My daughters and I did our annual flower and vegetable seed packet excursion to Meadowbrook Farms last weekend, when we select the types of flowers and vegetables that we wanted to grow this season.
For the most part, I like ordering seeds from mail order catalogs, but I think it is a great learning experience for my children to be able to pick out their own seeds. Viewing the seed packets with their colorful pictures and reading and understanding the information listed on the packets is an educational experience in itself.
Selecting seeds can be a daunting task to the inexperienced gardener, and even some experienced gardeners can have a hard time understanding some of the terminology listed on packets. An average size packet has an enormous amount of information listed for providing the correct cultural requirements for optimum growth. But if you focus on the most important pieces of information provided, you can start sowing your seeds with huge success.
These are some of the things I pay attention to when purchasing and sowing seeds for the garden.
The first thing one notices when buying seeds is the picture of the mature plant, flower or vegetable on the front of the seed packet. These pictures are an attention getter. The first flower seeds that my daughters picked out had pictures of Disney princesses on them. Touché to Burpee Seeds for licensing with Disney to use the likeness of princesses on their seed packs for impulse buying for little girls.
The next noticeable thing on the seed packet is the name of the company, usually in bold letters. Burpee Seeds is usually the company most people are familiar with and is available at many box stores and garden centers.
The common name and variety, plus sometimes the botanical name, would be listed right above the picture. Understanding the botanical name and recognizing the plant families becomes beneficial in crop rotation for your garden.
There may be a brief written synopsis under the picture listing the attributes of that particular plant, allowing you to make a quick analysis of comparative seeds for your ultimate purchase.
When I turn the packet over, I look for the culture requirements—such as if the plants need sun or shade—which is usually expressed as where to sow your seeds, for example, “sow seeds in fertile soil and full sun.” Planting these seeds in shade would not be advantageous for good growth.
The next bit of information I look for is when to start the seeds, days to germination and days to maturity. This will allow me to determine the best time to start my seeds for optimum growth and makes it easy to develop a planting schedule. The terminology may be “start seeds 3-4 weeks prior to your last frost date,” or “start seed indoors 4-8 weeks prior to the last frost of spring,” or “direct sow seeds after all danger of last spring frost and soil has warmed thoroughly.” The last frost day for Mercer County is April 14 with a guarantee of no frost after May 8.
The packet will tell you how deep the seed should be planted and what the spacing or distance apart should be. Placing the seed at the proper depth will improve germination results. “Surface-sown” or “lightly cover seeds” means you don’t need to place seeds in a measured hole; you can sprinkle them on the soil surface and lightly apply soil over them to keep them from blowing away. Planting at the proper distance will allow enough room for the plants to mature properly. Some packets may tell you to “thin plants” to a certain spacing. This provides a number for how far apart the final plants should be. For example, lettuce can be sown close together and after germination should be thinned 8-12 inches.
Many packets have a section called growing notes or growing tips. This is additional information about such subjects as pests, transplanting, weeding, proper watering techniques, pollination, thinning and mulching. If there is extra information on the packet, you should pay special attention to it because it is unique and most likely important.
Knowing and understanding the information on a seed packet will make your selection easy of what to grow and how to make your gardening adventure a success.
“Forsythia is pure joy. There is not an ounce, not a glimmer of sadness or even knowledge in forsythia.” —Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Craig Dupée is a garden-design consultant. He lives in Ewing with his wife and daughters. Send him your email questions at hort1014u@aol.com.
