Seed Snatchin' XVI Sifted, Sorted & Stacked!

Critter, thanks so much.. as you can see, I've been following the chain of linked threads you've left for me and I appreciate all the info!! :)

Pixy, thanks for the offer! I wonder how many different types of foxgloves there are? I really have no idea what variety I have... I purchased seeds last year and I didn't do a good job of germinating and growing (as per above) . I found a woman about 30 miles from here that was selling self sown babies at .25 per plant, so I brought home a whole slew and potted them up and the ones that made it are there in the garden now. I did see the momma plants and they were spectacular, so that's all I know about the variety! I'm really hoping to get seed from them and grow some more and share. They seem to like to self sow, so that will be a good thing too.

It's not lazy, it's called smart!!

Speaking of self sowing, I have a bunch of rose campion that is coming up from seed (from one adult plant) :) in the garden, but they are way to close to each other to grow into adult plants. Should I pot them and water until spring or just leave them until warmer weather and move them in the garden then? What do you do in this situation?

Nichole, congradulations on your coldframe. I'm going to be trying out my new coldframe this year too. It's called a south facing garage with automatic door opener! :) No indoor parking here!
:)

Susan

SUSAN!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Poor hubby!! LOL!!

Nicole

I've got some trailing lobelia and several kinds of foxglove on my tradelist if anyone is interested. D. purpurea is a biennial, and the most common variety... the tall pink and white beauties you see toward the back of cottage gardens. They will self-seed and keep you in flowers for years, if you find a spot they like and let them do their thing.

There are the perennial yellows: D. grandiflora and D. lutea. There are the rusty or speckled ones: D. laevigata, D. parviflora, D. ferruginia, D. lanata. There are the pink perennials: D. mertonensis, D. thapsi. At least, that is my experience so far.

I don't know if Rose Campion will transplant well, I killed mine trying to move it a few years back. Don't trust my info, though - it was only one plant, and I really didn't know what I was doing.

I don't know if Rose Campion will transplant well, I killed mine trying to move it a few years back. Don't trust my info, though - it was only one plant, and I really didn't know what I was doing.

I love Foxgloves. I have the perennial yellow. I also have some crazy ones that grow about 7 feet tall, that all came from one plant that I bought not even knowing what it was! A nice deep pink color. People ask me about them all the time.

Hey, does anyone know the difference between Sutton's Apricot, Apricot Beauty, and just plain Apricot Foxglove? I have seen all these varieties listed in different catalogs, but there is no real description that explains the difference.

This message was edited Jan 19, 2006 4:35 PM

Ivy, if they apricot cultivars offer the botanical name, you can check to see if they are D. purpurea. If so, they are biennials and most likely similar, if not the same to one another. The specific cultivar may be bred to vary slightly in color, height, or habit. If you want them to come back more or less true, you will need to grow them far away from other D. purpurea. I believe the pinks are the closest to species, so they would be the most likely to self-seed and cross pollination could occur.

Oh my, I had no idea there were so many varieties. Well, the mother plants were breathtaking and between 5-6 feet tall. I honestly can't remember the exact coloring.. I think it was a kinda purple and pink. I just remember that I wanted LOTS of them!! :)
I will certainly be taking pictures after bloom, and if I had had my digital back then, I'd be able to show you...

I am most grateful for all you wonderful gardening friends that are so generous with your seeds. I still have not followed through with the White Coneflower seed Nicole has and I'm sorry about the flake out... However, I'm going to start the seeds I have now, be successful, and then I will be taking up offers and hopefully reciprocating!!

Susan




This message was edited Jan 19, 2006 5:22 PM

I just saw Weezin's trade list and it's really hard not to retract my statement about not wanting seeds!! Oh my gosh you Garden Goddess... I saw the three foxgloves on your trade list and I think mine is the tall pink you have pictured here http://davesgarden.com/trading/tl/Weezingreens/showimage/6738.html
I can't wait to see it bloom :) I had no idea there was an alba foxglove. The plan is to make the back deck area the "moon garden" with all white blooms and now that's on my list with Nicole's alba coneflowers. Yall amaze me!!
:)

Susan

Yes, those big pink foxglove are Digitalis purpurea, a self-seeding biennial. The pure white ones on my list are also D. purpurea, but 'alba'. By placing the white ones in your white garden, away from the pink variety, you'll most likely have reseeding white, unless an ambitious bee or butterfly flies from one bed to another. D. purpurea 'Excelsior Mix' is a wonderful tall foxglove, but blooms the second year, seeds, and dies. Their shorter cousin D. purpurea 'Foxy' will bloom the first year if started early, so can be treated as an annual if you start them indoors.

I planted D. mertonensis this fall, so I can't wait to see it grow and bloom this summer. That one is perennial, right?

I think it is considered a 'short-lived, self-seeding perennial'... LOL! I think that means you're never quite sure if it is the original plant or an offspring! Mine bloomed last year, and I was very pleased with it. It's out there under mulch and plastic now, so I'll just have to see how it winters over.

Yes Weezin, that is it.. They did not bloom for me last year and this will be the one. It's a shame that they are all going to bloom and peter out, but hoepfully I've have seeds and be hopefull for the following two years! Or...... I could take another field trip and buy more of those babies that would bloom next year and keep the blooms coming year after year! Hey... that's a thought :) I thought it was very curious that the foliage did not die down to the ground after a hard frost, but it has been there all winter long and looks pretty good. I haven't felt it, but it must be tough. I'll try to snap some pictures of it tomorrow and post. I have it against a west facing wall which gets morning shade and afternoon sun and I think it's very happy there. Once I get enough seeds to play with, I want to try it against my front fence which gets full sun. The Alba woudl be getting shade against my north facing back deck.

What do you think about full sun though?

Those foxy's sure look appealing when ya have to wait two years for the tall pinks! :)

Susan

D. mertonensis is a biennial for me. I started some from seed two years ago and they bloomed in the most spectacular way last year! Here is a tip about the 'alba' form of purpurea: most of the common foxglove will throw an 'alba' seedling occasionally. You can tell they will be the 'alba' ones by looking at the leaf stems. The purple flowered seelings will have a purplish cast to the green. The alba ones will not. One of the nicest foxgloves I've ever grown is African Foxglove, which is not a Digitalis at all but Ceratotheca triloba. Unfortunately it is an annual, but it was definitely worth growing. Here's a closeup of one of the flowers. There are more photos of it in the plantfiles.

So pretty. I'm learning so much!! :)

Susan

Isn't that what it's all about? That's a beautiful flower, Weezingreens! I have some Foxy seed this year. Hope mine do that well!

Pixydish, I'm hoping the D. mertonensis performs as a perennial for me. I added some 1st year plants to the bed, as well, so I should have more flowers and more seeds next summer one way or the other. When you mention the D. purpurea throwing occasional alba, are the flowers entirely white, or do they have speckled throats. The white foxglove is pure white with no throat speckles.

They probably have speckled throats. I've never looked hard, but probably I'd notice if they didn't. In fact, even the albas I bought at a nursery last year had speckled throats I believe. I'm thinking I have not seen any like the ones in your photo. Thanks a LOT! Now I have to have those, too! LOL
I'm just talking about the normal D. purpurea that we have growing around everywhere here. We get white ones all the time, and you can tell they will be white by looking at the leaves. Then you have a chance to dig them up and group them together if you want to.

That is good information, I agree. I've never looked at the leaves to decide what color they will be. My foxglove come in shades of pink, cream, and white. Most of them are the offspring of 'Excelsior Mix' or 'Glittering Prized'. Pixydish, if you want Digitalis purpurea alba, I have those seeds for trade. Just D-mail me.

Thanks millions, but I've got about 5 kind of foxglove to start from seed this year. I might dmail you for next year, though. Those are lovely. If you would like a trade for yourself and want to know what I've got seedwise, just dmail me. I'm happy to share.

Great, Pixydish. I'll take a look.

So who wants to come help! I finally got the nerve to open the box...

Oh and here's something just 'cause it's cute.. Hee hee! Hubby was out of town so the boy, the dogs and I had a riot!!

just adorable :) And at least you have lovely floors on which to construct!! :)

Susan

Happy Birthday Nicole
All right everybody on the bus we're going to Nicole's for cake and ice cream,
Oh no they are all going to be rooting for the Panthers today.
Sidney

Thanks Sidney!! Cake and ice cream it is!

I read the directions for that thing and put them back... :( I hate things with itty bitty parts!!!

NC, my mother once sent me a lovely step ladder plant stand... all I had to do was assemble it. The direction were in some sort of pigeon English translated from Japanese. The first step was to "Put for flat surface." That is about as far as I got in the assembling process. It sat in a box for a couple years, then ended up in the garage sale pile. I hope you have better luck and better instructions!

H A P P Y B I R T H D A Y T O Y O U N I C O L E !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have a great peaceful day! :)

Susan

Happy B/day Nicole! And many, many, many more happy ones!! ~ Suzi :)

Nicole- Happy Birthday! Hope you get lots and lots of plants and gift certificates!

Could anyone here use 25 packets of Mighty Plant Messenger? If so, please d-mail me.

Also, I have been avidly learning as much as I can about starting seeds and I just come across this last night and I'm thrilled about this "Winter Sowing" method. It'd right up my alley and I just wanted to share. I will post in the propagation forum as well. I'm going to do it and keep a photo diary of my progress.

http://www.wintersown.org/wseo1/index.html


Susan

Great little site, Susan. We've got lots of great threads concerning winter sowing, but it seems our forum search isn't working, so I can't link to them. I start quite a few seeds indoors then set them out on the porch with a plastic dome over them if they don't germinate in a couple weeks.

well low and behold we have an entire forum devoted to winter sowing! Guess what I've been reading all day.. And I've now resumed looking at seeds now that I've discovered this! ValueSeeds, get ready!! :)

Susan

Thanks everyone!!!


Susan I am dmailing you...

Nicole

Equil, Hanna, I think, I think it's ready. I wrote Dave for permission to do Dave's Clepto tee shirts, and am anxiously waiting his reply. Meanwhile, I finally have a correct (and something I am somewhat happy with) version of the Dumpster Divin' Diva shirts, and ever a coffee mug, with and without the, ahem, sixties leaf. Ready?

oops Ladyanne, did you mean to post this on the dumpster diving thread?? :) I'm still glad to hear it.. i really want to get the dumpster diving diva shirt, without the leaf!! :)

Susan

Oh dear, Susan, I guess I lost the other thread, and yes, that is where it was meant to go. I was going to post the link and found a huge error, so that's where the last twenty four hours went. I shall look for the dumpster thread. Where did I put that link? Sigh.....

Meanwhile, Susan (I am sooo glad someone still wants the shirt after all this time) the link to get the tees in a wide variety of styles, etc, is at http://www.cafepress.com/LadyAnnne

Still waiting for Dave's ok to make up the "Dave's Clepto" shirts, but the Dumpster divin' Diva shirts are up.

How cool! Does that mean you can really buy one? Like actually push a button and it comes to your house? :)

OH and HEY LADYANNNE I missed you!!!

Nicole

Nicole, bless your heart. I have missed YOU guys. What a trip life can be. My DH got laid off so we started spending every ounce of energy in the garden every day is wasn't raining or too cold. BUT, the real, three compartment compost is being built, we have two new huge vegie beds, the yard is almost weed free (gulp) and there is new siding on the garage/barn/shop with my Pennsylvania Dutch Hex sign on it at long last. NOW I can get back to serious seed snatching!!!! When it stops raining, I'll take a pic of the hex sign and post it. How are you doing????

Yes, push a button and it comes to your house, lol!! If you like it, let me know? These are specifically for you guys, after all!!

Well how cool!!!

I am doing purty good! MY garden looks like we live in an abandoned house right now.. Wanna come over? HA!!! My son is almost 4!! Bizarre... Husband and I are still making it too - we are getting along great!! I plan on getting my garden back to speed this Spring !

I bet you feel GREAT about your garden!! New siding too huh? WOW!! I hate that about your DH though. Hopefully he will find something that's even better!

Glad to hear from you!

Nicole

Hey yall.. (we say that in GA) I ordered Ladyannes shirt and will post pic of me in it when it gets here. I'm really excited about it.

Ladyanne, I just did a search of the don Juan rose and saw the pics you posted. i am so excited.. I went to sams club last night and they had the thickest stemmed caned roses ever!! I got Don Juan and Blaze and i'm just thrilled. They were 10.00 for two roses!! I'm not going to tell you how many I bought or you will think I'm just nuts...but I've had a dream about this against my white fence for as long as I've had the fence and saw it in a book!! This is exciting!! :)) I'm still looking for a better arch idea than the bending the rebar method. I know its a little off topic, but I'm open to ideas if weezins okay with it :)


Susan