Seeds Sown So Far #2

This is a continuation from Seeds Sown So Far.

http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/693140/#new

Thanks, zen! I just got my seeds from Swallowtail Seeds, plus I bought some from the big box stores. I have a busy day tomorrow! Woo hoo! Tamara

Zen: Thanks for starting part 2 of this thread.

kqcrna: Referring back to your question about wintersowing Amaranthus. I sowed both "Joseph's Coat" and "Marvel Bronze" on 4/4/06 and they germinated 10 days later on 4/14/06. As you can see, once the temps warm up, they germinate lickety split! Hope this helps.

zone5girl: With all the seeds you just got, it sounds like your going to have a lot of fun playing in the 'dirt'!

Thanks - I've been busy with work. I had my nieces this weekend and not enough time to sow any containers . You guys are doing great though! I am hoping to do alot this weekend.

Thanks, Shirley.

Karen

You're very welcome! :~)

Well, hate to be the bad news guy.
But I can't remember if I have told you guys but I had farmed off some of my wintersowed seeds pots to my neighbor due to giving her my old plastic greenhouse while I put up a new greenhouse recently.
Well, I came home after work and noticed that my neighbor's greenhouse wasn't in its normal spot. Went over to her house and found the greenhouse all in pieces and the plastic cover on her deck.
We had nasty weather yesterday and today. We had wind up to 30 mph. That greenhouse was there this morning just fine. But apparently this afternoon it blew over and broke in many pieces.
So.........................the bad news is.........................

She was to babysit my newly wintersowed seeds along with some of my other potted up plants like trades from people here on DG, geraniums, fushias, hydrageas, etc.............
So................................most all them are gone!!! Dumped onto the ground totally!!!

I was totally blown (literally!) away by this. She had set it up just like I have had it for 2 years and the wind never bothered it. But she had it in a more open area than me so..........................

So I have lost so many of my wintersowed seeds. I was so unhappy since I have found that wintersowing seeds is so easy and works out so nicely here in the NW. I was going to be so far ahead this year!
Well, not anymore. Darn.

Will have to start over I guess now. Sigh.....................

So make sure you all with those jugs and pots that they won't get windblown!!! Hate to see you guys lose the seedlings like I did.

Carol

Carol,
so sorry to hear about your plants and seedlings.

P

Carol,
I am so sorry. Do you have enough seed left? I have some left from my round one of WS.
I will send you a D-mail tonight from home with the list of what I have.

P, thanks.
enya, I am going to look and see what seed I do have left. I did only plant 1/2 of a lot of them due to this kind of possibility. I know I do not have any lobelias left like the crystal palace, I had planted all those seeds because I knew they did germ. in the cold, and I lost a few of my newly gotten salvia seeds from some DG people. Fine, I would love to trade with you then. Do D-mail me. Thanks a bunch.
Carol

Carol, how terrible! You are welcome to some of my seeds as well. Don't know that I'd have anything you like, but you are welcome to check it out. Go to my journal, and look under "waiting to sow", "waiting to germinate", and "waiting to receive" in the 2007 journal. About 1/2 of the "waiting to receive" are plants, and the other half are seeds. If you are interesting in some seeds from that list, I'll let you know which ones are seed. Tamara

Oh, Daisy, soo saad! Are you the one who discovered last spring that many (or all) of your dahlia tubers had rotted? I'm hoping it was someone else.

I have tons of containers, but they don't have holes yet. Did anyone ever figure out THe Best Way? The first couple we stabbed holes in with a knife but they were much thinner than soda/milk jugs. DH then drilled holes in maybe 10 - 12 for us. And he keeps saying "sure, I can do some more" but er, I have yet to see the actual holes.'t

Grow, where'd you get your godetia? And aren't all milkweeds a host (the only host) for Monarch butterflies?

xxxx, Carrie

Oh, Carol, I would be brokenhearted. I know I don't have any lobelia. Maybe if you post a list of what you lost you can get some donations, even from some of the same folks who sent the seeds the first time if they knew what happened to you. I may have some salvia.

I just posted this in s eed trading, but I guess it's relevant here too. I have many many seeds. Some of them I specifically want, but can't necessarily find! Many of them were randomly sent as part of a seed or other trade. [The specific Thunbergia I want is African sunrise or Blushing Suzie, or any of the paler multicolored ones.] Just not yellow.

http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/697562/

xxxx, Carrie

Hey, guys, thanks so much for offering your great seeds.

I didn't mean to sound like I was begging for seeds. I was just very upset on what I lost. I haven't wintersowed this much before and was so excited on how easy and much the little seeds were germing!
Also, I had gotten some special seeds like salvias from great DG people here so that was just frustrating. But I will make do.

Tho Grampapa, I would love to trade you for some salvias. Are you interested in sweet peas? Or some delphiniums and columbines from year 2005? I didn't harvest as much this past year unfortunately but the germ on the year 2005 seeds seem to still good when I do a germ test in paper towel.

Tamara, I sure will look at your list. I did peek awhile ago and you have a lot. Thanks. Will let you know.

Carrie, no, my dahlia tubers are doing just fine this year. At least so far they are. I would hate to be the one to lose them all tho. I overwinter most of mine tho in the ground so.............only dig a few.......

Today was a better day. I spent some time after work rearranging the seed pots and reg. pots so they will be safer and warmer. I have a couple tiny plastic greenhouse that I pulled out some bigger pots and put the more vulnerable ones in them. So hopefully that will help.

Thanks all, Carol

All my containers are under 6" of snow at the moment, can't even check if the soil is moist in them.
It's like watching a miracle in the making for me.

enya: If your containers are under snow, they don't need water. And they won't for a while. They snow will water them for you.

Karen

Carol: I'm so sorry to hear about your recent misfortune. I would be more than happy to send you some of my 'extra' seeds. Please d-mail me for a list.

Carol, I feel badly because I don't have any seeds to share . . . but I am learning. I will collect seeds this year and make them available to others since DG members have been very generous to me.

That's my plan too. I tried to collect seeds past Fall, but missed most of them or got some
that were not really ready. Everything requires some knowledge and organization(!).
I started looking for a seed collecting and organization tips. My big-box-of-bags method
turned out to be too time consuming when it came to sharing.

I so agree that people here are so generous that I have to do my part and not only for
the newbies. We all are newbies to at least some plants :).

Sorry to hear about the loss. You have a good attitude about it, good luck in the re-planting.

My DH drills the holes as well. He prefers that method. (That is one thing I can't do.)

My containers are so far under a snow drift I can't imagine when I will see them again.

They don't need water when they are frozen.

But ZP, how do you get him to do it? Once when he was at work someone borrowed his drill for 5 -10 minutes and he got really upset! I've been doing the seed buying (and buying and buying and buying and buying!), I have the master list, the spreadsheet, the paint-marker to mark the containers I rescued from recycling, etc etc. All Im asking for are a few lousy holes!?!?!

xxxxx, Carrie

Carrie, you need your own drill. ;-) Get a pink one. LOL

It doesn't have to be a powerhouse... little lightweight ones do exist. If you want something more multi-purpose, think about a Dremel tool... it comes with bits for drilling holes, cutting off copper pipe or PVC for making plant supports, and so much more!

Just in case, wanted to add a link... http://www.dremel.com/en-US



This message was edited Mar 2, 2007 4:04 PM

Critter, then I would need my own wheel-chair accessible work bench, and my fine motor coordination is unreliable, so I'd probably need someone to babysit me and make sure I didn't accidentally start drilling my skull, and once my left hand didn't work for a few months at all, and that could come back any time. I thought EVERYONE here knew I had MS.

Sorry Critter, didn't mean to make you feel dumb or bad or anything...

xxxxx, Carrie

Carrie,

I have fibromyalgia and DH helps me with many things, this is one. I am lucky and he just pitches in and helps. Right at the moment my right arm is not working very well, I am typing with one finger so my answers are a bit short at the moment.

Ho, zp, I always type with one finger!

xxxxxx, Carrie

Zenpotter , carrielamont , I too type with one finger. Just this morning my husband saw me and in pity offered to buy a voice recognition
for me . I declined, I am a serious talker and no one would want to read through all that .


Cinda

Nope, sorry Carrie, somehow I guess I missed that... I was reacting more to the way a lot of gals I know won't have anything to do with power tools, too silly! No drill for you, you don't need any extra holes in your head or anywhere else. :-)

I get a kick out of the fact that some stores around here have started carrying hammers and pliers with flowered handles, to make the tools more attractive or maybe more acceptable to women... I'll bet somebody really does make a pink drill!

Maybe if you started putting the undrilled containers somewhere where DH couldn't miss seeing them -- say, in the shower -- he would take the hint and getter done for you. LOL

I'd take critter's idea one step further and pile'em on his side of the bed, but that's just me LOL

today's sowing

zinnia Pumila mix
zinnia Dasher mix
nasturtium Gleam mix
nasturtium Jewel mix
nasturtium Princess of India

I'll probably get to some more later

I did the following sowing today, hoping that the cold we are going to get will be good for them:

Amaranthus Summer Poinsettia Mix
Cosmos bipinnatus 'Daydream' and an unnamed pure white one (from last year)
Alcea rosea Nigra

a couple of days ago I did another jug of

Lobelia erinus 'Crystal Palace'
Iberis umbellata 'Giant Hyacinth'(?)
Verbena bonariensis
yet another 2L bottle of alyssym

I have no idea where I am going to put everything. I understand now that most of the perennials won't bloom this year, I still have to make at least one bed. I am going to use Donn's "instant beds" method which I found on the other garden site.

We had friends over for dinner last night and I gave a demo on cutting jugs, soaking the soil, sowing, and taping. Very successful, now they think I am a real expert and ask me all sorts of questions. I also gave the one person some seeds, five here, three there, it was so much fun.

Isn't it, Clementine?! I put my music on and did lots of containers today....bliss! Here's my updated list of what I've sown (I have multiple containers of some):
Allium cernuum
Aster 'Crego mix'
Bachelor's button
Canadian Columbine
Canterbury Bells
Celosia 'Pampas Plume'
Chinese Lantern Plant
Cleome
Columbine 'Origami Red & White'
Columbine 'Barlow mix'
Datura 'Double White'
Dianthus barbatus (collected from 2006)
Foxglove
Gypsophilia repens 'Rosea'
Heuchera 'Firefly'
Larkspur 'Giant Imperial Mix'
Lavatera 'Beauty mix'
Lupine 'Minarette'
Malva 'Zebrina'
Marigold 'Snowman'
Nasturium 'Caribbean Cocktail'
Pansies (collected from 2006)
Pansy 'Antique Shades'
Pansy 'Flamenco'
Poppy 'Flemish Antique'
Poppy (lavender ??)
Shasta Daisy 'Crazy Daisy'
Snapdragon 'First Ladies'
Sunflower 'Mammoth'
Sunflower 'Teddy Bear'
Sweet peas 'Miss Wilmott'
Sweet peas 'Streamers mix'
Sweet peas 'Choice mix'
Verbena 'Mammoth mix'
Verbena 'Adonis Mango'
Viscaria 'Cherry Blossom'
Zinnia 'Swizzle Cherry'

Tamara

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one that waited until March, although I am still worried some of these won't get enough cold moist stratification. I put half the seeds of some of these in the fridge in a moist paper towel and baggy, just in case. That way, come spring, if some things haven't germinated I'll pull out the ones that were in the fridge and try those! I have more seeds, but mostly they are things that germinate without cold. Some of them will go out when I get more containers!

Amsonia illustris Shining Bluestar
Asclepias purpurascens Purple Milkweed
Castilleja coccinea Indian Paintbrush
Chelone lyonii Pink Turtlehead
Delphinium exaltatum Tall Larkspur
Eupatorium purpureum Sweet Joe Pye Weed
Iliamna remota Kankakee Mallow
Liatris ligulistylis Meadow Blazing Star
Liatris pycnostachya Prairie Blazing Star
Mimulus ringens Monkey Flower
Monarda bradburiana Eastern Bee Balm
Monarda fistulosa Wild Bergamont
Penstemon barbatus 'Iron Maiden'
Penstemon cobaea Showy Beardtongue
Penstemon eatonii Firecracker Beardtongue
Phlox divaricata Wild Blue Phlox
Phlox paniculata Garden Phlox
Physostegia virginiana Obedient Plant
Rudbeckia speciosa sullivanti Showy Black Eye Susan
Ruellia humilis Wild Petunia
Silene regia Royal Catchfly
Verbena stricta Hoary Vervain
Vernonia noveboracensis New York Ironweed
Viola pedata Birds Foot Violet

Being so new to WS, I just sow and don't think of chilling seeds - maybe I'll pay for that later. Anyway, I think I am almost done, although I still have unopened seed envelopes.

Today I did some basil and ornamental millet and started digging on a new bed.

Meredith, I noticed you had sown Ruellia. I have some seeds that I "stole" somewhere in South Carolina last fall. Do you think I could still WS them now? I thought because they are so tropical I would have to direct sow them. Have you done this before? I am in Zone 7a.

The ones I have need cold stratification and I'm not sure if they'll get enough putting them out in March in my Zone 5 and I would be even more concerned they wouldn't in your Zone 7. However yours might be a different variety that will germinate just with warmth, my suggestion would be to try half. That's what I did, I have half in baggys and moist paper towels in the fridge in case the ones I winter sowed never germinate. I'll have backup! I am gonna guess that if you collected the seeds in South Carolina that they are something accustomed to the climate there and should be fine without much cold.

I stored all my WS seeds in the fridge from the start. Some packets that I bought
indicated that the best way to store seeds is in air tight ziplock bags in the fridge.
I am planning on doing it again this year. How did you store your WS seeds?

I kept my seeds in a ziplock bag in the fridge also. I am not sure if you are referring to that as a method of cold stratification. If seeds need cold stratification storing them in the fridge won't do it unfortunately. That's why I put some in moist paper towels and baggies in the fridge, that will give them the moist, cold stratification that they need, I just have to check them to be sure the paper towels don't dry out.

But this winter, outside should be all the cold stratification any seed needs??

xxxxx, Carrie

Some need two winters, like hollies, and probably others...

Oh. Gosh, this weather feels like two winters!

xxxx, Carrie

Carrie: It depends on when they were sown and in what part of the country. Some seeds need a certain length of cold strat. If someone in zone 8 sowed something this weeks which needs 4 weeks of cold strat, it might not happen.

Karen