Th
is year I planted several types of cut flowers into my raised bed, but only a few seeds actually grew. I don’t think I kept the seeds moist enough during their critical germination window. So I have only 4 snapdragons, 3 bachelor buttons, and several zinnias from all the seeds I spread.
The zinnias have gone wild, though! I planted two varieties, Giant Doubles and Candy Cane Zinnias. I’ve had to use metal plant stakes to hold them up – they are easily 2 feet tall.
While working in the yard this morning, I noticed these red flowers & vines growing through the fence from the neighbor’s yard.
Aren’t the flowers pretty? My Master Gardener’s group identified it as Red Cypress Vine and said that the hummingbirds love them. Further research reveals that it needs a trellis or something to vine around (they grow like morning glories) and that it can get very tall and be rather invasive if you let it self seed. It also needs a fair amount of water, so I’m going to have to consider carefully about whether I want to grow that in my yard or not. My ultimate goal is to have gardens that need no hand watering, native adaptive plants. Somehow I doubt Red Cypress Vine qualifies. But it certainly is a lovely looking flower. I’ll have to see how my neighbor is growing it, as I don’t see any trellis poking up over the fence that it could fine on.