Hello and welcome (back) to our blog and to another entry in my virtual organic gardening journal on another beautiful Friday after a rather hot week in the Greater Toronto Area.  You can read previous entries of my journal here. Today we are taking a break from my vegetable garden to discuss flowers. I know I don’t usually write about flowers but I’ve been meaning to bring this up but first a little background.

Impatiens image courtesy of flowersgallery.net

The only flowers I have are located in a shaded area that leads up to the stairs of my front porch. I have found that very little grows in this shaded area and I have tried a host of flowers over the last few years.  In the end the only flowers that tend to grow are impatiens but I’ve grown impatient with my impatiens. I set out to try something different this year. While at a big box hardware store I was intrigued by those new plant rolls. For those that are not aware of this product it’s a bio-degradable mat that has pre-germinated seeds woven into it. The brand I bought was specifically for shaded areas and boasted over twelve hundred seeds. It was as simple as loosening the soil, rolling out the mat, and watering. I planted them on May 29th (after the frost) and the instruction said to water these plants twice daily and I did. I watered diligently until I saw some little seedlings start to sprout and then I watered regularly. I followed the instruction exactly and soon a few of my sprouts became larger but I have to say I was disappointed with the result. Out of the twelve hundred seeds a mere six plants have grown but none with buds.

Now I’m always advocating trying something new and being fearless in the garden and that is why I tried this new product. However, in this case, I made sure the flower roll I bought had a satisfaction guarantee so I contacted the company and they will be sending me a fresh roll next year to make up for the lack of growth. The representative on the phone instructed me to keep the roll in place and give it more time as shade rolls sometimes take a bit longer to grow but I’m not hopeful. I’ll wait this roll out and give these seeds a second shot next year with a backup plan.

Luckily my annuals came back again so the flowerbed that lines my walkway is not entirely barren. In my other flowerbed I have a dwarf lilac bush, that no longer lives up to its name as it is huge but that’s another blog. Feast or famine I tell ya – I’m either wondering why plants are not growing or in awe of their size.

Have you tried these flower rolls? If so, in what condition and how did it work out for you?

As always happy gardening and remember to support your local organic farmer.