u/hellosfromjo

hello! some of my recent work, with a lot of flowers sourced from my second year cut flower garden. I’m more of an amateur in floral design, really only starting this as a hobby last year in Fall 2025.

I feel like lately, while my technical skillset is improving and I think I’m capturing that whimsical garden-style look, I don’t feel super inspired and I’m trying to figure out how to get over this creative block, so what do you do when you feel like this?

I originally was using Kellogg Organic Premium Outdoor Potting Soil, but then I ran out for the top left bag. For that bag, I used Promix Organic Garden Mix, which I had leftover from filling a greenstalk vertical garden tower. These were all sowed at the same time - originally without hay. I added hay when the seeds germinated. It’s been about a month now. Should i fertilize these other bags? Maybe the Kellogg wasn’t as nutritious? I also used the Kellogg when filling my ranunculus grow bags and TBH those also didn’t perform that well this year. It’s making me wonder if it was a soil quality issue :(

Also the seeds are not all the same but it’s Johnny’s Ballerina (the top left one) vs Queeny Lime Blush, Queeny Lime Red, Benary’s Carmine. I’ve grown Queeny and Benarys in crappy native garden soil just fine last year. Any advice appreciated!

Hi - I currently have 2 bobo hydrangeas, and on the way is tuff stuff ah-ha and incrediball blush.

My question is - how big do these plants really get? Is what they have on the website accurate?

Bobo Hydrangea - 2.5-3 feet tall and wide
Incrediball Blush - 4-5 feet tall and wide at maturity
Tuff Stuff Ah-Ha - 2-3 feet tall and wide at maturity

Also would love to see photos if you have these plants and if you like them!

1: earth angel parfuma, kordes
2&3: jasmina arborose, kordes
4: everything together + my tiny ranunculus harvest
5: diy butterfly puddler & bee watering station with lanceleaf coreopsis (native to US)

i’ve found the kordes roses have performed the best in my garden. earth angel was covered in blooms (on its second year) - it’s about 4 feet tall and 3 feet wide! jasmina is about 1/2 year old but still produced a respectable number of blooms.

had the most magical moment when a bumble bee landed on the bouquet as i was holding it 🥹 unfortunately couldn’t capture the moment but it was so sweet!

zone 7b, nyc - using mint that keeps growing from a crack in the pavement. paveMINT 🙂‍↕️

it’s been a rough spring for some of us - so while we wait to see what becomes of our spring annuals, wanted to shout out the perennials who bloomed despite all odds 🫶

pictured: garden-style compote arrangement of duchess de nemours peony, sarah bernhardt peony, crown princess margareta rose, eden climber rose, colette rose, earth angel parfuma rose, mint, crimson clover (that i used mainly for a cover crop but has bloomed so well!), and rügen alpine strawberries (which taste way better this year)

hello, we moved in last year and the backyard had an existing fig tree, planted in the ‘70s. We’re in brooklyn, and neighbors mention these might be italian figs brought over by italian immigrants. When perfectly ripe, it’s droopy and tastes jammy sweet, with notes of strawberry. We had light harvests last year, about 2-5 figs every few days starting in August through September. Didn’t have too many issues with raccoons or squirrels stealing them.

Despite the harsh winter we’ve had, this fig tree is quite resilient. I cut it back to 5 main trunks (down from ~12 trunks) in a bush form for better airflow. Apparently it also produces a breba crop.

hi, I sowed a lot of orlaya seeds about a month ago and this is what has germinated.

I’m pretty sure the ferny leaf ones that i circled are successfully germinated orlaya seeds.

However, I’m not so sure about the ones with thicker dissected leaves (photo 2). There seems to be a lot in this area, but I also see a few of these around the garden, which is why it’s giving me pause. What should i thin out in this area, and when? First year growing orlaya, zone 7b.

hi! we moved in last year and completely transformed the backyard from just weeds, to what you see in pic 3 ☺️ The place actually had an existing mystery climbing rose, which i figured out was dr huey after it bloomed last year. I had trained the 5 canes onto this arch and this year it has completely exploded, with 2-3 additional new canes. However beautiful, dr huey is just a once bloomer. I think this plant has a really strong root system, so I am considering trying to graft another climbing rose (that is the repeat type) onto this dr huey. I’ve read that dr huey is a common rootstock rose. Has anyone tried doing this before?

Should i trim back all but one of the canes and then try grafting a different variety onto the last remaining cane? Will it shock the plant too much?

Climbing rose options from my current collection: Crown Princess Margareta, Eden, Jasmina Arborose, Colette