Wind, is that the canna that just has a small simple flower, and not like the frilly ones? I think I'm gonna get some seeds like that.
~Lucy
Join Us! Seed Swap Seed Starting & Conversation #7
some of Critter's Italian basil :)
...oh yeah...and Ansonfan's Thai Siam Queen Basil on front left
This message was edited Mar 21, 2008 10:07 AM
Fairy, I have a few Pulsatilla vulgaris that look like this one the flowers are pretty big and remind me of clematis flowers, be careful, the blister beatles love them! I kept spraying them with alcohol that kills them and doesn't take a lot, what color are yours? Mine were suppose to be 'Red Cloak' but they are a dark wine color:
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/105631/
gemini, I have some crazy dasies that should bloom this year can't wait to see them! I love dasies! I always try to save a few seeds off of the annual purple phlox and pitch them out with the others the purple is my favorite and a nice DG'er on here is sending me some purple perennial ones that look almost like them :)
Tuink, they never sell Blue pimpernell around here but they are a pretty little plant :)
tcs, did you want some of that bronze fennel?
Wind where on earth are you going to plant so may violets, the babies look really healthy :) I'm getting ready to go put a cover on one of my little green houses and put mine outside today, I planted some brunig last summer by my garage and some are coming up but not sure if it's them or not I have some purple ones out there too
Lea -- if you have some to spare... that would be great.
I'll get them in the mail today :) Need to get some lobelia out to La too :) It's not too late to WS it I just did the other day :)
Well, I just did a walk around checking on plants and guess what I found! Deer tracks in my herb garden!!! Guess I'm going to have to put my dog out pretty soon I have a pen for him where I tie him out at by the herb garden I think that's the only reason they haven't been in it before, last year they sampled my morning glories just as they got full and ate almost half of them in my flower bed out back, I plan to put even more out there this year :) I just need to get my dog back out there after I start planting and when things start growing out there lol
Hi Lucy, yes I think so on the canna. I've never tried this one before, but from what I recall in looking at photos, the blooms appear smaller.
I rec'd 5 seeds from Suzy's swap and planted 3. I have 2 seeds left, would you like me to send them to you? They would probably just love a home in Florida :)
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/477/
Margaran, The seedlings will need to be pretty strong, but yo.uo will soak the foam and then just brutally pull them apart. :)) The bigger the seedlings, the better luck you will have. By bigger, I mean thicker stems and strong. To do this, break each cube in half, and then break that half in half and keep going until you can pull them apart manually. Let it break where it will, don't try to make it exactly half, just keep breaking it in smaller pices (vertically, with the plants, not across them) and it will work. If they are little babies, thin or thin and wiry, you might not have as good a luck...maybe wait until they get more bulk or more thickness in the stem. It's okay to smach the foam as you go.
Lea, I think my Veronica problem wasn't theplant Veronica, but the IndyNanny person Veronica LOL! That didn't come out right-- I think .was answering her or replying to her. I Wsd Veronica last year and it bloomed, too. Too bad it was a reclining version of Veronica, though, It took over its space and then some.I went tothe garden centers yesterday and today, then I come home and look stuff up on PFs and then go back and buy what I want after I read about it LOL
Diana/Wind, Lookin' Good!!! Looks like your set up is perfect.
Fairy, you can sort of do what you want on the Hollyhocks, but you'd wait until the soil is fairly dry and pull one out an set it aside. Then take the next one in line and put it in the empty space way down so the cotyledons are touching the soil. Then continue filling up holes and on the last one, put in the one you originally set aside. What I worry about is how much they are bent. You might not be able to do this in those little sheet packs/cell packs because there might not be enough horizontal room. Oh, and HHs are sort of tap rooted. well, they have a long root or roots, and they also might need to go to bigger digs by the time you move them down. I guess what I am saying is use common sense because I can't see them to tell you exactly what I would do.
Geminii, The annual Phlox are shorter than I thought they would be, and they also had less bulk. I didn't plant mine close enough together, but I believe it would have helped to pinch them. It's funny, though, because the seed packs don't have 500 seeds in them, usually they are very chintzy with those, so it takes more packs than what you might think to fill in a relatively small area. The coral/yellow/peach wkith just a few Lavenders (mixes) are my very faves -- Phlox of Sheep or something like it. YUM! All-in-all, though, they were small. In height and girth.
Lea, oink, oink! Of course we are all sowing seeds with no place to put them LOL! Because the wreather will be beautiful sometime very soon and we are all apparently gamblers. :))
I forget what I bought though. Oh, I remember: Yellow Shrimp plant and also a Cape Fuschia (Phygelia) and a giant red Pentas. I have seedlings, but I will see old man winter before I see any flowers on them, I bet. This was way easier and only $3.98 for a gallon container. It was the 36-48" version.
Tomorrow there is a butterfly talk at the garden center at 10:00 I hope to wake up for. :)
The Jackson Browne concert was terrible. He doesn't have the talent, or (mostly)the personality, to hold a single-person acoustic tour. I fell asleep during the 1st set, and called Mr Clean from the parking lot during the intermission, then got in late to the second set. I didn't miss anything.
See you later, i have to look up a plant! hey! You guys might know -- a 24" tall pepper with black leaves and perfectly round shiny-black peppers. Probably not edible. The foliage is BLACK. Are those ones you were tlkaing about above? On anothe thread? They are COOL and $12.98 for a large one -- too large for my suitcase.
Suzy
Suzy, have you run out of room in that suit case yet ;-) You know they have 'special' coleus in Fl. lol I grew the brazilian fireworks maracas, is that a shrimp plant?, and I swear that has reseeded and coming back now I couldn't believe it I just hope I remember to cover it up when the temps get to cold! It had red flowers and silver on dark green leaves it was really pretty flowers on it looked just like the shrimp plants that I've seen on here, I tried to collect seed with no luck.
I have some 'black pearl' going downstairs, is it this one, says it gets to 18":
http://www.parkseed.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/StoreCatalogDisplay?storeId=10101&catalogId=10101&langId=-1&mainPage=prod2working&ItemId=3953&PrevMainPage=textsearchresults&scChannel=Text%20Search&SearchText=black%20pearl&OfferCode=V1H
Lea you have Black Pearl??! I think I contacted every single person on DG that had it listed in their trades. If you get seed this year can I have some? Huh? Huh? Can I?
LOL La, sure you can which one did I get from you I know i have one downstairs from you that's ornamental, oh, I looked it up it's the blue one, I didn't save any of my extra seeds you'll have to ask Kath/flowerhead410 to see if she has any left can't remember how many were in the pack I only planted 5 myself an they all came up :) But if you don't get any I would be happy to save you some seed :) I guess I need to start making a list for next fall LOL Come to think of it I think I have started making a list ;-) I got them from someone on here and can't remember who it was?
I love the ornamentals! Well I love 'em all actually, the eaters as well as the pretties. I've begun to "collect them" and my friends and neighbors get the biggest kick out of exploring my garden for peppers. I mix the ornamentals right in with the flowers and I really do think they add a lot. (and don't worry about forgetting....I'll remind you about the seed next year. ;-)) LOL.
Today is my last seed-starting hurrah. I have to work tomorrow, and I'll spend Sunday cleaning up the potting shed that once was my dining room. The 12 hour days begin on Monday and I will barely have time for plant maintenance so all the sowing must be done today. There will be a few stragglers here and there, but for the most part what doesn't get started today will have to wait patiently for next year. (I hope the seeds are more patient than I.)
Wind, don't send them just yet, I think tuink is sending me those canna seeds. Is that correct tuink? Are your canna seeds the same, as Winds?
~Lucy
Do any of you plan to start pansies and violas in late summer for fall planting? Most years I forget to get the seed in spring when there are so many selections available, but last year I actually remembered. I did, however, forget to start them in August when I intended, but got them sowed in September and just barely got them big enough to get in the ground for fall. They've remained sturdy and green all winter and are budding now (they'd be blooming like the purchased ones if I'd started them in time).
This year I did it again and forgot to order them, but thought of a better solution anyway...lets all remember to save seed from our favorite pansies and violas! In late spring they'll have lots of ripe seed pods on them, so we should be able to come up with plenty in time for fall or spring sowing.
I wanted to mention this now in case I forget later; I'm sure many of you have better functioning brains than I do, LOL.
Gemini, I know I will forget, so I hope you can remember to tell us to plant our pansies and violas in Aug. : )
~Lucy
I'm sure Suzy will LOL
Lea-I don't know what color-they were from WZ wine box, but am excited!! YEAH!! I wanted pulsatilla soooo bad!!! All I did was put em in my basement by one of the windows, so it is about 60* and indirect light...
Suzy-thanks!! I will have to get that done this next week!! I will use my best judgement on them & will probably go ahead & put em in larger containers, but I have a lot of other things that will need to be habving more soil added to them too-to the bottom of the coty whoosits...
Wind-I have jalepenos (which he seems to put in EVERYTHING!!LOL), I was just looking for something hotter.....
Blueglancer, I'm about to send you those red, spidery banana leaf canna! Unfortunately the Post Office is closed now, so I'll have to wait till Tuesday......
Lala-I was going to send out some of the leftover 'black pearl' that Lea sent me to you, but I couldn't find you in the addy exchange. If you dmail me your address I'll send them to you. I'll be planting mine today! I am SOOOO excited about theseand they are edible!
Fairy-I had three pulsatilla vulgaris germinate so I am psyched about that! Yay!!
Lea-I did the baggie method for a bunch of the jester jackets and it has not worked : ( Have you sowed yours? I've had a few of the geraniums from Weez germinate, but I'm having troubles with geraniums in general. Time will tell. I did WS a few.
No, there really aren't all that many special plants here, and the Coleus is just a common one, but I am especially interested in ones like coleus and impatiens, where I can (easily and successfully) take cuttings and have a large number of plants at set out time. Buy 1 get 20 free sale right here.
Lea, The Brazilia maraccas is a different kind of Shrimp plant. The Maracca ones are a weed down here...sort of a borderline weed. The Shirp Plant is a shrub. The little plant I have is 14" and already has a woody stem. It comes in red, which is sort of a weird pale reddish-burgundy-brown color and a yellow. The "red" color was just a little weird and subdued for me, so I got yellow. I bought a pack of those Brazillia Maracca seeds this year and have 6 plants out of 10 seeds, unless Mr. Clean has killed them off, that is. LOL! I killed some because the radical was up in the air and I felt it needed to be down in the soilless mix and I think I needed to let it take care if it by itself. LOL!
Tuink & Lucy, The ones in Wind's picture are the Canna indicta aka Canna Shot. They are a pale green, as seedlings, anyway. The leaves are narrow compared to the hybrids, but not narrow-narrow. Tuink and Starlight both sent them into the swap.
Geminii, I will remind you on the pansies! I have a few things I think are better started in the fall, or late summer, really. Oddly enough, mine do better direct sown than in pots. This could be because I don't watch them very well in pots in the summer, but somehow they just seem to like SOIL. I don't just throw the seed out and hope for the best, but I do sow them in a semi-bare spot in the garden. A great source for a lot of pansy seed is to buy a hanging pot at the end of they year and bring it inside. all the flowers wil die in a week without sun or water, and a week later your table top is full of seed you can brush off onto a plate. If you water the plant, it will come back just fine, and bloom sporatically outisde if conditions are right. Of course, by the time they are on sale at a deep discount, it is too late to start the seed outside, but you still get about 10 packs of seed from the purchase of one plant.
A tip for anybody who wants to be in the Nov or Jan swap: Payless shoes will give you a nice shoebox to put your seeds in. You can ask for a really stout one made of cardboard (those basketball shoes come in them) or a nice solid one. If your feet are too big, ask for a kiddie size. I'm sure this won't be an unlimited offer, as soon as I find a little goldmine like this, they start changing their policy and start charging, but maybe thinking about it now will allow you to snag one by the time of the swap. Otherwise I'd suggest a large cigar box, but they charge for those!
I've been very impressed by the old seeds of WZ's. I had some Mimulus from 2002 FROM 2002!!!! and every seed germinated, or close. Somehow I thin kthat's amazing, and I'm going to store mine in the refrigerator. Well, as soon as we buy one, I will. The extra old one we kept around bit the dust a couple years ago and we haven't replaced it because the kids are gone, and so is the need to cool extra cases of pop and food.
Sort of cloudy today, but it is a nice temperature. My friend almost had a heart attack laughing so hard at the suitcase-idea for bringing back Florida plants. She want to know how I am gong to fit them all in when the big one takes up all the room by itself. I'm so glad I was able to provide a source of entertainment!
Suzy
Suzy,
They've managed to get seeds from King Tut's grave to germinate! And they were over 3500 years old! So I guess 2002 seeds will do too!
Tuink, I don't know if our P.O. is closed Monday, or not. I'll just have to wait and see. : )
Suzy, I don't know why the big stores don't have very much to offer yet, seems they are late getting stuff out, this year.
Have a wonderful day, everyone.
~Lucy
NO problem, Lucy. We gardeners are a patient lot.....
I think our PO's will be open. If they worked Good Friday, they will be open the day after Easter.
Hey everyone - I'm banging my head on the wall - I..NEED..MORE..ROOM....I got one of those little covered greenhouses outside a couple days ago and loaded that baby up (tied it to the house for stability) so I could start hardening things off in a serious manner, and it's SNOWING! So the Flat Shuffle has started. I'm leaving the pansies/violas out there - those suckers are big enough to scare away the squirrels. I wish I could put the Tansy out, it's looking like it will bloom before too long - LOL! And I've got little seedlings that need to be picked out and repotted, but no room for their new homes...and some of those are snapdragons - eek! I wanna get those pricked out and replanted before they get all tangly! I also have to take some various brassicas that I've started down to the basement where it's cooler for them. Another project I have to do is go back and make note of where all these seeds came from :) (Gotta LOVE those spreadsheets!)
If anyone has grown Iceland Poppies, can you tell me if their leaves normally look chelated - like they immediately need fertilizer? Or are they just too far away from the lights?
Hi pamsue and susybell - I figured you were just busy planting, transplanting and dreaming - and would show up when you had a chance :) I think that seems to fit for most everybody here.
About half of my WS have sprouted, so I'm pretty tickled about that (I only got about 23 containers done) - I didn't take the time to note which ones had sprouted when I was out there yesterday, the weather was too nice so I was cleaning up some stuff but I'm headed out there today to note which ones are cooperating, and which ones are still hiding.
Suzy, if you don't mind, could you please add me to the list (along with Neal) of the folks you're reminding about starting pansies later?
George, I'm starting the monarda you've sent me type by type (again, see the whining about room above) and they're sprouting for me! I'm so excited!!!
This is a bit off-topic, but I ran across this while doing some research, have any of you seen this or used it?
http://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Bloom_Clock
I've gotta agree with you Suzy, all the seeds from Weez have been marvelous. I desperately want to start the mimulus seeds, but can't (see whining above...). BTW, it was nice and sunny here yesterday and in the 50's, but today it's overcast (OK, the snow stopped, but I had to whine) and shouldn't get any warmer than the hi 30's. The flood watch for Noblesville has been canceled though :) and no more water in the forecast until the rain/snow on Sunday afternoon.
OK, back to more client work - I'm getting a crick in my neck from swiveling and looking over my right shoulder at the babies on the light rack in my office - LOL!
Here's a pic of my little outside greenhouse, all set up and happy as fat puppies until the weather plummeted. (The pansies at the bottom were a gift from my sis to put in my planter boxes.)
Sweet! Those plants look rarin'; to go, Dryad!Yes, of course you can be on the list -- I'll just post to this thread, or one of the past piggy Threads where most people have it on threadwatch.
Don't forget, dryda, you can buy these Pansies wholesale -- it is a cheaper way to go IMHO, as long as you can find the varieities you'd like to grow.
Start those Mimulus on the strip between your driveway and house somewhere where they will be shaded. Just a 4" circle of the whole pack and have them all come up together. They like cool weather, so will need to be transplanted when they get to a size because I imagine that south facing brick and driveway hold a lot of heat. I would start all kinds of things there now -- Bachelor Buttons, Clarkia, Green Gold Bupleurum, Calendula, Mimulus, Annual Chrysanthemums, Parsley won't germinate unless it has heat, and a lot of it, but once it germinates, I imagine it would be pretty happy there, too. There are so many things we cannot grow well, or for a long season, because of the hot summers, but all those things can happily grow in 35 degree nights and 50 degree days, and they can also take frost and freezes.
Suzy
....sigh....Suzy, what would I do without you???
here's what was waiting for me when i woke up this morning --
and as you can see... there are already 2 babies on the sill -- they got moved last night because they had already 'hit the roof' so to speak. looks like i have more transplanting to do today.
whooda thunk it that the Hyacinth Bean would grow so quickly....
ROTFLMAO!!!! Shall I be the one to remind you how you saved *my* rear on that swap?About 4 days before i left on vacation, I sowed a 6" pot of Bachelor buttons. The day after, I decided I didn't have enough and sowed another pot. These were kept inside where I kept an eye on them for germination so I could whisk them outside as soon as possible. I don';t want them to get accustomed to inside temperatures or additional light form the fixtures I have up.
The day I left, the first pot had all started to germinate. No leaves, but the radical had sprouted. The second pot had about 1/2 dozen where the radical had sprouted, but the rest were still seeds. I put both pots outside on the patio on a patio chair, then tucked the patio chair under the table as you would normally keep your eating table when you aren't using it. The open flattened expanded metal (some call it mesh) was to be used to deflect the rain from pouring into the pots and displacing the seedlings.
I just called Mr. Clean and the Bachelor Buttons that had sprouted looked really good and had 2 leaves. The 6 that had sprouted the radical also had leaves, but nothing new has apparently germinated.
This is what I was trying to explain to Lea/Lebug on the snaps...germinate inside to grow outside. There are a limited number of plants like this, but they are soooo happy out in the cool weather. When it gets too cold, like very, very 24-degrees cold, they stop growing, but otherwise they get sun and light and water and basically happy as clams. However they will not germinate in cold weather. That has to be done by the grower. 17 degrees will kill them, so planting outside is a little iffy until April 1, and even then, you have to be ready to put a cap on them. (That's why I suggested putting them in a 4" circle... you can put a 2 litre bottle over all, opr a dishpan, or a spaghetti pot, or anything, and put a blanket or something over them shoud the temps get down in the teens, but the wall and driveway will hold a lot of heat, too. Whe we get springtime cold-cold, it is always clear skies and sunny, so the ambient temp in that little spot would be a couple degrees warmer, i should think..)
Suzy
Kath, I have my geraniums under lights so far the pratense mix are coming up,
which I figure are probably splish splash because I have splish splash coming up in another tray, they are just sown on the surface in a row about a 1/4" deep so they are surrounded by moisture, that's the only ones that have germinated so far out of the ones I have planted Jester's Jacket isn't coming up yet :( I soaked them for two days then planted them the 13th of March.
Suzy it wasn't the Brazilia maraccas coming up I thought that was unusual being they were an warm annual it's the toadlilies, I got a good look at them yesterday they were up a little more and I think I lost a hosta in that tub don't see any signs of it coming up at all and I have another one coming up in there.
That yellow shrimp plant sounds pretty :)
Another day went by and I still haven't gotten my greenhouse covered lol Too busy transplanting downstairs but it's suppose to be nice all week so maybe I can get them out Sunday or Monday. It was soo nice outside yesterday and today it's chilly, clouds and suppose to mist rain one of those lovely days :) Tomorrow I think it's suppose to be nice no wonder there are so many sick people right now!
Suzy, once you wrap that plant nice and tight in newspaper it should make room for your other ones LOL Maybe you need to buy another suitcase LOL If I went to Fl. right now I would probably have to have a trunk to send plants home in LOL I have no control in buying plants!
I have to get all of my little seedlings transplanted before I start any more seeds, I still have lots of seed trays underlights and not sure what I'm going to end up with and still have seeds to start, I'm starting to freak out LOL The most important seeds right now to get started are my little geraniums and I still have a couple of those to soak and get into the seed trays :)
Oh, I am so mad at myself! I just realized, after reading about your soaking, and trying to think about what I have that should be soaked, that I forgot to soak and nick my beloved Sweet Peas! And I sowed the whole pack! Now what? They are planted in a pot that Mr. Clean is keeping sprayed for me, but I know they aren't supposed to germinate without a lot of work ahead of time.
I have 4 baby shoe boxes here in Florida I went through that are full of seeds and 25% of them need to be sown this year, or at least I sould like those plants if I can swing it. I wasted a lot of time and energy on those stupid perennials I may or may not even want. Durn it!
Suzy
Suzy you still have time to sow in the spring :) What ever I don't get sown downstairs is goint outside in the spring in jugs and seed trays, the seed trays are easier for me with the lids on when the sun isn't shinning, after the last frost, I usually have tables set up from my shelves and put the seed trays on there and a picnick table :) I have trays sitting everywhere in the spring I always run out of space downstairs LOL
I can't believe you guys have gone through all these pages. I have to go back and read them all so I can get all the good tips and wisdom that I was getting before the rush. I keep seeing all of your names on the seedpacks as I WS and sow in my flats and it reminds me how fortunate I have been to be a part of the worlds best swap. I hope all of you have a great weekend and Easter, and don't eat too many of those marshmallow/peeps thingys. :)
Right! Only quality chocolate for me, ansofan :-)
Chocolate! That's what I'm missing!! Suzy, I so desperately want to get things out in that little greenhouse (next to a brick wall that faces east, so that gathers some heat...and it's enclosed...) but am afraid to do it with the weather dipping to the 20's for the next three nights or so - do you think that thing will give the violas/pansies enough protection or should I be putting them out and bringing them back in until the evening temps are a bit higher?
Robin, I don't think you have anything to worry about with the pansies and violas. That greenhouse will give them all the protection they need. Pansies are very hardy when they're big enough, and yours are plenty far along :-)
dryad57, we are in the same boat - I want DH to set up my mini greenhouses, but it will be Tuesday before night temperatures are warm enough to leave stuff outside.
My pansies, violas and snapdragons are just staying on the front veranda, though they might be brought in this evening.
I have already put some seedlings in my little greenhouse, but it faces due south, so I have to be careful not to cook the plants. I do have a vent across the top so I can let heat out, but it builds up quickly in a house of windows.
Hi everyone I want to share that I have 7 hollyhock sprouts from the swap! They came up 2 days after sowing! Thank you for sending them to me! Nigra had the most with 4 sprouts - a pink and purple mix had 2 and Indian springs had 1. I just thought this was a great start after seeing that sometimes they take forever! We'll see if I get anymore quickly as well.
I just checked them and there are more - 2 more from pink/purple, and 4 from an unknown pack that said wilmoth on it! The potting mix is very moist - maybe even wet. So maybe they like this?