Seed Swap & Chat #58

Now that's a nice Penstemon I like that!

Very nice penstemon! :)

Thanks ,she had some others wish I had bought those too..hind sight = ]

Gorgeous penstemon! Just started a few myself this year... nothing like that one though... saving seeds? :-)

Thanks for the advice on the Alyssum. I may let it bloom a little more then. It's still pretty, just a lot bigger than what I planned for :)

hugger you can always go back and get more! :)

Does anyone have one of those huge tumblers for compost if you do would you dmail me, I have a question about it please :) I didn't get instructions with it because I traded for it.

Ive got a tumbler have had it for yrs,I love it.I didnt get any instructions either.It is easy.We only turn out 2 loads a yr Id love to make more, but Iam lazy I guess LOL.

Lea -- I too have a tumbler. i dont think it' makes it really quick... but now that I;m never home, i forget to check it.

I love the compst tea it makes though.

oh.. .mine is a green heavy duty plastic, not metal/alluminum.

i think if you are really motivated and have all day sun and you have the green and brown ,you can turn a full tumbler in 2-3 weeks to compost.I always have enough green to put in it,but the dry brown is my issue,so I buy straw to throw in,I can keep that dry,if you would bag leaves in the fall you could use those, you dont want it too dry or too wet,you can tell if you have balls of compost too wet,add dry, so on. I use a bit of bloodmeal to help get it cooking too.Ive used it for 15 yrs now..Its broken now needs a new peice of pipe that runs through the center.Iam going make a call on that this am.mine is the compostumbler green alum.

I'm not sure what brand mine is off hand don't recall seeing a name on it but it is one of those big round ones you turn once a day it just stays so dry all the time that I'm second guessing myself I've been like this all year just one of those years wait till you get my age lol It suppose to make compost in 15 days but I just put scraps in it as I have them so it doesn't get full now if I put grass clippings in it like I could but wanted to use table scraps with the browns but at this rate it's going to take it forever to fill up think next time Tony cuts grass I'll put some grass clippings in I have plenty of brown from piles of leaves and old grass clippings not far from it, do you all have your tumbler in the shade or sun mine is in the sun and I have to put liquid in it almost every day does that sound right? Just doesn't seem right to me :) I'm probably just worrying for nothing lol

Did any of you grow the Saratoga Red nicotiana? I love that little plant mine aren't growing that fast because of the hot weather but they are so cute and pretty I think I'm always going to have it. I pitched seeds to the tall white one that I got from someone on here last year and saved seeds for my moon garden this year and none came up in my moon garden but it's coming up every where else lol

I put a cedar limb in the middle of my new bed yesterday for a morning glory to climb on right now it looks like a desert with a dead tree in the middle of it with no plants there yet lol

I planted some annuals that I hadn't gotten in the ground yet Friday evening and when I went to check on them Sat. morning one was laying completely on the ground and I think it was a vole that pushed it out! I dug in the hole and there was a vole tunnel right underneath it, wasn't a mole because the dirt wasn't raised around the plant I had this happen when I first transplanted a rue plant where a vole hole was earlier this year. I put cat hair in the hole before I replanted the annual and looks like it's still in the ground this morning lol I sure wish I could get rid of these voles and moles!

I lost half of April and all of May due to being in the hospital and being septic (all the doctors' fault too.) While I was being treated for being septic, I also had a stoke. Now I am
almost completely recovered.

I missed a lot of blooms and a lot of gardening during that time.

Now I am catching up as fast as I can (for my age: 68.) I am a seed grower and a buying to a lesser degree. I have so many seedlings outside, but the heat (in the upper 90s for days) has
killed a lot of them in their flats. But inside under lights, I have back ups of the ones
I really am determined to have: foxgloves (at least 4 varieties,)
delphiniums (Bellamosum and Pacific Giants,) giant dahlias,
3 kinds of rudbeckia (which I will start soon,) hollyhocks (need to start more (I don't know if they are biennials or not,) and Campanulas (Canterbury bells, Tellham beauty, and C. pyramidalis,)

I am growing feverfew (which is really pretty) from seed, mixed
yarrow, pink parasol echinacea, verbascum Banana Custard&
Olympia, and rose pyrethium. It's so cheap to use seeds and have everything you want.

This morning early, I weeded one bed which was supposed to have many seedlings. Most survived and I will replace those which didn't. Next year I shouldn't have to buy very much of anything. Oh yes, I saw a snake skin which had been shed; it gave me the creeps. I hope the owner of the skin is not nearby.

I have seen pictures of Rita's gardens on DG, and they are just beautiful. Many of you have such beautiful gardens too. This is my third summer here. Next year should be the last big push. I have 1 year old Japanese iris from seed and 1 year old day lilies from seed.
Both are due to bloom in 2012. I hope to live long enough to see them mature and bloom!

Gloria, you are one tough & determined lady! You can't fret over lost time, just take stock of where things are and go on from there, just as you're doing. I'm doing the same, here... finally got back out into the garden this weekend for a little bit here and a little bit there... This evening I sowed four 10 foot double rows of bush beans, hoping for a big September harvest LOL. And if the chemo knocks me down again then, I'll be sharing them around rather than trying to can or pickle them!

Critter, You are tough and determined too! Really, what choice do we have? Sit around and moan and mope? No thanks. I simply have to be growing things. I even buy cuttings and A. violet leaves just so I can
be growing something during the winter before it is time to start seeds.

Good for you with the bush beans. I have a feeling they will see you through the winter. I mean, really, 40' of bush beans? You all must love them. So far I have stuck with flowers, but the economy might tank and I'll have to look at food plants to help me survive.

LOL, I realized when I was done that I'd have 240 plants if they all came up! That's a lot of potential beans. But I had 4 different kind I wanted to try... I usually do several successive plantings through the summer, but these were the first I'd managed to get in other than 20 survivors (now blooming!) from seeds my mom put in for me. I do have a pressure canner and have been wanting to try it with green beans... but if I don't manage it, I guess everybody on the block will be enjoying fresh beans! :-)

No moping for me, and as little moaning as I can manage. :-)

I love my flowers too, but we really enjoy the fresh veggies.. and some of them are pretty ornamental! Have you ever seen okra blooms? I tuck basils all around my beds and containers, same with some of the prettier pepper plants, and I love including "garden snack" plants like alpine strawberries and currant tomatoes (no staking, just let them ramble around) in my perennial beds.

I still have some seedlings that need to be put out. I wintersowed and earlyspringsowed everything this year. I didn't get light shelves set up to start them inside. Working to finish my indoor painting, etc to get them set up this fall. The slugs got a few salvia seedlings and I haven't found the secret to nurturing delphiniums, yet. Otherwise, the plants seem to be coming along. I will have to wait until next year for blooms from some such as hollyhocks and foxgloves. Marble arch rose salvia is beautiful, and it hasn't even bloomed yet!

I am saving seeds and rinsing my soda bottles to be ready for next winter! This year, I will be certain to have plenty of seed starting soil on hand.

It has been so hot here that I only get in the garden between sunrise and 9am. I am watering as much as I can. The hose connection is far from my garden, but at least I don't have to pay for water.

I am hoping for a warm, late fall also, Critter, so that I can harvest veggies. Since I didn't start them inside, my seedlings were tiny and I got off to a slow start.

My constant garden companion, Tiffany (a West Highland Terrier) died last weekend. She had 16 wonderful years, a long time for any dog. I have been missing her very much. I have contacted a couple of local rescue organizations looking for a new companion. It won't be the same, but can be good in a different way.

So sorry, I am feeling for you and my shar pei who is almost 15 will be joining her soon. I know you were blessed to have her for a year or two longer than most. That is a blessing even though it may not feel that way today.

They have such short little lives. I knew her time was near, but hoped that she could enjoy another summer. She was up and around until her last day. That day, I did what I could to comfort her. She was licking my tears as I was crying/trying not to cry. She was so in tune with me I didn't want her to be upset. She was loved until the end as she died in my arms. I am suffering more than she did, but that is how it is.

Lebug,You need more green ,grass clippings ,coffee grounds ,its ok to add water.Its easier than you think, if its dry add wet, if its wet add dry.Have your neibor save coffee ground and grass clippings.

Critter mom had one of those nice pressure canners downstairs I remember her using it after breaking thousands of beans always wanted to run the other way when it was time to break beans lol I'm afraid to use the canner that statement about all the neighbors enjoying your beans, I understand very well LOL I can't believe you are out in this heat planting you go girl but take care of yourself!

GQ, so sorry to hear about your baby hope you find another one soon then it will be all that training again not to dig your plants up :)

Huggergirl, I have plenty of grass clippings and leaves my neighbor has all of his realitives around him with big yards by where we live and he cuts the grass for all of them empties his grass catcher in a pile out back of my property I have a line about 30' long of grass clippings and mulched leaves from the fall :) I just gather all of my spent blooms from daylilies and hibiscus plus food scraps and yarrow and dump them in too :) I have almost 2 acres of grass clippings myself I just wish I had more food scraps to pitch in I have a room mate but neither of us eat that much :) I usually have a couple of compost piles going at a time besides the tumbler I just haven't started any on the ground this year trying to clean the place up this year but if I don't hurry and get that tumbler filled I'm going to have to start a couple more piles. I save my coffee grounds for the piles on the ground I like those better because the worms can work the compost but I'm just looking for instant gratification this year lol Besides it's too hot to work those piles for a couple of hours this time of year.

Gardengap, the only thing worse than out living them is their outliving you (and you don't know, really, what will happen to them. I know your grief. We have to grieve so much in our life for our dear, peculiar pets.
Time is the only thing that helps.

Garden she was lucky to have you there and love her so.

Garden,sorry about your westie,hard on us to loose our companion pets. Iam Glad you are going to get a used pet.see already better by getting a rescued pet,saving a life !!! I have an old cat she is 14 ,I dread the day.....

I'm just glad you got to hold her while she was passing GQ, that must have meant so much to her :) So many animals take off when it's that time and we are left not knowing what happened to them it must have been some comfort to be able to hold her :)

i was afraid of that the other evening,Sydney decided to take a walk in the woods,Luckily I spotted her after about 30 minits of panic,she is old,she was soo happy after her walk,lil snot....I have 2 bigger snots too.

huggergirl, absolutely beautiful penstemon. If you get any seeds and offer them to us, we will all be tripping over eachother to get them. :o)

GQ, sorry about your loss. My cat loves to 'garden' with me, and I can imagine how much you miss your Tiffany.

Just wanted to let all you Morning Glory lovers to know that I just got a bunch of Japanese Morming Glory seeds in from a co-op ... ordered extra for our Piggy swap, love to share them with you.

I had a wonderful vacation over the 4th. Just enough time (not too much) spent with family, lots of warm weather, good food and drink, night fires, swimming in the lake, boat rides ... heaven on earth!
Of course came back to my poor potted plants roasting in their pots ... some are beyond saving, but others are just starting to perk up again.

Kelly, I never shear back my alyssum, usually they flower all summer. But this year I think I planted them in mulch and not soil and they all died with in a couple weeks ... what a waste of $$$$. But with you being so much farther south than me, maybe shearing needs to be done.

Hey, after about 10 years, I fianlly had one of my Clivia bloom, not the real pretty one though. I didn't take a picture, but here is one that looks like it ... sorta ...

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/258132/

Sounds wonderful Toofew! I can see places where I have the alyssum that it won't need it, but the major place that it is is in the new lasagna butterfly bed, with lots of mushroom compost and other good stuff, getting lots of attention and water, and it's probably over a foot tall, maybe 18" wide and taking over all sorts of stuff! I only planted one scrawny wintersown plant about every 9-12" I swear!

Toofew, can't believe it took your flower ten years to bloom you have more patience than I do lol I had a fit waiting four years for my campanula to bloom!

Glad you had such a nice vacation but sorry about your plants my neighbor didn't ask me to take care of hers while she is on vacation this week but she has planted a lot from me so I have to check up on them, she lost quite a few last year. It just rained the other day and hopefully we will have more rain Fri. so they may be alright this year.

Those camp fires are nice no matter how hot it is I love them!

I;ve been thinking of having a fire... but with the 90+% humidity and 76degree dew point... heat index is 99
so i think i'll wait til it cools down a bit.

Ugggggggg -- did do water aerobics this morning, and hopefully tomorrow if it's not raining. always feels good.. then spend most the day in the AC with Buddy.

I'm transplanting some hibiscus today to try and see if they are going to come true from seed so far I planted two of the turn of the century in the side yard and they are pink and I planted one pink lol

I transplant two of them then I go back in the house the sweat keeps pouring down in my eyes and can't see! I've got 18 hibiscus to transplant so I don't think I'm going to get done today and it's suppose to be a lot hotter tomorrow :)

I had to make Sophera come in for the rest of the evening she wasn't moving too fast and got worried about her she fought me all the way lol I like her in here better my plants are safer outside can't believe the number she has done on them trying to catch the butterflies! Almost every bloom is broken off of my coneflowers! She lays in my bed and rolls on the plants wanting me to rub her belly mashing my plants and breaking them off, I can't work in the side yard where all of the blooms are anymore if she is outside with me lol

Terese I'm guessing you do your water aerobics outside in a pool isn't it hot even in there? Our nights are even hot I should check the neighbor's pool out she's always telling me I can use it anytime but I never get in I'm just not a water person.

Lea -- yes, we do them outside... at 10.30am ... the water is not slow simmer, like some of the women like... the sun can already be hot at that time, but the water is refreshing. it may be colder this morning as we got A LOT of rain over night... possibly well over 4 inches. there is one lady, who, no matter what water temp, she complains it's too cold.

tcs, I think its great you do water aerobics. I'm 51 now and a little on the chubby side now too. But I don't let that stop me. :o) In our little corner of the lake, I'm the only older female that actually swims, although I don't swim well, but I do side and breast stroke.

Most of the adults just go to the end of their docks and stand their with their drinks .... which can be fun too. They smile and wave at me when they see me swimming to the buoys or rafts in the area. Got to have something to swim too, I just can't swim out so far and then back ... no fun.

I have 2 sister in laws at the lake who won't go in, and my thin sister says the water is too cold. It is usually pretty cold till mid july, but ya know, You Get Used To IT. LOL

My back is on the fritz again, called in sick yesterday and today is my day off. I'm hoping these 2 days will be enough. Probably will be, feeling somewhat better today.
But yesterday I just had to go out and dap a little pollen on my daylilies. How Beautiful Heaven Must Be and Bobby Martin were blooming, just had to procreate those DL's!!!!

Lea, how great it is that your hibiscus bloom. I have 3 plants I started from seed a couple years ago, only one has bloomed once. Sadly I'm sure its because they don't get enough water and one is in part shade. I keep hoping though. Just too many plants from seed and not enough places to put them when it comes to full sun.

I'm jealous of you guys with cool water lakes and ponds. There's nowhere good to swim around here. A 45 minute drive to Walden Pond, which is crowded, if you can get in, and by mid-summer the water is warm as a bath. Certainly the opposite of Thoreau's experience.

We're having a teeny break from the hot sunny muggies. A bit of rain the past few days, but hot muggies predicted tomorrow on. Puts a damper on gardening for me. Will have to make the best of today.

I've gotten a good start on seed collecting, and have even cleaned and bagged a whole bunch, as it was too hot and muggy to be outside.Have a few, like astrantia, that passed me by last year, and am hoping to collect some hardy geraniums, as I have a bunch of new ones this year. Ella, I have 4 plants from your 5 splish-splash seeds, and 2 from the orchid blue. And got your package from the co-op yesterday. Didn't even remember I had another heuch coming with the mukdenia. Thanks!

I'll have to take pics of some of the great rudbeckias I got from you guys. I have them planted together, one or two of each kind was all I had room for in the sun. And I'm really enjoying the red and yellow asclepias, though I mixed up the names. Can someone tell me what it is, and if it's annual or perennial in zone 6a? If annual, will it reseed, or do I have to start some more for next year?

Lea, it sounds like you're going gangbusters. Wish I had your energy.

Perenniallyme, I hope you get some of those Hardy Geranium seeds! I'm just learning to appreciate them at home, have one large one that bloomed for a month in spring, and a couple babies I started from seed. But here in CO where I'm vacationing, they're everywhere, and absolutely gorgeous!

Actually, I saw the most incredible flower bed I've ever seen yesterday on a bike ride around Lake Dillon. I think I'm going to have to make up an excuse to get back there, just to take a picture of the bed! It had peonies, lupine, columbine, poppies, daisies and a lot more all in full bloom! I'm guessing the flowers all bloom closer to the same time here because they have such a short summer? By me I don't think all of those would bloom together... not that I can grow lupine, but the others I can!

I wouldn't be shocked to find that they have some major 'yard of the month' contest or something here in Breckenridge. Everywhere you go the yards, parking lots, fronts of restaurants, etc all have amazing displays of flowers! Then, of course, the fields and forests are filled with wild flowers also... it really is an amazingly beautiful town. Then you look up, and there are mountains all around... heaven!

Hoping to check out the Denver Botanical Garden on our way back to the airport if there's time. Has anyone been there? It's a little warmer down there, so it may not be as amazing as here... but I'm hoping!

In the summer here I don't worry about the water being too cold it's too hot lol I've felt Tammy's across the street a couple times in the afternoon and it was like slow simmer that's a little warm for me to get into but I love the ones in the winter with that warm water I'd say what they are but couldn't spell it lol


Sharon, these might be the ones you have:
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/604/
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/53105/

They will reseed but aren't perennials for you mine just started coming up from reseeding about two or three weeks ago even the perennials are slow coming up so wait around for them. Mine are about a foot high now and one is getting ready to bloom :) I've already seen cats on my red milkweed (the perennial) I just planted those a while back yeah!!! And getting one bloom on them so far I planted three of them and they are almost three foot tall I still have two more kinds to plant in my other side yard need to get those puppies in but can't decide where to plant them lol

I used to be like the energizer bunny I just kept on going but this heat is putting a damper on my planting, transplating and weeding this year lol Oh and it's suppose to be killer heat out today you watch I'll get my plants from Ella today she said they were on there way LOL I'll have to carry some dirt in the house I'm not going out today :) I made sure everything was watered yesterday and got some transplanting done so I wouldn't feel so guilty staying in the house today ;)

I put a pole by my datura Inoxia up and watered with soaker hoses today and getting ready to transplant said I wasn't going to be out in this afternoon but looks like I am I want to get this transplanting done before it rains we have a chance of scattered showers I just hope we get some!

Are you getting any pulomonaira from Ella? I'm keeping mine in the house under lights until it cools off I've lost way too many I have ordered in heat like this when they are late coming in so I hope to save them under lights this time I only have two coming in so there isn't much room for error :) I think I'll put everything that I get under lights I've lost about five of my plants so far I had the violet Heartthrob and they were nice and healthy looking and lost one have no idea what I did unless it was the heat those are so pretty! My Summer Loves were nice and healthy too and lost one of those and a Ruby Frost! I got three Geums, same story nice and healthy and lost two only one left and just put it under lights last night it's not looking all that great and it's too pretty to lose :(

Kelly my columbines quit flowering a while ago but that sounded just wonderfull maybe it's a little cooler there is why they were still blooming.

I have two Buxton's Blue seedlings but they aren't growing very fast at least they came up!

OK you coneflower lovers tell me what is cutting my blooms off about three inches below the bloom I though my cat was chasing the butterflies and breaking the blooms off but she has been in the house all day today so I know she isn't doing it now lol I checked and on one bloom that hasn't fallen over yet there is a brown mark all the way around the stem about 1/4" all around it about three inches below the bloom what is it???

kl, I'm definitely going to try. You have to bag them in advance, as they have a little built in mechanism that shoots those seeds into space as soon as they're ready. I already have some spent flower heads bagged, but some are so small that I can't tell if they've already gone to seed or not. I only suspect not because they don't have that spike sticking out of the middle, but I may have bagged heads that weren't even pollinated, for all I know. I do have some g. renardii seeds collected, at least, but I really want some orkney cherry and cinereums and others, though only one cinereum has flowered so far, and only a couple of blossoms.
Those gardens sound lovely - I highly approve of all the plants you mentioned.

Lea, thanks for the link. It's as I suspected. Mine are the 1st link - the red and yellow-orange curassavica, unfortunately not hardy here. I adore them, so any seed I collect is going to be scattered in my garden this year (with some saved for indoors start just in case). I'm going to be a selfish little piggy with these. I generally stay away from annuals, but I'm hooked on this one.
I don't know what happened - thought I had started some other milkweeds, but I can't find them - unless I planted them somewhere and they're still too small to recognize. I probably have a bunch of seeds left over from the swap, as most things I only planted 6-packs of. Milkweeds will be on my priority list next year.
And you still sound like the energizer bunny!
I only got some heucheras and a mukdenia from Ella. I have a couple of pulmonarias, and though I like them, not enough to plant more in my limited space - unless maybe one of the all blue flowered variety.
What geums did you lose? I started collecting seed of an orange-red one,I don't think it has a cultivar name, and will have plenty. Unfortunately I deadheaded my mango lassi, thinking I'd get more flowers, but so far zilch. Same with the yellow one whose name I can't think of - Lady Stratheden? If I get more flowers, I'll leave them for the seeds.
I'd better pot up those plants from Ella tonight.

I got the Geum Eos it's suppose to have orange flowers too I wonder...lol The leaves are a light green it looks like it's going to be pretty! I ordered four of them and only have one left but I leave room for error with coop plants they are so cheap most of the time anyway if I just keep this one alive I'll be happy lol I didn't even know there was a yellow one maybe you should save some seed to that one for next year ;)

Sharon you would like the yellow one too you should get seeds to that one this year if I have any come up, can't remember for sure which seeds I pitched out in the side yard, but if they are yellow I'll save you some and of course for the swap too lol But I think they were the ones like you have if they aren't the orange I really wanted the orange ones so they might have been them who knows LOL I have a bloom starting on one so I should know here pretty soon.

That's what happened with my red hibiscus last year I didn't get much done last year but I did deadhead my hibiscus hoping I would get more blooms, don't think it worked, keeping a few seed heads on but didn't keep any seed heads on my luna blush or the luna red so I didn't get to plant any this year. Got seeds to my dinner plate white one with the red eye and none of those came up not one I'm wondering if anyone that asked for them if they came up for them can't believe I didn't get one of them my neighbor was wanting one took some cuttings but lost those I can't do cuttings lol

I just looked up "eos". I'd never heard of a light colored leaf on a geum, but leave it to Terra Nova to invent one. Mine that I'm collecting seed of has just about the same color flower, only darker green leaves. I'll have to say, though, that those lighter yellower leaves do look good on it.
I'm still hoping for more blooms on the other geums. Sometimes they quit for quite a while, and then decide to bloom again, so all is not necessarily lost.

Oh how I was wishing that those geranium seeds weren't so hard to collect. I passed a gorgeous plant that was just covered in seed pods today, but of course the only ones on the plant were still green :-( Ah well, I'd promised not to snatch seeds here on vacation anyway... my DD knows me too well and extracted that promise as soon as she saw the number of amazing plantings everywhere!

I liked the lite colored leaf was going to plant them by the russian sage now not sure where I'll put one plant at I'm afraid it would get lost in the RS lol I have the taller one and it goes wild out by the road. I forgot I had one in a pot and found it among some other pots I had bunched together I'm so glad it was rather neglected though and didn't look so good so I'm going to have to baby it a bit before I plant it lol

Lets keep our fingers crossed for more blooms I will anyway ;)

Kelly, I collected some off of a geranium last year for the swap and lost them in a bag some where and still haven't found them lol I have a few more of that geranium this year in a bag waiting for the seeds but I don’t think anything is popping out of them I haven't opened it yet but I've shook it and nothing I wish they weren't so hard to collect too!