Summer Sowing ??

Wait, Seandor, do you have any more of those foxglove 'Apricot Blush'? Sounds like my kind of color. Here is something-or-other 'Apricot Shimmer'.

xxx, Carrie

Sorry, here it is.

If you look at the front of the vases - you will see the foxgloves - they are very delicately coloured. If you like that delicate look, I can send you some seeds.

What are those coral flowers in your picture called?

(Sorry to jump in Carrie but) I think those are Mesembryanthemum Sea and I'm way impressed (and jelaous) because mine haven't done a thing. They grew big enough to plant out but after that pffft. If there are any still alive they sure haven't bloomed.

seandor....love the flowers...very purdy:)

Yes, Mich, I love those. (Am I allowed to call you that?)

Jane, I have no idea where they came from. I don't know if I wintersowed them or bought them and transplanted them in a trance! I wintersowed a lot of annuals in that exact size of pot.

xx, Carrie

Of course you can call me Michaela (people seem to be stymied by Seandor - pronounced SEE an dooor).

Well, so far I have the following germinated from summer sowing:

Foxglove - Apricot Blush - hundreds
Foxglove - Candy Mountain - lots
Malva - Mystic Merlin - just one so far
Flowering Cabbage - lots
Delphinium - Blue Pigmy - just pulled these out of the fridge yesterday - some were already germinating - more emerged overnight.

Still waiting on Delphinium - Oriental Blue -

The delphiniums are on the veranda - but it is so warm and muggy . . . maybe I should move them to the basement until they all germinate???

seandor....wow great job....when did you start your seeds for the ones germinated?

Two weeks ago. The apricot blush foxglove were an afterthought. I just took a ripe pod from on of my plants and shook it over the container. Fresh seeds are definitely eager to germinate.

So July 14 - I did the delphinium - sowed the seeds in containers and put them in the fridge for 2 weeks.

The flowering cabbage were done about a week ago - took 4 days to germinate.

oh dang...i didn't see flowering cabbage seeds here....

i might just have to do my delphinium seeds....i was scared of the
refrig thing cause i have never done that...but if that is all you do is soil seed and refrig i can do that!!!


also, i had a HUGE victory....i know this is not about propagating ....then again it might....but since salvia indigo spires don't seed i just had to put here that i took cutting one more time of these boogers....and this time they made it!!!! i had tried several times and they didn't make....but this time it looks like i got some to root.....will keep you posted...i just love these salvia...and since they dont' reseed..i had to do something!!!

Lucky you in Texas, Sticks. I have the B&B Salvia, but so what if I take cuttings? I can't overwinter it here.

Michaela, I'm always afraid I'll transpose the 'a' and the 'e' and everyone will know I never learned to spell 'Michael' LOL! On that cabbage, you will probably have to make a decision on whether you want the cabbage white butterflies to have it or if you want it for yourself. This is the time of year they lay eggs and the little caterpillars will very much enjoy it...and they are voracious!

I have Foxgloves and some mystery seed germinating. I am just so far behind on everything I didn't take my own advice about summer sowing. :(((

Suzy

suzy...salvia wont make it in the winter there?

It's really hard to know....some makes it and some doesn't. The B&B is only good to Z6 and I am Z5b.

Generally speaking the stinky kind makes it just fine.

Suzy

LOL Suzy, Do the cabbage things eat flowering Kale, too? (My first year - NOT winter- or summer- sowed.)

xxx, Carrie

Um, yes, Carrie, I'm afraid they do. And when they are little, they are really unattractive...crawling all over each other...yuck!

Suzy

Maybe they only like stuff in zone 5 or colder?

x, C

Oh, yes, You're probably right.

;) Suzy

Right about the white cabbage moths . . . guess I am going to have to get some sort of screen to protect the flowering cabbage babies. Maybe some cheesecloth?

Guys I just started my cabbage last week. At what point do I need to start worrying about the moths and what do I do about them?

Darned if I know . . . . I would think that when they are little we need to protect them - after that I plan to spray them with a systemic to kill the little buggers.

Geez, You guys are blood thirsty! :))

The cats come from eggs that are laid on the backs of the leaves -- you have a lot of time to find them before they do any damage, so just go through the foliage once a week, or so, and smear them (cats or eggs) into oblivion or roll them into a cottage cheese cup with water in it. Look at the tender new growth because that is preferred.

They are easy to see, and a systemic is probably overkill.

Go to the Hummingbird and Butterfly forum and you'll see there are people who plant the cabbage for the sulphurs!

Suzy

Suzy,

I wouldn't trust either of them as far as I could throw them, myself.

Carrie

Just wanted to post that Parks seeds is having a $1. sale on some of their overstock---

http://www.parkseed.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/StoreCatalogDisplay?storeId=10101&catalogId=10101&langId=-1&mainPage=gatepage&gate=1DollarSeed

Gee thanks...

x, C

Has any one ever heard of Chaenarrhinum origanifolium Summer Skies? I can't find any Chaenarrhinum in PF!

x, C

http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/53024/

Somebody is spelling it wrong, but I can't tell which is right.

Maybe two different genera in the same family? I doubt it though. The USDA lists a plant spelled the way PlantFiles does, but not the spelling Park's is using



This message was edited Jul 31, 2007 3:52 PM

Thanks much, claypa. Parks is selling it. I copied their spelling. Do YOU know anything about it? According to Parks, it's the best plant since the Garden of Eden, but I don't necessarily trust them.

xx, C

Don't forget -- a sprinkling of Bacillus thuringiensis knocks those cats right out, and it's a biological insecticide, not a poison.

What is this bacillus thuringensis ? (inquiring newbies want to know :-) Where do you find it?

Hmmm ... let's see. A good garden store should have it, along with the Bacillus t. serovar israelensis, which is the one that kills mosquito larvae. The Bt kurstaki works by paralyzing the worms' digestive process, and I believe that it would affect any caterpillar, not just the cabbage eaters, but I just sprinkle it on the cabbage crops when I first see the green ones, and reapply after any heavy rain.

Brand names are Dipel & Thuricide. The mosquito killer goes by the name of Mosquito Dunks (just don't be fooled by the lookalikes that actually contain methylcarbaryl or some awful such thing.

Thanks, summerkid :-)

Is it too late to summer sow coneflower for fall plant out? I had planned to start them last month but it took me forever to get my co-op babies planted. I would hate to lose them over the winter if they were too small to take the abuse.

Joanne

love to hear the answer to Netwiz....

xxx, Carrie

Echinacea is a candidate for summer-sowing; why not give it a try with a few seeds? There's still almost two months of summer left .....

PV

What the heck... I can always buy more seed if they don't make it through the winter. There are a few things I would love to start now for blooms next year. Sure beats buying expensive plants!

Joanne

joanne...if your seeds are like mine....it only took a week for mine to come up...and the package gave a longer time frame than that....all my seeds that i am sowing right now are coming up in days....i think due to the heat of summer....so hopefully we can have more plants for the spring!!!

Same here -- Dianthus and Pansies in 3 and 4 days. The packages for both of them say 10-14 days. I'm not sure what I'll do with the 400 dianthus I sowed, but the seed was getting old, and it's a "use it or lose it" proposition.

I just told somebody that if their foxglove seedlings didn't come up, to take the pot inside because it might be too hot outside to germinate. GUESS NOT!

Somewhere on DG , I made a list of biennials to summer sow and now I can't find it. I think I was talking to Tabasco, but I do NOT remember which forum. I kinda need that list to remind me what I'm supposed to do next :)

I'm off to try more search combinations,

See ya,
Suzy

I wanted to try a few digitalis this summer but haven't gotten to it. I do have some saved seeds. I had both digitalis and columbine in that area and I have a million volunteer McKana's giants popping up, but they're still too tiny to transplant. I wanted to give them away but they're to tiny to dig up yet.

I got only one volunteer digitalis there and want more so I might just have to scrape out and compost the columbine to make room for digitalis, and sprinkle the dig seeds. The other factor is the heat. It's already 80 degrees at 8 a.m. and supposed to get to 96 again. It's hard to keep the soil moist in this weather.

Weather forecast is for 99 degrees Thurs, 100 degrees by Thurs. How long can this go on? Seems like it will never end.

Karen

This message was edited Aug 6, 2007 8:18 AM

Well, today is a perfect day - weather wise. High of 72 degrees.

I will be potting up all my baby delphiniums and foxglove. Later in September, when they have grown larger, I will plant these into the gardens. (and give lots away!)

Michaela.

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/744865/

There are lots of good suggestions on this one and you've posted a list about half way down...

I'm going to save the thread in my journal.