I have an obsession with pansies (actually all flowers), and just planted 300 sq ft in a tunnel (pictured before planting). They're all varieties that get quite long stems (up to 18 inches if you plant them right). In my climate, they will probably all start blooming again in 3 or so weeks. My goal is to save all the seed so that I can underplant all my shrubs and trees with them in the next couple years as they reseed well here.

    GalenaB 18" stems 🀩 Wow! just planted super close? or certain varieties? I would love to grow tall pansies πŸ™ƒ

      LoriDee check out https://geoseed.com/catalog.htm page 78 and 79. They list one Pansy that is specific for cutting, out of the 38 pansy listings. I'm sure @GalenaB has a great source of seed. I've found Geoseed to have a huge variety of Ornamental seeds and prices that are amazing. They can be a bit slow in delivery since it's a small crew that is running the business. They also don't seem to have much technology.

        LoriDee Yeah, I plant them 2-3 inches apart which gives them an added height boost: they're forced up instead of out, but also certain varieties are bred to be taller. Johnnys Seeds carries a bunch of those and has a new variety they added this year that yields 12-20" inch stems. I'm trialing that this year too! It's called Floral Power Plum Antique and looks gorgeous.

        Bessie I placed a large order of seed from GeoSeed this year. I'm hoping to grow lots of different filler flowers to place in my dahlia bouquets. They don't have a fancy catalog, but their pricing is great.

        GalenaB-What zone are you? Pansies wouldn't grow for me right now. The ground is too frozen.πŸ˜‹

        Show us some pics along with your chat in the 'Photos of Plants Other Than Dahlias 2025' 😍 Starting a new thread also an option, but less pretty.

          • Edited

          blown_dry today was a gorgeous 67 degrees outside and I chopped down, aka "pruned", a massive white hydrangea shrub. The clippings filled up two large yard waste bins.
          This is a bouquet of the harvested stems that looked decent. I live in zone 9b in Northern California.

            Bessie I love hydrangeas! I can't believe your weather.

            I am building a massive hydrangea garden along our creek...Your hydrangea photo caught my eye first thing!

            Mine are in winter now...no leaves, no blooms, just doing their winter sleep...But I have 4 new ones ordered for spring...Christmas gifts from husband and sister plus a couple just from me to me...

            I had to cut back a Firelight that took off like crazy and grew to over 8
            The 2nd pic is of a it as a one year old 3 or 4 years ago.
            It grew taller then I can reach last year. I stuck a lot of cuttings in some pots in my greenhouse and they are showing leaf buds. Not sure any are rooted yet, but if they do I would love to trade rooted cuttings with anyone for ones I don't have.

              calico20hill That first photo is at least 5' from ground to the bottom of the windowsill. The land slopes down to the creek that is maybe 20' away at this point.

              I'm visiting my parents in Florida and we went to Sunken Gardens in St. Petersburg today. It's so nice to see some sunshine and flowers!











              • Edited

              calico20hill last year, I grew about 10 rooted cuttings since my son said he wanted to grow hydrangeas. The trash hasn't been picked up yet today and I rescued a bunch of cutting material I'm happy to share! I'm sure I looked crazy picking through the green waste bin out on the street. The hydrangea is a macrophylla, white with about 8" blooms, and is a large shrub 5-7' that is everblooming. It's in a perfect spot, I cut it back and it just keeps throwing out blooms all season. I'm sure the bush is about 20 years old.

                I've been walking the garden. These narcissus started blooming in December, and last till about February. I've got them in several locations.

                Also Leucadendron "Safari" is brilliant right now.

                Bessie Awesome! I have no white ones yet, though I have "Opal" on order. It is supposed to have black stems with white flowers. We should be able to send now but no rush...March would be fine.

                  Wow, it’s always crazy to see the green in other parts of the country during our gray winters! All those photos are so lovely!

                  I think we have only had 3 frosts so far which is really strange and leaves me worried , January is Supposed to have frosty nights and a few snow flurries,

                    calico20hill really strange and leaves me worried

                    Our winter this year has been very much what I would expect for our area, which surprised me after last winter which was super mild. I’m finding myself enjoying it, even though cold and gray gets old. It feels reassuring to experience β€œnormal” weather these days.

                    calico20hill Hi Noni, I sent you a private message to see if you want those hydrangea clippings( you haven't responded so I'm guessing you haven't seen the message). I'm ready to send the hydrangea in the next few days, if you are interested.