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Christopher and I headed out to a couple of the local gardening supply stores to see what they had in the way of seeds. We found the usual suspects (beans, corn, peas, maters, peppers, melons, etc.) but we also found cactus seeds! I have never even owned a cactus, much less tried growing one from from seed. The packet gave pretty basic planting instructions, and since there are supposed to be 10 kinds of cacti in the envelope, we shall see what sprouts forth. Listed varieties are: saguaro, hedgehog, fishook barrel, dollar prickly pear, desert prickly pear, Christmas cholla, cane cholla, Santa Rita prickly pear, and cardo'n. I'll have to look up pictures of most of those, as the saguaro and prickly pear are about the only ones I've even heard of.
I also started the usual, peppers (lots this year, Christopher's been eating them raw like candy) and tomatoes. Only planted one variety of maters, as we've had so many volunteers in years past I had to weed them out! They produced, as well, which I've heard isn't usual. I'm now debating whether or not to have an indoor herb garden, with basil, oregano, chives, mint, maybe cilantro. Have all the seeds, even started mint today, but I'm not sure I'd be able to keep up with both gardens come summertime.
Now all I need to do is figure out how to put pictures into my blogs, as one is worth a thousand words, eh? 'Til then, look at my Photos, there's an album named "New Beginnings."
Cheers, and keep on digging!
has come and brought the winds of the north with her. Lots of sunshine. One of those days that if you had some protection from the breeze, you could take a nice nap outside.
The bed I made on the bank in my front yard is having to be redone. I spent three days digging that ole wild bermuda grass out of one end. Only half of the Verbena made it due to the heat and drought. The Knock Out Roses look wonderful though. I have some Ipheion "star flower" growing all over the place that is in the garlic family. It comes up very early with beautiful little blue flowers and when it quits blooming the whole plant dies down. Wonderful for in the lawn. I will put those all over the bank as I dig them up this spring. Then I have some Vinca Major with a variegated leaf that can spread like wild fire if you let it. Last year one plant tried to grow up the gutter downspout. It is a nice plant if you can control its wunderlust. Pretty purple flowers. My plan last year was to put some daylilies on that bank and I will continue that thought. Will also try some of that creeping potato vine in green and deep purple. Then I also have lots of the Purple Heart that might make it as well as some of the spider plant that is generally grown for in the house. It survives the winters here and it would spread as well. Will just have to experiment to see what will make it over this next year.
My little seedlings got potted up this morning. Lots of Virginia Bell, Strawflower and Red Salvia. Now if they just make it a few more weeks inside. I have a couple of what I think are Flying Saucer Morning Glories that look really good and one Malva Zerbina (sp?) seedling which I hope will do well. Thank goodness I didn't use all the seed I traded for in this attempt at growing inside. Have decided that if I do seeds inside again, I won't do but one or two trays. It is work caring for these little plants.
When the bank is finished I will build the screen cover for my little seed bed so it will be ready about the 2nd week in April. Just don't trust that we won't have a bit of frost before then. Lots of seeds will go in there. I love seeing the little sprouts come out of the bare ground, so I am excited to have so many different types to try this year.
Have been toying with the idea of a raised veggie bed. It would be great to have fresh tomatos, squash and cukes. Haven't gone beyond the dream at present. Won the book on Square Foot Gardening at a mini seminar at my favorite greenhouse last weekend. That is a nice concept and he is easy to understand with great pictures and diagrams.
In looking at all the plants in the gardens, most are showing signs of new growth. Clematis, hosta, fern, my new hardy cyclamen and even the guara (pink and white) that I moved is coming out great, the sedums are looking good also. Am hoping that the Plumbago I moved will thrive, it is not quite time to see it sprout, though very soon.
A couple of weeks ago I spread some Corn Meal Guten over the yard in an attempt to ward off so many of the summer weeds. The Gluten is used as a pre-emergence. This winter the weeds/grasses have been over producing. I am wondering if this is not a heavy growth this season. We have had a couple of very mild winters and if you don't prevent them they grow well. Just would love to see the Centipede grass grow as well as this winter grass (I don't know the name of it, but should, I am thinking a wild fescue?)
I ordered a red and a white Astilbe from Spring Hill Nursery. They offered me a free $25 dollar order. So who can turn that down. Most of the time you get 25 off a 50 dollar order. And I have taken a couple of those over the years. These plants are on their way, so I am watching for the postman with excitement.
The order I put in to Dutch Bulbs will start trickling in soon, the first to be expected are the Everbearing Strawberries and Hello Yellow Butterfly plants. Also chose: Bleeding Heart, Firecracker Flower, Candle Flower, Louisiana Iris Black Gamecock (for my DH who loves the SC gamecocks) two Fuchsias and a hardy Fuchsia (which I can't remember is different from the other two). I love this time of year. Don't know which I love more, the aticipation of getting the plants in the mail or waiting for them to grow and burst out blooming.
In the midst of all this dreaming and scheming of planting flowers, we had to have the bathroom ceiling replaced. Had a leak in there at one time and with a plaster walled home we decided to just replace that ceiling with sheetrock. Now to clean up all that sanding dust and paint. Then to decide whether I want to just leave it Kilz white or actually put some color on the walls for now. This house was built in the 1950's and it has the black and white theme. White wall tile with black edging and the tiny black and white tile flooring. Bad but what do you do? Live with it was our decision.
Now that I have worn your eyeballs down to nothing, that is if you even made it to this point, my time is up.
More to Come Later whether you like it or not
Here are some pics of *most* of my indoor plants and seedlings which I have started from seed for spring this year. All were started from seed, except for that succulent in the big white pot there. Many of them are still waiting to sprout.
I'm at the point now where I'm trying to acclimate some of the hardier plants to the outdoors, just to make room for my growing collection. It's getting quite crowded in here, but if I don't overdo it like this, I'll probably wish I had all summer. So, hopefully it will pay off. ;) Even though I am starting so many annuals, I have quite a few perennials too, so perhaps I won't have quite the same madness in here next year. I've also winter sown quite a few things, as well as direct sowed flower seeds, sugar snap peas, lettuce, spinach and Swiss chard.
The local nursery gave me some plain large and small black plastic pots. I felt that even though they were within my budget (free), they should still be pretty, so I painted them. I'm also sanding and painting that room, which is why there's dust all over the floor. ;)
This is a coleus that I pinched the heck out of at its growing points so that it would grow in more fully. The pic is kind of blurry. It has grown in since then, quite well.
One of my Malva Zebrinas has begun to bloom indoors!! Only 2 months after sowing. A marigold has bloomed too, but I don't have a pic of that just yet.
Most of the seedlings have their first true set of leaves! Things are moving along well. I need to get a second grow light and move them higher this week. Here are this weeks photos:
The Tomatoes are really taking off as you can see. As I thought the Chili's did not sprout, but that's ok, I really hadn't planned for space for them in the garden. The Cilantro still might sprout another couple plants but I really only needed two. Finally the Rosemary started coming up, I was beginning to wonder, but right on time there it was. So here are the photos from this week. You can also see them in my photo albums.
Well, the marigolds are starting to set flower buds indoors just 4 weeks after sowing. Sheesh!! I had no idea they grew that fast. Oh well. It will be nice to have some pretty flowers indoors while I'm still waiting for spring.
Two of my coleus are starting to look very nice. They take quite a while to get started, but the longer they're around, the faster the new leaves grow. So they're growing at a decent pace by now.
I finally located some Epsom salt at the pharmacy, after have looked in several nurseries for it. 4 lbs. for 3 bucks. Not too bad. I've already put some on some of my more well established plants. We'll see if it makes any difference. So far, at least, it hasn't killed anything. ;)
I just sowed a bunch of tomato seeds-- beefsteak, cherry, Italian heirloom, and Italian market. Hopefully my crop will be better this year since I'm starting them so early, and I think I have a bit better of an idea of what I'm doing this year.
My one daylily which germinated about two months ago is really starting to take off. It must have been establishing a good root system in all of that time. Now sets of leaves are starting to poke through on the other side of the pot. And the new leaves seem much thicker and sturdier that the first set of leaves. I'm still waiting on the rest of my daylily seeds. Just because they haven't germinated yet, doesn't necessarily mean that they're duds. ;)
I have 58 hosta seeds. I most sincerely hope that all or most of them germinate and grow. I could so easily use 58 hostas around the yard.
What can I say?? I wish it was warm out! I'm so itching to get outside and move around at least a bit. But at least I'll be somewhat prepared this spring. ;)
Things are popping up left and right, here are some photos from Saturday.
The whole tray back row: Cilantro, Oregano, Thyme, Rosemary, Chives, Chile Pepper, Beefsteak Tomato, Yellow Pear Tomato front left: Parsley, Basil
Basil and Thyme
Tomatoes
Alpine Strawberries
Well, I went to the nursery yesterday to look for manure, straw, Epsom salt, and 6-cell starter pots. They don't carry Epsom salt, they didn't currently have manure and straw, and they don't normally carry 6-cell starter pots, though they said they might be able to order them for me. BUT they did have a pile of old plastic pots that they let me rummage through for free. I got a bunch of 3" and 4" square pots, plus 2 giant pots which will be good for tomatoes. Plus I bought a bag of 10-10-10 all purpose fertilizer. So, all in all, I'd say it was a worthwhile trip. I'm planning on painting the big pots and maybe some of the little pots so they won't look like cheap black plastic, even though that's what they are.
As for my indoor garden, I've counted and I have a little over 150 plants started. I've been rotating them under the lights and in the windowsills since I don't really have the number of light fixtures to accommodate all plants 24/7. I realized about a week ago that those coily long-life light bulbs that go in regular table lamps are actually florescent. So I've been using those to increase and enhance my indoor garden. One of my main problems so far seems to be that my cat loves to eat my hollyhocks. I've started a pot with 10-15 hollyhock seeds just for him. I hope that will be enough to keep him occupied.
In addition to my indoor garden, I've winter sowed about 150 seeds outdoors. None of them have yet germinated, but I'll keep you posted. :)
As promised, here are some pics of my seedlings and makeshift light stands.
This is some grass that I grew indoors for my cat. I got the idea when I saw seeds in a catalog for "cat grass". It said that cats need a certain amout of vegetation to aid digestion. And after my cat ate 3 small Malva Zebrina plants to death, I decided to grow some grass for him. He isn't much interested in the grass, but my dog ate some from one of the pots when she had an upset tummy, so it wasn't a total waste. 
Leek seeds on the windowsill... haven't yet germinated. 
An assortment of pots and seeds. Some have seeds or seedlings in them, some are still waiting.
From left to right... Balloon Flower seedlings, Blue Flax seedlings, and two 3 month old Coleus plants. 
From left to right... Larkspur seedlings, a 6-pack of Hollyhock seedlings, a 4 week old daylily in the white pot, you can't really see it in the picture, but it's there, I promise, and two 1 1/2 month old Hollyhocks.
Some of you may be wondering why I'm starting seeds so early here in chilly zone 6b. Well... I have my reasons, no, really, I do. For one thing, I'm hoping that some of my perennials will flower this year. I'm even secretly dreaming that my foxgloves will bloom this summer, though being biennials, that is very unlikely. Another reason, some--not all--of the seeds that I'm starting are said to take anywhere from a few weeks to months to germinate. So, if they do take that long, then I may only have one or two sets of true leaves on them by the time Spring rolls around, even though starting them so early. With the annuals, I'm hoping to get a full summer's worth of flowers out of them, so I guess I'm erring on the side of having too many big plants to deal with indoors rather than having them bloom only to be killed by a frost a little while later. So... that's my story, and I'm stickin' to it. ;)
OK, they call them dragon trees. But they are a vine, a succulent vine that likes to climb. I got the idea to save the seeds so asked and Spiceoflife had some growing. Taking their advice and my own weird ideas...I have SEEDLINGS! Rather a few in fact...and more popping up...and the good thing is I have people who will like them too, haha!
We had the nasty, mash your plant, pull them off their stakes, kind of rain this morning. I love rain, I love what it does to all my beautiful flowers and how fresh everything looks and smells after a good rain. This was not that kind of rain. This was the noisy make 'Budder' the wonder lab crazy lightening, booming thunder rain.
Oh, it is nothing I did not get over. I went out after it was all over and the sun came out sort of timidly I might add, and retyed the tomatoes and propted up the Giant Dhalias. I pulled up some leggy snapdragons and a few weeds(which I attack after a rain they pop right up!) My back gave out and my legs got all wobbly which having MS, I am used to, so it was rest time.
There was no real damage and the new seedling are popping up, so all is good. Just next time I would like the nice rain...I am spoiled.
After the transplanting, only two of my tomato seedlings are looking like they're not going to make it. The rest are looking perky and smelling like tomatoes.
My beans are also starting to sprout. I wouldn't know this except for that when I planted them, there were two that I planted too close to the surface. Now I can see the shoots uncurling from the seed - it looks like the beans were in the fetal position, and now they are starting to stretch out.
Now I've got to wait till it's warm outside before putting them in the ground. Hurry up warm sunny weather!
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