How many of you plant flowers ......

[longwinters]

To draw bees for pollination of your garden?
 
We plant wild flowers in the middle of our garden area ...I think "wild flowers" are actually considered weeds.  No one has ever been able to tell me the difference between a "flower" and a "flowering weed".
 
Long

[powderman]

I planted zinnias, astors, and marigolds last year with the rest of the garden, I also had 2 flower beds for Patty. POWDERMAN. 

[BUGEYE]

If I plant something, it has to yield something to eat.  my neighbors have plenty of flowers.
besides, if my wife plants a flower, that's a sure death sentence for that flower.
her thumb is brown instead of green.

[reliquary]

We have a real problem in this region of Texas with the wild bee populations declining.  I have one neighbor about 100 yards away who plants a few flowers, but I plant a lot.  I keep something blooming from early spring to late fall.
 
Foxglove, larkspur, hollyhocks, nasturtiums (edible), petunias, cosmos, marigold, zinnia...scattered throughout the garden and orchard, not rowed .  My wife loves flowers, but also has the brownthumb syndrome, so I grow 'em and she picks 'em.
 
I also have roses, mums, and daylilies but in a more orderly setting just for decoration.

[longwinters]

So do any of you know what differentiates a "flower" from a "flowering weed?"   
 
Long

[reliquary]

 
Flowering weeds are hardier than plain flowers and aren't pretty enough to be commercially salable?
 
There isn't a lot of difference, IMO.  What are marketed as "wildflowers" grow...well, wild... and are regarded as nuisances by some.
 
Which reminds me, I left out the wildflowers I have, mostly birdseye coreopsis (among the tomatoes) and browneyed susan wherever they want to come up. 

[longwinters]

Yeh, I've asked biologist etc...no one can really tell me.  I think its just a judgment call.
 
Long

[powderman]

HEH, A weed is simply an unwanted plant. If a stalk of corn comes up in your tomato patch, it might be considered a weed. What some might consider as weeds, I might see as supper. 
I want to plant something besides zinnias and astors for cut flowers next year, heh, I mean this year. I want something that starts early and blooms late in the year. I made 2 plantings last year of the zinnias and it worked well but I'd like to try different varieties for Patty. I NEVER buy flower plants, seeds only. POWDERMAN. 

[reliquary]

 
I posted a little about this in a discussion on cover crops & offseason plantings.
 
 Mother Earth News had an article on cover crops in their Oct/Nov 2011 issue that touted planting Dutch white clover as a cover crop and then leaving it as a living mulch and bee-attractor.
 
I found the seeds online at a heritage site, fairly reasonable, and have broadcast them in my hobby garden.  I'll report on how well it works out, later.  The clover is up about an inch or so by now.
 
Powderman:  it's hard to beat zinnias.  I had some doubles last season that lasted till our first hard frost.  Early Sunrise coreopsis is also nice. 
 
 

[powderman]

RELIQUARY. Thanks, zinnias are pretty hard to beat. I planted several types. I worked a bunch of turnip tops, grass clippings and leaves into the soil last fall. I'll continue to make 2 plantings for a longer growing season. The astors were pretty but not a very good cut flower. POWDERMAN. 

[keith44]

Powderman is right, the definition of a weed is simply an unwanted plant, or a plant in an unwanted area.


We plant more flowering plants for bees and hummingbirds, than vegetables for us.  I plan to have an area set aside for bees, and then I'll start a hive of my own (maybe, still gotta sell the wife on the idea)

[blind ear]

I have never planted flowers pre se but have considered planting a moon garden to attract some of the beautiful moths that are in Mississippi. Most of those flowers are glow in the dark white. There are online suppliers of seed. The moths will polinate other plants also. ear

[jvs]

I sometimes plant a few in the vegetable garden to attract bees and I usually plant some around the post for the mailbox, but other than that, I am not a beauty contestant.

[reliquary]

It's hard to beat moonflowers...the old standard bush type (aka datura?...don't chew the root or make tea from the seeds), or a vining kindred...for moths.  In this area, tobacco hornworms like to nibble on the leaves.  Then they fall to the ground and twitch a while, get up and start over.  Slow learners...
 
cornflowers and Shasta Daisies are good as cutflowers in some places.