As spring approaches, we start thinking about the growing season and all the exciting planting we’ll soon get to do. Part of that excitement comes with watching new plants grow from tiny seeds each year. Seeds also give us even more options for planting and the ability to grow more at a lower cost – two reasons why many on our team choose to grow plants from seed every year. Whether we start our seeds indoors when it’s still cold, wait for spring to sow them outside, dabble in the practice as a fun hobby, or plant seeds as a significant piece of our garden plan, we’d love to share about some of our favorite seeds and why we can’t wait to plant them each year.
To Make a Huge Garden a Reality
Greenhouse Team Member Noel Olson lives near Ft. Calhoun, Nebraska. She has an extensive annual and vegetable garden, and if she bought potted versions of all of the hundreds of plants she needs to fill it each year, she’d go broke. So she loves to start many of her favorites from seed. Besides being easier on her budget, planting by seed lets her grow enough to preserve an entire pantry’s worth of delicious home-grown produce, pesto, jellies, and pickles every fall. Some of Noel’s favorite seeds to plant include Lisbon green onions – the seeds are pelletized to make them easier to separate – and strawberry tomatoes. She also loves to start artichokes from seed indoors. Artichoke seedlings take a long time to develop, so Noel starts them as early as November – something to think about when planning for next year.
To Grow a Continuous Salad
Greenhouse Senior Team Leader Mike Reynolds loves to sow lettuce in his garden as soon as spring arrives. He enjoys specialty mixes like Chef’s Medley and Chef’s Gourmet Spicy Mix which include a blend of colorful lettuce varieties plus arugula, green endive, and mustard greens too. Lettuce is easy to grow and keeps producing throughout the season, even when frequently harvested. Mike plants enough lettuce so that by the time he’s gone through his crop, taking greens for his dinner salads, the plants from the first group have regrown again.
Patio and Décor Senior Team Leader Jay Genoa likes to plant easy-growing lettuce mixes too, but he adds spinach and kale to the bowl as well. Jay likes kale because it’s pretty cold-hardy and keeps producing all the way into the fall.
To Attract Pollinators in Droves
For some, planting from seed is a great way to grow plenty of nectar-rich flowers to support the local pollinator community. That’s the case for Greenhouse Team Leader Bob Ewing and Team Member Melissa Bussell. Bob’s favorite seeds to plant are California Giant zinnias. The large, vividly colored blooms stand three- to four-feet-tall and attract butterflies to his landscape by the dozens. And Melissa loves anise hyssop – a Midwest native from the genus Agastache that’s often covered in all kinds of native bees during the summer.
To Learn Something New
Growing plants from seed isn’t always easy – especially if you start some indoors or throw perennial seeds into the plan. But Nursery Yard Team Leader Tom Anderson likes new challenges, and growing plants from seed has been an interesting learning process for him. Tom has started tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, perennial coneflowers, and black-eyed Susan among many others, and while some have taken off – and some haven’t – he’s learned a lot along the way. For instance, some perennial seeds need to be stratified – allowed to experience a cold period like they would if they were outdoors through the winter. Often, gardeners place these seeds in the refrigerator to stratify, but this year, Tom is trying a technique that lets the seeds spend time outdoors instead.
For Dual Purpose
Container Design Captain Angie Phillipp tried a new bean last year, and as a container designer, she loved the results. Angie chose a green bean that was actually purple. Beans are so easy to grow – her plants quickly climbed and covered a lattice set in the back of a container. As the season progressed, the plant flowered and then produced beautiful purple beans that added a nice color and texture to her design. And, Angie added, they were delicious too.
And Ashley Waltemath from the Plant Care team found an amazing variety of marigold that she likes to plant from seed. It’s called ‘Lemon Gem’ – a gorgeous marigold with abundant single, open blooms that resemble perennial coreopsis more than typical marigolds. In addition to being pretty, ‘Lemon Gem’ attracts beneficial insects like bees and hoverflies too.
Find Your Favorites to Get Started
Planting from seed is a great way to get a jump start on the growing season, to grow larger quantities of your favorite varieties, or to expand the selection growing in your garden. If you’re curious about what seeds to plant, when to plant them, and how, our team is happy to discuss their experiences with you and point you to the annual, vegetable, and perennial seeds you’ll need to make your garden come to life this spring.
