Growing Beautiful Flowers 

Growing beautiful flowers is not hard to do, and the payback for your efforts is spectacular! You don't need a green thumb, just a little common sense, and maybe a little luck.

You can get advice from your local nursery or from other gardeners. You can also learn a lot from gardening books. But ultimately it comes down to trial and error!

Some of the things you can learn from a book include:
- what zone or climate the flower does well in;
- how much light the plant needs;
- what kind of soil the plant does well in;
- what you need to do to care for the growing flower. For instance, some flowers hate fertilizer but some do well with it; and
- how to propagate the flowers you have.

If you want to read up on flower growing, here are some helpful books:

The Gardener's A-Z Guide to Growing Flowers from Seed to Bloom: 576 annuals, perennials, and bulbs in full color (Potting-Bench Reference Books)

by Eileen Powell

From Editorial Review: The book also features more than 500 full-color flower photographs. A quick-reference chart outlines bloom time, color, height, and site requirements for more than 1,000 species, making this book an indispensable reference for planning and planting fabulous gardens.

Amazon Price: $16.47 (as of 10/07/2008)

Cutting Gardens: The Complete Guide to Growing Flowers and Creating Spectacular Arrangements for Every Season and Every Region

by Anne Halpin, Betty Mackey, Derek Fell

From the book: "A cutting garden can be whatever size and shape will work well in the space you have available."

Amazon Price: (as of 10/07/2008)

Hardiness Zones for Growing Plants 

When ordering plants or bulbs by mail, make sure the plants are hardy enough for your climate. Use one of these maps to find out what zone you live in.

US Hardiness Zones

Clickable map of the U.S., to find out what plant hardiness zone you live in.

Canada Hardiness Zones

Map of hardiness zones for Canada.

Other Hardiness Zones

Links to hardiness zone maps for Europe, Asia, South America and Australia.

Digital Flower Fun 

Neave Flower

A very cool "digital flower" from Paul Neave. You can watch it grow!

Flower maker beta

Another fun digital application. Design your own flower, send it to a friend, or add it to the "community garden."

The Difference Between Annuals and Perennials 

Annual and Perennial Flowers

Basically, annuals last one season and perennials come back year after year. (It's a little more scientific than that, but you get my drift.) For spectacular color, annuals are the way to go. But perennials can be beautiful too, and seeing them come back the next season is a lot of fun.

This article describes some of the differences between annuals and perennials.

The Human Flower Project Blog 

The Human Flower Project is an international newsgroup, photo album and discussion of how people live through flowers.

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Easy Spring Flowers with Bulbs 

You can find great deals on flowering bulbs on eBay. In the Northeast USA it is time to put spring-flowering bulbs in the ground. Check the hardiness zone of the bulb before you buy. Most come with instructions for planting. If you have a lot of chipmunks and squirrels in your yard, try sprinkling red pepper flakes around the soil after you've planted the bulb. It should help prevent the critters from digging your bulbs out of the ground just after you've planted them.

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More Flowering Bulbs on eBay 

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Flowers That Deer Tend to Avoid 

"Tend" is the Operative Word Here

• Astilbe
  Columbine
  Coneflower
  Cornflower
  Daffodil
  Daisy
  Foxglove
  Gaillardia
  Geranium
  Hibiscus
  Lavendar
  Lily of the Valley
  Lupine
  Peony
  Phlox
  Poppy
  Primrose
  Rudbeckia

Other Squidoo Lenses to Check Out 

Everything Flowery

Visit Nancy Jo Graham's "everything flowery" lens...chock full of delicious flower images, recipes, and even things to wear.

Getting Paid to Design with Flowers

If you want to make flower passion your career, here is one lens to consider. Nancy gives you the nuts and bolts on becoming a floral designer.

Botanical Art - Resources for Artists

Just as described -- lots of resources to check out if you are interested in this field.

The Art of Running a Small Garden Center or Nursery

Written by Trey, a garden center professional, this lens has lots of practical information and many links to related blogs and web sites.