ColeRobbie, that bouquet is just beautiful! Looks like you are off to a great start.....please post more pics as you go along :yes:

[QUOTE=Nan_PA_6b;693166]My mother grows ornamental oregano "Herrnhausen". Good as a spice, but when it blooms, Oh Boy! It's gorgeous. It has a trailing habit, so would be good for hanging baskets. I never tried the flowers in a bouquet; maybe someone has experience with this? Do they last?

Nan[/QUOTE]
I don't think the individual florets last long, but there are a lot of buds on oregano.. actually the wine red buds are the most beautiful part (as well as the best spice IMO, for the common or gardener O. vulgare). I have several different types that emerged over (couple decades) of letting it go weedy mad in my garden, including a white flowered and some different bud architecture but no spires they are all panicles. I'll have to post pics when bouquet season rolls around. :)

[QUOTE=hl2601;693096]Loving this thread! A good idea source you may want to take a peek at is Floret flowers- they put together seed collections in all sorts of color ways that may inspire some of your choices. Here's one based on your idea for using zinnias but do look at her others-
[url]https://shop.floretflowers.com/collections/seed-collections-1/products/seed-collection-fiesta-mix[/url]
I grew basil aromata last year as a pretty and nice smelling filler- herbs as fillers add a whole new dimension to me and I think that might translate at market well.[/QUOTE]

that is one of the nicest collections of flowers I have seen after taking 10 minutes to sit down and look at the site. thanks so much for the link. I was thinking ugh..25.00 a seed collection but, wow, you don't have to find all these "goes together nicely" varieties.

Thanks, Jillian.

And yeah, the flower collections are neat. They must be popular, as most of them are sold out.

Not saying the Floret is bad in anyway just that most of flowers are available on other sites at lower prices. Even with shipping this place has a lot more to offer cheaper with more seeds per packet. [url]https://www.seedaholic.com/flowers/the-cutting-garden.html[/url]

[QUOTE=Patihum;693242]Not saying the Floret is bad in anyway just that most of flowers are available on other sites at lower prices. Even with shipping this place has a lot more to offer cheaper with more seeds per packet. [url]https://www.seedaholic.com/flowers/the-cutting-garden.html[/url][/QUOTE]

maybe so but all the flowers from the other site appear to be specifically for cut flower production and the colors and varieties really are unique. some I have never seen before.

Floret also has a mission to call attention to and bring back heirloom flower varieties, which I like. Erin, the owner, is focusing quite a bit on sweet peas currently. I don't grow those but I still find it all interesting, so I follow her blog. I don't think many growers or seed companies (in the US at least) have this focus. Given all that, I am happy to pay her prices to support her efforts, much as many of us are happy to pay for seeds from our favorite tomato breeders who are furthering tomato varietal development.

I had a grandma who called me "sweet pea" when I was a tiny little kid. I never really understood that was a flower. I've never grown it. Does it start well from seed?

According to Floret it does! ;)

I remember my grandmother loving them too and that they have a really great smell. I think there are two kinds of sweet peas-some that you trellis with longer stems to use for cut flowers and some you just let grow upwards on a trellis free form that you can't use for bouquets.

Johnny's has a nice selection of sweet pea:
[url]http://www.johnnyseeds.com/flowers/sweet-peas/[/url]

There is also a warning about it being poisonous.

I can't stop! (Actually, I can now, because I'm out of money)

Sweet Peas grow well from seed and many of the older varieties have a great fragrance and can scent a room nicely when cut. They don't like high heat though, so I grow them early on.

Choose wisely on the Sweet Pea. Some are serious climbers and viners. We have about 15 or so growing right now. So yeah, they grow from seed very easily.

The lady at my market sells in a vase and gives a discount on the next flower arrangement if they bring it back. She typically just uses what is in season and flowering. Sells a lot. She knows all the tricks of how to keep everything looking fresh for a long time so typically her arrangements look good about a week, which ofc is ideal for her to sell more every week. Most of her customers come back weekly. Oh and for what its worth hers are 10 dollars.

My son's property is overrun with sweet peas. He's fighting them back. They have beautiful blooms, but they grow like a weed here, and the variety (unknown) tolerates high heat. I even posted a picture here inquiring if anyone knew what it was.