Curating Annuals-Some odd, but stylish choices

There isn't much that I don't grow, but I always make room for annual flowers. I suppose it's partly because they are some of the first plants my mother let me grow, for I remember sowing seeds at a very young age, and learning quite early, well before I was 10 or 11, what a Cosmos seed looked like vs. a Zinnia. Dad would dig compost from the large compost pile out back, and I imagine that the soil was rich with all of the chicken manure from our hens. The whole process would start in late February, and by mid March our glassed in front porch was full of these large wooden flats, about 4 inches deep and about 30 inches square, I think my father brought them home from the Newspaper, where he worked the night shift as an illustrator.

Annuals can be stylish, and this is the time of year to curate your collection so that you can start your own, and not be at the mercy of your garden center.

We never sterilized soil, or fussed with much or anything other than carefully planting seeds into tiny rows. No bottom heat, for the sun would heat the porch to nearly 70 degrees during the day, and at night, temps would drop to about 40. Still, mom had flower bed everwhere, and I can remember the entire scheme, for at that age, the zinnia and scabiosa were taller than I am. I think that's one reason why I love the scent of snapdragons and marigolds, they were at nose height. Apparently, moms flowers were well known in the neighborhood, and she would pick and make arrangements all summer long, clearly, I got my love for plants partly from her.

Amaranthus 'Dreadlocks'
But annuals hold a dear place in my heart even today, and each year, although I limit myself to what I will gro. Beyond the Proven Winner's series, which I admit, really preform well, I do cycle through the classics every few years. A certain bed along the walk of the greenhouse may hold a few dozen Scabiosa one year, and another, miniature Zinnias, or China Asters, such as last year. Mom always grew tall Asters, and I remember their unique blend of violet, lavender and pink. This year, I think I may plant Four O-Clocks here, not sure yet. But I know that I will grow Marigolds, for I skipped them last year, and I missed their scent too, which particularly reminds me of the first frost of autumn, when mom would pick most every flower in the garden to save them from the frost.
Celosia Spring Green, a new crested green form.
Some new varieties this year I want to try are the many double Cosmos bipinatus, which are available from a few sources, but I will order mine from Johnnys Select seeds. Then, at Harris Seeds, there is a beautiful green Celosia called Celosia Spring Green, which will add interest in arrangements since there is nothing like apple green, magenta and orange.
Gold colored Craespedia is one of the most stylish flowers on the wedding trend sites. The gold mixes well with magenta's, violets and silver foliage, and is very stylish indeed.

Instead of showing the new annual introductions, I am sharing what I am growing. If you want to see some really stunning-but-not-for-me varieties like Zinnia Zahara Rose, go check out the other blogs. It's nice, but it just won't fit into my schemes. But Sweet peas always do, and after seeing the Sweet Peas in England last year, and at the Chelsea Flower Show, I am addicted again, as I was as a kid. I think I will limit myself to all of the violet and periwinkle shades, for together, they make ones heart skip. Check out these are a fine English blog.

Park Seed Company has an interesting Amaranthus, called,'Dreadlocks'. I am thinking about growing it, since it is 3 feet tall, and that appeals to me. They also have a Zinnia called Candy Mix, which is pretty, if you can choose the odder color combinations.
The vine related to Morning glory, Mina lobata comes in a sweet yellow form, available at Summer Hill Seeds. I grew the orange to red form one year, and it was in full bud when I accidentally tore the stems from the roots while moving a large urn in front of the greenhouse, so I may try this one this year.

The Lisianthus plants from Burpee are always worth the money they cost, for I can't think of any other annual that has the long lasting quality as a cut flower, and the color palette, which rivals the Spencer varieties of English Sweet Peas.
One hot humid evening last July, Joe and I went to eat at a local seafood restaurant in the city. Planted around the parking lot in a strip of soil between the hot concrete and the sidewalk was planted Tithonia, the "Mexican Sun Flower". They were so beautiful, and bright persimmon in color with healthy thick green stems and broad floppy leaves, I noted to myself that I should grow some this year, so they are on my list. A dwarf variety is available from Johnny's.Tithonia, Fiesta del Sol, which I will grow with Redbor Kale, a purple kale that will make the Purple leaved Sweetpotato vines and omnipresent black Coleus everyone else will grow, green with envy.Redbor purple Kale, a refreshing option to all of the other purple leaved plants, and you can eat it.

TIme to vote - on the color of my blog!

Design is very important to me, so I take comments about my site design very seriously. I accept that as a designer, one cannot please everyone, for, design is very personal, and many non-designers measure the rules of design against what they know, or against what they have been told.

Today there are many outrageous acts of poor design happening from what we read in some magazines and books, to what we watch on Television. I find nothing more annoying than the pop-up animated teasers that occur in the corner of the screen during a movie, or the 'bug' of a network logo remaining on-screen the entire time I am experiencing the entertainment.

What we should focus on is the 'experience', not the 'rules of print-on-paper' today, for each has a set of different rules. Rules which change as technology moves forward. First, about print and paper: Some of you have read me wrong, I LOVE print on paper, but yes, I do think it is going away. Maybe not in our lifetime, but certainly in a few. Right now, I like the feel and non-techyness of paper, but.....a big but.......it's going away, whether you like it or not. Not because people don't like it, it's going away because it isn't profitable.

Gourmet Magazine, The Boston Globe, Plant Journals, all going way. Let's face it. My point it, I would rather have a digital journal than NO journal. How many young people do you know under 30 who read a newspaper today? Even libraries are going digital, Google is currently undergoing a project to scan every book in the world, and Cushing Academy closed their library and went digital for their students. DO I like it? Maybe not, but the option is worse, so when you write and tell me that paper isn't going away, think first, inform yourself, and, it you don't agree, fine, but don't use it as an excuse to reject digital mediums. We all need to change, to adapt with technology, or we become cultural roadkill.

But back to color, and this blog.

This week, a few readers have written me some notes of encouragement, but also a few complaints about how dark my site is, and how difficult they find it to read. It should come as no surprise that I prefer dark websites with light or white knocked out type. Perhaps a personal preference, but there is some logic behind it too. I have found, being a designer, that many people apply the same rules as print on paper, to digital mediums, for black backgrounds with white type is difficult on paper, but the human eye and mind, prefers the white text on a solid black.

Part of the problem is that I am writing too much, for too much text with this layout, is difficult to read. Maybe I should just compose captions for photos, until I migrate the site to one that offers both fonts for text on white, and captions that are in a different typeface?

Look, monitors are like TV screens, essentially, lightbulbs, and good designers know that part of designing stunning web experiences comes in controlling the light, setting the stage, and everything becomes part of the look, from the style of the photos to the lighting an art direction of the shots, to the color palette. But I have resisted going to a white page online, On paper, I would agree, for I am old school when it comes to the rules of typography, in fact, I am a geek about type too.

The rules for digital design is different than that on paper, but that too is changing, and although subjective,But there is a grey area, and infact, it may be either grey, or as newer mac's and other screens allow, a dimming switch. Plasma and LED screens are also less white, so white suddenly works better. Still, for color photography, I prefer dark environments, because of the theatrical nature of the soothing low tones. Still, I am willing to listen to all of you, and get to a better place. If I was not limited to a template, I would have more freedom, but more on that later. I am working on starting another site.
The Gasterias are starting to bud up in the greenhouse.

Guess that we can't have both. Besides, the font that this Blogger template limits me to use is too bold, and the leading is too close for so much white text on black. I will over the next few days reintroduce my wood vector background, as well as play with some of the tints of the type to reduce the contrast until it is just perfect. Until then, look on the left and add your thoughts and vote. Or, email me and let me know what you think.
But there is a whole group of people who beleive otherwise.

So, let's vote. Do you prefer a dark background ( on which photos look best)
or, a light background?

Photo sites like Nikonians for Nikon fans, know the benefits of dark.
Some sites have an elegant use of dark, but the gradations are what really make it.
Here are my thoughts. I agree that the current design is hard to read, I lost the link to the brown wood pattern, which made the black less deep, and the off white type was less harsh in contrast. I also belive that an all white digital page is tiresome on the eyes, if one looks at one all day, as I do. As a prefessional designer, I sell many ideas that are grey, or screens that emit less color. The finest image sites use black or dark backgrounds, as do theaters, credits on films, broadcast. However, lately, soft grey gradations with black or dark grey type is possible, so I may look at that as an option.

The fine design blog Design Sponge has a design which I admire, but is a bit busy for what we do, but I like the collage aspect of it. When, and if I move to a website, I might consider some collage concept like this, or perhaps more styling like Terrain.


Nike knows the benefits of theatrical lighting and dark sites. Still, the solution should use elegant type rather than the horsey fonts offered by BLOGGER.
Anyway, I am open to designing a new site, but please understand that this Blogger platform limits me on what I can actually do, since I only have a few templates to work with. Also, I have been planning to move my blog to the other service called Wordpress, and host it on a server at Bluehost. I bought the URL, and was ready to move it on Jan 1, but found out that I would loose all of my photos over the past 4 years, and in order to keep them, I would have to re upload each one. Which is an impossible task. I looked at hiring someone to help me migrate my blog to Wordpress, but the cost was a little high ( at $1500) so I an stuck here for a while, until I start a new blog on WordPress maybe. Still working on that one!

SO, to redesign this site ( which I seem to get bored with and redesign often, anyway,, I would love to hear all of your thoughts. After all, you are the ones who need to read it, not me! take the poll, let me know! Then, I can post some designs and you can choose. Unless you are all willing to just move to a new URL, then, I can have a magazine style layout, with thumnails and pull down tabs for bulbs, alpines, vegetables, design, etc!