There's a reason why farmers -- not gardeners -- are the great producers of wheat, oats, barley, and other major grains: These are challenging crops to manage. But other interesting and beautiful grains are easy to grow in your own backyard, and they put dash and drama in among the daisies.

Growing ornamental grains is richly rewarding. Easy garden grains, such as millet and amaranth, are striking plants by themselves, and they are terrific in combination with annual and perennial flowers and shrubs.

Garden designers love grains for their brashness: They tend to stand up tall in a garden, making them a great choice for the back of a flower bed or the center of a bed you can see from all sides. Tall varieties of millet and amaranth -- sun-loving annuals that are easy to grow from seed -- will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with canna lilies or tall sunflowers. The dark foliage of Purple Majesty millet, which grows up to five feet tall in the garden, makes a striking backdrop for smaller summer flowers, and its dramatic flower spikes, which resemble cattails, are as handsome in flower arrangements as they are in the garden.

Purple Majesty comes straight off the farm: It was discovered in the course of a breeding program for forage grains at the University of Nebraska. The breeder's background and the majority of his work "is feeding the world, not providing ornamental flowers," says Mary O'Connor, a product manager for Pan American Seed who now works with the university's experts on ornamental millet. The instant popularity of Purple Majesty led to the introduction of shorter ornamental millets and to a greater range of colors, O'Connor says. Jester grows to only 3 feet tall; another small millet, Jade Princess, is only about 2 feet tall and has dense purple flower spikes that stand out against chartreuse foliage.

Ornamental grains of all kinds have especially caught on with flower farmers, who supply bouquets by the bucketful for farmers' markets and have a growing influence with florists and event planners. "Demand for ornamental grains -- and grasses -- is strong in the floral design world," says Debra Prinzing, author of "The 50-Mile Bouquet" and "Slow Flowers," which both feature the specialty blooms of flower farmers around the country. Ornamental grains are "not really a product that the huge South American exporters take the time to grow," Prinzing says, and consequently, U.S. flower farmers have turned several ornamental grains into top sellers. Prinzing calls ornamental grains "the couture category of specialty floral."

Diane Szukovathy, owner of Jello Mold Farm in Mount Vernon, Washington, grows about 150 different cut-flower varieties on her 7-acre farm, including half an acre planted with 10 different kinds of amaranth, another traditional farm crop that is worthy of a spot in the garden and easy to grow. "We are botanical freaks," Szukovathy says, explaining her interest in ornamental grains. She has also experimented with wheats -- especially a showy variety called Silver Tips -- and has grown orach, sorghum, quinoa and millet, as well.

Cut-flower trends are always changing, Szukovathy says, but the wildflower look is a perennial favorite with brides for bouquets and wedding decorations. Ornamental grains fit nicely into the niche, she says: They give bouquets and centerpieces an earthy sophistication.

Amaranth has been grown as an ornamental for generations. It is "an old-timey garden plant; it touches the heartstrings of a lot of people," says Mary Garcia, a spokesperson for Swallowtail Garden Seeds, a mail-order seed company that offers 10 different kinds of amaranth seeds. The old-fashioned amaranth called Love-Lies-Bleeding is one of the showiest, and it's easy to grow in the garden or in pots.

One of the most popular amaranth varieties is Hot Biscuits, a tall plant with tawny-gold seed heads in fall. The heavy seed clusters are dramatic in a garden and gorgeous in a bouquet. Last year, the lifestyle and garden shop Terrain in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, gave Hot Biscuits a prominent spot in a flower bed featuring orange, crimson and gold flowers, foliage, and seed heads.

If you're interested in cultivating a crop of wheat, barley or oats for bouquets, the best place to plant them might be in a row in the vegetable garden, where you can give them the special care they need. But go ahead and make room for millet and amaranth varieties in flower beds or in a big pot. They'll sparkle in the garden and turn bouquets into works of art.

SOURCES

Millet and amaranth are both easy to grow from seed or from transplants available at garden shops. Plant them in well-drained soil in a sunny spot. Tall varieties may need protection from wind. Find seeds here:

-- Swallowtail Garden Seeds, swallowtailgardenseeds.com

-- Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, rareseeds.com

In "Slow Flowers" (St. Lynn's Press, $17) Debra Prinzing, debraprinzing.com, shows how to use fresh flowers from local growers to make bouquets all year long. In her fall arrangements, she makes the most of the grace and beauty of ornamental grains. The website slowflowers.com will help you find fresh, locally grown flowers no matter where you live.

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Tired formulas for foundation plantings only make a house look frumpy. Forget about pointy evergreens at the corners of the house and bun-shaped shrubs in the center under the windows, and give your front-yard landscape an upgrade.

"I just like to get away from the term foundation planting and make the entire front yard useable," says Barbara Hilty, a landscape designer in Portland, Oregon. Old-fashioned plantings with evergreens across the front of the house and then lawn all the way to the curb do not really take full advantage of the possibilities, she says. When you re-imagine the space and bring the design out into the garden, away from the facade, a house becomes a nicer place to come home to. Reducing the size of the lawn and adding variety to the plantings out front is also better for the environment, Hilty says.

Foundation plantings traditionally were designed to cover up the stone or brick around the base of a house. A very simple old-fashioned planting might rely on just one species, such as yews or junipers, or perhaps azaleas, to help nestle a house into the landscape. Too often, these shrubs are planted too close to the house and then ignored until they become overgrown, obscuring the house and blocking views from inside.

Jane Cantin, a landscape architect in Norfolk, Virginia, sees overgrown foundation plantings all the time. "It's those cute little Alberta spruces," she says. "They look like little baby Christmas trees. But after a few years they eat up the sidewalk. You can't even get to the front door." In frustration, homeowners try to prune them, but their efforts frequently backfire. "The shrubs get so whacked and wonky that they don't come back, and you just have to take them out," Cantin says.

Taking out inappropriate or overgrown plants can be liberating, designers say. It's often a hard decision, but "a lot of times, just the act of pulling them out -- homeowners suddenly love their house again," says Carolyn Mullet, owner of Carex: Garden Design, in Takoma Park, Maryland, near Washington, D.C. "It was dark and foreboding, and now it's light and clean and they can see out of their house again."

Good-looking foundation plantings should really start at the street, and move back toward the home along an attractive front walk, with perhaps a small entrance court or patio with a bench at the front door. If the scale of the steps and stoop do not suit a house, or if they are in bad condition, "this may be the time to take out that old hardscape, put in things more gracious and safer, more fitting with the design of the house," Mullet says. "It's an important part of giving your house a facelift."

Well-chosen plants are part of the overall design, not just an added improvement. "I take the architecture and the setting and the region into consideration," Cantin says, "and whether the home is contemporary or traditional." Her designs favor high-quality materials and rely on plants that do not need pampering and that look attractive through the seasons. Where appropriate, Cantin likes to suggest an informal, naturalistic style, with native plants. In formal settings, she sticks to simple designs with just a few sculptural plants.

Ornamental grasses have earned a place out front, these designers say, especially in combination with evergreens and flowering perennials. Mullet says she might combine an evergreen shrub with a stalwart switchgrass (Panicum) or Korean feather reed grass (Calamagrostis), with low perennial flowers in front of them for their seasonal color and contrasting textures. Hardy geraniums, coneflowers and hellebores are among her favorites. Mullet also likes to use native shrubs, including oak leaf hydrangea and Annabelle hydrangea (sometimes called smooth hydrangea), which both hold their flowers for weeks, have an interesting structure through the winter, and can be pruned easily.

Working with a designer is a good way to help you develop a vision for the front of your house, and to avoid common mistakes. Designers have the advantage of years of experience, and they work closely with contractors who can build and repair fences, lay brick or stone walls and walkways, and install lighting to bring out the best in a design. Designers are good at combining plants and know which plants thrive in your local conditions.

"There's no cookie-cutter solution: It always depends on the site," Cantin says. Getting away from the predictable styles -- and the usual tired plant combinations -- will change the way you and your neighbors and guests see your home, she says.

SOURCES

Checking out great front-yard designs in your own neighborhood -- and in books and magazines -- is a good way to start thinking about a new foundation planting. Garden designers can also provide inspiration, designs and plant selections specific to your home and garden. Here are some sources:

-- The Association of Professional Landscape Designers (APLD) is an international organization for industry specialists. To find a designer in your area, check the organization's website, www.apld.com and use the "find a designer" feature.

-- The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) is another organization for professional designers. Landscape architects have a bachelor's or master's degree in landscape architecture and frequently work on large-scale projects such as campuses and parks, but many LAs specialize in residential design.

-- Carolyn Mullet, owner of Carex: Garden Design by Carolyn Mullet, www.carexdesign.com

-- Barbara Hilty, owner of Barbara Hilty Landscape Design LLC, www.hiltylandscapedesign.com

-- Jane Cantin, www.janecantin.com

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If you're not growing cool-weather flowers, you're missing a whole season. Cool-season blooms let you have the first glorious bouquets on the block. Now is the time to rediscover -- and to plant -- these sturdy flowers, many of which are already among most gardeners' all-time favorites.

Lisa Mason Ziegler is a new champion of larkspurs, snapdragons, sweet peas, calendulas and other flowers that bloom in early spring, long before zinnias, marigolds and other summer annuals can even be planted. Lisa, a flower farmer from Newport News, Virginia, who grows and sells flowers and bouquets from spring through the first frosts of fall, says the easy-to-grow cool-season flowers wake her garden up in spring, but they also keep her spirits up in the winter.

"When you plant in the fall, you have the anticipation through the winter," she says. "I'm tiptoeing out there at the first crack of spring to check on them. I enjoy that garden more than any other."

Ziegler is the author of "Cool Flowers" (St. Lynn's Press), in which she shares her tips and tricks to help every gardener grow these treasures. Timing is everything. "You don't plant them in the retail gardening time," Ziegler says. "If you buy seeds when they are typically available, it's not the correct planting time, and they can hardly thrive."

In her mild Zone 7 climate, Ziegler sows many cool-season flower seeds directly in the garden in the fall. Where winters are severe, the correct planting time is six weeks before winter's last frost -- so if your average last frost of the winter is May 1, for example, the best time to plant these cool-season blooms is in mid- to late March. "It's still not warm enough to plant zinnias or tomatoes," she says, but little seedlings of cool-season flowers are hardy. "They appreciate the cold nights at this time of year."

Sweet peas are perhaps the most beloved cool-season flower, and one of the most misunderstood: People think they are hard to grow. These are easy flowers, Ziegler says, if you get the timing down and if you cut them regularly. She suggests planting a 4-foot-long row, with one seed every 6 inches. You'll have only eight plants, but they "will give you two big bunches of fragrant sweet peas every week for six to eight weeks," Ziegler says. The flowers last about five to seven days in a vase, and "it's the best five days of your life," she says.

Spun fabric row cover (available at garden shops) is one of Ziegler's favorite tricks for cool-season success. After planting, she spreads a strip of row cover over the seedbed to protect it from squirrels and drying winds. Ziegler uses it over every early spring flower crop for at least two weeks. When the plants are large enough to be mulched around, she removes the row cover.

Foxgloves, bells of Ireland (which have green flowers on a flower stalk that grows up to three feet tall), bachelor's buttons, dill and fragrant sweet William are all on Ziegler's list of easy-to-grow, long-blooming cool-season favorites. They're all terrific as cut flowers, and they are great performers in flower beds, too.

Where winters are snowy, the seeds of some of these flowers can be sown directly on freshly fallen snow. The seeds of larkspur, poppies and bupleurum (sometimes called hare's ear -- you'll recognize it from florists' bouquets) are all good candidates for this practice, Ziegler says. When the snow melts, the seeds come into perfect gentle contact with the thoroughly moist soil.

Many cool-season flowers are easy to grow in a flowerpot. Use big pots, Ziegler says, and stick with flowers that are less than 3 feet tall. "Nigella is good," she says. "Snapdragons would be great. Corn cockle is too tall." In a big pot with fresh potting soil, "larkspur will shoot straight up," she says.

Cool-season flowers give you more than just bright, early bouquets, Ziegler says. They also attract pollinators to the garden. "The early blooms get the bugs in early, setting up housekeeping and coming back for more," she says. Vegetable gardeners, especially, should make room for a row of early blooms to encourage beneficial insects and pollinators. "If you are a vegetable gardener and you're not growing 25 percent flowers, you don't know what you're missing," she says. Many gardeners are shy about pollinators, which -- besides butterflies and hummingbirds -- include beneficial wasps and bees. Ziegler is allergic to bee stings, but she willingly makes room for bees. "When I learned about all the incredible things wasps and bees do in our gardens, I changed my attitude about them," she says.

There's really no need to wait until the roses bloom to get out into the garden, Ziegler says. Plant flowers that thrive in the cool conditions of early spring, and you'll discover a whole new season of bloom. "You'll have bells of Ireland and snapdragons coming on in March and April. You'll have foxgloves from seed, and you get rocking blooms," she says. Take it from a flower farmer: "We do the same or less than home gardeners," Ziegler says. "We just do it with the right plants at the right time."

SIDEBAR

LISA ZIEGLER'S TOP TIPS

-- Timing is everything. "People miss the opportune time because we are all afraid to plant when it is too cool," Ziegler says. In Newport News, she plants seeds for many cool-season flowers directly in the garden in late fall, and they survive winter freezes without a problem.

-- Some cool-season flower seeds have a hard seed coating. Soak them first. To grow bells of Ireland, place the seed packet in the freezer for two weeks. Take the packet out of the freezer and place the seeds in water for up to five days. Then plant them outside in the garden.

-- Choose the right flowers. "Foxy" foxglove blooms the first year from seed, but other foxgloves are biennial, producing leaves the first year and flowers the second.

-- Grow more. Ziegler grows five different kinds of snapdragons with different shapes, colors and different bloom times. "We used to be lucky to get them to bloom by Mother's Day," she says. "Now we have them in bloom in March."

-- Harvest your flowers. If you cut sweet pea flowers every week, you extend the growing season to as much as two months.

-- Mulch to control weeds and help retain moisture in the soil. But wait until the plants are large enough to spread mulch around. "We use anything organic and free," Ziegler says. Crushed autumn leaves and pine straw are both excellent organic mulches. If you buy mulch in a bag, avoid mulch that contains a pre-emergent herbicide, which could kill your plants.

-- Make pollinators welcome: Do not use pesticides. You'll have more birds and butterflies in your garden. Good bugs, and birds, help control pests.

-- Plant a separate garden for cut flowers in addition to your regular garden beds. "Everyone would enjoy a cutting garden, but not everyone knows it," Ziegler says. A good size to start with is 3 feet wide and 10 feet long.

SOURCE

-- Lisa Mason Ziegler is the author of "Cool Flowers" (St. Lynn's Press, $18), and the owner of The Gardener's Workshop cut-flower farm (thegardenersworkshop.com) in Newport News, Virginia. She sells flower seeds and supplies, and is a frequent presenter at garden symposiums and workshops.

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