Life's been crazy, and I haven't had time to check in to Dave's in a while. So, I thought I'd take a few minutes to say, "Hi!", and post a couple of pics.
Let's start with my kitty cat. He likes to sit in the flowers and watch me sew through the window. (I've started making and selling handbags and iPad cases on Etsy, which is part of why things have been so crazy). But, spring is now here, and I'm ready to spend more time outside getting my hands dirty!
And here are the poppies more closeup.
And the pink ones (Victoria Louise)
And, the perennial garden that I've been working on for a few years has lots of stuff blooming right now . . .
And a couple more of princess victoria louise
some foxglove and more poppies
Hi! Glad to see you here. I just came back myself after being gone from here for the winter. But spring has sprung and decided it was time to start checking in again. ;) Love the picture with your kitty kat and the garden he's in looks so pretty. So does the one I've been watching you work on for awhile now, I think pic #5. Love your poppies, especially the pink. I have one red poppie plant blooming. I bought 3 plants a couple years ago and pulled out 2 of the plants the following spring thinking they were weeds! DUH! So that is one thing I would really love to add to my curvy bed in the front yard. I'll have to work on that. Sounds like you've been very busy, but glad you came back for a visit.
Sherry, all the poppies were grown using the wintersowing method about 2 1/2 years ago. This is their first "leap" year. I just love them. I could totally see thinking that they are weeds, though. The leaves do have that look to them, but after a while, you can recognize their fuzziness. And, I love watching your gardens, Sherry - so glad you're back too!
How wonderful. I was just writing about you on another thread, in which I wrote about the stunning foxglove you sent to me. I have moved to a new home, with an almost empty yard, and brought many plants from my old house to a place with an empty canvass to fill.
How beautiful everything looks!
Yeah, I recognize it now. But I couldn't believe I did that at the time! I have a bunch of poppie seeds that I want to try. But I've had them for a while now so not sure they would still be good. It's too late to spread them now isn't it? I think you're supposed to do it in winter. If so, I'm going to just sprinkle them this fall sometime and see what happens. Too bad I have to wait another whole year! Oh well. Keep posting your photos as the garden progresses. I love seeing the progression. Remember when we used to post photos of the whole garden instead of just the close ups? I love seeing the whole garden shots. Take care.
Donna! I was just thinking about you today, too. You provide the first alliums ever in my garden - and you got me hooked :)
Sherry,
YES! I love the whole garden posts. They are great for getting ideas and thinking about design for a whole space. I always found them extremely helpful.
Pam,
Refresh my memory what we do with the oriental poppy foliage after it has finished blooming? I can't recall what I did last year. My "Brilliant red" oriental poppies look more red/orange this year but they have been outstanding, but I don't want them to reseed so tonight I picked the spent blooms off and are discarding them. They take up too much space. I'm sure some seeds may have already dropped and no doubt will have more next year. According to my wintersown records , I had sowed Victoria Louise and Patty's plum. Don't know if Victoria Louise didn't germinate or if it was in the seedlings I gave away last year to the community gardens here. What I thought was patty's plum, pictures of the color look like it but the foliage is that of Lauren's grape poppy. Whichever one I have, I have two plants; One I measured today as 40 and the other 49 in. tall. They definately need to be moved to the back of the border in the Fall.
Been wondering why I hadn't seen your post in a long time. Sounds like you're keeping yourself busy. How do we see some of your wares on Etsy?
Pippi, ooooh! If you have Patty's Plum seeds, I'd love to do a trade. Let me know. All I'll have is Victoria louise and Brilliant. But let me know.
Here's a link to my Etsy store.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/HelpandHold
And, I do have some garden-inspired stuff on there, like a clutch with silk Lady's Mantle leaves with dew drops, and a pink clutch with a silk victoria louise poppy on it :)
It's a ton of work, but it's helping to pay the bills - yay!!!
Glad your back.pgt I also like a longview of a garden.Your poppies are so cheerful.The cat is a big hit with me too.
Pam, I'm not sure if I have any Patty's plum seeds but if I have any, you're certainly welcome to it. My WS records showed that I planted some and I thought that's what I have, yet the foliage tells me different. a search on the internet tells me it is Lauren's grape poppy instead but to me the color of the poppy is not dark as I see the pictures of Lauren's grape..I'm going to try to save the seeds of whatever plant I have though. Don't need anymore Brilliant(red/orange) that's for sure.
It is so good to see you posting again. We missed you!
Pam,
I looked through my stash of seeds that I have leftover from last year and don't see any Patty's plum seeds. I even looked on my homemade spreadsheet of wintersown seeds and I show that I sowed them and that they germinated, cut no record where I got the seed originally. I know I don't order seeds from too many places; one I use is Crosman seeds, and I ordered from T's flowers and Things, Diane's seeds and The Sample seed shop(Remy)..Once I ordered from T&M and once from Park's. The last two companies I never got germination from. I am hoping that I can collect from the plants that I have.
You're so sweet! It's good to be back :)
So good to see you and your garden. You've been away too long.
PGT...please check your D-mail and contact me. Have something for you.
What a beautiful coat pattern your cat has!
I am sure that most of you that have followed my postings have figured out that I'm an impatient gardener. I tried something new to me that helps me collect seeds from my poppy plants. I think I'll try it with other seeds. I cut the seed pods from the poppy plant and laid them out in the sun on newspaper leaving them there for a few days baking in the 90 plus degree sunshine. In a few days, I saw where one pod looked like it was ready to release the seeds. I turned it upside down and proceeded to tap my index finger on the side of the seed pod and all these seeds started falling out on the newspaper. Amazing how many seeds are in those pods! I was able to fill several small ziplocs with poppy seeds(Lauren' s grape or patty's plum) that I can share with my friends or trade for some seeds that I want.
This message was edited Jun 12, 2012 3:51 PM
It's gorgeous Pam, and I love the cat too!
Tonight after dinner I started pulling up the larkspurs, but I'm sure more will reseed, so I could see what I had. Shasta Daisies that needed to be in back of border. Boy I had a time getting to that one..it's only been there 1 or 2 yrs. and the root on that was hugh. I want to buy my annuals to plant and get my mulch down after the annuals are planted. Guess what I found? I knew I had wintersowed Princess victoria louise poppy. Well, I found the marker and what I think is the plant, but I think I had pulled it up with the larkspurs. Lupine hidden under there, also Azalea,Malva Zebrina..I've got Malva Zebrina seeds that I gathered from my plants last year and I have two plants in one of the beds outside the sunroom door. Coneflowers have taken over too..so there's something else that will have to transplanted in the Fall. There are a few tall bearded yellow Iris rhizomes behind the clematis..Found one of my round brick stepping stones..Will be moving another shasta(might be Alaska)to the back of the border. Zagreb coreopis can be divided too and replanted. In the other bed I really have to watch for where the tulips and daffs are planted and hope I have them all marked.. I think I'm going to leave Princess Victoria Louise poppy where it's at because it looks like it might be in a good location, height wise. Will do some research tonight. Having to be real careful moving about the flowerbed so I don't break any daylily blooms off accidently.
The differance in your two poppies are this. Pattys Plum is a perennial and the Laurens Grape is an annual that reseeds itself...I haven't seen my perennial poppies reseed. Yes they have seeds but never seem to drop them and start new plants..I have tried for years to get a Pattys Plum to grow. Even buying the plants and I can't seem to get her to come back.Others that are perennials do I but not her..Have no idea why.
