the flower expert

online flowers encyclopedia

Growing Flowers

Growing flowers is an art - the activity and craft of growing plants, with a goal of creating a wonderful & beautiful world around.

Growing flowers is an admiration for many people, a dream for so many and a full-time work for some others like who grow flower gardens for commercial purposes. Growing flowers thus serves the interests of diverse peoples.

The Growing of flowers necessitates a lot of patience, love, & care. Growing a flower garden is indeed an exciting adventure altogether for those who are really crazy about flowers and growing flowers.

Flowers are classified into three categories. These categories are annuals, perennials, and biennials. Once you discover all the different annual, biennial and perennial plants that you can grow and even start yourself, it´s just a simple step to preparing the beds. Annuals grow from seeds and flower the current year and then die. Perennials establish themselves from seed the first year but do not usually flower until the following year. This category of flowers will re-grow and flower for many years to come. Biennials grow as a small plant during the year they are planted. In the second year they will bloom and then perish.

Why Grow Flowers?

Flowers are magic - literally magic, irresistible to birds, bees, wasps, other flower pollinators and even humans. There are as many reasons to grow flowers as there are flowers. Still, twelve reasons are found to have been the most appropriate as to tell why one should grow flowers.

• Flowers make the world more beautiful.
• Flowers smell good. Good smells make you happier.
• Flowers tell you the season.
• Flowers attract predators that will help kill the pests in your garden.
• You never feel poor if you have bunches of flowers to give away.
• Flowers like sweet peas, lupins, woad, broom, wisteria can fix nitrogen and help fertilize your garden.
• Flowers lead to seeds - to replant your garden.
• Flowers taste good.
• Flowers like chamomile, borage and foxgloves appear to make the plants they grow with more vigorous.
• Most flowers have 'cottage kitchen' uses - you can make wines with them or make calendula ointment if you cut yourself in the garden. Our ancestors grew only what was useful (like roses) and preferably it was beautiful too.
• Flowers can help weed control. Marigolds repel couch grass, dahlias will stop grass intruding in your garden, a thick crop of poppies will help clean up weeds, cornflowers stop some weed seeds germinating, thickly sown sunflowers will stunt weeds and choke them out.
• Any sourpuss smiles if you give them flowers.

The Essential Factors for Growing Flowers

Broadly, there are four main factors to be concerned with, when planting flowering plants. One should see that light, moisture, temperature, andfertilizer are at optimum levels.

• Favourable Light : The location of the garden generally dictates the type of flowers that can be grown.
• Favourable Moisture : The amount of water a flower garden needs largely depends on how much sun it gets and the type of flowers that are chosen to fill the spaces. There are some flower varieties that require more water than the others to keep their foliage fresh and the blossoms, coming.
• Suitable Temperature : The temperatures flowers can tolerate is partially tied to location, because of the amount of sun they receive. So when you are planning your garden, follow the local recommendations for when it is safe to start planting, and put your hardiest varieties out, first.
• Suitable Fertilizer : If you´re unsure of what type of soil you have, you can take a sample to your local garden center and have them examine it, or you can purchase a test kit. Knowing whether it is acidic, sandy, or clay-based, can help you decide how to choose the right fertilizer for your flowerbeds.

Again these essential factors depend on other factors like selection of flowers to be grown, selection of the landscape, etc.

Criteria for Selection of Flowers for Growing

Growing of flowers after careful selection yield the best quality flowers. Three important criteria are generally considered before one decides upon the type of flowers that are to be grown

• Native flowers are always a good option.
• Shelf life of the flowers to be grown is to be kept it mind..
• If you are planning for a commercial flower farm, then choose flowers with a high commercial value

Mother Nature loves to grow fabulous flowers. She´s an expert! After all, she´s been doing it forever! So let´s take a leaf out of her book, and look at how she does it. Gardening can either be home gardening or commercial gardening.

Growing Home Gardens

Growing home gardens includes diverse planting schemes. Home gardens also include growing of fruits and vegetables in addition to flowers. They are characterized by being planted in or near the family compound, and being composed of a variety of plants grown specifically for home consumption. They use inter-cropping to cultivate trees, crops, and livestock on the same land. Home Gardens also include growing of fruits, vegetables.

Growing Commercial Flower Gardens

Since flowers is an "in thing" forever, there is a demand for flowers throughout the year. Many people around the world are, for this reason, take to growing flowers as their full-time occupation. Growing commercial flower gardens is no mean task since lot of care has to be taken. Once you discover all the different annual, biennial and perennial plants that flower, you can start growing the flowers yourself, it´s just a simple step towards preparing the flower beds and having a summer full of color.

Read more on flower bulbs.