Building a Backyard Flower Farm: Choosing Flowers

It might not look like much right now, but this little plot is officially completely planted.  (Well, for now, not including the later plantings I'll do to have a continuous harvest until the fall.)  That was a lot of seeds! This past weekend alone, I added 12 different varieties (including 6 sunflower varieties) in addition to everything that was planted last week.  

Since this year is an experiment, I focused on a few things as I was choosing what to plant and wanted to share a bit as I work through the logistics of getting everything ready for the season:

• I wanted to grow mostly annuals this year so that if something didn't work out and/or I hated it, I wouldn't be stuck with something invasive that I'd despise forever. Once I see what annuals work well, I'll move on to investing more in adding early perennials (like peonies, ranunculus, anemones) via greenhouse growing and woody stems (like hydrangea, lilacs, pussy willow)  to the mix since they can be added throughout our yard in different spots that are suitable for different sunshine needs. You'll see some of these varieties throughout this season because I have incredibly generous neighbors who love this project and have offered to share some of their plant blooms, so those will fill in a bit as they bloom.
• I wanted flowers that were for the most part relatively easy to grow.  There are exceptions where I'm challenging myself, but to ensure a continuous harvest from June-September, I needed some reliability.
• I wanted to plant as much from seed as possible, because of the lower cost of seeds vs. starts, and because I knew that if I got a batch of seeds that weren't growing, it would leave enough time to plant some starts in the same space and still have enough time for them to bloom this season. 
• I wanted some mixed varieties of seeds, to know that I'd have variety if certain crops don't grow well or if I royally screw up on any one specific flower. 
• I wanted flowers with a decent stem length and a decent (5-7 days minimum) vase life so that they can be enjoyed in your home for as long as possible. 
• I wanted a variety of shape, size, color and texture to keep things exciting and (hopefully!) seeing different bouquets all summer long! 

I didn't follow all of the rules entirely, but I tried to use all of that as a guiding idea as I was overwhelmed and wanted to choose to grow absolutely everything on earth! It helped, but there's still a giant learning curve that I'm trying to respect as I feel like I learn something new on a daily basis. This year is so much about learning for me and a big part of that is learning to harness the excitement a bit to make sure that I can stay on top of the work I have and not burn out and feel completely overwhelmed. Now I'm just anxiously watering and weeding and watching and documenting the process as I wait for all of these little babies to start growing!

So, so far planted, because I feel like it's my more frequently asked question right now(some are herbs and not all are annuals): Sweet Pea, Poppy, Snapdragon, Sunflower, Bachelor Button, Sunflower, Larkspur, Globe Amaranth, Dahlia, Statice, Cosmos, Zinnia, Portulaca, Bells of Ireland, Yarrow, Tansy, Lavender, Sage  and a few seed mixes of cutting flowers and herbs to add some variety and to test out more varieties in the space I have.

p.s. There are still 4 CSA Subscriptions left for the summer! If you're interested, head here for more info!