I am lucky to have a grocery store with a nice, but limited nursery section. Not being able to go out these days, it was an opportunity to check out plants without feeling guilty. After looking around outside, I decided to check out the greenhouse just to see what they might have at this early time of spring. We’d been having some 20 degree nights, so they had moved a lot of their plants into the greenhouse just to keep them alive. Inside contained mostly Boston ferns and only a few varieties of annuals. But these sweet Nemesia annual flowers caught my eye and I couldn’t resist grabbing a couple market packs.
Once I brought them home, I wasn’t exactly sure what to do with them. We’ve had a cold and unpredictable April thus far, and it will be mid-May before our last potential frost date. Since it is too cold to plant annuals outside, and they were root bound in the market packs, I decided to plant them up in larger 3-inch pots. This would give them time to get more established and grow larger root systems before planting out in May.
Nemesia is an annual flower I’d never seen before and they quickly won over my heart. In these trying times of confinement, it doesn’t take much to convince myself that I need a little “perker upper”.
But then came the hard part . . . pinching back the plants by cutting off all the flowers. Even though you know it is best and will help the plant establish more easily, become larger and stronger, it is still painful to do. So I try not to think about it for too long, and make quick work of it.
What was left is a pile of sweet, colorful tiny flower stems.
Not willing to waste anything, I gathered up the little stems and made a tiny bouquet, so small it could set on the windowsill.
Who could resist such sweetness? Not me.
I’m longing and looking forward to consistently warmer days and nights. By then, these established bushier plants, full of flowers, will be ready to live and bloom in the garden. Until then, I will carry the tray of pots out on warm days, and back in on cold nights.
Linking with Cathy from Rambling in the Garden who hosts the party meme “In A Vase On Monday”. Be sure to stop over and check out some of the lovely floral arrangements from around the world.
Cindy, you and I are definitely kindred spirits! I love your vase of sweet things today and they are all the sweeter for having been nipped off as they set off on their journey to lead the way for your new plants! I am psyching myself up to nip out the top shoots of my very straggly sweet pea seedlings! Maybe I should leave them a little longer! I love your very pretty vase with its lovely gentle colours, and I am sure the plants these flowers left behind will grow up to be strong and thankful! Amanda https://therunningwave.blogspot.com/2020/04/in-colourful-vase-on-monday.html
It is so hard to pinch little things back. It feels like cutting off a finger. I’ve pinched my zinnias several times already trying to keep them content in their little pots. I planted them way too early and they sprouted in 2 days which surprised me. The nice thing about pinching zinnias, is that you can get a new plant with the part you pinch off. I never knew that, so my zinnia population has grown to over 50 plants.
Oh, so lovely! I’m not familiar with Nemesia but I would have brought it home too. Beautiful photos.
I have never seen them before either, but I’m sure they were probably out there. I just couldn’t pass up their loveliness. I think I only noticed them because there wasn’t much else in the greenhouse. I don’t usually buy such delicate flowering plants, but the label said they make good cutting flowers. We shall see.
These are are great ‘perker upper’ – and a great catch phrase! And the tops make a perfect tiny bouquet. Will each plant spread a lot?
I’ve never grown them before, so I don’t really know how big each plant will get. The label says 10″ in width, and 10-12″ in height, and that they make good cutting flowers. I would have never thought of doing this, except I’ve seen Monty do this very thing. It seemed the perfect solution since I bought them too early for our weather and they were root bound. Once they fill out a little more, I’ll feel like they have a better chance of surviving in the garden than the tiny little market plugs that they were.
When I worked in surgery I looked at all the Medicine bottles being tased a thought Ian make cute vases out of these! I loved painting them, using decals, and other embellishments for sweet windowsill vases.
Ah, those were the days!
Spell check: bottles were being “tossed”…
Your grocery store has a greenhouse?! The best I can generally expect from my local stores is cut flowers, although you have reminded me that one store I seldom visit often has some potted plants outside…I love Nemesia. They’re short-lived perennials here, although they don’t always manage to survive our summers. I’ve got some in a pot by my front door now. They DO appreciate being cut back regularly so you did right by yours and got a posy out of it in the bargain.
That is all so nice to know. I know absolutely nothing about them, except that they are so sweet, pretty, and in the colors I love.
One of our grocery stores carries a nice selection of plants, nothing excessive, but that is where I buy my euphorbias. They are larger there, and for less than the nurseries charge. They put up a greenhouse every spring to keep the annuals, and because they are a large chain store in the Midwest, their prices are quite reasonable. I don’t buy a lot there, but it is convenient and sometimes you can find a good sale. Our regular nurseries are still open here and I was there over the weekend to help my daughter pick out shrubbery for her new house. It was very busy and fun to feel like life was normal again, even if just for an hour or so.
This was really interesting, Cindy, especially as I have today just ousted overwintered nemesia out of four big pots! Technically they are actually tender perennials, I believe, and my pots had remained bushy and green all winter and had now come into flower. The dry weather really put paid to any attractiveness as the stems had become brown and woody. It did cross my mind that I could use the flowers in a vase but when it came to it I wanted them out NOW, so didn’t bother. I hadn’t expected them to overwinter and was planning on ordering similar for this year but I didn’t like the colour combinations on offer. I was wondering whether you ccould try the trimmings as cuttings so was interested to see you already do that with zinnias – what are your tips for doing this? By the way, your posy is delightful – these are the sort of shades I would happily have had again!
I just heard from Kris Peterson that they are short-lived perennials where she lives in California. But we have much colder winters than either of you have, and I doubt that they would survive. But I might give it a try this winter and put them in my unheated greenhouse. Maybe they are more cold hardy, which is why the grocery store had them out earlier than more tender annuals. Now that I know this about them, I will try future cuttings and see if I can develop some new plants.
I’m attaching a link to the article I read about pinching zinnias. I had no idea I could start a new plant from what I pinched out. I dip the end in rooting hormone and most of the time they take, even if a bit droopy for a few days. It certainly is a much faster way to get new plants than starting them from seeds. Hope you enjoy the article. https://victoriaelizabethbarnes.com/how-to-grow-cuttings/
That is really sweet Cindy. 🙂 That is what I have been doing with my tomato plants too… carrying them out for some daily sunshine and bringing them indoors at night. Hope those little Nemesia plants get really bushy – they are lovely in summer containers and that is a very economical way to buy a whole tray of them. 😃
I’m doing the pots on my deck this summer with all purple/burgandy plants, so maybe once they bloom again, I’ll pick out the purple ones and pot them up for the deck. Several of you have said you plant them in pots. I was just going to put them in the ground, but I can make the soil better in the ground.
I thought I would be getting more for less, but actually it will be the same price. If I’m patient and let them bulk up before planting, then it will make them a better buy and a better chance of survival. Patience is not one of my virtues. We’ll see how this experiment turns out.
So pretty. I’m just planning/dreaming about my summer pots as it’s difficult to source any plants at the moment.
It’s always a bonus when your grocery stores carry a few plants in spring, but the selection is often very limited. Fortunately our garden nurseries are still open and the virus isn’t keeping folks away. Some order online and then do pickup, but many are flocking to do their own selecting. I don’t know what I’d do if they weren’t open. It is the only fun source of shopping available right now, and just what I need when my spirits need a lift.