Ooh. What a challenge these Apricot Arena Lisianthus were. What a comeback from my first year growing these! Growing any lisianthus is challenging taking about 8 months from seed to harvest, but by harvest these flowers are absolutely beautiful mixing the beauties of tulips and roses into one late summer bloom.
Overcoming Challenges of My First Season
The first time I grew lisianthus from seed, I planted a packet of about 50 seeds, and ended up with just 12 plants to plant in the garden. I believe I didn’t monitor them enough, including checking their moisture level, their humidity levels, and also their temperatures.
Next to some Sweet White Sweet William, I planted my first lisianthus in the Sunbelt landscape fabric. I don’t use irrigation besides watering during droughts, but even then, we conserve water, so providing them with enough water was not exactly possible.
Well, let’s just say, by the end of the season, I had about 6 stems, which also included plants I bought from a local greenhouse. It was not successful, but the lisianthus I did harvest from that first year, it was a taste of such beauty that I become addicted to wanting more of these flowers.
Tips on Starting Lisianthus from Seed
Lessons learned from my first year growing lisianthus, I tried again with three varieties, Arena Apricot, Voyage Blue, and Mariachi White. I monitored these starts every day. To make sure they had a good head start, I placed in them in a spare bedroom on a foldable table with a grow light placed above, as well as grow mats placed below to keep the soil warm. I was so determined to grow lisianthus from seed that it allowed me to have the right focus for these plants.
- Place in upstairs of your home versus a basement grow room, unless that grow room is kept warm.
- Check every day for water moisture, temperature, and humidity.
- Start with one packet of seeds until you find success
- Stay determined.
- If the process fails the first year, let it go. Try again the next season.
Where to Buy Seeds
I’ve seen multiple places to buy seeds, but the seed shop I have experience with is Johnny’s Select Seeds. It is an online seed store that also has a catalog option. It is so easy to order, but it does take a $200 order to have free shipping.
Johnny’s Select Seed provides ample amount of resources from information on growing a specific type of plant to helping you plan when to plant your garden and articles from premier American growers. This why although I know there’s other places to order lisianthus seeds, I am always completely satisfied with ordering from Johnny’s.
Challenges with the Second Season
To be honest, although I was really nervous trying to start these expensive seeds again, the little extra focused attention I gave them was enough to keep these seeds going healthy. It was not as hard as I anticipated.
The biggest challenge was starting the seeds. So, I had two 72-cell trays with the lisianthus seeds gently placed on top of the soil medium. Three different varieties. This was in my craft room with the good lighting compared to other areas of my basement. Then, a little fur-ball walked in. I had one tray with the Voyage Blue and Mariachi White balanced on a stool in the craft room next to my wooden craft table. My cats love watching me doing my sewing and crafts, from watching from this same stool. I was dumb. The cat jumped. I ended up with a whole tray worth $14 on the carpet in my craft room.
I tried salvaging the pelleted seeds that I could find. The Voyage Blue was easier to see with the yellow pellets than the mariachi white that has a white colored pellet. Those white pellets mixed in with the perlite in the potting soil.
This was so upsetting, but I ended up with a few Voyage blue lisianthus to mix with my Arena Apricot.
Arena Apricot Lisianthus
This is by far my favorite lisianthus. I know, I know. Most lisianthus growers LOVE the Voyage series with its double petals and blooms. And I would concur because I love anything double. But these Arena Lisianthus have stolen my heart. I love the peachy color. I love any flower with peach, apricot, salmon hues. Just the right mix of orange with pink.
This variety is going to be grown every year. I just can’t get enough of this flower.
Voyage Blue Lisianthus
The Voyage Blue lisianthus are beautiful. Depending on the light, they seem a dark purple, like most “blue” flowers do. I love the darker hue of this variety, but it didn’t “WOW” me like the Arena Apricot did. And it was shorter too.
I don’t want to give up on the Voyage series because I’ve seen some beautiful flowers from here before in person and online, but I might be trying a different variety.
Planting Lisianthus
I gave my lisanthus this year 6” to 8” spacing, but they could be planted 4” to 6” spacing. I do find that my lisianthus this year grew better without the black landscape fabric. With the closer spacing I would like to try, for 2024, I am not planting the lisianthus in landscape fabric.
Planting them is not hard. Prep the bed. Mark the spacing needed. Use a trowel, butter knife, or even just your fingers to create a hole large enough for the plug. Add a tablespoon of Espoma Biotone or Gardentone organic fertilizer (it won’t burn the roots). Gently take the plug out of the cell. Insert the plug, cover the roots with soil, and continue with the next one.
Lisianthus are cool flowers in some zones. In 5b, it won’t last overwinter outdoors, but it is a flower that can be planted two weeks before the last frost date, which is great to get ahead on some of the planting season before the rush comes with the last frost date.
How to Harvest Lisianthus
Harvesting lisianthus is easy, but it is a one and done cut. It is not going to be like zinnias or marigolds that will be cut and still come again. And unlike other flowers that will continue to open and bloom in the vase, lisianthus need to be fully open, if not having two blooms open.
For the longest stem length, cut the lisianthus near the bottom of the stem above a node. Place into water immediately. For this en masse bouquet, I harvested in the field, but didn’t have a bucket of water on me. It survived dry in the garden until I was done harvesting, but as soon as I could, I placed the stems in a vase of water.
Vase Life of Lisianthus
I’m not sure if my favorite part of having lisianthus in a bouquet is the fact that it is beautiful, or the fact that it can last for up to 2 weeks. When I had this large bouquet, I also had another bouquet of Lemonade sunflowers. Those sunflower lasted a long time, about a week and a few days. So, whenever there’s a flower that lasts looking great for a full two weeks, I’m game. I love it.
Remember to use a packet or two of flower preservative added to the water. Continue to add water when the water level goes down. With 30 some stems in a vase, these will drink up the water like crazy, especially if it is hot outside and in the house.
Why Grow Beautiful Lisianthus
Welp, that’s it. They are beautiful. Who couldn’t get over their tulip texture with their rose like shape and beauty? I included some lisianthus in some bouquets this season, and people just loved them.
Additionally, the cost is less expensive for this bouquet than buying from another flower farm or florist. Lisianthus are worth $2 each, at least. A bouquet of 30 stems would cost $60. Growing them myself for my own home costs $8-$10 for all of them; I don’t add the labor cost since it is “hobby”-work at this level. Growing them for market, I would add the labor cost.
These beauties also connect me to other flower farms, King’s Garden at Fort Ticondergo in Upstate New York, and for it also being known as Texas Bluebell. I love seeing other flower farms and gardens grow lisianthus, but some of my favorite YouTube channels grow these as well, including Garden Answer and Flower Hill Farm. Without these channels, I would have thought growing lisianthus would be so difficult and would have never have tried.
A few years ago, my husband and I took a vacation to the Adirondacks in Upstate New York. We spent two days at Fort Ticondergo visiting the fort as well as King’s Garden. For the first time, I discovered lisianthus. I had no idea what flower it was, but I was obsessed and wanted to add it to my own garden. The ones up there were a deep purple hue.
Lisis are also known as Texas Bluebell. They’re not the native variety, but a hybrid version of the flower. Living in Pennsylvania, I love finding connections to the state my graduate school is located in. Growing these flowers connects me back to the professors and peers I’ve met along the way in those four years.
So, yes, this flower, although difficult in ways, brings such beauty to the garden and home, as well as connects me to other aspects of my life.
