I think my new favorite flowers are Strawflowers. This was my first year growing them from seed and I wasn't sure how they would do. I planted single plants as pot stuffers but in one larger pot near my veggies, I stuck 3 plants in because I had zero inspiration. LOL. As it turns out, strawflowers get quite tall, and they keep re-blooming if you deadhead them or trim for a cut flower bouquet.
I can't believe that some were still colorful even now at the end of November.
They're soft and spiky all at the same time and remind me of zinnias in how they grow.
For next year I bought this same color along with three other colors to plant in my flower beds in my front yard. I have 3 areas of flowers that need overhauls and I think I'm going to put in annuals next year while I decide exactly how I want to approach my flower beds, especially ones that have some nasty weeds.
Sweet Alyssum is still going - this is another annual that I am always pleasantly surprised with. It continuously blooms and attracts pollinators so I've been tucking it in with my veggies after my veggies have had a couple weeks to establish and I can take a guess at how wide they will spread. I really like to tuck Alyssum into my brassicas - the deep greens matched with a purple, pink, or white is so pretty to see in the summer with the bees buzzing around.
This thing is actually a Minnesota native plant - this is a native liatris - I leave the stems and stalks so that native bees can bore holes and overwinter in the old growth. I do not cut this one down because it provides a home to so many native pollinators!
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