Lala, maybe you should call a psychic detective or a plant whisperer to find your missing seedlings.
Gardening: Cottage Garden Seed Swap & Chat #31
I've never had problems germinating Lavender.... getting it to survive to the following year is another story.
tcs1366, I plant my lavender in groups of three. I make a kind of raised triangle, and I "mulch" with white limestone gravel. Apparently, lavender likes to be "high and dry" - it needs excellent drainage, and the white limestone chips help reflect the sun, aiding in drying the lavender after a rainstorm.
Seandor what type of lavender did you send out? I started some but I'd have to hunt down the package to see if it was yours. It would be cool if it overwintered here, I have very fast draining soil here so that is a good start at least. Maybe I'll try your idea, I was thinking on making a bed with gravel mulch for penstemons and others that would benefit from it. : )
KL Staurt gorgeous red petunias!
Lea and Tcs - thanks for the info on the containers. :)
The last time I did jugs - I had them under my deck, rain still gets through the cracks but apparently not enough because after one warm day, the containers all dried out and I lost half of the stuff that had germinated! Plus even though they were pretty much shaded most of the day - the sun they would get was strong late afternoon sun. That is why I am trying a different spot. I will probably just stick the covers back on if it rains too long, because I don't really know where else I could move them :)
They like the lime! OMG, I've tried to figure out the key to Lavender for a long time. I can't recall how many times I've planted them only to watch them dwindle into nothing. I have some now that my friend who lived here before I did planted. Its in a spot I would have thought less than ideal, in quite a bit of shade and in clay soil (rich, but with high clay content). They're beautiful, and I've dared not touch them, LOL. Our soils around here are limestone based, and my previous gardens where I tried lavender had different soil that was somewhat acidic (another region of the state).
They've endured the droughts we've had the last couple of years beautifully, so I want to get more varieties going.
I'm not really sure what kind I've got - there's a tag somewhere - but I think my lavender is on it's 4th year. I bought it as a plant and didn't do anything special with it, just plunked it in the ground. My soil is mostly clay, but I do amend when planting. It gets mostly sun.
the Lav i do have, is planted in with my roses, right against the foundation... it dies back - probably root rot, as it's wet most of the winter, though it has "moved" and popped up in other area... so out of the 4 I purchased, i have 3 left ... and i'd say 2 of those 3 are ones that "moved" and popped up farther from the mother plant ... which is about half gone.
maybe i'll move what is left, and get some lime in there.... but i keep it with the roses to keep the aphids away.
Lavender also prefers alkaline soil - so throwing some lime (you know, the stuff you put on the lawn) is a good idea as well. If I had clay soil, I would add a lot of sand to it. Lavender is originally from the mediterranian, so it really likes to be on the dry side.
the type of lavender seed I sent is 'Hidcote Blue'
Oh La, I thought petunias crossed easily I was so concerned about my red ones lol It's good to know that, that was only my second year growing them and first year for saving seeds so I was really trying to be careful with them, thanks :)
Sounds like you do well with those grasses getting them to germinate La, I just never realized we could grow the zebra from seed, I’ll be saving more seeds now for piggies, Good Job :)
Aw Tonya, look at my baby :) The others look pretty too! I hope to get mine planted tonite.
Wooohooooo, I have Maozamom’s gaillardia Tojaker and Fanfare germinating, I may have lost the fanfare that I had last year I babied that thing for two years too, I thought I had some orange and lemons from Fairy but I can’t find them, where do these seeds go :( I also had some golden goblin left from last year that’s coming up I don’t remember who those were from. I never had that much luck with gaillardias before I only got like one plant out of all of the seeds I planted but this year I put them in almost dry soiless mix and there are quite a few germinating lol That seems so strange to me lol
I have Indian Blanket Flower coming up from pyromomma too :)
I had the lavender ‘True’ for about three years and it bit the dust, that was the longest I ever had a plant but those have been gone about two years now so I’ll try Seandor’s way of doing the ones I’m sowing for this year.
Lea don't take my word on the petunia thing. Maybe I've just been lucky with the yellows....like I said my purple ones DID change the next year so I can't say that they won't cross for sure..
I'm planing a few together for this year, seems I'm planning on having a few more colors than I thought I would, gonna have to hit the nursery! I wish they could make a really nice deep yellow but bright in petunias wouldn't that be pretty, maybe one day.
I was tempted at Wally World to get their $5 tublers of some dahlias today, there were three tublers but they were small, of course :) They had a real pretty catcus type that was pink with a cream center looked really nice they'll be gone by the time I get back. I need to keep my spending down on plants too but it's easier said than done by golly! lol
You know you all are a bunch of enablers on here lol I used to never grow annuals as you can probably tell lol
Lea I've bought stuff from walmart and the plants are never the same colors as they show on the package. Just thought I'd warn ya, doesn't mean you won't get something pretty. Just might not look like what they show on the package. : )
I'm thinking on the petunias not coming back true that it might be more of going back to parentage since a lot are hybrids than crossing. This will be my first year to grow from seed. I have always bought plants and just used what reseeded. Last year which was about the 3rd year I had just about everything but polka dots. Some blooms had strange combos of colors and the way the colors were arranged on the bloom. They were very pretty and interesting though. If I remember right they started out as the Madness series.
LeBug, I haven't had much success with any of the gaillardias I started except some pulchella from tcs. The others I got either nothing or one single sprout on the oranges & lemons. Are you saying they like it fairly dry to start? I'm hoping the ones I wintersowed will do better!
I won't be buying any there anyway Meredith, I think I'm going to have to start depending on what I can get seed for for a while :) I got a nice astilbe bulb only one out of three from one of those packs last year it should bloom this year I hope. I only paid $2 for it though thought that was a good deal even if I just got one out of it and I did lol Oh gosh! I hope it's a red one forgot about that! I'll let you know.
perenniallyme, my seed tray was almost dry and I sprayed the top good when I planted them then it dried out fast on top so I just left it a couple of days then sprayed it again then they were up today :) I'm so proud lol The top was just barely dry when I sprayed it. I took a label and made groves in the soil to so the sides of the soil would give them moisture. I planted them the 4th of Feb.
Veronica, I've never had petunias reseed before but I've only grown them a couple of years, I saved the pot that they were in from last year and I'm going to put it out in the spring rains and see what happens.
I bought deep velvety purple petunias for several years, then finally saved the seeds. About 80% came back the same, but the other 20% were crazy ... all shades of purple from light lilac to the darker purple, some had the white stipes. And the purple was the only color of petunias I had ... but I have neighbors. I've gone back to buying them since I really like the solid color. And I love your red petunia Meridith. I'm into the wave petunias right now. Saved and started my purple ones, and Lala's pink ones.
Oh, and Lebug, the purple petunias would volunteer for 2 years after I stopped growing them. lol
I believe with Petunias its not only cross pollination, but reverting back to their parents (and eventually back to the species) that you see from saved seed. Seems like pinks and purples are more prone to that- I wonder if they're just closer to the original species?
Lea, I not only successfully stored my Dahlia tubers this winter, but have been able to divide several of the tubers! Looks like I'm going to have a few extra ones, I'd be happy to send you a few :-)
Lea that's funny you got an astilbe there - I got some there a couple years back. 2 out of four came up - they have been quite small, but they could just not like their spot. : ) They actually did end up being red like they were supposed to. All the other stuff I got was the wrong color though.
I'd say about half the bulbs I've gotten from WM were mislabeled.
Yup - I bought some dafs that were labeled as a pink mix and not one was pink. Plus they have been in the ground for a couple seasons and they are still not very vigorous. On the other hand I have bought dafs at HD much cheaper than most mail order places and was very pleased with them.
Meredith, if you are looking for good prices on good Daffodils, talk to me in fall. I'm not only picky, but very cheap, LOL. I like to order from VanEngelen, and they sell in larger quantities for good prices. Its fun to split up and swap bulbs. There are usually some good co ops on Daffs too. I was thinking some kind of Daffodil swap could be fun, but when you add in the expense of re-shipping them, the price per bulb goes up. It could be a good idea for some of the more expensive varieties though.
Gemini, I tried John Scheepers this past fall - I think they might be they the same? Just one is larger quantities than the other, I could be confusing them with something else. I did my first co-op last year. I got a bunch of crocus - it did end up costing about the same as if I had just ordered them myself - after shipping. I don't think I'll be doing any co-ops again unless there is a significant savings. There was a lot of confusion in the one i was in, it turned a little ugly at the end. Not in regards to my order at least. : )
Just swinging by to try to keep up with y'all. I transplanted a boatload of babies yesterday, and have more to do. I am so hissed that my gh roof has a gap in it - I really don't want to spend two days taking the dang thing apart and putting it back together, but oh well.
A word on the petunia seeds - Neal's right (I think it was Neal) in that if they're a hybrid they won't come true (but you guys knew this already). I remember some nuggest Suzy dropped about petunias last year - she said they rarely come true if they're something like the Purple Cascades that we got from the 2007 Stokes co-op she hosted. I don't recall her saying anything about crossing though....
And if you're looking for a *specific* kind of daff - try dropping Suzy a dmail. I don't know how often she is on DG anymore, but she's past president of the Daff Society and has a showcase of daffs in her yard.
hey-1/2 my post is gone-I had sowing instructions and a comment-hmm:(
I had put takes less than 2 weeks at 68*.....hmmm-how weird.....
>>try dropping Suzy a dmail. I don't know how often she is on DG anymore,
Last time i talked to her [thru Email] which was a few months ago.... I think she said she hadn't logged on in a long time and was literally afraid of all the Dmail that would be in her box. I think the best way to get her, was to email her.
Terese - that's a good point, she does get a LOT of dmail - but then it's her own fault for knowing so darned much!
J.Scheepers is the sister company to Van Engelen. Splitting orders with local folks works better for saving $ without having to ship. There are usually some co ops through eflowergarden, I've gotten some great bulbs at great prices through those.
Daffodil season has had me thinking of Suzy! I sure do miss her around here.
Speaking of daphs :) I think I told you the neighbor is moving out and r an the moving truck over my blank bed that I had seeds in well, they set their garbage cans right on top of my daphs coming up by the mail box! I have about four bunches of daphs coming up there that are about 5” high and they are all bent over today! Such rude people they have plenty of room on ‘their’ side to put their cans and they have to put them on my side of the drive, they have no property over there! I went out and moved all four cans and all of the garbage that was falling out of them, such rude people I’m so glad they are getting out! I have a Risky Business hosta there that hasn’t started coming up yet thank goodness if they would have set the cans on that they would have heard me where ever they are today lol
Come to think of it I bet that Astilbe that I got at wally world won’t bloom this year because it was so small but I hope it does. Whenever they have those on sale I bet a lot of the bulbs are out of their boxes at the end of the season and they just shove them back in not knowing if they have the right color or not.
Let me tell you about my screw up last night lol I’m so used to covering pansies w hen I plant them, A n sonfan sent me some violas for a basket, ye p, I covered them and they need light lol Now I need to go in there and find ten seeds to uncover! Lol That’s gonna be fun!
Neal, I might take you up on those dahlias, maybe we could do a trade, I still haven’t checked my tubers out though so I still don’t know what kind of shape they are in :) Maybe tonite, that’s my famous last words here lately lol
Toofew, I’ve been hearing of a few of you growing those pretty dark purple petunias I may pick some of those up this year those would look so pretty with my red ones.
It’s a beautiful day here today, no wind like the last three days or so, I’m going to be playing outside :)
we are sunny too, and thankfully the 2 days of rain had ended... though more for tomorrow... i was actually out back this morning -- when i feed the birds and squirrels... i was pulling spent plants from last year.... out back, it's easiest to pull stuff when the ground is wet... once it dries, i'ts like concrete. so i put on my boots and slosh around in the soupy grass / mud. but got a bit done.
had the most beautifull weekend tshirt weather sun shine and all
well awoke this morning to reality lol snow again only half an inch
but its still snow hahahah gone tomorrow I hope
Lea, weren't you the one who sent me penstemons last year?...or was that Fairy?
I just checked on my babies ( seedlings) and found four baby lantanas yes they finally came up only took three weeks lol hope to get more I planted 30 of them
wait..Lea...you mean Violas don't need light, yet pansies DO??? I'm getting so confused!
Neal, I don't collect penstemon seeds haven't figured that out yet but if it was plants I may have, I sent you something but can't remember what it was :) It may have been wall flowers that I sent, I had a lot of both lol
tcs, we are getting more rain for tomorrow too, we must have about the same weather for now.
I was going to cut some plants down and do some spring cleaning outside but forgot about the big limbs that fell durring the snow and ice storm, I'm about worn out and there is one limb that will have to stay put until I get someone to help me to move it lol I was trying to clear a space to park my dog when I have him out of the pen, all of the limbs fell where I usually put him so he's tied out where the sun is with no shade :(
On a good note it feels great outside!!! Going back out :))
all seeds need light but most do not need sunshine to germinate only bright light but after germination they some need sunshine and some still only need bright light it depends on the type of plant and what they need in the garden
like my columbines are doing amazing in in north window since they do not like direct sun since they are shade plants
I have three different penstemon growing at the moment they came up about two weeks ago and now are getting the first set of real leaves.
No Robin, this one viola needs light I don't remember any others that need light, this is one that tumbles over the basket :) A different one.
http://www.tmseeds.com/product/4623.html
Isn't it pretty :)
scicciarella, my penstemons have stayed green all winter.
that is strange are they not reseeding annuals
No they are:
red rocks
mexicali mix
barbatus
The barbatus look better than all of them just like there wasn't even a winter I can't believe it!
You know you are in a zone colder than me. I even have Veronica that's still green :)
This message was edited Mar 9, 2009 4:07 PM