Seeds - All

What I love most about Cranberry Beans is their versatility (and that the pods are pink!): harvest them fresh off the vine for immediate eating, freezing, dehydrating or canning. Leave them on the vine to dry, and the seeds store perfect in the pantry for adding to soups and stews.

These Cranberry Beans (also known as borlotti) are meaty and hearty, with a richer taste than their bush bean cousins. They are vigorous pole beans, growing over 8 ft. tall in my veggie garden last year! They literally went up my trellis, then hung over the top like Dr. Seuss hair.

Beans are an excellent source of protein, fibre, starch and vitamins A & C.

Type: Vegetable, Pole Bean

Height: 8 ft+

Light: full sun

Moisture: keep soil evenly moist, but not wet or seeds will rot

Planting: 1" deep, into warm soil. I plant dense, in a container 3-4" apart

Harvest: 75-90 days

I've grown Scarlet Runner Beans for many years for a very specific purpose: the flowers are a magnet for hummingbirds! I plant them along the fence of my food garden enclosure, where I train them to wind horizontally - each seed produces a vine 10-15 ft. Ruby Throated Hummingbirds (the only type I've seen in my Zone 5 gardens) visit the scarlet flowers, then zoom to the fruit and veggie plants, herbs and native plants. It's a joy to see.

While usually grown for their splendid flowers, every part of this versatile veggie is edible! The starchy roots, young leaves and even the flowers can be eaten. (Check out the bright pink-light purple fresh seeds! So fun.) Runner beans must be thoroughly cooked before eating, as they contain traces of lectin (phytohaemagglutinin), which is toxic in large quantities. The beans are dense, with a thick texture, and slightly smoky flavour.

Dried beans store excellent in the pantry, and can be added to soups and stews after soaking.

To get the most flowers, pinch off forming pods; this sends a message to the plant to push out more buds.

Type: Vegetable

Height: 10-15ft.

Light: full sun

Soil: well draining, warm

Planting: Direct sow late spring-early summer, 1-2" deep into warm soil (too cold, and the seeds will rot), 3-4" apart.

Harvest: 75 days

These gorgeous flowers absolutely pop in the garden, producing non-stop blooms from early summer-hard frost. They crawl with bumblebees, especially through the fall - non only for food, but as a soft sleeping bed in the cooling temperatures.

Blanket Flower need full sun and love the heat. I have them all over my property, in every type of soil - once established, they are happy as long as there's sun. Deadheading will keep the flowers prolific. A beautiful cut flower, tucked among amaranth, white phlox and sunflowers in a late summer bouquet.

Type: native perennial flower

Height: 2-3 ft.

Light: full sun

Moisture: drought tolerant

Planting: needs light to germinate. Lightly cover with soil, pressing to make contact. Keep evenly moist until germination. Can be direct sown after last frost.

Care: once established, Blanket Flower is low maintenance. Deadhead for more blooms

Bloom time: early summer-hard frost

Uxbridge Township’s flower!

These delightful beauties in cheery pinks (my favourite colour!) are showstoppers in my full sun gardens. 

Daisy-like blooms sit atop long, slender stems with feathery leaves, forming a cloud of colour. Once blooming, you’ll have non-stop flowers until a hard frost.

They crawl with bumblebees, hoverflies, sweat bees and ladybugs; I love sitting quiet and close to a patch of Cosmos, listening to soft buzzing and watching the action. Small birds such as goldfinches and chickadees eat seeds from the dried flower heads.

An excellent cut flower, lasting a week or more. East Gwillimbury Garden Club 3rd place winner in 2023, any other annuals category.

Open-pollinated

Heirloom

Type: annual, but reliably self-seeds and returns in my Zone 5b garden

Colour: pink shades, from pale to dark crimson, some variegated, yellow centres

Mix of single, double and fluted blooms

Height: 30-183 cm (1-6 ft)

Soil: well drained, drought tolerant

Light: full to partial (6+ hours/day)

Planting: direct sow lightly, no more than 1/4” deep, in warm soil after last frost. For earlier blooms, start seeds indoors 4 weeks before last frost, then transplant outside after hardening off (LINK: how to harden off seedlings)

Care: low maintenance. Deadhead regularly

Bloom time: early summer - hard frost

Carly’s Tip: Water soil first, let saturate, then plant seeds. This prevent seeds – especially light, delicate ones not deeply sown – from moving/washing away.

Butterflies, bees and hummingbirds love this plant's nectar, making Dense Blazing Star an excellent addition to pollinator gardens. Birds then eat the seeds through the winter.

I love the whimsical, long-lasting, bright, feathery pop of purples as it grows and flowers from the top down - truly unique. I grow it among White (dwarf) Lavender, Lance-Leaf Coreopsis, Spotted Bee Balm and Blanket Flower.

Type: Native Perennial

Height: 5 ft.

Light: full sun-part shade

Moisture: well draining, drought tolerant

Planting: Cold, moist stratification required - see options in photos, courtesy of Northern Wildflowers. Lightly cover (1/8" depth) with moist soil, and do not let seedlings dry out. OR direct sow in late fall to overwinter in the garden for blooms the following spring

Bloom time: July-late fall

An excellent choice for small gardens and containers! Sugar Ann peas only grow 2 ft. tall, and do not require a trellis. Incredibly sweet, crisp, fresh pods about 2" long. I eat them right off the vine in the morning when they're cool.

If any sugar snap peas make it in the house, store them in a container of water in the fridge to keep them crisp. Delicious raw, stir fried or lightly steamed. Kids love 'em.

Type: Vegetable

Height: 2 ft.

Light: full sun

Soil: well drained with good organic matter; add compost before planting

Planting: Peas prefer cool temperatures. Plant as soon as the soil can be worked, from later winter-early spring (container/raised bed soil warms up quicker!). Sow 1" deep, 1-3" apart. Try for a fall crop by planting again late summer if it's not too hot

Harvest: 55-60 days

Sunflowers are a must-grow annual each season - their bright, cheery faces make me smile, and I absolutely love them in fall bouquets. They're always covered in bees of all sizes, even ladybugs. Then the birds, squirrels and chipmunks feast on the seeds.

I adore Ring of Fire, with their chocolate brown centres surrounded by golden yellow petals that turn to red. People ask me about them every year. I find the more sun they get, the deeper the red colour.

Ring of Fire is a basal branching variety, so you get multiple blooms off each plant. When you're tight on space, this is a bonus. Succession plant the seeds for continuous blooms.

Chipmunks and squirrels LOVE sunflower seeds and small shoots, and will relentlessly dig up the seeds and/or chop the tender plants off. My neighbours have heard my sobs and swearing in equal measure over the years. Here are my tried and tested ways to fight them:

1. Direct sow seeds in containers or pots, then completely cage them with small-holed wire mesh (forget plastic - they will eat right through it) for as long as possible
2. Start seeds indoors 4 weeks before last frost, then transplant to the garden with tall, wire mesh collars around the seedlings and DO NOT remove all season

Note: I learned the hard way that sunflowers are allelopathic, meaning they give off toxins that impede the growth of or even kill other plants. They also deplete soil of nutrients. Because I grow so much food in containers, I now grow my sunflowers in separate pots and place them near their fruit, veg and herb companions

Type: Annual

Height: 4-5 ft.

Light: full sun

Soil: heavy feeders, sunflowers need organically-rich soil that's well draining

Planting: Sow in warm soil after the danger of frost, 1/2" deep, 6" apart

Harvest: 8-12 weeks