Lisa Mason Ziegler - Cool Flowers: How to Grow and Enjoy Long-Blooming Hardy Annual Flowers Using Cool Weather Techniques

Praise for

Cool Flowers

Every flower gardener needs this book! Lisa Zieglers Cool Flowers brings to flower gardening a brand new point of view that introduced me to all sorts of possibilities for my floral palette as a gardener and floral designer. Her valuable tips for success with hardy annuals will extend your gardens blooming season, no matter where you live. If you want to make the most of all seasons in your garden, Cool Flowers is a must-have.

~ Debra Prinzing, author of Slow Flowers and The 50 Mile Bouquet

Cool Flowers is wellreally cool. We are all so intent on keeping flowers blooming through the summer and fall that we forget that fall, winter and early spring plantings produce cut flower gardens like none other. Lisa tells us when, where and how to plant, as well as her recommendations for the best flowers for successful cut flowers. Her writing is practical and credible. Give it a read you will be glad you did.

~ Dr. Allan M. Armitage, Professor Emeritus of Horticulture, University of Georgia, Athens; author of Armitages Garden Perennials; co-founder, Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers

Where was this book when I began gardening? Goodness knows, I needed help choosing the best annuals for my garden. Being a flower farmer, Lisa Ziegler knows her hardy annuals, those that can survive winter temperatures and light up the border in spring, and the ones that still perk up the garden come the 4th of July.

~ Dee Nash, author of The 20-30 Something Garden Guide

Who knew growing your favorite old-fashioned hardy annual flowers was so easy? Over the years, flower farmer Lisa Ziegler has figured it out and shares her success. If you love to grow your own flowers, this book will change your gardening forever.

~ Saxon Holt, garden photographer, Photo Botanic

In user-friendly prose, Lisa Ziegler fills a niche too long neglectedhow to grow tough annuals that actually enjoy coloring those challenging gaps between seasons. Follow her sage advice in Cool Flowers for glorious blooms, just when your neighbors are dreading their gardens gray winter snooze or last wilting days of summer.

~ Linda Yang, author of The City Gardeners Handbook

Knowledge is the key to success, and Cool Flowers is here to help. Finally, here is an easy-to-understand book that explains the difference between hardy and tender annuals (known as half-hardy in the UK) and demystifies the selection and cultivation process. Whether you seek a cutting garden to fill in gaps while shrubs and perennials mature, or simply want to grow easy-care flowers this is the book you have been waiting for.

~ Karen Chapman, owner of Le Jardinet and co-author of Fine Foliage

Lisa Ziegler takes cut-flower farming to a new level showcasing her passion for organic gardening and inspiring home gardeners to embrace environmentally friendly living. Her farm is as picturesque as it is productive; its a gardening landmark in southeastern Virginia. Her new book now allows gardeners everywhere to share in its beauty and purpose.

~ Kathy Van Mullekom, author of the nationally published gardening column Diggin In

Hardy annual? Half-hardy perennial? The very labels make your eyes glaze over, but Lisa Ziegler has found a way to explain, in simple terms, exactly how to grow these most rewarding of garden flowers. Her writing reminds me of some of the best English garden writers, whose prose came from the heart and whose facts came from experience.

~ Nancy Ross Hugo, garden writer, naturalist, author of Seeing Trees and Windowsill Art

If you have longed to discover the secrets to a truly abundant spring-blooming garden, heres your treasure map! Cool Flowers is the book that shows you, step-by-step, how to expand the repertoire of flowers in your gardens. Your heart will sing as you revel in the beauty of growing many of the flowers that bloomed in your grandmothers gardens.

~ Pamela Arnosky, co-owner of Texas Specialty Cut Flowers/Arnosky Family Farms, Blanco, Texas

Cool FLOWERS

Cool FLOWERS

How to Grow and Enjoy Long-Blooming Hardy Annual Flowers Using Cool Weather Techniques

Lisa Mason Ziegler

PITTSBURGH

Cool Flowers

How to Grow and Enjoy Long-Blooming Hardy Annual Flowers Using Cool Weather Techniques

Copyright 2014 by Lisa Mason Ziegler

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted in any form without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages for review purposes.

ISBN-13: 978-0-9892668-1-3

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014940985

CIP information available upon request

First Edition, 2014

St. Lynns Press . POB 18680 . Pittsburgh, PA 15236

412.466.0790 . www.stlynnspress.com

Book design Holly Rosborough

Editor Catherine Dees

Editorial Intern John Gordon

Photo credits courtesy of the following:

page 57, Diane Szukovathy; page 58, Bertrand; page 115, Ford McFall

All other photos Suzanne Mason Frye

Printed in Canada

On certified FSC recycled paper using soy-based inks

This title and all of St. Lynns Press books may be purchased for educational, business, or sales promotional use. For information please write: Special Markets Department . St. Lynns Press . POB 18680 . Pittsburgh, PA 15236

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

To Mom and Dad.

I pursued my dream because you said anything is possible.

Thank you.

Table of Contents

Introduction

A SURPRISING DISCOVERY

S pring has never been the same since my first season full of snapdragons, bells of Ireland, sweet peas, sweet Williams, and many other beauties. These familiar names may be some of the most admired garden flowers, but, sadly, few people are successfully growing them in their own gardens today. It doesnt have to be that way.

In this book, I share the most surprising discovery I made while pursuing my career as a cut-flower farmer: planting cool-season hardy annuals in the fall and very early spring produces the easiest and earliest-blooming garden ever.

Cool Flowers is all about how and when to plant such flowers called hardy annuals so that spring in the garden will be nothing short of sensational. The key is to allow them to get established during cool weather. Plant them in the right spot at the right time, nestle their roots deep into rich organic soil, and stand back. These hardy annuals need little intervention other than having someone gaze on their beauty, or perhaps cut a few for the kitchen table. Once their basic needs are met, this diverse yet easy group of flowers will change spring in your garden forever.