2014 Seed Starting, Part 3

Today was the beginning of the payoff for all the fiddling around this winter. I planted some Lupine and Campanula oyramidalis seedlings in the garden after hardening them off for a few days under a frost blanket, then leaving them uncovered over night. Temps are supposed to be mild during the week, and their counterparts in the garden are actively growing, so finally 'it's the season.

I also planted a whole slew of perennials from Bluestone, ordered a few at a time on their Friday 50% specials. Thanks to all the newspaper I put down under mulch last year, only a few areas needed serious weeding. Yippee!!!

Nice not to have to weed anymore than you have too !
Weather being nice is good ,, I have two iris with names , dark towers penstemon , Burgundy Gailardia .Milkshake Echinacea , and a small Coronation Gold Yarrow . Of many more plants , those are the only named plants that returned this year , very disappointing so far .
However on the up side of things , A little more that a Dozen Salvia are doing well and about 1,000 Zinnia should give me blooms to feel better about .
Lupines might bloom this year , which also is delightful .. Warm environment here for the Wild blue Species , Happy I am that they grow here at all !
Starting on my cucumbers today then got a headache and had to sit a while , by then it was dark and I still did not get to the beans .
Animals are causing a little difficulty but not bad , their hungry also ..
All things being , A good time in the garden usually results ,, The Darker color Red Admiral Butterflies are showing , little early for the first summer brood , but that too is nice to see , maybe a larger brood later this summer for something more to enjoy ..
Black Mustard for Cabbage white and alfalfa for orange Sulpher Butterflies really means I am being an environmental terrorist to most gardening folks , but hey , I can't behave myself all the time ,,lol

The newspaper is time consuming, but what a difference! Where I put only a couple of sheets, it's completely gone. In some places I used much more- under shrubs, edges, etc- and it's still there. I had one really bad mess of Celandine, nasty deep, stubborn roots, but otherwise it's remarkably clean, just a little patch here and there.

Oh, happy spring, springing at last!

I use flattened cardboard boxes from work, that normally will squish the life out of all but the most recalicitrant weeds. Like Grandpa Ott's morning glory or Bamboo.

I'm planting some of my baby perennials, none of the WS stuff is ready yet, but the plants I started indoors are raring to go. lol I planted some campanulas, sedums, symphandra, kenilworth ivy, and heuchera yesterday.

Those darn Bluestone Perennials 50% off emails have been teasing me too!! Like a sirens song! I haven't bought a single thing though, husband would literally kill me if he caught me spending money on more plants when my back deck has so many homeless plants as it is! :(

Cytf, your sixty degree temps sound great, it's been nineties here ugh.. Wish I didn't have to water so often. The neighbors drive by and stare since we're in stage 2 drought and some don't know we are on a well. I dare them to tattle on me! LOL! And squirrels eat lily bulbs? I had no idea..

Pam, you finally get to play in the dirt!! Yippee!! I wonder, do you think old mail order catalogs would work as weedblock the way you use it? I don't like sending them to the landfill, and they have chemicals in them that I don't want in my compost heap, but since I don't eat from my flowerbeds, I wonder if they'd be safe to use in there? Maybe I'll try it where grass keeps creeping through the rock border in my newest beds.

Celene how long do you wait for the heuchera until planting out or potting up? Mine are still so tiny, some may not be able to spot them, but I have an eagle eye for seedlings anymore! Also do you plan on keeping your unsprouted WS jugs very long after most are planted out? Like to see if they wake up eventually?

Hi.... been busy cleaning the garden and digging things for sale and trading... Now I'll have to go back thru and weed the whole thing.... Anyway...we had such terrible winds the other day, or should I say 3 days... 60-70mph. Crud....blew my plastic loose from my makeshift greenhouse..it was open at the top and I ended up loosing most all my tomatoes. Had almost a 100..now icky sticks. So much for that effort.... am thinking I might end up with 2 or 3.... And then there are soo many other things that were lost. IJOIHUVYGYTFYGVOIBNOIJOIO!

Been seeding annuals and will have many Zinnias (3 colors so far), Salvia Victoria, Alyssum (2 colors), Osteospurmum (2 colors). (I will have more than 100 of each variety and or color) Still waiting for some to pop up and show their happy little selves...lol. Sorry just have to be positive since I lost soo many of the things I started over the winter. Crud!!!! LOL..ok, back to being nice now that that's out of my system. Rain due on Wed and Thurs so I'll be inside seeding more annuals to take the place of the perenns that didn't make it thru the winter in the back yard. Also been digging and dividing and potting things up for Garden Club, trading and what's left over I'lll plant in the back... But atleast I'll have my annuals to fill in if I can seed enough of them.....glad I did a bazillion of the Nicotianas too.... Ok, I vented....now I need to gete back to the garden...still have to do weeding and there are a bunch... lol. 'Spose to be almost 80 here today... Later all....Kathy

Oh Kathy, how dismaying! I'm sorry! Wish I could send you some of my tomato seedlings. :~(

Oh, Kathy! I know what you mean. I was ill a few days ago and lost several plants due to lack of water....alll that work. I usually lose quite a few over the winter, as my health is not stable.

Still, I am glad that I did it since I have quite a few seedlings left. The tomatoes that were in the basement seem to be the best, since they were not subject to wind or sunshine.

Cut down a Mulberry tree , Made a bean tower , Still only looking at most to be done , Someday I will get there ,
Sounds like everyone is busy , at the ready to go again in the garden with another season .
Be back ,

I opened up my WS milk jug of Pansies today they look so healthy so I left it exposed to the weather so I can transplant them out soon. StillPlaysWDirt the squirrels loves to dig all over imy garden so I have to protect my plants with rocks since he cannot move the rocks. lol

Oh Kathy, I'm so sorry!!! After all that hard work... Grrrrrrrrrrr!!! I'll dmail you later...

As usual, we left n a rush to get back to the city-- never enough time! We won't be back until Sunday afternoon, nearly a week away, and I don't have my outdoor covered stand with the self-watering trays any more. Very little rain predicted while we're gone, so I'm worried about the plants that are hardened off but still in small pots. I heeled in the
big Salvias, peeled off the sides of the Bluestone coir pots so they won't wick the moisture away from the roots and buried the rest, sank the 2.5" plastic pots almost up to the top, watered and mulched a little. That should do it.

But next week I think I'd better get the hoses hooked up and the irrigation at last available, even if I don't actually use it for a few more weeks.

Meanwhile, in NY, the Cosmos, Zinnias, Annual Centaurea are up. Lisianthus is up but quite sparse, and Sweet Peas are just beginning to crack in the Deno baggies.

Whew!

Kathy ~ Do you need any tomato seedlings? Those are what I have the most of.

Evelyn

Evelyn in the garden, it sounds like they can be shipped? If so then I do have extras I would happily pass on. Let us know Kathy.

A few tomato seedlings Late this year , June 1st before it is really safe outside here , About three weeks to catch up
These are Big Rainbow , I am a little better at Heirlooms ..

Okay , everybody left , at the Tomato fail huh , almost an lol there?
Today I dug a 12 x 12 bed space and put cucumber lean to across it
planted some Crackerjack marigolds outside . the remainder of the Buckwheat sprouts .
My Basil seedlings are all dying off , I'm unhappy with that , long season plant here , takes some time to get seeds , Always have stand by seeds though .. lol
Started some Celosia seeds , planted a White Bell Pepper outside today .
Still have about a dozen baggie's of Deno going ,
Snapdragons another named Alba , bunches of little sprouts and a lone Anthemis doing well .
I dug it too much this evening ,, I should see lots of annual blooms sometime this year ,
and the Iris are going to bloom prolific ,,
All kinds of this off to real slow start for me here .. I do have a giant pumpkin up outside , saying "Hi There"
This season I cannot seem to use all the years to grow plants , it has escaped me ,, interesting but foreboding ,, hmmmm.

SPWD, I wintersow in flats, so my seedlings stay there till I can plant them out. I have some Calendula, rhubarb, salvia and other WS plantlets that are getting close to planting, though.

In the late morning I planted a few things...some white caladium, trifolium repens 'atropurpurea'...picked some peas...then.....

We had cold and windy for most of the day with dark clouds....then came the hail!! WOW! I ran in to get my jacket with the hood, then went to cover the tomatoes and then bring in the small seedlings hardening off outdoors, threw them (no, placed them...) in the wheelbarrow, then dashed into the front door to get the garage door opener, dashed into the basement with the wheelbarrow and put them back on their light shelves.

I was drenched!

Oh my goodness. Surprise! Dashing through the hail... I haven't planted out anything from the indoor germination ranks because I keep expecting something like that here, but I bet you weren't. I hope everything survived.

Wow Evelyn, that's not typical for CA is it? Sounds like you moved like lightning, hope your babies survived!

Anyone notice the headlines today? Climate change is officially here. Crazy storms are part of it... I think we've all seen that recently, yes?

Climate change? Have we ever had consistent climate?

True, Robin. I do not remember anything consistent with the weather here....it is ALWAYS CHANGING!!

Lol...Evelyn, I read an ancient geologist article stating they found fauna fossils in Iceland that was definitely tropical (before the glacial deep freeze of course)! More evidence released more recently concurs fossilized Palm Trees in Antarctica via ice core samples.

Just waiting for my tropical paradise to move into Michigan...and waiting...

When I first moved here from southern CA, it was 40 degrees for months at a time. It was the coldest place I ever moved to. The snow would melt during the day, a little, then freeze again at night. Slippery commuting in those days during the winter.

Now, when it snows, it is gone the next day, or the following one for sure. This year we barely had any rain or snow. Now we are getting some, but it will not make up for the loss in moisture over the fall and winter, when it gets stored in the Sierras...then melts all spring and summer to give water to CA.

Talking about snow......I got 2 1/2" overnight and more expected on Mother's Day..... I didn't cover babies that got moved outside this past week....so I'll have to see what made it.. Darn!!!! Am thinking I should give up on my babies this year, except those that are still inside yet... Phooey! Think I'll spend the day seeding as many annuals as I can!! Last frost date is suppose to be Mother's Day, not this year...

Thanks for the offers on the 'maters but I can get some from a gal at Garden Club, will just trade her something for them...just won't have them this year to share with family and friends!!! Will spend the day seeding more annuals. Not even sure what of the perens will make it thru this mess. (seedlings).. I know, there's always next year.... And I didn't cover my flats cuz it wasn't suppose to get that cold... Fooled me!!!! Guess I should keep dividing my perenns in the garden..

If only we could trade elements...moisture for heat, we can even this place out a little more to our liking. I am really good at dreaming!

Kathy, so sorry you're going through such a tough time with your seedlings...all that work...argh.

Ya, I know....sniff..sniff! And not to mention the elec bill for running the lights....Just hoping some of the perenns on the porch made it.... I'll go out later when it warms a bit and melts off the snow so I can cover what's left alive with a frost blanket.

Man that is terrible Kathy , I have been there , a few seasons ago it did that here , dropped ten or 12 degrees colder than was it was suppose to ,

We had a full month this winter were it never got above 10 degrees , cold nights way down in minus , Teaches real fast what the toughest plants are ,

Kathy; Here's something that might cheer you up , once one of your potato chips , now one of my potato chips , lol never enough !
wind in the way a little

lol, thanks... did you smell that one? It's wonderful! I only had just begun bloom on the dwarfs last Sunday and I'm guessing they are poof now...but still have buds, so fingers are crossed and hope to get more!!!!

Kathy ; I was outside working on a lawnmower a few minutes (minutes?) uh huh .. lol
Light nose plug sniffle and the oil , besides the flower odor of most . I could not notice a fragrance , and the wind is pretty strong today , hinders that also .
There are about four blooms on two canes of this this plant so more blooms to come .
This one about three feet tall , the old fashioned German type .. (well nearer Siberian this one)
Dwarfs here are holding back , (who knows?)

I forgot


Granny is walking past them saying OOH !!! purple Iris and purple tulips ,, How Pretty Those Look !!!
and me as to you were the one that was explaining to me a while ago about German and Siberian Iris and the difference ,,, sooo you already knew that !!!
I finally got one of the Centaurea Scabiosa to grow , Man those those were diff from seed , it is getting ready to bloom ,, Blackberry lilly and Robinson's red mum are a no show ,, oops ..
How are the Cuttings , any better than your baby seed luck ,, I hope ..





This message was edited May 8, 2014 1:01 PM

This message was edited May 8, 2014 3:17 PM

Yup, their still in the grnhs area and ALIVE.....yeah!!! I haven't checked to see if there are any roots yet, but most have some leaves...am thinking maybe 3 or 4 ish don't have anything happening yet.... I did make it out there today and covered up the annuals that are still alive, most ot the cuttings and my potted up (new Peonies are all looking good).

My neighbor called this pm to let me know that our road is closed...first time in seven years that I've lived here.... Not sure how much rain we got before the snow arrived over night. She was saying that there were cars all over the road stuck and arrived home this pm to find the sign blocking the road. And they are calling for more rain on Sat and then a mix on Sunday... Called my daughter and let her know someone may have to come pick me up on Mother's Day with a 4 wheel drive or just skip it this year.......LOL.....Yikes, it's suppose to be planting time!

That is great to hear Kathy !!! ^_^ I was sooo Disappointed when the did not make it before .. All the nice gifts from you , and then What I sent had mostly failed ,, I came pretty close to feeling like a real heel ...lol
Now the Bad News ,, The Native Black Cherry seeds (I sent you some ) I had tried to wintersow , have not germinated (I'm a little worried )
Yes this weather is Goofy to extreme !!! (almost 90 again here today) next week back to 40's ??? wow ... It ain't fair !!!
I have Snapdragons
Celosia Echinacea False Nettle and lots of tiny Basil . Most of these cold not a problem, But the extremes of hot and cold are !
Titan sunflowers Germinated last night with my beans ..
Once again ,, I feel good for you the cuttings are doing well .. big time BAD about the seedlings I feel that way about my no shows ..
Back later .. oh the Tulips..

Are those Tulips blue Ju or are you a photoshop trickster?

This message was edited Mar 9, 2015 10:04 AM

Blomma, I sure feel for you and Kathy. You girls deserve a break (I'll put in an order for ya).

We had a frost warning this week, but nothing looked what you two are getting. Crazy!

I think I finally hit on the right combination of mixes and fert - everything is growing like gangbusters. Only a few more weeks until they all go out... And none too soon for me, I'm ready to get them all out of here. Enough, already! Scram! Shoo!

Mipii The Tulips have some blue but that is how the light reflected back ,, Not a trickster on purpose ,, the tulips are a rose purple , changing to a darker purple as they open with fringe ..


To say good morning ;

They still sound beautiful...and different! Do they have a name? Those Iris are up awfully early (in more ways than one), we don't have any in bloom yet. Very pretty though.

For the record Ju, my gut says you're the exact opposite of a trickster. Your sense of humor invites/injects playfulness in others!