Cottage Garden Seed Swap & Chat #11

I can't believe we have 363 messages on the old thread! http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/831562/

Fairy, Those cell packs for perennial seeds are very bad because they dry out....esp in the sun! I think they are best with bigger seedlings (annuals) that you can go around and water 1000 of them with a wand (like at the garden center). On perennials, the 25 seeds in a 4" round pot is the very best, IMHO. The round pots take up more room, but they don't dry out in the corners. Plus, there is enough room that they can grow for months without needing to be transplanted.. BTW, Don't put Columbine seedlings in the sun. Or if you do, look at them daily. I have seen their little leaves bleach out in full sun here.

Dryad, Your petunias look fantastic! And I never saw a greenhouse at your place! It is a solid one, right? Is it up all year? I need to email you or dmail you or whatever, but the short of it is that I'm going to Lea's on Friday afternoon and can take anything you need to get to her.

I am mad at myself for pinching the geraniums. I could have had BLOOMING pots of them to show you all. Instead I have some little geraniums in a pot. LOL! I should also have started my petunias a bit earlier. LOL! They are pretty durn small.

Starlight..are you getting the hang of your Powerpoint? LOL! Reading the manual step by step. I swear I laughed out loud at that one. I don't believe I have ever seen a computer manual you can follow step by step! ROTFL! I was waiting to hear what appliance went out this week with a repair bill. Then I could tell you that my insta-hot went out. It is the only thing besides the refrigerator I really really have to have, and I was without a decent cup of coffee for 5 whole mornings! GUESS WHAT? It was under warranty! The second time in my adult life I actually was able to have something repaired with no hassle under warranty, for free!

Susybell, Aw, that is a very sad picture! You can brush all that soilless mix, seed and all, between the rocks and hope for the best on that batch,. The Columbine seedlings are very distinctive, and you'll know them when you see them. Personally, if they germinate, I'd just leave them. They would be happy as clams there, and a little foot traffic won't hurt them. Blasphemy! I only say that because I have some babies in the path where the dog takes a shortcut.

THEN sow more. You got more seed? There is no benefit to getting a jump on Columbine, anyway, They don't bloom until the second year unless you start them inside under lights in October. Maybe not even then! It's not too late....just start them in June, after you get what you need to get in the ground.

Lala, I just planted it in sets of threes throughout my red bed. I would not say I made the most of them, but I had like 50 of them :). .The foliage is such an odd color. They are VERY cold hardy, and you can plant them out now. (You could also have planted them out a month ago.) They get about 14" tall and didn't like the heat here...they just fizzled out.

It has occurred to me that my garden has never looked worse the last week of April. I know its because routine maintenence and cleanup never happened in March because of the weather, but knowing why doesn't help the garden look any better.

The chores are multiplying, and I have so many seedlings to plant.

Tomorrow I have to take my mom to the doctor. You know all those drug ads on TV? Where they have a pill you can take to cure heatburn, but the side effects are nausea, dizziness, constipation, vomiting, and sleeplessness (or whatever) ? My mom kind of needs a prescription, but the side effects are short term memory loss. She's gone 92 years without ANY memory loss or dementia of any kind, and now she might have to be on a prescription that will cause memory loss....it just sounded sort of sad. You're dam*ned if you do, and dam*ed if you don't.

Suzy

Suzy, thanks for the encouragement-and yes, I do have a little more seed-not of everything, but most, anyhow. I'll have to check tomorrow to see if I have any left of a few in particular. We're still pretty cold around here-lows at 40 and below, highs maybe 50, so it might not hurt to just set them up again in a day or two if I get the chance. (Maybe it was our lows in the 30's that woke the seed up in the first place...)

Sorry to hear about the medication for your mother, that is a tough spot to be in, definitely da#$ed if you do, da&*ed if you don't. :( I"ll keep my fingers crossed that there's another alternative-it is sad.

Lebug, 84!!!-I thought I was the one in z8-when'd we switch???

Seandor, what a happy news for you!

And what a disappointment for you, susybell! But Illoquin is right, you have plenty of time as columbines won't flower in their first year. Just don't forget they need light to germinate, so don't cover the seeds!

Illoquin, hope things will work out for your mum and they can find another medicine for her!

In the meantime I'm doing the happy dance for it has rained last evening and tonight. About time, we hadn't had rain for two and a half weeks! Unfortunately this also meant that I couldn't work in the garden and I'm getting behind schedule even more.....

More babies are being born in the nursery: ipomoea's, cukes, melons etc.

Thanks everyone . . . it is a great relief.

susybell - what rotten luck - I really feel badly for you.

I hope to start a lot of perennials in June, after we return from BC.

Good morning everyone!
Suzy - about the plants reseeding, I grew most of the stuff from seed in there, and I planted everything so close together that I will most likely have to thin it all out! So it is probably best if there is no reseeding :)
I do plan on making a designated area for thinks I would like to allow to reseed. Any suggestions on hgow that works? My yard looked like a weed bomb went off when we first got it. So I've been steadily working my way from front to back putting in beds and filling in the lawn. But I just rip whatever is growing on the top layer off throw in 3" of good stuff like compost or humus etc. and work it in then I plant and mulch. The problem is I end up spending a lot of time pulling weeds! After a full growing season of constantly weeding it gets better. :) So I am worried if there is no mulch I will be weeding even more than I already have to! Another example is my vegetable garden which I did not mulch, there were these horrible little weeds that acted like a ground cover and it seemed if you missed a few because they were so small - the next day they were triple the size :O At some point it took me like 3 hours to pull them all!

Oh susybell, you have my sympathy! What a mess, 18 pots you say? If you need more seeds to ones that I had in the swap I may have some more around here of the pink and purple. Did you sow all of your seeds?

The wind is here today and I have to be in town this afternoon what timing, yesterday we had almost no wind! I hate worrying about my plants drying out all afternoon.

Suzy, I never use the wand to water my seedlings, it sure would be a lot easier, doesn’t yours get sun burnt if they get wet in the sun? I don’t even water my gal. containers that way I always set them in water and let them soak up the water, let me know about the sunburn. I think I just fuss over my seedlings way too much lol

I can sure tell I haven’t been in my beds this winter, usually I’m working in them all winter, the warm winters had me spoiled, with all of the rains we had the weeds have taken over! Now it’s weeding before I can get anything planted! I have a mess! lol

Suzy, 92 years old and a memory, I just couldn’t imagine that with dad and he’s only 84, he has no memory at all, hasn’t had for a few years now, my sister came by the other night and he didn’t even know her but then he’s only seen her twice in two years! I really hope the doctor can help her with that! I’m keeping my fingers crossed for her and I’ll say a little prayer for her!

I’m wondering if the dry weather is starting now, a lot of pots are needing watering and the ground is getting dry and I really should start watering by the hose but I’m not going to do it we’re suppose to have a bit of rain tonite until tomorrow morning and Friday night until Sat. morning, hoping that will take care of it, there is no way I have the time to water the plants in the ground plus the plants in the pots right now! LOL

Robin, I don’t need any more plants so don’t worry about sending anything with Suzy if that’s what you are thinking, REALLY! LOL

La, yes do start them again, like I said they are just starting to germinate and I’m planning on starting a lot of others this weekend if I can talk Suzy into helping me get the old pic nick table out of the garage so I have more room to set up seed trays lol I don’t know how long this table has been in the garage but it’s been since I was a kid, can you believe mom and dad put it back in the garage every time they used it? LOL I’ll put some age on it that’s for sure! LOL


This message was edited Apr 24, 2008 10:10 AM

Thanks for the info now Suzy:( I will keep that in mind for next year though!! I did learn another lesson-NEVER WS in peat pots!!

Fairy, I have extra columbine seeds too ~ if want some just dmail me :) also, the salvia eviansiana seeds I have from you, just started sprouting :))))

congrats to you seandor!

Suzybell, your picture sums up what happened all right...feel your pain! I got so mad over the past weekend when my husband took our dog for a walk, the dog got so excited she knocked over my geraniums and the best, largest one lost the lead growth tip....I stuck it in dirt and it seems to be taking! I didn't even put it in water, just stuck it into a seedling pot.

We need rain here, I'm afraid all my direct sow poppies are goners. Unless they are really really hardy.

can anyone tell me the best conditions for English wall flowers? I have to figure out where to plant them.

my petunias are still teenie tiny!!!!!! maybe next year I'll start them over Thanksgiving!

this is that new hardy orchid I mentioned

Hi Seandor -I was so upset yesterday that I forgot to say Congratulations to you!

Lebug, thanks so much for offering. I'll be taking a look a little later at what I have left.

I know there are folks who have lost a lot more pots than I have to this kind of thing and now I have a much better appreciation of how awful that can be, so belated sympathy to anyone I missed. :( I'm hoping that our weather is finally starting to improve a little. It's been worse for the last month, than it was in February. (and particularly horrible over the last week or so.)

meredith, if you want to see weeds come on over to our house....I like to pull weeds when the ground is soft after rain ~ we normally have a good amt. of weeds anyway but now without any rain for awhile well, what can I say...very weedy

Besides mugwort, onion grass, creeping charlie and dandelions, the worst weeds we have are weeds that come up through a large patch of creeping phlox, they look ridiculous! I can never get to the roots so I just break the weeds off that stick up above the blooms. I'm afraid, the best way to admire our gardens are from a distance :0

Hi Wind, looks like we cross-posted (twice!)

Your Bletilla is gorgeous!

Sorry to hear about your geranium, but it's great that it seems to be taking.

My petunias are pretty small, too-most of my stuff is. I think they'll catch up as soon as it warms up a bit (I hope). I planted it all late, but with the cold we've had I guess it's worked out OK.

I think wallflowers like sun, at least out here.

And, I can totally relate to the stealth weeds! I've got some camo weeds that hide in plants that they look a lot like and then pop out in full flower when they've got roots to china! Devious little things...

I was thinking about direct sowing more poppies, but I heard somewhere that sowing them this late they rarely do anything-what have folks here experienced, or is this where I read it?


This message was edited Apr 24, 2008 11:55 AM

yep, them petunias wil grow up and if ya don't let them go to seed and then cut them back, you can have them growing durign the cool season and even inide over the winter. Don't know why most folks treat them as annuals cuz they work like a perennial.

Was 2:30 in th emornign by the time I finished my powerpoint up and yep, it a step by step, Darn book costed 120 bucks back when i bought it and it weighs almost ten pounds.

Didn't do to bad, just cuz the word history was at the bottom of one slide and upside down didn't ruin the whole thing. Think I turned half a dozen shades of pink.

Suzy... now you hush .. do ya hear me... don't even think about stuff breakign or going wrong. I can't afford another major repair right now. next thign that goes will get put back together with duck tape.

Did somebody say it wa sok to put the sunflower seeds in th eground now. I planted bunches of trays of them and forgot abotu them and darn things went and streached on me. They look more like spagettii noodles than plant stems.

Gonna have a busy weekend. Gonna finally have time to get a lot of thes eplants in the ground. Yahoo! Garden shoes look out cuz your gonan get a workout.

Wibnd,m Here is a link about Wallflower, but caution! The oly people who seem to be able ot grow it live in England and the Pacific NW (and northern California)

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/835980/#new

Suzy

I'd like some of the Siberian Wallflower. It only blooms in spring here (I think), but is so bright and pretty. My little wintersown seedlings for the English Wallflower are in the ground and looking good now, but the test will be when the summer heat hits. Oh well, I'm game for an experiment :-)

I will take any columbine seeds that you have wind-I am so mad right now-I was going to put them in front of my roses with my astrantia and all of that is in front of my cleamtis-I could just picture it!! Hope I don't kill em all off the 2nd time around:( I just suck this week!!:(

sure Fairy, I'll mail them out this Sat for you :) were you looking for a particular kind or color? in case I have it

I'm still planting seeds over here!!!!!!!!!! I have a porch and side yard full of seedlings, I am in gardening heaven this season

thanks again everybody!

....so I'll just have to tell my wallflowers they are not in south Jersey, they are in northern CA, England or the Pacific NW :))))))

Morning all!

Starlight, you can sow your sunflowers directly where you want them to grow. Now is the perfect time to sow them! In my garden they're sprouting like craze. It's no doubt the biggest weed I ever had. Then again, I have the strangest weeds: I have lettuce, carrots and radish growing in the most inconvenient places and have to pull them all out. No, I didn't sow those myself......

My wallflowers are growing in pots and have been doing so for years, maybe that's the trick as I don't consider myself old yet and I'm quite sure I don't live in England!

Petunia's have grown nicely and are now budding.

Thanks Tuink! It gonan be a scourcher of a day, but got a nice cool breeze blowing out there now, so gonan go out and start playing with the babies. Got so many screaming for more leg room will probably spend the day transplanting.

Got my table set up under a tree in a shady spot only problem is got a humemr feeder right above it and my hummer gets mad every time I get up and down like i gonan try and take it. Figure i wil get buzzed sevral times today. LOL

Tuink, I have some petunias that are only 2" tall, that are from you, that are budding lol And that's the purple ones that I want to see, the lilac petunias blooms are huge and almost pink, they are so pretty! Thank you!

I have an iron rod that I bought at a festival and you put it in a big pot and hang a couple more pots on the rod sideways and they are tilted that's what I'm planting my cascading petunias in should be really pretty!

I have several wallflowers that came up from WS now I'm not sure how to plant them if I should put them in the ground or put them in a pot, I think I'll just try both ways but as warm as it gets here I wonder if I should put them in part shade? Like the afternoon, I'm hoping I have some orange ones in there I really want those! Tuink, do you have anything else planted with them? Are they bushy or do they need something else? And how big of a pot and how many do you have planted in there lol

I believe the wallflowers will bloom next spring. If you have a veggie garden, plant the wallflowers in a row, then in September, move them to where you want them to bloom in the spring. :-) Many wallflowers smell heavenly!

I love the idea of the tilting pots - that should look magnificent with cascading petunias!

I think my least favorite part of starting seeds is hardening off. The only shade I have out by the GH is the GH itself and about every 15 minutes somebody needs rotating. The temps are supposed to drop the next few days, but I think after that I'm going to start planting out. I know I'll probably be sorry when I'm running around with not NEAR enough sheets to cover them when that inevitable last frost comes, but the babysitting is killing me.

(and before you ask, yes you DO see a couple flats of store-boughts. I'm only human. I just had to have some color now.

Then there's the rest of the phlox that still need a home.

And last but not least is the low -rent district. The small cups really did do well for me, but they also need constant attention. It's time to start planting!

thanks for the wall flower tips

wow lala, good job! you are a good baby sitter
....you sure have a lot of green in your containers :)

I have a lot to do here too....my bigger problem is keeping up with keeping all our water sources rinsed and filled for the birds....we need a full time bird bath filler!!!

we may get some rain finally on Sun or Mon

Argh, speaking of water WInd my outside spigot froze over the winter and the PVC split. I am hauling water out to the GH daily. Right now 4 gallons will cover it, but I'm going to have to get that fixed soon.

Morning all!

Lebug,
Now that's a wonderful idea: a petunia cascade, can't wait to see the pictures!

LaLa,
Nothing wrong with buying extra plants at the store, I do so all the time! And as such a good mother, you deserve it!

Will not have time to do sowing and planting but will have to go to the gardens to water the first seedlings that have sprouted in my cutting garden! It still much too dry over here!

Yep La I have bought plants too! LOL We are glutens for punishment aren't we LOL Your phlox group looks like mine how are we ever going to get all of those planted lol The hardening off part is the part I hate too cause it's so hard here to keep up with the sun and the shade esp. when I have to go into town, I always have to move them 2 or three times a day so I have to be back in time to get them moved out of the sun! I've got plants downstairs yet waiting to go out after these get hardened off cause I won't have room in my little greenhouses for those I had a bunch of greenhouses and now they have cracks in them so I can't put anymore together, Usually I can put one of those up and wrap row covers around them to harden off and keep them safe this year I'm too short on greenhouses :(

yesterday evening I made my place to plant my moonvine for my moongarden and almost planted but I'm glad I waited! It is so cold out there right now and not sure how my veggies made out yet and my daturas, plus I have most of my vines outside too! I'm sweating what the results will be! I haven't even looked at my coleus I'm afraid too cause I want them so bad lol

I have 5 gal. buckets to get rain from the gutters for watering plants and looks like we got quite a bit of rain last night I was wondering if the dry spell was going to start again soo not looking forward to that this year!

Tuink, your petunias 'are' going to look great the way I'm going to plant them I can't wait to see them either I should have my camera by the time they are looking good!

I am also trying to start hardening some stuff off. I got this potting bench at the christmas tree shop the other day. It was a great price so I had to get one.

Very nice bench, and your seedlings look fabulous!

Thanks (blushing) Some of them probably should be thinned, but I can't bring myself to do it lol. The lupines look sort a stragely but they do that when they're growing in the ground - so i guess they are okay :)

Like your potting bench Meredith! The seedlings look great too :)

Meridith... You found ya a really nice bench and your sedlings are looking great!!!!! : )

Oh, yes, I love the bench!!! Seedlings look terriffic, too!

Suzy

Wind-whatever-the only one I have (which I bought) is B group....

Lala-ask about the pipe at your hardware store-there might be some kind of compund you can put on it as a bandaid til you can get it fixed:) Sorry been busy with the co-op...all mailed though!!ahhh-time for a beer!!

what is a B group?

meredith, love your bench too! your seedlings look VERY happy :)
I love the xmas tree shops and alway go there when we go to Cape Cod but it has been a while

mine are a bit chilly today, took most in for the night
and yippy...we finally got rain...only it was in the form of thunder storms at 2am and our dog is terrified of thunder so it was a looooong night.

Yeah Fairy, I'll have my plants soon and Star those coneflowers sure looked nice! I've been cleaning out the front bed tonite and still have dirt under my nails LOL

Dang, I just wrote a big long message and went to another webpage before I sent it...

Lea, No, I'm not afraid of watering with the wand in terms of sunlight hitting the leaves (or whatever you said) but I am afraid of the icy water that come out of it this time of year! I haven't seen anything bad but it has to have set them back some.

Wind, Is that fierce looking German Shepherd afraid of thunder? LOL!

I'm leaving for Miami tomorrow morning...I have a lot to do yet tonight and have to pack in the early-early dawn....LOL! Like that's going to happen. Looks like I might be wearing the same outfit everyday or doing some shopping :))

Have fun, stay warm!

Suzy

Suzy, back to Florida, wow! Have a great trip...don't forget the empty suitcases.... ;)

LOTS of them, Suzy!

Have a great trip Suzy! Hope you get to visit more nurseries!

I have water in 5 gal. buckets sitting on my driveway to warm when the sun hits them and that's what I water my plants with, I've always heard that cold water kills the little roots on the main roots so I try to water with warmer water but it doesn't always happen can't tell that there is that much difference in the growth in them thru the years. It sure is a pain to water from the bottom and when the wind is blowing I have to water the same plants several times a day! Bummer! LOL

My red star and firecracker columbines are germinating 8^)