These are too expensive to do that with and to lose the seed potentially in there. I would start these ones in soil blocks and grow them from there. Again, harvest before they start to open. You have to wait until they're just like right at the right stage. And you just start to see a little color popping out. And then you cut them, sear the end of the stem with a lighter, then into water. It's a process. This is why I don't get them anymore. Okay, that's it. My next video, I'm actually going to show you how I plan my field. I'm going to do a field planning session. So it might be a little bit of a longer video and a little bit less edited. But I'm going to be just kind of going through my field plans from a couple years. And just going through like, okay, here's the quantities of how much stuff I order. Here's why I'm putting this here and this here and this here. And hopefully just watching that might be helpful for you guys. Let me know what you want to see down below. I am definitely trying to step up in terms of what I'm doing with YouTube here. And the kind of education I'm able to provide. So if there's something specific you want to see, please, please tell me in the comments. And otherwise, don't forget to hit subscribe and like. And I will see you guys around here next time at the farm. Happy seed ordering and Happy New Year, everyone.