How to Dry Zinnias

This is a new stash of zinnia seed heads getting dried in a brown box. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

These zinnia seeds rotted instead of drying out for next year planting. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

“Charlotte, something is wrong with my zinnia seeds. I tried to dry some and they look gray and yucky. What did I do wrong?” — Melissa

How to Dry Zinnias

Hi Melissa, do they look something like the ones in the photo? If so, they didn’t dry, they rotted from too much moisture. As you can see, I have some as well.

I had a little stash of drying zinnia flower heads in an old planter but it didn’t get enough air to dry out the seeds. The idea is to give them time to dry but not rot. I also didn’t place a paper towel under the seeds to absorb moisture, which is also why they rotted.

On the other hand, my big stash of zinnia seeds were properly dried and I’m on my second seed collection so this is how it should look as you get started.

You need a brown bag or newspaper to help absorb moisture. Paper towels will also work. I am using a brown cardboard liner that came with the brown cardboard box. Remember there’s a hole in the bottom of these boxes or you might spill your zinnias all over the place.

Spread the zinnia seed heads across the bottom so they are flat. If you have more zinnia flower heads than space, spread them out in a second box. You want to keep them one flower head deep so they can dry.

I turn them every time I walk by, ensuring air gets through them as they dry. It also helps me determine whether they are ready for storage.

This is how they should look when they are dry and ready to save.

I save the flower seed heads intact, takes too much time to separate them. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

In case this was your one and only zinnia seed stash, let me know, I will be glad to share some of mine.

Zinnias make excellent pollinator food. Although they are not native wildflowers to mid-Missouri, I try to plant some every year. They are easy to grow, pretty to have in the garden and nice cut flowers in addition to feeding a wide range of pollinators.

I think of them as gateway flowers. Once you plant them, you will be encouraged to keep planting flowers and we need all we can get.

Ok, try again, they are worth it!

Charlotte

When To Cut Down Flowers

Cut off dried peony flowers and buds after their blooming season but leave the leaves until they die back. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

“Just double checking before I do it, my iris and peonies are finished blooming so I can cut them down now, right?” — Lorri

When to Cut Down Flowers

Hi Lorri, here’s a good rule of thumb. If a plant has finished blooming, that’s a good time to both cut off the spent flowers and move it.

However, don’t cut the entire plant down to the roots. Plants need their leaves to collect sunlight they change into sugar to feed themselves and store energy before they go dormant. I know the dried up flowers and yellowing stems are not exactly appealing but the plants need that greenery.

Here’s a favorite iris that bloomed this year and is ready to have the dried flower heads cut off:

Cut off the dried flowers but leave the green leaves on the rhizomes. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

If you aren’t sure of when to trim, wait until you see the beginning of seed pods growing, then you will know it’s a good time to cut them. If I want a plant to expand, I leave the seed heads on.

Also in the fall, you may want to leave seed heads on so birds will have food over winter.

If you don’t like how they spent flowers look after their blooming season, plant other plants in front and around them to cover up the yellowing leaves. Monkey grass is a nice border plant, as are self heal, Autumn sedum and Stella D’Oro Day lilies.

Charlotte

Wildflower Planting

Hi Charlotte. The spot of higher grass I would like to replant in native wildflowers. I'm going to check with my extension office to come up with the best plan. Short-plan, kill the grass, edge the outline with heavy cardboard and weed fabric and wood mulch on top. Is this reasonable for a 18" outline all the way around? Haven't decided about middle but I wouldlike to sow seeds in fall before winter. Is this an okay start to developing this site? — Bruce

Wildflower Planting

Hi Bruce,

Excellent start!

If you can put something along the horizontal bottom like a brick edging or a 2x4 in the ground to at least temporarily hold in cardboard and mulch that would also help. It's a little tough to keep cardboard and mulch on that incline during a windy rainstorm. 

 The spot looks sunny so you should be able to grow some wonderful native wildflowers like purple coneflowers, black eyed susans and New England asters, all perennials that have long blooming times and are excellent bee flowers. Shooting stars, a light blue bushy plant, would also work well there...what fun to "go shopping" for what you can add there.

Do you have a Missouri Native Wildflowers catalog? They have great suggestions based on the growing conditions.

Charlotte

Moving Irises

These yellow irises were a gift from a friend’s garden. She dug them up after they had bloomed so once in my garden, they bloomed the following year. When dug up while blooming, it can take iris 2 years to bloom again.

“My iris are blooming and they need to be divided.  Can I divide them after they are finished now or do I have to wait until fall?  They are so thick and crowded that not all of them bloom.  Can I dig them up and store them until fall and replant them somewhere?” – Vicki

Moving Irises

The best time to divide irises is immediately after they bloom through fall. No need to dig them up now and store unless you are moving, best to keep them in the ground growing until you are ready to divide and replant. Decreased blooming is a definite sign your iris are ready to be divided.

The next sign that you should consider transplanting your iris is if the roots, or rhizomes start heaving out of the ground. Overcrowded iris rhizomes will start to push on each other, which results in the entire root system of your iris plants literally pushing themselves out of the ground. They may even stop putting up foliage and the plants may only grow foliage on the outside edges of the clump.

Best Time to Make the Move

The best time to transplant iris is in the summer, after the iris have finished blooming, up until fall. To divide your iris, start by lifting the clump of iris plants out of the ground with a spade or fork. If possible, lift the whole mass out whole, but if you are unable to do this, carefully break the clump into smaller parts and lift these out.

Next, brush of as much dirt as possible from the iris rhizomes. This will make it easier to see when you are breaking the clumps apart. The next step in dividing iris plants is to divide the iris rhizomes.

 Irises store energy in their rhizome, or root. To divide these roots, make sure a piece of green foliage is attached. Cut the foliage back 4-6 inches after blooming and move to their new location. Also plant the root very shallow in the ground, barely covering the tiny roots on the side of the rhizomes, and water.

Each iris rhizome should be divided into pieces that are 3 to 4 inches long and have at least one fan of leaves on the rhizome. Do not remove the roots from the rhizomes. As you get closer to the center of the clump, you may find large sections of rhizomes that have no leaf fans. These can be composted.

Check all of the divided iris rhizomes for iris borers and disease. The iris rhizomes should be firm and not soft. If the rhizome feels soft, throw it away.

Once the iris rhizomes have been divided, you can replant them.

First, trim all of the iris leaf fans back to about 6 to 9 inches tall. This will allow the plant to re-establish its roots without having to support a large amount of foliage at the same time. Next, plant the iris rhizomes in the selected location. This location should receive a good deal of sunlight and should be well draining.

Dig a hole where the rhizome will settle into the ground just below the ground level. If planting several iris near each other, point the rhizomes away from each other and space them 18 inches apart. Spread the roots out around the rhizome and then cover the roots and the rhizome with dirt. Water the newly transplanted iris plants well. 

Charlotte

How to Pick an Amaryllis bulb?

How to Pick an Amaryllis Bulb That Blooms

"...over the years, I have tried to pick an Amaryllis bulb that will bloom and failed. What do I need to get?" - Amanda

Hi Amanda, don't get discouraged, Amaryllis are easy and fun to grow. I love to give them as gifts, especially because one can watch them grow on a daily basis, especially in the middle of winter when the weather outside is cold, the landscape is covered with snow and there is nothing green within miles.

What to Look for in Amaryllis Bulbs

First, don't pick a bulb that is all brown, without any growth showing. When buying loose bulbs, it's a gamble whether you are getting an Amaryllis bulb that stored enough energy to bloom before it was removed from soil, dried and shipped for sale.

Most Amaryllis are sold in gift boxes. Don't be afraid to gently open the box and look inside. You are looking for an Amaryllis bulb that already has a bud tip showing. The bud tips are easy to spot from leaf tips because they are thicker. Leaf starts are good to have, too, but it you only see leaf starts, the bulb may not bloom.

In the following photo, the bud tip is on the right, the leaf tip is on the left. 

Amaryllis bulb with a bud tip showing will ensure you have a blooming flower starting.

If an Amaryllis bud is not showing any growth by the time it is in a box at a retail store, chances are it didn't get enough energy stored in the bulb before it was harvested. If you are buying Amaryllis bulbs for gifts, pass on those, you want a bud tip showing.

Also don't be afraid if the bud tip is all white, that just means it has not been exposed to light to turn green. This bulb will still bloom once the emerging Amaryllis bud tip is exposed to sun to turn green.

Amaryllis bulb with a white emerging bud tip, right, and leaves, that need sun exposure.

See the leaves starting on the left? Don't cut off the leaves, that will help recharge the bud after it blooms.

I try to pick Amaryllis buds as they are starting at the bulb base but if you need something blooming sooner, pick the bulb bud several inches taller. Either way, once the bulb is in soil, the plant will keep growing until it blooms. 

Actually I have bought Amaryllis bulbs on sale that bloomed without soil but it took extra energy from the bulb and took longer for the bulb to recuperate before it bloomed again. Even if you pick an Amaryllis bulb that's several inches high, get it into soil as soon as you can and water. That will help the bulb get nutrients and keep the Amaryllis bulb healthy.

This Amaryllis bulb grew and is getting ready to bloom without even being in a pot with soil.

Ok, now for a little test. Look at this photo and tell me, which one is the emerging Amaryllis bud and which side has the emerging leaves?

Amaryllis bud is on the left, emerging green leaves are on the right.

Amaryllis Bulb Care

Once the Amaryllis bulb leaves die back, the bulb should rest for a couple of months before you water it to get it started again. In other words, don't water it for a couple of months - how easy is that.

I have some Amaryllis bulbs that are 6 years old now, so much fun to see them repeatedly blooming. And they are quite large now, too!

Good luck, let me know how you do on your next Amaryllis bulb shopping trip!

Charlotte

Leftover Surprise Lilies

"...saw your surprise lilies on Facebook, so beautiful! I have a question. I moved my surprise lily bulbs this spring but a couple of them came up again. Do I move them now or do I have to wait until next spring to move them?" -- Lisa

Lisa, here are leftover surprise lilies blooming in one of the flower beds in front of my house, too!

Leftover Surprise Lilies

Hi Lisa, I have a few "leftover" surprise lilies myself!

If I had a flower of the month club, surprise lilies would be my August flower. This North American cousin of the traditional holiday gift flower Amaryllis blooms in Missouri when little else is in bloom. August is Missouri's dearth month, usually the hottest month of the year and when plants shut down to survive the hot weather conditions.

I also thought I had moved all of the surprise lily bulbs out of the corner of a front flower bed so I could settle an old bird bath under the rain gutter to collect rain water. Instead, two bulbs I missed digging up sprung up this August 2016, a little out of place now that the rest of the surprise lilies are gone.

If you don't have to move them this fall, I wouldn't. Let the bulbs collect energy over fall and winter over where they are currently growing. Then spring, when the leaves start peeking out of the ground, dig them up and move them.

Pick a rainy spring day so rain water will help settle them into their new location.

One of the secrets to successfully moving any plants is to dig them up in a ball of soil; most won't even know they were moved.

If you have to move them now, wait until the flowers are finished and gone to seed. Remove the stem with the seed pods. Leave 2-3 inches at the top so you know where the bulbs are. Dig them up with a huge shovel so you don't disturb the roots and carefully move them to a new hole that will fit the glob of soil you removed.

Water well with a pinch of all purpose fertilizer to help them get re-established.

Chances are if you keep them in soil, the move won't interrupt their growing cycle and they will bloom again next year. It's a technique I have successfully used for most of my plant moves in my garden.

If the bulbs are disturbed and have to spend energy re-establishing their roots, they won't collect enough energy to be able to bloom next year. It may take a full growing cycle for them to bloom again.

Now I took a different approach to my little leftover lilies. Instead of digging them up, I added three more surprise lily bulbs to the flower bed corner and watered well. No one would expect them to be growing there and that makes me smile. 

What can I say,  I love surprise lilies!

Charlotte