HB’s Flower Seeds
It makes me so happy to share the seeds from the flowers I grow in my garden with others.
Please share pictures of your new flowers with me, I’d love to see your garden!
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label guide
I try to keep each bag of seeds labeled the same way for continuity.
name of the plant - I use the name that came on the packet of seeds I grew from when I can otherwise, it’s named by type of plant with my best description of it’s unique characteristics/color
(height) - I mostly label them if they’re very tall or shorter than you might imagine, I use exact heights when I can. This is to help you decide where in the garden to plant them.
HB24 - these seeds came from plants that I grew in my garden in 2024
OP - Open Pollinated - flowers were fertilized/pollinated by bees, butterflies, bugs, and natural elements and not controlled, so the male plant used to pollinate the female is unknown, this can result in plants with new genetic traits (colors, forms).
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Resources
Here are some of the videos and websites I have used to learn about gardening and seed starting.
I will add to this as I remember things that have helped in the past and discover new resources.
Before you start your gardening, look up your USDA Plant Hardiness Zone using your zip code. Your hardiness zone (mine is 7b) will give you insights about which plants will grow best in your area and at what times of year. Some plants are perennials in warm zones and come back year after year without being replanted, but the same plant may be an annual in a colder zone and need to be replanted each year.
The Ultimate Beginner's Guide To STARTING SEEDS Indoors - I’ve watched this video so many times even watching and pausing while starting my seed trays. This is particularly good if you want to know what gear to get to start seeds and how to use it.
Seed Starting Part 2: Seedling Care, Problems, and Pot-Up (video 26:14 ) - Great for how to take care of your seedlings once they start to sprout
Floret Flowers - instagram & website - flower farmer and dahlia breeder with beautiful images and tons of helpful resources on website and youtube mostly focused on dahlias, zinnias, celosia
Micro Flower Farm - instagram - cut flower farmer with helpful insights and bouquet inspiration
Lazy Girl Garden Club - instagram - focuses on Zinnias, great for achievable home gardening tips
Where I buy seeds
Park Seed - food & flowers
Johnny’s Seeds - food & flowers
Hudson Valley Seed Company - food & flowers
Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds aka RareSeeds.com - recently found out they have unsavory right-wing beliefs, so I’m not buying from them anymore
Longfield Gardens - dahlia bulbs and other bulbs bought through Costco, they have a great refund policy
Burpee - Pennsylvania Business & Founder of Burpee Trial Garden at Bard College - food and flowers - OG plant seeds company you will find their packets at the grocery store and plant center
FerryMorse - food and flowers another OG seed company, you will find at the grocery or plant center - I’ve only used their flower seeds
Museums & Botanic Gardens - these are fun place to buy seeds as a souvenir
The seeds
Celosia
Celosia is a fun, feathery plant that looks like it’s made of little twists of yarn. The twists “unravel” over the season blooming into soft little flowers that the bees adore and which later form the hull of the seeds it will produce.
These celosia seeds were originally grown from Floret Flowers ‘Spun Sugar’ Celosia seeds.
Height: 3-4 ft
Sun: Full Sun (6+ hours of direct sun)
Hannah’s Notes: I started these seeds in trays last year, this year I will try sprinkling them onto the soil. These seeds are tinnnnny and it’s easiest to control them by using a damp wooden chopstick to pick them up and place them.
Celosia Help:
Seed Sewing & Plant Details (written)
Planting, Harvesting, & Tending (video 4:16)
Cosmos
Cosmos have fluttery thin petals with vibrant round yellow centers and delicate lacy leaves. They grow, sometimes very tall, on Dr. Seussian stalks with many arms and sway in the breeze.
My Cosmic Orange Cosmo seeds are grown only from Baker Creek seeds. My Cosmos ‘Rando Mix’ are an assortment of seeds taken from Candy Stripe (Ferry Morse), Cupcakes and Saucers (Park Seeds), and Versailles (2023 HB Garden) flowers.
Height: Cosmic Orange 1-2 feet; Rando Mix 4 feet and up (my tallest one was 9 feet)
Sun: Full Sun (6+ hours of direct sun)
Hannah’s Notes: I started these seeds in trays and directly sewn into the soil in 2024. They work well using either method. If you plant directly, space out the seeds. If you choose to scatter the seeds on the soil to plant you will likely need to thin them out when they begin to sprout so that they have enough room .
** Cosmos are susceptible to powdery mildew, which will kill your plants. **
Cosmos Help:
How to Sow, Grow, and Stake Cosmos (video 6:29)
Dahlias
Dahlias are a diverse and beautiful flower that isn’t typically grown from seeds. Because of the Dahlia plant’s genetics, seeds collected from the flowers will not be the same as the mother plant. However, dahlias grown from tubers will be genetically identical, therefore visually identical, to the mother plant it came from.
Growing dahlias from seeds means you will not know what your flowers will look like before they bloom. I find this to be an incredibly fun thing to look forward to in the summer. Dahlias grown from seeds are called seedlings and typically have a visible center and only one layer of petals. Seedlings will grow tubers in addition to seeds. You can dig the tubers up to plant again for identical plants.
My dahlia seeds were collected from an assortment of flower in my garden, but mostly from 2024’s dahlia seedlings. These seedlings were grown from a mix of Floret Bee’s Choice and Floret Shooting Star seeds. Since my seedlings live among the other dahlias in my garden and open pollinated, they will likely be a genetic mix of the flowers they came from and the other dahlias that surround them .
Height: 4-6 ft
Sun: Full Sun (6+ hours of direct sun)
Hannah’s Notes: From my reading and experience, dahlia seeds are finicky to start. I typically get 2 seeds to sprout from every 5 planted.
Celosia Help:
Starting Dahlia Seeds (written)
Seedling vs. Tuber (video 5:16)
sunflowers
Sunflowers are iconic. Last year I grew Double Sunking Sunflowers (Baker Creek) a fluffy variety of sunflower unlike any I’ve seen before. They have thin feathery petals that are densely packed together. Mine grew between 4 and 6 feet in height with HUGE leaves over 1 foot across.
Height: up to 6ft
Sun: Full Sun (8-12 hours)
Hannah’s Notes: I started these seeds in trays last year about 3 weeks before I wanted to plant them. They are easy to grow directly sowing them into the soil once it’s over 50° consistently.
Sunflower Help:
Growing Tips, Tricks and FAQs (written)
