GARDEN FANATIC: Flowers: Grow your own

”...Everything has its price, (the issue is) not flowers...but dollars.” “” Henry David Thoreau

“No one should drive a hard bargain with a florist.” “” with apologies to Ludwig van Beethoven

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It has been asserted that the beauty of flowers out-values all the utilities of the world. I don’t know... but it appears that the rising price of gasoline and the worry of making mortgage payments have taken away the enjoyment of flowers for many.

I have a solution. Grow your own ... flowers, that is! Catharine hasn’t cut back flowers in our home, simply because she grows all of the flowers she wants. And friend, Cindy, enjoys homegrown freesia and crocus every spring. Cultivating your own bed of flowers will provide great pleasure and for the cost conscious, it will be cheaper to cut your own flowers than to buy them from any florist, even the Saturday specials.

Flowers add color and fragrance to your garden, improve your perspective on life, and look marvelous in glass vases. But there’s more to introducing flowers to your garden and life than simply picking the colors and shapes that appeal to you. Environmental considerations like seasons, exposure, wind and soil types must be noted for each proposed planting.

Experimenting allows you to learn what colors to use. At your next visit to your favorite nursery, use the florist’s technique of combining different flowers to create living artwork. Picture in your mind where the flowers will be planted. Select color combinations that accent or contrast with your house color, existing plantings and views.

The most common layout for a flower garden is rectangular, which continues or repeats the lines of the house. Patterns of beds should be kept simple. There may be a central or terminal feature... a fountain or hedge, wall or fence with vines, and possibly a border planting of perennial shrubs.

A common error in flower planting is to spread them around and about the shrubbery with long bands of identical flowers. It is more effective to concentrate the flowers into one place than to scatter a few here and a few there. Isolated beds in the lawn often appear as if they had been dropped accidentally.

Our generally mild climate in Laguna Beach allows flower growers to send nurseries a mixed bundle of color during the entire year. Next to our spring flowers ... the pansies, violas, snapdragons and primroses, summer flowers are beginning to crowd in. Petunias, marigolds and zinnias are making an early appearance vying for your attention.

Growers generally begin shipping the next season’s color early, much like fashion designers. Beware, however, of planting many summer flowers too soon. A late cold spell, rain, or overcast weather can put a premature end to many summer bloomers.

Adam Smith, in “The Wealth of Nations,” described succinctly the worth of any consumer good... “The real price of everything, what everything really costs to the man who wants to acquire it, is the toil and trouble of acquiring it.” Avoid the stress of overspending... grow your own flowers at home! See you next time.

STEVE KAWARATANI is married to writer, Catharine Cooper, and has one cat and four dogs. He can be reached at (949) 497-8168, or e-mail to [email protected]