This is my first year at sowing so many different kinds of seeds, so, chicken that I am, I decided to wait and see what germinates and continues to live before I decide where to put it. I should probably start the graph paper thing and start planning though. I was just thinking I might move some of my current plants into groups instead of scattered "systematically" throughout the beds, to give a more mass grouping effect. I may have to give away some of my current plants, too, to make room for some of my new ones! (Plant swap coming up next month!) Do y'all prefer the mass planting effect over "disbursement" planting? I am specifically thinking about grouping some standard purple coneflowers, rudbeckia fulgida, shasta daisies and mexican petunias.
Prior to learning so much on this forum and seeing so many pretty cottage gardens shown here, I was very traditional and symetrical in my garden design. This year I think I have found a unknown "wild side" of myself that I am leaning toward. We'll see how I like it! With as many new kinds of plants as I will have, I don't think I can be symetrical, although I plan on keeping the taller stuff in the back and shorter stuff in the front. Maybe that will be enough to keep the quasi-OCD side of me happy!
Tonya
Gardening: Cottage Garden Seed Swap & Chat #28
I do something in-between, Tonya... I tend to think in terms of "clumps" and "patches," different varieties or different plants that think will look good together. I like planting in odd numbers, but sometimes a trio will be two pink phlox plus one with a pink eye.
When you're not sure what you'll have, it can be helpful to think in terms of "I have room for something low with silvery foliage here," and "I want to put something tall and really bright there." That's still a plan, but it's flexible.
That sounds like a good way to plan. Thanks Jill.
Tonya, got ya down for some Linaria :-)
Seandor, I'm already getting crunched for space. Its crazy how just a few little pots of seedlings get transplanted and take up so much space! I've got a little system worked out, so the stuff thats down there under lights now can hopefully go out into the little zip up greenhouse in 2 or 3 weeks, and the next wave of transplants can take their place under the lights. I did find a couple of new shop lights that I couldn't get to work last year, and gave them another try. For some reason they're both working now, so there's a little more room.
Oh, I forgot to mention, bootandall also sent a couple of interesting Impatiens species, I.grandiflora and I.balfouri. I've sown a few of each, and will hold onto a few in case those fail, but there are plenty of seed if any of you would like to try some.
Ok, I must be having a flashback or flashdance or hot flash or something, cuz I am a bit confused. Are we supposed to be sowing our seeds inside under lights or outside in a milk jug? Please help before I get Turretts Syndrome also. (or my turrets gets worse!) LOL
I got seeds in the Piggy Swap that I'll be starting inside under lights, others that I'll be winter sowing, and still others that I'll be direct-sowing in spring.
LOL no rest for the seed-obsessed
How do you choose which way for which seed? I was planning to start the Datura seeds in the GH on a mat, or should I start them in the house on a mat (where it is warmer)?
I WS poppies, marigolds, and some of the echies a couple weeks ago. Should the echies be in the GH?
There are some good links in the sticky at the top of the WS forum. Anything that need cold stratification or that self-sows in your area is a good candidate.
Thanks, I will look again. I have printed out pages and pages of info from different links that I found here. I will be devastated if the Echies or the Miribilis don't germinate. :(
Holy cow. You poppy lovers would not believe the sight in my back garden. I wondered what the green weeds were that stuck out like a sore thumb among all the dead, brown foliage. Upon closer inspection I have a thick, lush carpet of poppy seedlings. No, that's an under-exaggeration. It's like TWO thick layers of carpet, one stacked on top of the other. I've never seen anything grow that thickly...much thicker even than grass. I wonder if they'll die when the weather drops back down to freezing Friday.
LOL @ flashback or flashdance or hot flash.
Lynn, in addition to the WS forum (which is loaded with good info) here are a couple other sites you may want to check:
http://www.backyardgardener.com/tm.html
http://www.robsplants.com/
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=ptKk7FNDx_-LNbZM431UzDQ&hl=en (this is Kelly's spreadsheet)
http://tomclothier.hort.net/
http://www.jlhudsonseeds.net/index.htm
and here's a link to one of Critter's articles, which has links at the bottom to more of her articles on seed starting:
http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/464/
Thanks, I will take a look right now.
I am so envious love poppies
For those of you that run otu of heat mats, I don't use em and have seeds that usually start poping in a few days. I have a hangign light over the kitchen table and just leave the kitchen lights on 24/7 until they pop. Got the light over the coutner by the kitchen sink too and cover it with baggies waitign on seeds to sprout.
So if ya out of heat mats, just put by where they gonna get some lights 24/7.
Poppies!!! Imagine a field of poppies in the spring.....ahhhhh......
Edited - Star we crossed - you're absolutely right. I use the heat mats when my office (where my lights are) gets cold. It's the coldest room in the house (next to the basement) and can dip down to the 50's when it's true winter-weather outside. With the heat mats I can be sure that the seeds don't have too wild of a temp swing. I've got most of them unplugged now, as the weather is in the 60's outside and the lights are going. The only heat mats I have on now are the ones in the really chilly basement, and that's only because those seeds prefer it a bit warmer (they're not pansies!)
This message was edited Feb 10, 2009 7:21 PM
i love all the large perennial poppies like white wedding and the red, peach, lavender etc
I also love the california poppies since they bloom all summer so vibrant in color
Lynn your echinaceas should sprout indoors with no problem. You could wintersow them if you wanted, but you don't have to. The mirabilis should germinate fine inside too, but I think I remember those being one that it helps to nick and soak. You are in a much warmer zone than me so mirabilis would probably be okay for you to wintersow, but I can't winter sow them here.
If it helps I plan which seeds to wintersow by making a list of the ones that *need* to have a cold period in order to germinate. Then I start them in order of which I am most looking forward to growing. Of course if you don't have a lot of lights for seedlings you can wintersow anything that is hardy to your zone. I'd just make sure you get the ones that won't germinate without the cold period done first, then your in the clear and can do whatever else you want. Happy sowing : )
forgot winter on sow ; )
Oh and you know when we say wintersow, that is what people are doing with the milkjugs - right? Just wanted to make sure - because what I said wouldn't help at all if you didn't. : )
This message was edited Feb 10, 2009 8:32 PM
Hey you guys is it too late for me to lay down the fixings for a lasagna bed to be ready in the spring? I've never made one so any input is most welcome.
Hey Meredith, are you saying that the echinacea that I've had in a damp towel in the fridge for 2 weeks waiting for 3 doesn't have to be there? I got those instructions somewhere, but would sure like to take them out and plant them.
I just put seeds in flats cover them with plastic and look in after two weeks to see what is growing most of what I have planted so far are perennials that have very small seed so they take forever to bloom 4 to 5 months so the plants will be small till I can put them out mid april with some cover and also annuals that are warm area perennials also they take 3 to 4 month to bloom so most of my plants can stay in the flats at least till april then the tender one can overnight in the garage so no problem for space also I do not use lights and no heat mat and everything does fine anyway it only takes a few extra days to germinate.
mona
Lala - it should be fine to put down the fixin's for a lasagna bed. I did my first one at the start of winter last year, and it did fine. I didn't even put a whole lot of layers down, as I didn't have all the recommended stuff - I started with cardboard, then put some compost (from my tumbler) and topped that with a thick layer of hardwood mulch. I repeated that in a portion of my back yard at the beginning of spring last year - and they both did fine. I also did a few spots in my front yard late last summer, as I'm turning it from grass to cottage garden, and didn't have enough plants to fill up all the spots. The lasagna looked fine and kept the weeds out. It did not, however, stop the squirrels from digging to do their little "hide things for winter" routine - LOL - so I expect to get some surprises growing, based on what the squirrels buried. It's easy to tell their contributions, as they usually bury a mouthful of seeds so you get this clump of seedlings - which are then easy to pull.
in stead of cardboard you can use newspaper just open and leave it thick and that will do the same I have seen people just put down about an inch of news paper and mulch on top to cover it so it will look better at the end of a year its ready to plant or even better use wipe out in the early fall and its ready its ready in the spring
I just put down some newspapers and cardboard, then covered them with leaves. I still have more to put out, so I hope it isn't too late!!
Last winter, I put cardboard down to smother the weeds and grass in an area that I wanted to plant. I didn't have leaves to cover it,so the neighbors must have thought I was
crazy nuts to have cardboard and rocks in the front border by the street. It was well worth the effort.
Depending on the quality of the soil under your layers and on what you actually use in your layers, I'm not sure if your lasagna bed will be ready to plant by spring... for me, it would be overly optimistic to imagine that layers of newspaper, leaves, mulch, etc. would transform nasty clay into a planting bed... here, I think it would take a year. But I've never done it, so take it with a grain of salt.
Mine hadn't composted. So I just cut holes in the cardboard and planted my shrubs. Then i prettied it up with beauty bark.
Thank you Critter - I completely forgot to say that the areas I was putting the lasagna on were lawn/grass, and decent soil to begin with. Parts of this area do have some nasty clay - it depends on where your house is - literally. Some homes in Indianapolis were built on old farmland, and some in old forested areas. This house is 80 years old, and I'm betting the front and back yards have either been grass or garden for the better part of that time.
perenniallyme, If you want to, go ahead and take them out. I started some two years without cold and they germinated well. I remember them being quick to germinate as well. It could be possible I just have a strain that germinates without cold. : )
I think I'll go ahead and try some tomorrow. I'll just leave a few seeds for later just in case. Thanks.
I'm envious of anybody starting out with good dirt! :-)
After I posted I wondered which type you have? I have only grown the E. purpurea, I know there are others like angustifolia and that one could be totally different. I went to look in my journal to see if I kept track of the dates I sowed and when they germinated but I only had pictures of the seedlings, no dates. I hate when I forget to put down the dates. Part of my problem was using wooden popsicle sticks last year. I wrote the start dates on them and a lot of them faded off before I got them entered in my journal. Just a warning - it looks like they are fast growers. Just thought I should warn you, so you don't end up with monster plants before you can plant them out. Here they are april 14th (they are in the big round container) http://davesgarden.com/tools/blog/viewimage.php?did=44814 and here they are april 29th http://davesgarden.com/community/journals/si/165828/ Got big fast huh?
fixed link : )
This message was edited Feb 10, 2009 11:05 PM
Thanks for all the input! To put it bluntly my soil is crap. It's a hard clay base peppered with burried stone and asphalt. I've still not figured out what was burried there to account for the small rocks and asphalt but...
Interesting enough only last summer I found out that my back lot was actually a clay field at one time and the clay was 'harvested' to make bricks. Back the lane from me is a big old farm house that supposedly belonged to the owner and held the kilns (or whatever it takes to make clay bricks.) I, of course now live in what was once the manager's house. *Sigh* I am destined to always be the hired help. LOL!
Sorry I wandered off the subject there for a minute. I think I will go ahead and lay down some layers. It may not break down totally in a few months time, but it will surely make it easier to do the tilling in the spring wouldn't you think? Just how thick do I want to build it up?
gemini- I don't have a lawn yet that I mow, so I usually just mow the various weeds. Last year I let it go and had a wildflower look of toadflax. It looked like a carpet of blue. I actually got compliments. Little did they know that the mower crapped out :-). I think I'll let it go again this year LOL!
They did get big fast Meredith, but by the end of April they can go outside here!!! Mine are hybrids and possibly crosses of those - an orange one and a yellow one - have to look up their names - so they'll probably not grow nearly as fast - if my sun-something one is at all indicative. It's a midget of the regular pink one.
Lala - layer up as much as you can. One of the neat things with lasagna (whether it's cardboard or newspaper) is it blocks out the sun, AND the birds :-) This means the worms will be more likely to migrate over and help with improving the soil. If you can find a place that's got composted horse manure, add that to the layers and things will really take off - just be sure it's composted - that gets rid of the smell and also gives it time to break down. Horse owners typically will give their animals dewormers, and if the manure hasn't sat for a while then that will leach into your soil and get rid of the first few rounds of worms that try to move in. The trick is the layering - start with something that blocks out anything from growing up (the cardboard/newspaper) and then layer stuff on top of that. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at how quickly it works, and how well things can grow in it. To plant, just cut a hole in the pile and stick the plant in the hole, and tuck stuff around it (without burying it too much) and the plant should do fine.
Perenniallyme those echies sound gorgeous! I want to try some of the hybrids. There is a very interesting one in the bluestones catalog I was thinking of trying. I think it is called sunset? It looks really pretty in the catalog. I'm trying to have will power and not order through the mail. Although, I found this great nursery close by last year and I want to save my budget for shopping there. : )
i said the same thing lol didnt makes ordered a hole buch of stuff
I got some of those yellow and orange echies for my sis (as plants) about 5 years ago, and they only lasted 2-3 years, then just petered out. They don't seem to have the hardiness of the regular purple ones. I checked with a couple friends of mine who'd grown them, and they also found the new colored echies to be a bit on the wimpy side. Not sure if that's changed over the past year or so.
Meredith, what I have are "harvest moon" and "sundown" from Lala_Jane in the piggy swap. Still don't remember the name of the hybrid in my garden, but could be sunset - it's sun-something, but is a waaay slower grower than the pink echies. I'm not even sure if it grew at all last year. And the few white ones I had seem to have died out entirely, so I don't have a whole lot of faith in echie hybrids. Could be like coreopsis. I have plain old orange-yellow ones that take over my garden if I let them, but the few hybrids I've tried have all acted like annuals and not come back, so I don't buy them anymore.
PS cross-posted with you dryad. Agree 100%.
This message was edited Feb 11, 2009 9:42 AM