Three Annual Flowers to Plant for Painting Inspiration
In 2018, I attended a flower arranging workshop at GardenView Flowers that completely changed my creative practice. Up until then I was buying flowers for the studio from the grocery store or the farmers market, but I was limited to whatever was available. I felt so inspired walking around their flower fields that when I got home I asked my husband if we could turn our tiny backyard into a cut flower garden. Not only did he not need any convincing, the next day he brought home a huge role of plastic to kill all the grass.
That first summer I planted just about anything I could get my hands on and while I ended up with a lot of flowers, it was sort of a hot mess. Each year I continue to learn more about gardening, design and what works best with my yard. While I’m still a novice compared to master gardeners, I have found flowers that I love and plant every year without hesitation. The last few years I have switched from mainly annual flowers to the bulk of my garden being perennial flowers that come back every summer. I learned that I’m more inspired by a full garden with lots of texture, rather than rows of annual flowers. With less room for annuals, I am now very selective in what I plant.
Here are the three annuals I plant for painting inspiration.
Cosmos
Cosmos were the first flower I ever grew from seed, even before I had my garden and I have planted them every year since. They are an easy seed to direct sow in the spring or you can often find flats of them at green houses. Cosmos have this beautiful, frilly greenery that I like as much as I do the flowers. The best thing about cosmos is they are one of the best cut and come again annuals, meaning you can harvest blooms and they will continue to produce more all summer long.
2. Zinnias
Zinnias are another annual that is easy to direct sow in the spring and is also a cut and come again flower. I have found them to be one of the easiest flowers to grow and the butterflies and hummingbirds love them! The trick to getting zinnias you find beautiful, is to shop around for the right seeds. You want to make sure they are grow tall for a cutting garden. I try to find varieties that grow at least 36” tall. The second thing I look for is the color. Zinnias come in a wide variety of colors, so you want to choose colors that inspire you. I’m drawn to softer more muted color, dusty pinks and coral colors. I choose my flowers based on what colors I want in my paintings.
3. Dahlias
If I could only choose one flower to plant (how sad would that be) it would be dahlias. Dahlias are a little tricker to grow than cosmos and zinnias, but they are completely worth the extra effort. Thankfully, there are so many great resources available to learn all about growing dahlias. Erin Benzakein from Floret is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to flower farming. Instead of planting seeds, you plant a tuber. Even though a single tuber could cost any where from $5- $30, don’t let the sticker price scare you. In the fall you dig up the tubers to store over winter, but that one tuber multiplies so you will have even more to plant the following year. Dahlias come in a huge variety of color, shapes and sizes, so once again I choose what I am most interested in painting.
