Did anyone have time to get the JoePye Weed I sent started? I had good germination from them.
Cottage Garden Seed Swap & Chat #37
Your Joe Pye is looking good. Mine is very slow to grow too.
Funny picture in my imagination of you all with the flashlights on your heads, but I have heard of others on DG doing that. Actually it's rather nice to garden in the dark, at least it's cooler, isn't it?
Spent the day planting more seedlings. And repotting. Feeling like I accomplished a lot. Also found homes with a friend for my remaining 10 heirloom tomato plants, so I am happy about that.
I will try to remember to collect those HH seeds this fall.
Thanks I have more swap pictures, some are some stuff I am seeing bloom for the first time from last years swap. Knautia macedonica - from maozamam - Thanks! , & Coreopsis grandiflora 'Sunray' - these said Surprise from Shirley1 - I don't even remember her being in the swap but thanks! : ) I really like these both.
I remember a couple of years ago pulling my car into the Back 40 and gardening by headlight. I worked 2nd shift and I'd go out and putter around for an hour or so after I got home.
I was actually considering going out right now to dig a hole for an ornamental peach tree. The spot is close enough to the street that the streetlights could guide me, but I'm pooped and will have to save that for tomorrow night.
I manage d ot get the Dahalia bed weded early this morning. I still strugglign with them. First time puttign in groudn an dnot pot s and somethign is eatign them big time. grrr and while I was at it today...
Do I look battered and bruised to you? Assuming ya can see me which ya can't. hahahahah Well I feel like it even if I don't.
Today I got into a fight. Was a real tough battle too.
There I was out minding my own business, cleaning pots of flowers up, pulling weeds out of others and thinkign about how I wished somebody would come do all this for me and bring some rain while they was at it.
Now I am farsighted and wear glasses, but when working clos e up have to take them off . really need to get new glasses, but that aways off. So I just take my glasses off and set down on ground or benches or whatever next to me when working.
I wa s removing dead blooms when....
I locked eyeballs. There was a fist being waved in front of my face. I reare d up and knocked it back and it came right for me. Got my nose. I yelped and hit back. Kocked down my opponent right into a flower pot.
Fool wouldn't stay down, came right back at my face. In between I am to get my glasses out of way and on so I could see better . This time I got hit in the glasses. I was getting mad by this time. Told my opponent to stay down if he valued life.
Wasn't going to keep fightening where I was so decided to drag him to another area that was free and clear and plenty of room. We had several more squirmishes on the way. Always he going for my face. Why/ Why not the gut or chest, always just the face.
We got to a clear area and I gave him final good boot and said that it. I finally had enough. Was time to end this fight.
He got the end of my nose real good one last time and I swatte dout a smart lefty and sent him flying into some foliage and walke d away.
I walked with shoulder s pulle d back, head held high I had just had a fight with a 1/4" long newly emerged praying mantis that thought I was lunch for the day, but I won! I was so proud of myself. : )
I was so happy about beign the winner that tommorrow I might be ready to take on an assasin bug. : )
Doe s anybody grow Balck eyed-susans besides me. Now I have some that was starte din pots and soem that i let go wild in the bakc field to feed the birds and such , and was wondering how hard it is to transplant them from pot s to field. Have always just let nature do her thign out there, but not sur e if the pots wil over winter or not and at elast this way they coudl make more seed if I cna get out in field .
ROFLOL!
I'd stay clear of the assassin bugs, though; they have a hard bite!
BES are really tough. I don't think you'd have any trouble transplanting potted ones. Once they're established, you'll probably get more self-sown volunteers each year.
Ella! You're too funny!
I've had the same success with BES that Jill talked about. Got some from a friend last spring and rather neglected them in pots until I had some beds to put them in and they are just beautiful. Had plenty of volunteers to share at the swap.
Love the story Star, I'm so glad you triumphed in the end!
Not much to relate gardening-wise, it's just too stinking hot to be out there right now. What I can get done before 10:00 AM and after 8 PM is about the extent of it. But I do have some beauties blooming around the weeds. I am just so ticked at my first ever hollyhocks. They're so dang tall and standing up just as proud as can be. (I imagine the first storm we have will take care of that though.) Speaking of taking care of them....is there anything special I should do with them?
Hot is right and gettign hotter. The heat is bad but it the humidity that the worst seems to be more oppresiv e this year than last.
tryign to keep things watered is becomign a chore too. Havign to water three tiems a day. Most of the early bloomign perennials have gone into dormancy already .
Lalla... Glad you enjoyign yoru Holly hocks. I love them too. If they growign good I wouldn't touch them except to keep them well feed whiel they gettign ready to bloom. if they real tall and ya afraid of storm coming ya might try and do some staking, but think I woudl wait til storm bad enough comign for sure. Yu'll have to tak epics for sure.
I gott a get out ther e and get some pics of somethign that has poped up in my yard in an old bag sittign otu there. I should knwo the name of it but been to many years sicne I have seen it to knwo for sur eif it a flower or a weed.
Only about 8 more weeks til hoepfulyl weather be cooler again. : )
Star, I had a good laugh at your story. I have a garden stake with a metal Praying Mantis on top. I bought it at a sidewalk sale. I had a picture of it once, but I think i deleted it.
I love my Black eyes Susan Goldsturm. But they do love to reseed. One year I kept the seed heads over the winter for the birds, but the next year I had TONS of volunteers. I no longer let them go to seed!
twofew.. How pretty. : ) Nice combinations ya got goign on there. I got soem goldstrum too but they sure aint as big as yours,, hoep mien get that big someday. Was that from oen plant or more?
Star, There are several Goldsturm plants in that picture.
No wonder mine look sorta whimpy compare d to yours. Think when I transplant them next , will put mroe together, cuz sure do liek the looks of yours. : )
Star do you know which type you have? They are all so different. I started the fulgida type from seed and this is their third year and they haven't bloomed yet. They should bloom this year but these ones are slow. They seem to transplant fine, I moved mine this spring and they were in the ground and they are doing fine.
I have a coupel of differnt kind s out there. Not off hand would have to look. One I knwo this is second year for them adn they just startign to get soem buds and they not as tall as the other cultivar.
Now this is just the craziest thing. You know how once you have cleome the biggest chore is thinning the volunteers? I don't think I have a darn one this year. What the?!
Beautiful pic toofew. What are the dark purple flowers between the BES and the echies?
Lala, just plain old Bee Balm.
Star yours could be thw samw as mine but with your longer growing season they could take only 2 years for you. :) I went out looking at what's bloomin and the Hollyhocks from last years swap that were supposed to be nigra. Well their buds are cracking open and they definitely look blackish purple. Pretty cool. : ) Only one is to this point - these weren't grown in the greatest soil and have been very slow to grow. While the ones I have in the really good soil are growing like gangbusters. More buds on those than the ones in their second year.
Forgot to say - The ones in good soil I started indoors this year : )
Hi everyone!
Sorry, I haven't been able to keep up with the threads. I have been appointed "Director" for the development of a new major in Sustainability at the college where I work. It's been very exciting - and all sorts of people have come out of the woodwork to help me - but it is still a lot of work. By Sept. 1st, I need to have 8 new course developed to the course outline and course description stage - this means finding the faculty, assigning courses etc.
The tricky thing is - the major will be multidisciplinary - courses from the School of Arts and Sciences, the School of Business, the School of Engineering, and the Law School. Translate into "a lot of paper work . . . "
Anyway, I will teach two required courses in the new major - plus I am developing a course in social impact assessment.
Okay - all this stuff is quite boring so far - except that we are developing the major to be quite practical - students will learn environmental assessement using GIS technology, as well as the use of computers in envisioning projects, etc.
The point is - I plan to give the entry level students lessons in the interconnections of all things by focusing the first part of the intro course on sustainable resources using the classical definition of the foundation of life: earth, water, air, fire (e.g. energy).
In order to illustrate the interconnection of these four - and how they ultimately affect the well-being of all earthlings, I want the freshmen class to create a butterfly garden using native plants - which they must germinate using winter-sowing - cool, huh?
I have been plowing through dozens of books on the environment and sustainability, but the books on native plants just arrived this week. I am very excited about this!
I will posting more frequently now, while I try to tap your brains for projects, and ideas.
For example, the course will start in January 2011. In January we start to winter-sow seeds - but I would also like to start a "worm ranch" aka composting using worms. I want the students to understand about sustaining the soil and the connection to sustainable agriculture - hence the butterfly garden (nice native flowers, no pesticides, with catepillars and butterflies. Then we discuss sustainable water - again how failure to protect water sources affects all earthlings - not just our species. We can discuss why landscaping with native plants means we can pick plants specifically for dry areas of our gardens - or plants for boggy areas. We can discuss the idea of sustainable fisheries- and the consequences of using fish for fertilizer, etc, We can also discuss the role of plants in the formation of oxygen (Air) and why clean air is beneficial for all life forms. and finally we can discuss how current traffic patterns contribute to urban sprawl and lousy air quality for many people.
I figure that by (1) getting students involved in the planning of the garden, we can compare energy use regarding buying plants vs, winter-sowing seeds; discuss which is more ecologically friendly - buying new garden tools, or buying pre-existing quality tools,
I also want the students to wean themselves from "instant gratification" (e.g. just go buy the plants) vs. recognizing that perennials started from seed will look their best 3 years after being winter sown.
Anyway - I will bore you stupid with this stuff - if I haven't already . . .
But I will be back to bug you for ideas ^_^
Thanks for listening.
Michaela
Way cool Michaela. That's the kind of course I want to take! Ironically I am (hopefully) beginning my college career fall quarter but unfortunately the courses available are all ones that I have little interest in. LOL. I want to take your class!
Well,come join us - of course the commute is a bit much . . . I have missed a lot of the discussion, Lala - so you may have mentioned this already - but what is your intended major? I didn't start university until I was 29 - and I was advised to only take courses that would really interest me. The rational was that as a "non-traditional" student, I was very likely to quit if I didn't find the courses engaging enough. The academic counsellor thought it was best to take the stuff I might find interesting and then, once I had invested soooo much time and had completed a lot of courses, well, then I might as well stick it through and take all the required boring courses necessary to complete my degree.
Just a thought. . . .
Hi everyone, I wanted to share a pic of my Nigra Hollyhocks. These are really cool! Thanks Fairy I think these were from you - if you are still here. : )
Those HH are way cool. Did you plant them from seeds this year? I just planted mine out in the garden, they are still little babies.
Thanks Lynn, aren't they wicked! They are from the previous swap.
I can't wait! I planted them with some pink and white HH from the Piggy Swap.
Love the Nigra Hollyhocks! I got some seeds in the swap this year and am kicking myself for not getting them started. Now I have to wait 2 more years to see those blooms. Fooey.
Michaela I will most probably be doing something in the health field. It's not my first pick but I'm getting financial aid since I lost my job to a foreign country (don't get me started, LOL.) The choices are somewhat limited as I must chose a field that is considered 'in demand' and I've been pouring over websites for the past 2 weeks trying to find the perfect match. Which I haven't. LOL. But I'll make it work. I spent almost 25 years in an oven that passed itself off for a factory and I'm determined to never repeat that one again.
While I was out watering notice d one of my giant flosirt cuttign type gerberas had gone and made seed. The seed on thes e guys doesn't last long. Have no ide a if they gonan be viabel or not as they look even thinner than the small gerberas ya see plante din gardens, but have a few seed s if somebody wants to giv e them a try. send me dmail with addy.
Don't think they wil save all the way until next piggy swap.
"I spent almost 25 years in an oven that passed itself off for a factory and I'm determined to never repeat that one again."
I sure know what you mean about an 'oven' La lol I spent eight years in a warehouse they had big fans that they put in the isles for everyone on the computers and I spent most of my time unloading trucks, by choice I could have been on the computers with the hot air moving around.
I've been ignoring my babies outside and now the mealy bugs are about to take over my mimulus! I sprayed them yesterday hoping to save them, those mealy bugs are flying in the air with the greatest of ease lol We have had so much rain lately that my poor mimulus isn't growing like it did last year it was beautiful last year, I got these seeds from Fairy too, thank you Fairy :)
It's Maozamom's Birthday, Happy Happy Birthday Maozamom :)
Congrads Seandor on planning your course! I want to take it too :)
I have pink holly hocks and the blooms are so small this year, half the size and the leaves leave a lot to be desired now the June Bugs are taking over :( I always have such a nice stand of them. I'm blaming a lot of the way the leaves are from all of the rain we have had.
I just did fix one big pot of cannas up to plant today lol I'm soo far behind I still haven't planted my dahlias it's been so wet!!! We are due for rain again today.
I got more papers from my sister's lawyer Friday so I'll be going thru m o r e paper work this week will this ever end!!! I need to get out in my gardens! lol I just hope I don't lose the house in the end my front yard is finally looking like I really want it too, it's taken so long to get it there.
Hi Lebug!
I have been out early this morning weeding gardens . . . have other people been having rain every day for three weeks?
It's hard to take care of all the plants when the weather is so inclement.
Hi Seandor :) Yep, our rain is like weeks of it about the time for it to start drying out it rains again, the ground is so wet the grass won't even dry! And muggy oh my gosh!
I finally got my cannas in a pot only had five small bulbs left from the winter I'm so late getting them planted and tried to dig holes for my dahlias and the ground is still too wet! Pretty soon it will be too late to even mess with them and I really don't want to lose my red ones :)
Yup I am way behind on my weeding!
I went to a FLea Market over the weekend... got some great plants.
this one just said, "Blue Salvia" sure is a striking blue....
I got 8 plants for $3
and here are a coupla Monarda's I picked up... the one is a Dwarf - that was $7.50 and the single one was $4 i think.
I'll have to go out and look up the names, but i'll be taking the home to IL tomorrow and plant them... hoping for lots of seeds. THe color of the blooms are just about identical... but i liked the idea of a dwarf monarda ... though the single one said it' only goes to about 16" ... we shall see.
tcs, your mondra is pretty! I got some last year and have a beautiful stand of pink right now it multiplied like crazy over the winter. A shorter one is great had no idea that they had shorter ones.
Your blue salvia looks like Victoria Blue, I had that one for a few years then lost it last winter I had seeds to sow more for this year but couldn't get to them. Don't you just love the blue stems on that one! It's an annual for us, I had one planted close to the road that came back for a few years but the late freezes is what got it in the end I think when the weather was doing that for a couple of years.
Lea -- yes, the Blue is stunning. That is what grabbed my eye as i walked past.
there was another guy selling LOTS of plants... but the poor thing could not even pronounce Agastache, and when i asked about one particular one, think is was that Apricot colored one... he was saying how it was "new" just this year... i knew right then he was an "amateur" LOL. and i didnt buy it.
as for the BLue Salvia... i plan to collect every single seed this year. I planted 4 of them up here -- I'll take a photo of the two lil beds i did yesterday.... and i'll take the other 4 home. gosh.. i hope i have room for them.
OH -- i'll got get the names of the 2 monarda....
I can't pronounce half of those names either lol When Robin came here she had to help me lol I can grow them but when it comes to names I haven't a clue on some of them.
Here is the VB:
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/2871/
Petite Delight -- H 12-15" , spacing 12" "The first Monarda with highly mildew resistant foliage."
the second one --
Grand Parade -- ('ACrade' PPAF) [whatever that means] H 13-16" spacing 16-20"
also mildew resistance... says very hardy, but does not list the zone.
Thanks Lea -- that does look like the color.
When i left home around June 11th, i still did not have germination on the Salvia BLack and BLue... that was another one i was hoping to get. I'll check when i get home. There are a few i;m still hoping will "pop".
if not.. there is always next year.
Black and Blue germination was hard for me I tried them last year and out of about 20 seeds I only got a couple of plants and it's even harder to catch the seeds, had to watch my spending this year but I did ma nage to sneak one BB in the plants that I bought for this year ;-) Not a whole lot of blooms yet but it's still early. I planted the ones from last year against the house hoping for reseeding but think it was too dry there they haven't come up yet.