In the ‘For What It’s Worth’ Department: I pulled my lettuces today. The ones that performed the best in this RIDICULOUSLY HOT SPRING were ‘Black Seeded Simpson’ and ‘Marvel of Four Seasons.’
Neither bolted, they still looked nice, and I have two big kitchen bowls full, soaking, and they are going into the salad spinner in a bit.
VERY impressed with those two. I usually grow them, but they REALLY performed magic this season, based on our wildly fluctuating temperatures.
I have the bed ready for the Zinnia, but I’m letting them get a bit bigger in the greenhouse. I started all the HUGE sizes and colors I could find; about 36 of them. Yeah. I went a little nuts. :)
I save the zinnia blooms from the biggest, the best, and my favorite colors. I let them dry in trays and then I pull the seeds in the spring before planting. I should do it in the winter doldrums, but I get lazy & do it when I need them. Generally, I’ll pick up a couple of packages (2-3) of the large cactus types to add in. So far, this has worked to provide me with seeds every year - this year, I had half a brown lunch sack of seeds. Most of them germinate, too. I do have a bit of a challenge with the birds picking out the seeds before I can get the blooms cut off - the finches seem to love the seeds & will leave nothing but an empty “head” if you’re not quick about it. Good luck with yours - they’re a fairly ‘easy’ way to get a great patch of color & plenty of butterfly, bee & bird visitors.