Whose Seeding?

Well now that the first day of Spring is only 2 sleeps away its time to think about seeding (which makes me very happy). Whose a seeder and what are you starting indoors/greenhouse this year and when? ps I was knocked over when I got seeds from Belgium in a week! Seeds from Colorado ...well I thought they got tossed at the border it took so long sigh.

my son will be marrying in our backyard on sund 6-21 which is also two others events, one first day of spring and other FATHERS DAY, so somehow I will have to onder all the fathers, the summer, with tonds of flowers

come january must go and reserve all the awning, tables and chairs for 50+I have been ascked to give away the bride and because she trried many times to asked finally go ti out I said yes.

I wish them peace in the morming wiht much loven from one to the other. I wish for them thahere daughers will except Larry as a farhter and not wxpect him ot hav an enjlwsa dress parade/k

Well, I'm seeding. Right now its mostly Penstemons (several varieties) as they need cold stratification, as well as one or two varieties each of Aquilegia, Aubrieta, Stachys, Erysimum, Nepeta, Oxytropis, and Veronica. In a couple months I'll plant a round of Salvias, Origanum, Agastaches, and one Chamaebatiaria that is in consideration for a hedge plant. I also have some "wildflower" seed that I've thrown over the back fence as they are preferrable to the collection of weeds that grow on the slope behind my fence.

Today I commence ^_^
astrantia 'ruby cloud'
anemone sylvestris
armeria maritima 'sea pink'
helleborus nigra
verbena hastata
rhodiola integrifolia
sedum album
viola x williamsii
viola sylettas
viola cucullata
and (are you ready for this) capparis spinosa incremis - a Caper Bush LMAO - zone 9. Now why do I have that seed???

I will be soon. I have the seeds and the place picked out. I thought I would wait until the snow has melted down to about 2 inches, then toss the seed on top of the snow. This is the first time I have done this, but I am looking forward to it.

TA DA! 1 and 1/2 trays are heading to the greenhouse, 2 trays are heading to the closet and the 3/4s tray is heading to the west window. Crapola I obiviously opened the rhodiola integrifolia pack at some time to admire the seeds cuz it was empty. Probably swimming around in the bottom of the seed fridge with a plethora of poppy seeds that I accidently dumped in there in the fall. O well I shall just foot plant the whole kit and kaboodle directly in the garden and what shall be shall be. I have dirt under my nails now YIPPEE!!! I am going to wait a bit longer to direct seed paz as there's still alot of snow and it windy.

I am going to have to look up about half of those, but i do know what a caperberry is! It might produce in one season. And I know why you got seeds for them. They are delish! I have been tempted myself but am trying to be a little more controlled this year -- ha ha ha aa -- as if there were any hope of controlling my planting obscession.

Dahliahut

Hello from Montana!! How do you heat your greenhouse? Do you plant year round?

I just took another break from my painting while I let a layer of paint dry. I went out and turned on the hot frame in the insulated section of the hoop house!!! Wheee!!!!

Then I got some potting mix and a flat out of the shed and brought them in the house. Wet down the potting mix. When I am finished painting tonight I will plant tomatoes. Only a few, as this is ridiculously eary and the plants will end up leggy and huge, so I will have to pot them into large pots that will be hard to get them out of when I need to put them in the ground.

Any bets as to whether I really only plant a "few" tomato seeds?

I could use the huge light Bern used to expose his silk screens when he did serigraphs. The chemicals were so nasty I asked him to quit and he did. But we still have the big light, which is a kind favored by pot growers. I don't have any use for pot, but the light should work great on tomato seedlings...

The huge light will be great, I bet. My DH always worries that the police will come by with a heat detector and think I am growing pot in my grow light. We just hope they can tell tomatoes from pot! A famous dancer in Santa Fe, years ago, was driving home with a Suburu station wagon full of Marigolds. The police stopped him and arrested him for possession of Marijuana and even broke his arm.
I don't have a lot of faith in the plant differentiation abilities of the police!

I know the town policeman and he has been in my greenhouse, don't think I need to worry. He is extremely overqualified for the position but he likes living here with his family.

LOL Mulch it is impossible to plant just a 'few' tomatos. My greenhouse smells deliciously like peppery basil. It was wonderful singing to my new babies out there today. Wendy I don't heat my greenhouse til end of February when I seed the warm germinators and start my dahlias. I have a thermostat controlled electric heater. Once everything has germinated I turn it right down to just above freezing.

Glad somebody else is getting dirty. It is the beginning of seed-starting season.

Mulch, it all depends on your definition of "few." It is an indefinite term. It needs to mean more than the indefinite term below it and less than the indefinite term above it. Thus a few is more than a couple and less than a dozen (c.f. bakers and their dozen if you think dozen is specific). So a few can be anything less than a dozen but really should be less than 11 to not be considered the latter. If you plant a few seeds each of a few varieties then you're OK.

Planting is so much fun It is really hard not to plant too much of almost anything.

What's that rhodiola crapola seed you lost, Dahlia? I can't find that in the plant files.

Its a variety that dahlianut hybridized herself, picante.

The common name of rhodiola integrifolia x crapola is "Ledge Stonecrop" http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=RHIN11
Um dparsons 'a few' usually means about 36 seedlings as defined in the Notes to the Great Book of Lists. A 'test' is exactly 8 peat pots as defined in the same Notes. So perhaps you're thinking about a test? This is because I have learned that 'a few' cannot be contained, restricted or hindered once one commences. Its a seedling frenzy thing which is very common with tomatos (and basils too I find).

That works by my definition as "a few" with regard to seedlings can be as many as 100. I'm glad to know that you work with a precise number though.

Dahlia, here are my anemone sylvestris. Started from seed, 2 and 3 years ago. They hang out under the crabapple tree, making people swerve as they ride by on their bike.

Picante, they are a knock out. Do you have a lot of bike riders in Helena? I hardly ever see one in my neighborhood.

Oh, yes, plenty. We live near a state highway that goes up to the continental divide. And a city park that is basically a small mountain, for the mountain bike crowd.

Do you perchance collect seed, my dear, dear friend? WOW! My seed came from another dear friend who is not a seeder so came with a disclaimer 'Not responsible, no idea what I'm doing" I might nag you for seed if nothing germinates ^_^

As for the anemones, it took me a couple seasons to realize that they would spread better if I watered them with a sprinkler rather than a dripline!
My lack of knowledge about gardening is encyclopedic. But I'm catching on, bit by bit, because I hang out with you folks.

Anemoes like a sprinkler rather than a drip line? No wonder mine all died. Mine were pink. It was embarassing to lose them since they were a gift from a neighbor. Sigh.

We cross-posted. I didn't collect any anemone seeds, if that's what you mean. Just checked my seed packet collection, and didn't find any there, either. I've got plenty of Fragaria vesca "mignonette" seeds. They've done really well here. No runners on them, either. You want, I send.

PJ, it's just that I noticed the anemones would spread to anyplace nearby that was watered. With the dripline, there was only dry ground nearby.

Thanks Picante. I'll just wait to see what happens with my anemone seeds. If no germination I will be hoping that you might harvest some seeds from the beauties you have. No biggie.

Picante,
Your anemones spread??? Goodness gracious. I have a hard time getting the buggers to come up from their corms or whatever those hard lump things are (I also have an encyclopedic lack of knowledge). Only a few ever make it, whether I plant them directly in the ground or in the greenhouse in pots in the spring.

Those few only last one to three years in the garden. And they sure do not spread. They get sprinkled too. I absolutely love them, but it is mostly an unrequited passion.

I thought it was just from being in Montana, but you are in Helena, WHAT IS YOUR SECRET?

ok hanging on every word now that mulch has come out of the anemone closet.... crappola I truly thought I could seed these puppies for plentudinous plants.... waiting... hanging.....ok now sipping on a refreshing beverage.... waiting.... hanging.....

Geez, you guys are making me feel like a real gardener! LOL
Whatever I did, it was fortuitous. They are in shade with a tich of late afternoon sun.

OK, I'm looking at my garden journals. 2005: I sowed them in pie tins, transferred the seedlings to cell packs, and eventually repotted into peat pots. Hardened them off starting June 7th, planted them under the crabapple June 18th. They didn't bloom until the next year. 2006: Started another 36 from seed. Same deal, they didn't bloom until 2007. That's when I noticed that they were spreading to the moist spots nearby.
2007 was also when I started using Grow Big foliar spray. There's an entry saying I sprayed them.

I dunno. Maybe they like having all those crabapples fall on them. Maybe the deer poop is their favorite food. Our local deer have slumber parties under the crabapple.

Seeds? What sort of anemone seeds? I always buy the little rock hard lumps in the bulb section at the nursery. And mine have all been in full sun, maybe another clue.

And, of course, you are a real gardener. What else could you possibly be on here?

Seedy seeds Mulch. Anemones are bulbous so you probably got a bulbous one but these are one of the bulbous ones that can be grown easily from seeds. Picante is an obvious expert at seeding this bulbous thing and I shall just follow merrily, merrily, merrily...life is but a dream.. along with her methods. How fabby is this! AND most importantly if I screw up guess what dear, dear friend has a plethora of anemones that I might perchance get new seed from? It's all good IMHO.

Aha! I agree.

Where oh where does one get these incredible seeds???? I need them intensely...

It might be 18 years of fallen crabapples in the mix too.

A story from back in my college days:
A friend of mine rented out a small house that was in the back of an old woman's house. It was in an old neighborhood in San Diego that had long lots with 2 small house on them that were built in the 1930's. A sizable percentage of the residents were widows that needed a little extra income, so they rented out the back house. At any rate there was an Avacado tree in the yard. My friend was excited, but the landlady sadly stated that it hadn't produced fruit for years. My friend was a bit perterbed at the tree. Being a young, male college student he was also prone to consuming large quantities of beer. Somehow the combination of the beer and his perterbedness at the tree came together and he decided to express himself by relieving himself at the base of the tree. On many occasions. The next season the tree started producing again. He had avacados as long as he lived there. His landlady was also happy and noted that this started after my friend moved in. He could never bring himself to tell her why.

Perhaps the tree was ticked off and grew fruit to throw at your friend? That is way too funny.

dparsons, I'm just going to have to try that -- I have a potted lime tree that just won't thrive. Oh... maybe I need to get perturbed as well. I've been feeling sorry for it.

The seed source was Swallowtail Garden Seeds.

The crabapple is very old and huge, and I sheet mulched with newspaper under it to kill the grass. Threw bark over the top. When I started planting seedlings, I planted them ON TOP of the newspaper because I really didn't want holes in it where the grass could come through. It worked.

BTW, I ordered Meconopsis poppy seeds from Swallowtail that year as well, and I got 33 out of 50 to germinate. At the time, I did not realize what an incredible feat this was. However, the Mecs reached about 4-5" tall and realized that they had been tricked, that there would be no monsoon here on the east side of the Rockies. They all got fungal.

Picante that is an awesome germination rate! ARGH! about the fungus. I'm trying them again. I'm also trying the the very blue Stokesia laevis (Stokes Aster) this year.

picante:

According to our experimentation, Stouts work best. Samuel Smith's Tadcaster Oatmeal Stout and Sheaf's Stout (Austrailian) were tested extensively and are recommended. Guiness is not so effective, being a wimpy Stout.