Seed starting MAF part 3 5/23/14

thanks, Jill! That's good to know they turn green when cooked! :-) And thanks for the recipe--looks like a good one to try.

We harvested the first ripe tomatoes this week - 'Cherokee Purple' from Gita's seed stash. I love the "purple/black" tomatoes - makes great sauce. There were only 3. I'll have to wait for the "big" harvest yet to come to have enough to make sauce, but with 30+ plants that I grew from seed, I think there should be plenty LOL. 'Cherokee Purple' was the first to ripen, but I'm also growing 'Limbaugh's Legacy', 'Polish Linguisa', 'Mortgage Lifter', 'Rose', 'Georgia Peach', and 'Arkansas Traveler' - all from seeds at the seed swap.

Terri--It is almost a shame to use a ML for sauce! it is so delicious on a sandwich...

Mortgage Lifter is the only large tomato I am growing. The rest are Cherry types.

I picked one ML the other day. It wasn't 1--% ripe--but a storm was coming--so I picked it.
It will ripen on the counter...
I expect i will have plenty...if the bugs leave it alone. G.

edited to correct. Wrong name....
I am NOT growing a Mortgage Lifter--I am growing Cherokee Purple Tomatoes.
I have seeds for ML--but space is limited--and Ch, Prpl. wins out....


This message was edited Jul 26, 2014 6:29 PM

Yehudith, is it too late to say "yes please" to some cleome seeds? If it's alright with you, please D-mail me so we can make arrangements. And, Thank You! :)

Catmint, OH BOY, how exciting about your beans, and they're soooo pretty!!! How did they taste? Have you eaten them yet?

thanks, Speedie. Just picked two more! I think we have a whole handful now! :-) I'll steam them tomorrow for Katie (DD)--she really likes string beans.

I may have picked some too early, but hope they taste okay anyway.

Apeedie---
I have a good cup-full of Cleome seeds....can send you plenty.
Since they are biennials--you can scatter a FEW --and they will come up next summer.
The seedlings are easy to ID--ass the leaves look just like the adult ones.

Funny! I have NOT grown Cleomies in the last 3 years--BUT--they came up
in several places this spring. So--I planted them here and there....

Just like my "Grandpa Ott" MG's. I only grew them about 5years ago. Never again..
The seeds are still sprouting all over...

4 O'Clocks will do the same thing....Live forever!
The beauty of the 4's is that it blooms in different colors or combos of.
All the pictures below are some examples.

Pictures from 2010.
Be aware--how widespread they grow. If you plant them in a "clump"--
it will just be one, gorgeous mass of blooms.
See those small, curved 'pods" that cover the whole stem up to the blooms? (#4)
Those each contain about 30-40 seeds. When the pods start to look pale/grayish--
they are ripe--and the smallest touch will make them pop open.
Like mini-peas-in-a-pod. The seeds are dark and perfectly round.
Hold the pod in your palm before touching it--and then the seeds will fall in your hand.
This is WHY I have over a cup-full of seeds....

LMK if you want some seeds... Gita

On green beans, better to pick early than late The plants will produce better; late ones can be too tough.

thanks, Sally! :-)

just started picking Sungolds, waiting on Cherokee Purple and German Johnson

These pics are for Joyanna! The Zinnias are from the packets of seeds she gave out in 2013, and the Love in a Mist was one of her 2014 plants-of-choice.

Also in the Zinnia pic: Purple Coneflowers from Greenthumb.

Thanks to both of you!

Edited to add that Texas Bluebonnets are growing behind the Love-in-a-Mist. I bought these seeds at HD. I think they make a good groundcover, even when they're not blooming, so I think they're going to be a regular in my garden.


This message was edited Jul 27, 2014 5:06 PM

Pretty! Joyanna loved seeing those; thanks!

You're welcome! I like how the foliage of the Love-in-a-Mist, Coreopsis and Amsonia go together. I actually thought the Love in a Mist was a Red Satin Coreopsis until it bloomed.

FOund some forgotten cukes this week, huge and yellow. How do they hide?? One is a solid 8 inches long and 3 across. It's edible if you care to peel and seed it, but not that tasty

Oh, No, there goes Millersville, Cu cu CUKE ZILLA

My grandmother made a different sort of pickle from those big cukes (sliced lengthwise into quarters & seeded)... she called them "slip downs."

I grew this begonia Bonfire from seed. And almost killed it last week by waiting for Mother Nature to water it!

This is Black-eyed Susan vine that Roses grew from seed. I with I knew how to get it to bloom profusely like the ones at the nursery.

Oops the BES vine pic didn't post.

SS- From SEED?????

How long did it take for the Begonia Bonfire to grow big enough to bloom?

We have it in HB's at the HD. NOT enchanted by them......don't know why...
G.

I think I started the seeds indoors in ... early February? It took a LONG time for them to bloom, partly because we had such a cool spring/early summer, and partly because I was so bad about fertilizing the seedlings. I think it was late May before they started blooming.

I'm actually not a fan of the orange-red color, but I was hoping it'd be a huge hummingbird magnet!

S--you mean they grew from seed and bloomed all in the same year???????

Amazing!!! G.

Yes! From seed to bloom time was around 3.5 months. Oh, and my Dragon Wing begonias are also blooming, although they took closer to 4.5 months to bloom. I'll take pictures tomorrow. They were sown at the same time, around early February.

I just realized I need to harvest the lettuce seeds soon. They're at the "feathery" stage and have been for awhile. This would be my first time trying to get the seeds.

I was actually going to plant some of them right away for a fall harvest. Have any of you done it this way?

ssg, I have not done it but I think it's a great idea

Gita, yes please, I would LOVE some Cleome seeds!!

Weird thing; I sowed some of the 4 O'Clock seeds that you shared with me, but not ONE of 'em germinated. =( I direct sowed them late this Spring, when I was sure that it was warm enough and there'd be no more frosts, but I didn't get one single germination. Not sure what I did wrong, but thankfully I still have some left. Will try again next year.

that's funny. I doubt they need stratification.

I think 4 o'clock seeds do better if soaked in water overnight before planting.
I always get volunteers from ones I planted about 10 years ago, though so I can't say I've tried it myself!

Rudbeckia 'Indian Summer' seeds I got at the swap this year (from Typwc or SSG, I think) are blooming! I'll post pics soon.

I blew $10 at HD today on a potted, perennial Rudbeckia Hirta.
Gorgeous blooms! Almost sunflower like...with a small, protruding pale green center.
Can't do pictures yet....my "C" is still in progress of being...maybe after tomorrow...

We also have very interesting pink Cone Flowers. The "cone" is all fluffy and the
petals hang down all around it. There are 2 kinds...

There is also a new color Petunia. Looks weird to me....colors that do not
go together--at least to me. Muted reds and deep yellows and tan in a blotched pattern.

Will have to take my camera to work Tuesday. Like I will have time to take pictures!!...

Re the 4's--I think they will come up all right next spring. I think they like to live
through a winter and then sprout. Same for Cleomies.

Just FY--sprouting 4's leaves look exactly like MG's. BUT--before you yank them up--
let the second set of leaves come up. If it is a 4'Oclock--the leaves will be pointed.
If it is a MG--they will be rounded.
G.

I finally have a fish pepper that's turning red! I was getting so impatient that I was ready to pick a green one and take a bite. :)

I love how the fish peppers themselves (not just the leaves) are variegated.

I like fish peppers too but mine never turn red. Probably grow them in too little sun. Are you going to save seeds SSG? Aren't the little peppers cute!

Sallyg how is that Anne Arundel heirloom melon doing?

Yes, I'm definitely saving the seeds! I mean, I've never saved pepper seeds before but I'll do my best. :)

I think pepper seeds are fairly easy to save but Fish Pepper seeds aren't always easy to come by!
The last few years I've gotten plants from the Quaker Meeting plant sale where members raise seeds. Same place I got all of those orchid plants I shared.

Every few years I try to grow Fish Peppers in isolation (front garden, usually) to be sure of getting non-crossed seeds, because I want to be sure of maintaining the genetic line for these. :-)

Just let the peppers get all red, then scrape out the seeds when you cut up the pepper... put them on a paper plate and let them dry for a week or two. Easy peasy. :-)

Fish peppers are tasty green, but I really love their flavor when red-ripe! Use some of each when you're cooking. I do the same wtih jalopenos -- mix of red & green.

I'm not sure about the ID of a few plants grown from seeds I got from the swap. In some cases, I think I know what they are but am not sure. I think these are all natives.

I was going to post photos of more than one plant at a time, but my attempts to upload more than one have failed.

Is this Penstemon hirsutus?

Grown from seeds I got at the swap....I think it's a native, but I can't find a plant marker. It reminds me of a Cardinal Flower, but I don't think that's it.

This message was edited Aug 22, 2014 8:53 PM

Is this Penstemon 'Lucketts'? It doesn't really look like the Penstemon 'Lucketts' in the next photo.

This message was edited Aug 22, 2014 8:59 PM

I know these 3 plants are Penstemon 'Lucketts' because I didn't grow them; Greenthumb did.
One of them has been blooming since the plant swap!

I marked these as Heuchera richardsonii (Alum Root), but they look like Black-eyed Susans.

This message was edited Aug 22, 2014 8:55 PM

Last photo! I marked the plant on the left Heuchera richardsonii, and the one on the right is possibly Penstemon tubaeflorus.

Muddy, 1st photo is not a Penstemon of any sort. Looks familiar, but can't pull a name out of my brain right now.

Edit: Zigzag stem and alternate, heart shaped leaves with serrated edges makes me think Aster cordifolious.

#2 looks like a Lobelia, perhaps L. siphilitica if not Cardinal Flower

#3 might be correct. Seems to me that young plants had that reddish stem coloration, but might be another Penstemon.

#4 is known

#5 is not Heuchera richardsonii, and certainly looks like a Rudbeckia.

#6 don't think plant on left is Heuchera richardsonii, but plant on the right has the succulent, glossy leaves of Penstemon tubaeflorus.

Do you by any chance have a list of possible identities? If so, it would really help.

This message was edited Aug 22, 2014 10:58 PM

agree with #5

need to clean up an area and get fall spinach and mustard greens started soon. or at least a pot of seedlings going

Here is another photo of a plant I had marked as Penstemon 'Lucketts',
and some possible identities for the mystery plants, although these are long shots:

Monarda punctata

Penstemon grandiflorus, P. pallidus

Verbena stricta

Campanula americana

This message was edited Aug 22, 2014 10:29 PM