Seed Snatchin' XVIII - The Seeds Are Sproutin'

Debbie, I'm confident it will eventually branch out as it should and have a better form! And if I'm wrong, then I will love it like only a mother could!

Wow Defoe, you already have seeds! I guess they called it early sunrise for a reason!!

Susan

LOL!

It is in full bloom now, deadheading every day.

Hey yall, Jim, GaRedClays' birthday is this Sunday!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JIM!

Love,

Susan

Ditto!

Best Regards, Jim!

Well, it's time again. Though I've been too busy to garden this summer the perennials are reliably setting seed. I've snatched seed of double dark orange poppy and dark, dark red saxifrage..... anybody?? Yes, Weez, I'll start some for you...

ceeads.. Do you personally know Weezin?? You all go snatching together??

This season has just about wiped me out.. I have done soooo much work in the garden.. Putting in new beds, planting planting planting... amending amending amending, shoveling shoveling shoveling.... and I'm tired tired tired!! of course I would do all this during the summer of severe drought. It just poured down just now and Thrurday too, so I am just tickled about the hose lugging break I get now. I'm telling myself that I just can't do this to myself next year, but I probably will. I'm addicted.

Susan

Susan, yes we live a half mile apart. We've been known to go on snatchin' trips. We're sort of notorious that way. I try to go down there more, but I've been working flagging on the hiway and haven't had much time to garden or see Carol this summer...
PS I MISS MY GARDENING!!!
the other Carol

This message was edited Aug 5, 2006 5:02 PM

Hey, Carol! Yes, it is approaching the seed snatchin' season around here. You're plants get more sun and mature a lot faster than mine. This has been such a chilly summer, I'm beginning to think the seeds are not going to mature or they'll rot in the pods. But, I'm always game for a Bandito Seed Snatchin' Run.

Susan, as I mentioned, it's been a rather disappointing summer in many ways. I haven't needed a tank top since a couple hot days in May. I did spend some time working over a couple of my flower beds, but it's hard to talk myself into kneeling down in wet grass and mucking around with a trowel.

That's wonderful to have a gardener friend so close by!

Weezin, I haven't been gardening long enough to be disappointed by this year. :) I don't know better. I'm still on the front of the learning curve, but I sure have learned lots this year.... It's certainly hard to get plants established during the heat and drought, but then they would not have been available to me through the trash had it not been so hot I guess! I was planning on planting some today, but the ground is throughly saturated and I'm just tickled about it actually. Lugging hoses around gets old!! Especially when there is a three year old that loves to take them apart and remove all the washers!! UGH!!!
It would be a good day to weed.

Reading as much as you can and learning on Daves is great, but the real learning happens when you do it!

You are so right! After a week or two of rain, I'm thoroughly sick of it, but a few days without it has me dragging hoses around and grumbling. The ultimate situation would be evening or night time showers followed by sunny days. It doesn't hurt to dream! Lovely flower... hibiscus?

yes... if we could just order rain !!

Yes, Disco Belle :)

Susan

I don't grow hibiscus up here. They don't seem to winter over. I don't know if they'd bloom the first year and serve as an annual.

Hi everyone!! Just wanted to pop in for a second. I don't come on here like I used to. It's weed season in my neck of the weeds.. hee hee hee.. Killed a bunch yesterday!! Morning glories EVERYWHERE!! Ick! On the plus side though we've been throughly covered up in tomatoes!!!!

Here's a laugh at my own expense... So I'm growing pumpkins - well the drought pretty much killed the vines recently. So I picked the ones that were there including my favorite that I grew for the youngin'. Check it out on page, 66 of Johnny's Select Seeds Catalog - it's called Marina Di Chioggia. It's a bumpy, dark grey SCARY looking pumpkin!! Well it was getting to a good size but had a hole in one side. So I let Brad and Brandon bust it for fun. It was perfectly FINE!! :( The insides looked GReAT!! I am so mad... That plant on produces 2 pumpkins per vine so you can forget my scary grey pumpkin for Halloween!!! :(

NC, you just mentioned every plant I can't grow here... including the Morning Glories! I can live without morning glories, but I'd kill for some of those lovely tomatoes! I love eating them fresh and canning tomatoes and tomato juice. Winter dishes made with home canned tomatoes have a touch of summer in them!

Heck I coulda sent you some!!! :) Funny thing is - they are finally starting to slow down and we are happy for the break.. But I know it won't be long at all before I'm whining about wanting a 'real' tomato again!! Feast or famine!!! ( I did make spaghetti sauce last night though!!:)

I should take some pics of the morning glories taking over- again. They get me every year.. I shouldn't complain though - it's only because I LET them!!

I just wish I'd taken a picture of that pumpkin!!! *stomping feet* It was SO COOL!!!!

Oh and WEEZ I just thought of something!!!! My mom's been up there going on 3 weeks!! Right now she's in Anchorage but she's been all over the place. I am so jealous!!! One day she called and it was 98 degrees down here - she had a jacket on... They caught a 240 lb Halibut too! :)

Nicole

Well, I'll be darned! If she caught halibut, she was probably somewhere on the Kenai Peninsula... either Homer or here in Seward! I'd have loved to visit with her. Anchorage is about 120 miles to the North of us... the big city! I hope she had that halibut vacuum packed and shipped home. It is wonderful fish... even for those who aren't ordinarily fish eaters... white meat, large fillets.

Yes, Seward has been a bit chilly for this time of year... today it is in the upper 50's and overcast. I'm not fond of hot weather, but my 50's summer is getting pretty redundant. I like it in the mid-60's... shorts and tank top weather!

She's having it sent home!!! :) I asked about Salmon but as she said, "We're not too fond of Salmon" DORK!!! LOL!! I love it - up there it tastes like steak!!!

One of these days I'm coming back and I'll be visiting you woman!!!! I loved loved loved Homer Spit - it was my favorite place. We were lucky enough to camp there one night. It really left an impression on me!!! Took a boat for sightseeing out of Seward too. I swear all those images are etched in my mind I loved that place so much!!

end of threadjack!! giggle!

Yes Weezin, they'd grow as an annual.. I'd offer for next year, but I have yet to try rooting any. If I do, I'll send you some.

We've had a great tomato year too and yes I think the heat is slowing them down here too... Of course they're slowing down after I've given most away and I finally bought some canning jars.

60's is shorts and tank top? Yikes for me that's jeans and a shirt!!

Susan

I guess hot weather is relative! In the past we've had a day or two of 80F, and once I remember 90. As I recall, we all donned thin shorts, tank tops and flip flops... everybody as white as the belly of a fish! We all complained about the heat, and suffered greatly. Of course, nobody up here has air conditioning, so the window fans soon sold out at the hardware store and so did the cold beer.

Oh my gosh.. What a culture shock that would be for me coming from the south!!
I cringed when my mother in law tolds me about growing up without AC. She said she'd go open the icebox and stand in front of it and her mother would yell at her to close it up.. and this is coming from someone who doesn't mind getting all sweaty and working outside in some degree of heat.. but not being able to cool off inside would be yucky to me! How spoiled!!

:)
Susan

Cooling off here is seldom a problem. Our nights stay in the 50's in the summer, as a rule, and there is usually a breeze. Air conditioning would only be welcome about three days out of a year in Seward! The temperature shock for most is that it is so cool. We Sewardites have to smile when we see tourists in parkas in the middle of summer!

HA!!

I get ... hmmm.. I don't know if It's a smile..a puzzled look maybe??...... but folks here wearing shorts and such in the middle of a cold winters day.. I can't say they are all from up north cause I've met some of them that say they've lived here for a while, but it is odd to see.

Susan

No, not a cold winter day, a warm summer day... to us! Folks that get off the cruise ships or drive here often think our 50 and 50F weather requires parkas. We do wear parkas if it is the temp drops into the teens and the wind is blowing. Otherwise, we usually wear polar fleece or lined coats and hats...just like everyone else, but in the winter, not the summer!

yes Weezins.. I know you meant your summers.. I mean our winters! :) Thats a funny picture.. cruising boat people are just funny to watch period. we use to see them get off in St.Thomas when we were down visiting my in-laws and they are entertaining for sure.
:)
Susan

Oh, I see what you are saying! Yes, we get folks here that wear far too little in the winter... usually kids at the bus stop in short skirts or tee shirts...just trying to be cool. I thought they'd start wearing more clothes when the rappers started wearing down coats in L.A.!

Okay!!!!! Snatched some today!!!!!!

Some Gaillardia Goblin seeds..

Some Texas Star Hibiscus... boy do I have some nerve.. They came right off the front of the display garden for the out front sign of the Home depot Landscape. They saw me do it and I just pretended I belonged there and was doing them a favor getting those old seed heads off anyway..

Some purple coneflower seeds too!
:)

Are we snatching out there folks??

Susan

The last time I snatched was from Lowe's when I got a lot of seed pods from a Pandorea vine plant... I just placed them in the basket as I went to checkout and of course noone noticed. I also got some small zinnias and orange marigolds off those poor plants in the "clearance" aka "dead" rack! I should go back now, they had gerbera daisies that I'm sure will also be on the dead rack! (Unfortunately, the HD closest to me does a pretty good job at keeping things alive, so they don't have any seeds to snatch)

ps. this is off-topic but has anyone ever had to return plants either to Lowe's or HD? Do I pull up the plants and like bring them in a plastic bag? Luckily Lowe's has plant names on receipts, but Home Depot doesn't, I have no idea how I'm going to do that- like bring in all my past receipts or something.
~Gina

Yes, Susan! I've been collecting seeds in my own yard for the last couple weeks, but Monday, I snatched seeds from the flower pots in front of our local Hertz dealer! They have four pots of lovely violas, all the same, so they should come back true from seed.

I don't know anything about taking plants back to HD. Do they advertise that they will refund or replace?

Gorgeous flowers!

Yes, both Lowe's and HD have a 1-year guarantee on all plants. But it's hard to picture taking the dead plants up to the girls at the registers and asking for store credit, much less a refund! I get the feeling that they don't know plants so well... :)

They don't know plants!! The other day I went to a Lowes, and asked for Preen, the guy (young) said what is that exactly?

Unfortunately, I would have had to ask the same thing! lol :)~ I did just look it up, though- herbicide.

On certain days at my HD, I've found women there who do know what they're talking about. Even better, when I bought an African Violet from Publix, a 20 year-old mentioned how much she loved African Violets! I've never gotten the feeling from the Lowe's staff that they either know or care too much.

Yes, I took a rose back to Home Depot...It was right after I bought it.. Took the plastic wrap off and it was cracked all the way up the stem. And your right they don't always know their plants and especially the return people.. so it really doesn't matter.. As long as you have your receipt, they will take it back.. I'm guessing that their guarantee is mostly psycological for most people... Here's how it probably works in most peoples heads.. Customer sees a plant they might want to buy, but have killed so many already.. Hmm what to do?? Well, if it dies, bring it back... and never get around to it when it happens!!

The people at the return counter don't know plants at all.. so if the plant is dead I guess you'd just bag them up and take your receipt and get your money back.

I got two african violets off the clearance rack at Lowes and I need someone to save them from me now! Poor things!

I love that Lowes marks their things down to move them out.. Do yall remember the picture of my minivan loaded with one of my sons in the carseat? That was Lowes in the fall and every perennial was $1. Hmmm making me think it's time to go back and see.. I wish they weren't so far away as the HD is!

Speaking of prices... I had some time to myself on Friday when I snatched some seeds. I went to HD landscape supply and I really almost fell out over some of the prices. I came home and told my husband he is one lucky man to have a woman that is so good at making more plants for next to free and pulling them out of the trash or the distressed sale area!! Not to mention all the incredible gardeners that have so generously shared with me!!

I imagine that some of my neighbors think we are doing very very well.. And while, yes I am very blessed, if I were to have paid full retail for everything in my garden, we certainly wouldn't be in a happy marriage, I can tell you that.

Weezin and anyone else that knows.. I have a question please!! I'm not happy with my front border which is located by the street in front of my picket fence. I just pulled out lots of siberian iris and gifted it as it was not in line with the cottage garden I am trying to create.. Well, we are just about to head into winter and I am looking to spread some seed in places that are now unprotected, fertile open ground.. If I don't the weeds will have a holiday in there and I'll be wondering why I ever took up gardneing to begin with. I have a local feed and seed where they sell winter veggie seed very reasonably.. here's the question.. Which of the following winter seed would you broadcast to hold a flower bed till the spring while still looking reasonably okay? Mustard? Collards? Kale? Mixed greens? Rutabaga?

Thanks for your input!!

Susan

Thanks for the reply Susan :)

How have I missed all of these threads...??? Being a newbie (4 months now) gardener, the hardest thing I've had to grow is patience.

Susan - I love the Lowe's sales too! DH gave me a budget and I can only spend that much each month, including soil amendments, mulch, pots, hoses, you name it, if it's gardening it counts :/ Thankfully he hasn't counted the postage I have spent on SASBE's for trading...LOL! The Lowes sales kept me from being nuts this year since I can't really seed much until WS'ing rolls around. I'll have to get your insider info on dumpster hauls - we're far enough apart I wouldn't encroach on your territory :D

Seed snatching...well being first of the month I had a new month's budget so we went to WalMart to get potting mix for WSing. Merciful heavens their plants were pricey there!! However, I did get some Gerbera daisy seeds and some purple aster seeds (I think, not sure yet haven't been over to the seed saving forum to see what they look like.) And something labeled "Europops" in a gorgeous golden yellow. I also got some 4" pans for WSing, and some popsicle sticks (far cheaper than plant markers) and clothespins. Since the seed pickins were so slim I sweet-talked DH into stopping at Lowe's for a seed snatching run. Eeep, they had plants I wanted (I think my budget is gone for the month now..sigh)

They had gorgeous Hyssop, so I got two of them (paid full price, I never do that unless the full price is under a dollar...LOL!) These are my first hyssop plants and I am in love - they smell incredible! Got one flat of pansies for the three front beds that were empty since the coleus had run it's season and some .88 snapdragons. I've never grown either of them but they are just so darn cute!
So I'll have to go find out how to get seeds from all of these so I don't use up more money on full-price plants! And also I'll have to figure out how to keep them over winter here.

I had to laugh, even DH was pointing out deadhead plants and was helping me look on the side of the road for potential places to revisit and get seedheads :)

Here's the newest "sprout" in our family - I became an Aunt Saturday for the first time!!

~Sunny

awww, so precious :o)

Hineni, what is WSing? winter sowing?

Hi Ceeadsalaksazone3 (whew what a nick to type...LOL) - wintersowing :)

Thanks Connie, I can't wait until I head south for Thanksgiving and get to spoil the little guy! He's the first baby in the family for 14 years. He'll be rooootttten (of course, being my baby brother's son gives him a head start on rotten...hahaha)

~Sunny

Susan, I'm not familiar with your soil type, or whether the ground is flat or on a slope, so it is hard to say. Fall rains can wash seeds away, but you may not have that problem. It is fresh in my mind, as we are getting heavy rains this fall. Ornamental cabbages would be pretty, and many of the fast growing oriental greens make wonderful salads and stir fries, not to mention the colorful lettuces. The oriental greens are inclined to reseed readily, so I'm not sure if they would just become one of your weeds. You could always throw some viola seeds out there for color, as well, or corn poppies.

Sunny, lovely little rosebud in the pic! When you referred to hyssop, are you referring to anise hyssop, or actual hyssop? Anise hyssop has a pungent odor, but perhaps hyssop has a sweet smell when in bloom, but I hadn't noticed it.

Ceeads, I haven't had much luck with tossing seeds out to come up on their own, but starting them indoors in sterile mix, then setting the domed flat out on the porch has been marginally successful for me. You winter sow in your greenhouse, don't you? Did you have any luck transplanting the germination tray of houseleeks you got from me? There were so many little guys in the tray, that it would be hard to separate them out.

I woke during the night to the pounding of rain on our metal roof. Our bed is tucked into the dormer upstairs, so the roof is only about five feet above us. It is still raining, and there are puddles everywhere. We could see some flooding, if it doesn't subside a bit. Soggy autumns are nothing new around here, but this year, the whole summer and fall has been rainy and cool. That surely makes seed collecting difficult, not to mention poor seed. In this kind of weather, I've seen opium poppy seed sprout in the heads before I harvest them. I haven't even gone out seed snatching much, since all the seed heads are soggy or rotted. I'm actually looking forward to some cold weather so the rain stops.