1. Growing flowers that aren’t right for your region / planting them at the wrong time for your microclimate. I’m in Zone 9A, but what matters more are my frost dates and knowing which plants can stand a little frost and/or survive when covered. We have really harsh summers so I know there’s not much that is going to flourish in August. I use that time to start more seeds inside and I don’t plan on having too many flowers that month. I also know we have a very short spring, so most of our cool weather flowers do best when planted in the fall and overwintered.
2. Not planning for greenery/filler. I love perennials for this purpose. I frequently use the branches from our Azalea bushes as greenery in my arrangements. I also love to use our Loropetalum branches in the fall — it’s the perfect deep plum for fall arrangements. Woody branches last a long time in the vase! I also love to use herbs in my bouquets to add a scent — most cut flowers are bred for a long vase life, color, or size, not for scent. My favorite herbs to use are lemon basil and rosemary to add a beautiful aroma to a bouquet. People instinctively want to smell flowers as soon as you hand them to them, so I love to add a fresh scent for them when they do.
3. Direct sowing everything. Some flower seeds need light to germinate (and are very tiny!), so you will want to plant these under grow lights inside. If this scares you, check back for another post to learn which cut flowers are best for direct sowing — you can absolutely grow cut flowers without grow lights!
4. Not planning for irrigation. You don’t need a fancy drip line system. A hose with an adjustable nozzle will work just fine if you have the time to water everyday. If not, a hose, sprinkler, and timer will keep your plants alive. I like to use both of these options because there are always days I need the ease of the sprinkler even though I prefer to hand water so I can check the plants while I am watering (and have some alone time outside).
5. Obsessing over planting spacing and details and trying to do it perfectly, and never planting a seed in the ground…AKA being a perfectionist. The first garden I planted, I planned everything to scale on graph paper and used a ruler while planting everything according to the seed packet label. I had so much leftover space that I could have used for companion planting! Now, I use my hand as a guide for spacing and err on the side of over-planting.

A final word of encouragement — plants want to grow. Their whole life is about producing a flower to produce seeds so it can produce the next generation of flowers. You don’t have to do it perfectly to succeed. Flowers make people happy (science tells us we produce dopamine when we see them) and growing them just multiplies that!

Happy growing!

XO,

Sunshine