This is my first year growing Italian white sunflowers, but it sure won't be the last. They are covered with blooms, each with nice, long stems for cutting too. I'll certainly be saving plenty of seed from these to share, as well as the Kiss me over the garden gate and Cleome growing with them. This pic is blurry, but I kind of like the ethereal effect it gives.
gemini, such pretty flowers! I was wondering what happened to you haven't heard from you in a while :) I have the oxe eyed dasies and hope to have some seeds from them for the swap, I haven't been feeding the finches this year because of having my two kittens and the mommy cat but the finches are out full force and eating up all of my sunflower seeds before they even make seeds AGAIN lol Do you have that problem in Ky.? lol I figured I'd have more seed to share this year not feeding them but they are still here :)
Thanks, Lea! I've just been lurking for a while, but still keeping up with everybody. I see finches on them, but they're not stripping them bare, just enough to enjoy watching them. Sounds like they knew where to find food at your place and are telling you to refill the feeders, LOL. I have cats too, so I don't put feeders out- I would hate to lure them to their demise. These sunflowers are so prolific with blooms, it may just be more than they can eat.
Love those sunflowers!!
I don't think any flower provides more than they can eat, those dudes can eat a bunch lol There has been a few years I've been way down on my seeds because of the finches, are there any seeds that they don't eat lol I've kept the feeders full in the past summers and still no seeds on some flowers :) I really miss feeding them cause they are right out by where I transplant at, now I have the kittens out there they have put a damper on a lot of things this summer but I still love them lol
This message was edited Aug 6, 2008 5:02 PM
Good to see everyone's garden is blooming nicely! I've pretty much been out of circulation here on DG this summer and unable to keep up with all the good photos and discussion.... I can see I've missed a lot!
And Gem! So glad somebody is getting some nice flowers from my seed packets! My garden is a bummer this summer~~ the zinnias are all very punky and puny, as is everything else! Oh, well....
Nevertheless, I'm starting a new garden at my sister's new house (a mile from here) and I am thrilled because she has loads of sunshine! And space for a green house!
Will be checking in and lurking from time to time, so everyone continue to have a good summer! t.
here is 1 of my monkey flkowers form the swap
And here is my Nicotiana Avalon Bright Pink
Lea, I'm glad you warned me about the finches gobbling up the sunflower seed, I saw lots of discs picked clean out there! I am still finding plenty of heads with seed still in them thankfully, and went ahead and harvested several. The only finches I typically notice on them are the Eastern goldfinch, which I must say are so beautiful with those yellow feathers against yellow flowers :-)
tabasco, sorry to hear about having an off year in the garden, but I'm really happy to hear about the greenhouse plans and such great prospects for next years gardening. Its been such a joyful escape to sit on the back deck and watch the butterflies and hummers on the Tithonias- I've needed escape quite a bit this summer.
I would just get some of those cloth bags for weedings-some huge ones-or maybe some tulle and tie it around the head-keep the darn birds from getting the seeds, but lets water & light in:)
Or panty hose feet......
Nice pictures Fairy :) I'm taking pictures with my disposables tonite so I can take them to get developed Fri. night when I go in town. I just hope the pictures turn out that's one thing about digital you can delete the ones that don't turn out and take another picture :)
I wrote 'tulle' on my list so I can check it out at wally world, I may get some of that for my sunflowers, I planted one of my vines to go up a sunflower and it's not doing very good I just wonder if it's fighting for water, I think I'll take the sunflower up and put a pole for the mg, that one is from bluesprial I think and it's so pretty, it's indigo feather, one of the ones that turned out to be what it was suppose to be, you just never know what is going to come out of a mg seed :) At first I was trying to keep them separate for trade seeds and all of the flower beds that I have I just can't do it but I have two of those in the nectar garden too, so they should be good for sending in, a nice flower so different, I just love it! The gray one that I wanted really bad just didn't germinate for me, do you remember the gray one she showed a picture of? That was so odd lol
My moonflowers are getting buds on them! I'm doing the happy dance! Think I got these from George/ansonfan :) My moon garden is coming together 8) Just seems like everything is taking it's sweet time growing this year is it the flowers or just me, it's August and seems like the plants should be going full blast by now. My lantana isn't growing very fast this year either! Must be the dry spells.
Today I was ripping out petunias on the terrace and planting perennials started from seeds from this swap - it's amazing how many plants I owe to the generousity of everyone who participated . . . Today I planted white swan echinacea, rose zing dianthus, rose campion, and I had already planted purple knockout salvia, ruby giant echinacea, sunrise coreopsis, pink obedient plants, purple dome asters, oh my gosh! too many to name! Could you imagine if we had paid at a nursery for all these plants??!!
Lol.. We would be broke. Another swelterign day so sittign here and goign through seeds to get started on perennials and then gonan sort the annuals as to which week to get them started and throwign in a bag what I don't want anymore for either the swap or to give on the seed tradign forum to folks.
While hunting through all these bags, I foudn the listhianthus seeds. Got pink and yellow. They were pelleted, but the pellet kinda got crushed, but the seeds still good, onyl thing is I forgot who I was supposed to send them to, so whoever it is would ya send me dmail with your addy so I cna get them out to ya before I lose them again in this jumble mess.
Star, was that me by any chance I was suppose to get seeds in a trade but I never got them, the girl dmailed me just a little while back and she still hasn't sent them LOL I give 8)
I just took pictures of my gardens and as I took pictures I was so disapointed because everything isn't booming right now, next year they will be beautiful lol That's what I said last year and now I have new plants and bigger gardens again so they look to be bare lol I'm taking them in tomorrow to be developed :)
I think one of the burgundy holly hocks is germinating :) I think, there's a weed that grows here that kind of looks like the seedlings so I will let you guys know lol I wish the black ones would germinate that's the ones that I really want in that orange garden.
Lebug,
If the black ones don't germinate, I could send you very fresh ones. I just harvested them from my hollyhock. This year it decided to bloom, after four years!
I feel like I was supposed to send seeds to someone but can't remember the person or the seed!!LOL Lea-was it you???
Oh good, I was hoping I wouldn't have to go back through allthe posts to figure it out. Should have wrote it down, but things are in such un organized mess here with cleanign and rearranging.
Want to try and put some new carpet down in a coupel of rooms and so been throwing old junk out left and right. I know I had like five other packs of different kind in the fridge too, but haven't gotten that far bakc into cleanign threw the seed boxes an dbags yet.
Tunik, is your black HH a perennial? Are all black HH perennials? I have some single pink HH I can trade you I just collected and they are perennial and pretty :) Would you have any red and yellow singles by any chance, I just grow singles for the butterflies, they are suppose to like those better, I don't even know if there are single red and yellow ones out there, I noticed a real pretty one at a neighbor's house from a far and haven't seen it up close to see if it's single or not but this neighbor isn't friendly at all so I can't ask her for seeds lol I've always put off planting HH because of the winds here but my pink one has done pretty good so I'm going to start growing them. Hmm, wonder why yours haven't bloomed for four years, that would drive me crazy LOL I would say save them for the swap in the fall but I really would like to plant them so I would have a better chance of them blooming for next year :)
Fairy, can't say if you offered some black HH but if Tunik has some prennial ones I would like to have those but thanks for the offer 8) If she doesn't have any red or yellow singles and you do I would love some of those :) I want red and yellow singles but if they don't come in singles I would take the doubles lol
Once again I have seeds everywhere in the tv room no space is empty in there lol I even have seeds in little shot glasses on the top of my computer table, the mess starts again LOL
I'm getting supplies to start raising butterflies tonite, finally the monarchs have started laying eggs on the tropical milkweeds! I may have to grow these tropicals for next year too, if I do I'll have to make my bed bigger again since I'm adding the pink and orange for next year. I decided to get rid of my may pop passion vine for this year and have sprayed it twice now and now I have cats on those, I've had this vine for three years at least and this is the first time I've had cats on it when I decide to hit it with the weed killer lol
My pineapple sage reseeded from last year so I have all kinds of plants coming up by the water spicket on the side of the house I had no idea they would reseed like that lol I hope they have time to bloom, one plant is getting pretty big :)
Star just put my name on them and save them for the swap if you are going to save them for me, I wouldn't be planting them until Jan. anyway :) I have a bag of seeds already in the fridge with names on them for the swap lol
Tuink... Just saw where ya asking for Pawpaw seeds on the seeds exchange. I still got plenty of pawpaw seeds if ya want to give them a try. Remidned me that hidden in the back of the fridge I have a pot of them I put in for cold chill and forgot about.
They fairly big size and somewhat fat, so don't know what woudl be the best way to mail them though.
LeBug, hollyhocks are shortlived perennials. I have single black ones, single yellows and single whites as well. These are Alcea rosea. There's also another species: Alcea ficifolia, fig leaved hollyhock. It has a better resistance against fungus (especially rust). The flowers are white and somewhat translucent. If you want them, just send me your address by d-mail and they go out this weekend.
Starlight, I am looking for pawpaw seeds because someone asked me to look for them. So if you want to get rid of them, you would really make some people very happy. If you want to get rid of them all, that would be even better! Of course, I'll pay for postage. Or I could send you seeds from my list: http://www.freewebs.com/belevenissen-van-een-tuinkabouter/apps/webstore/
You could wrap them in kitchen paper and put them in a plastic bag. This would keep the envelope/box clean. Please send me d-mail and we'll work this out!
Have a nice weekend, all!
Tuink... Will send ya a dmail. I know you busy over there tryign to help other folks find stuff and that a good thing. Your kinda like our international connection person. : )
Be glad to sen dya all what I have right now and should be going in a couple of weeks to pick more if somebody hasn't beat me all to them.
They very fussy to germinate and require lots of patience, but once germinated, they do well. Always takes forever for tree and shrub seeds to sprout and grow.
I can't open your web page. My puter to old and it drives mine to go on the fritz. If ya ever come across some of your friends though that have perennial dianthus seed that have tall stems and double blooms and the real florist type carnation seeds in colors other than red and white, would love to work out some trades for them.
But for now will send ya the paw paw's. : )
"International Connection Person": that sounds gooooood!
I'll keep an eye on the dianthus seeds for you, Star. And thank you for the pawpaw!
Geez.. What happened. Was like 90 somethign still when I went to sleeplast night. Got up this morning and opened the back door like normal toget some fresh air even though it usually hot and muggy and this morning was greeted by a down right cold breeze. Sittignhere wrapped in a blanket. First time since th ebeginning of th eyear.
Gotta water in a few and need to dig me out a winter wolly sweater. Looks like it gonan be a good day with the chill though to try and get a bead on some weeding and moving pots. Seems the sun changed direction and shade stuff is no longer in the shade.
Got a question about the double Poppies. Can they be grown in pots and then later transplanted into the garden and stil have do good or do they have to stay in pots once ya got them started in there?
It has rained almost every day since July 1 . . . . sigh . . . this is the summer of storms.
Starlight,
Just got a package from the in-laws from Turkey. Guess what was in there? A packet of Dianthus caryopyllus. The florist type of carnation. Would you like to have them?
Poppies hate to be transplanted, so if you grow them in pots first it has to be a really deep one. If the taproot gets disturbed, the poppie dies.
Seandor... Quite hogging the rain. : ) I have had one inch since the beginning of May. I would gladly take yours. I gotta go out and water here in a few. Having to water twice a day and a few things three times a day from the heat and humidy. This year worse than last.
Pam Sue.. thanks for that bit of information. I didn't know that they had big tap roots.
If they don't like to be disturbed, about how big of tap root are we talking, so I know what size pot to use? Also, about how big does the plant get height and width wise and is there more than one bloom on a plant? Wonder about how many plants can go in a big pot together to make it look nice and full or if one will be all that can go in it.
I haven't tried to grow them here before, but have seen a bit further away from me somebody who had a bunch of single ones, at least they looked like poppies from the road growing.
I got some pretty double poppies in the piggy swap, but it was too late for me to do them, all our cold, such as it was, was way over, so want to do them for the coming year. Would be nice if we could have the piggy swap like in november or december, so those of us in warmer climates could catch what little bit of cold and frost we can for seeds.
Been rough sittign on some seeds, that needed a cold chill and didn't want to risk losing the seeds cuz I didn't have any then.
Tuink... Would love to have a few. Just a couple, cuz this another plant that I have no idea if it wil grow here or not and that way you wil have some for you and anyboidy else who may want some. I know the regular dianthus the short ones annual and perennial will grow here, but not the carnation type and nobody grows them, but I gonan give it my best shot. : ) Thanks, appreciate it. : )
Star, is direct sowing an option for your poppies? While those I WS did succeed, the ones I direct sowed all performed better. The ones I did transplant were still pretty small when I set them out, with 3 or 4 true leaves. I used the "hunk o seedlings" method, and a few of the outer ones were too disturbed and didn't make it, but the inner ones were fine. Usually with tiny poppy seedlings, there are way more than I could use individually anyway. With most annual poppies each plant produces several blooms in succession. If you've got Shirley or Iceland poppies, I'd say 5-6 plants per 12" pot. I don't think P.somniferum or peony poppies would be as good an option for pot culture, they get about 3-4' tall. And good idea about Nov/Dec seed swapping. Kind of busy time of year with holidays and all, but good timing for this years seed harvest. Oh, and on the florist's carnation dianthus, they like cooler weather, so they may be a good option for starting them pretty soon and getting the plants in the ground this fall or winter. They won't like your summer heat, but may be a nice late winter/early spring bloomer. Be prepared the stake them, the taller stems (bred for cutting) will sprawl all over without support.
The seed harvesting is going well here, my whole dining room table is covered in trays of drying seed. Trying to get some ready to send to Elsa in South Africa in time for spring sowing there (September). There were mentions of black hollyhock seed earlier in the thread, which I believe Tuink had plenty for all who were looking for them, but I've got plenty of the singles here drying too. They're so prolific with seed, I think I can safely say there's plenty for all who want them! As a little preview of what's going to be available from my harvest for sharing, (which is just so exciting for me! seeing so many seed that came from so few and all that potential for next years blooms is such fun!) Shirley poppies, coral semidoubled and crimson double somniferum poppies, blue grass pea, dark pink and mixed larkspur, feverfew, forget me not, sunflowers, and tithonias have all been generous with seed!
Well I was pretty PO'd @ DH the other day-I have seeds in various cups on the island and of course he makes a hand motion and they all ended up on the floor!!!! Thank goodness they were very diff looking seeds, but I was still REALLY mad!!
Gemini.. unfortunately, nope can't do direct sowing. I in the bottom of a valley of sorts and everybody above and aroudn me all the excess water from their property and from th eroads all comes downand washes through my place and neighbors.
I can't even hold my own groudn in most places here, it keeps runnign into neighbors yard cuz he a bit lower than even me in the main section of our yards.
I got some of the Shirley and some of the P. somneferium. Are they annuals. Oh and I got a package of poppies from ca. that yellow that was sent from T&M as a freebie.
What a bummer Fairy. I have had that happen. Me and my clumsy self to blame and then I have a bunch of noids.
Thankfully it was Gaillardia, Astrantia, Columbine, Delphinium and California Poppy which all look very diff, but ow I have a pile on the counter to sort through:( Oh well, could've been worse...
Star, maybe that's why I don't have much luck direct sowing, never really thought about that, we have a lot of water that runs down our hill too and it ends up in the back neighbors yard, I don't know why I hadn't thought about that before!
Oh Fairy, so sorry about your 'pile of seeds' but you are right it could have been worse just glad it wasn't. Was that you last year that a kitten/cat turned a bunch of seeds over? Now I'm thinking it might be a good thing to keep the kittens outside this winter, they would love all of the planting 'stuff' I have in the tv room in the winter lol Patch, my favorite, loves to sleep in an empty tray on top of a table in there and this year it will have water and seed trays in it to get ready to plant and she doesn't care what's in those seed trays she'll walk all over them anyway LOL She does outside anyway lol
My nasties are just not growing, where is the best place to plant them I still have more to get in the ground, they don't seem to like the sun here at all, do they want afternoon shade is that my problem? I do have some planted in the host garden in between the fennel and milkweeds and they are still alive but are growing very very slow, I want these suckers to grow, help! LOL I still have three partial jugs of them to plant lol
Lebug, you're not the only one whose nasties won't grow. Mine won't either nor anyone elses in the neighbourhood. Over here it's been too cold for them to romp away. However, they do flower.....
Hi everyone, I'm still here, : ) I just haven't been able to help anyone. I'm glad I'm not the only one that is having a hard time with nasties. I try them every year and they just don't grow for me!
Well that's not good news for the nasties, I thought they liked cooler weather anyway, if I plant them in the shade would they grow I wonder? I'm going to plant what is left in different spots and take my chances then lol They are bigger in the jugs than they are in the ground the jugs that I planted out of they have gotten a lot bigger, go figure! Do they like moisture or do they like to be dry? Does anyone know?
Hi Meredith 8)
>>My nasties are just not growing, where is the best place to plant them
Lea -- this was my first year with these.... i have them in the front yard [eastern exp] so they get sun til roughly noon-1pm
then they are way out back that is pretty much full sun all day.... .growing like weeds.
I do not water either. so they are probably drought tolerant too.
Maybe they just don't like my clay soil but I always put compost in when I'm planting anything and the ones I have in my host garden, that was a leaf bed well still is, they have their choice there I have a couple in sun and a couple in between plants and the soil should be good the leaves were on that bed all winter lol I'll try some in morning sun out front. The ones I have out front get more sun and there are some in between hibiscus where they don't get much sun. I do have one spot out front where I can't plant anything because when it rains the water pools there too until it drains I'll even try that spot I have plenty to experiment with but I really wanted these :( I think I'll take one jug that has two in it and just put it in a pot and see what happens lol I'll sneak it in a pot just like it hasn't been moved then maybe they will grow lol I'm going to have to go get more dirt lol
hi :) Our nasturtiums from the swap just finally started blooming. I've tried growing nasturtiums in all parts of our yard, because we use the blooms on salads. I've noticed if the soil is too rich, the leaves get gigantic and blooms are few.
This season, ours are in a dry spot (partial sun) with clay soil and they are not at all happy at all. The leaves are small and the plants are not thriving.
I've read they are like a weed but ours seem a bit finicky!
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/703/
