Making Gorgeous Bouquets With Your Garden Flowers Seeds—Indoor Planting

A great time to use all those container you’ve been saving!

One of the best times of the year is when I get to start my garden flower seeds. I love to see the little starts coming up knowing the beautiful flowers they will produce in about 3 to 4 months. Growing your own garden flower seeds gives you the opportunity to grow flowers not available in your nursery shops. It’s also less expensive and you get more garden flowers than you can buy.

Growing garden flower seeds also means you can use organic methods from the start and that means a healthy plant without diseases and pests. Ohhh, it’s a good start for any garden flower.

Germination And Temperature For Garden Flower Seeds

These are the two most important conditions for starting your garden flower seeds. If the temperature is wrong then the seeds won’t start or they will start slow. What you want is for your garden flower seeds to germinate quickly and have the seedlings grow vigorously. Providing the right conditions is the key to growing your garden flowers.

If you buy your seeds the information will be found on the packet or in a gardening book. Most garden flower seeds germinate better in warmth but there are some that require cold in order to germinate (called stratify, I will explain this later). The best degree of warmth is a few degrees above what the garden flower seed packet says. If they suggest 70 degrees then the best temperature is about 73 to 75 degrees.

Unlike the garden flower seed packet I don’t agree they need light, just warmth to germinate. But if you want to put them in a window sill or under a grow light then go ahead, you have my permission (like you need it). Anyway, they only need light when they peak out of the soil with their little smiles on. Then they need strong light to grow up to be that gorgeous garden flower bouquet on your dining room table.

What is Stratification?

Some garden flower seeds need the cold to germinate. I sure you noticed how Mother Nature has different seasons. At the end of the growing season, usually the end of summer, your flowers have dropped seeds all through the season and they are waiting for spring and the warm weather to germinate and grow new flowers for your viewing pleasure.

When starting garden flower seeds indoors they need a bit of cold to break down the outer shell of the seed for water to get in and start the germination process. By putting them in the refrigerator or the freezer acts like Mother Nature and when you start your seedlings indoors you mimic Mother Nature and fool the seeds into thinking they have gone through the winter and now it’s time to start the germination process all over again.

All flower seeds need the rest of winter and the warmth of spring to germinate. Some garden flower seeds need it more than others. Such as lavender, heathers, apples, oranges, lily of the valley, and bluebells are just some of the seeds that need stratification. I usually use a wet paper towel and put the seeds in between then put them in a plastic bag. I write the name of the seed, date I put them in and when to take them out. I have started apples in August with this method. See the picture of my little apples seeds.

Once your garden flower seeds have germinated, they don’t need the high temperatures but they still need some heat plus they need the light. If your garden flower seeds become straggly and pale, they are reaching for the light and need to be moved closer to the light source. At this time your garden flower seedlings need to be protected against frosts and draughts.

Just don’t put your flower seedlings outside the minute they pop their little heads up in the soil. They need to be acclimated to outdoors a little bit at a time. I usually take two weeks to acclimate my garden flower seeds then transplant them to the garden where I want them. Keep them watered but not soggy and they will make beautiful flower arrangements for your house or they make wonderful gifts to cheer anybody’s soul.

A little bit a time and attention with your garden flower seeds will yield you some gorgeous flowers.