By now most have you have the 2010 seed and plant catalogs in hand. First one arrived right at Halloween and have been coming in the mail at a steady rate.
Lets chat about the catalogs and their offerings, what is making you drool, what are you going to reorder, will you be trying anything new.
Oh Lady, You are reminding me that there are some Poppies that I want to order. Thanks!!
I am thinking about trying the Pam's Split Digitalis, T&M has 30 seeds for $3.95 and Parks 50 seeds $2.95. (No brainer here)
Parks also carries the Avalanche Petunia series they did really good for me in 2008, in 2009 I went with the Tidal wave series from an other company, I did not get the results I wanted so back to the Avalanche.
What types of Poppies, Stormy?
Pic of Avalanche Cherry, it bloomed all summer.
I have been thinking maybe I should start my pansies now? Seems like they weren't near as big as I wanted them last time I grew them from seeds.
I really liked the Mexican Heather I got last year from the HGHA plug sale. It has a real interesting shape. It's small and so are the flowers but it would make a great border plant and it was the last annual I had blooming this fall. I didn't even pull it when it died as it held it's shape and had such a pretty yellow color when it dried. Of course now it's mush.
Lady, I want to grow several different types of poppies. There are some more Oriental varieities that I want to try and this year I also want to try some of the annual poppies. I'm looking to add some purple ones in both the perennials and annuals.
I also want to grow some salvias, penstemons and rudbeckias from seed.
Did you see the astilbe on the cover of the Bluestone catalog? I think it is 'Ostrich Plume', but I'm not sure. It definitely caught my eye, and I'll probably be ordering some for my hillside shade garden. I was also thinking about some heliotrope for a container combination, and I'm sure as winter goes on there will be a lot more that gets added to the list :-) Terri
Terri, the Astilbe on the cover reads "Peach Blossom" It is a pretty one for sure. I have not had luck with Astilbe, but it could be me and I tryed it before I went through the composting phase on this piece of property.
I have a gift certificate for Blue Stone that I have to use, I'm sure I'll go over the $ amount. LOL
Terri, The one on the cover is not "Ostrich Plume". OS is a real beauty that has graceful downward arching blooms. There's a photo of it on page 11.
Lady, I tried for 3 years before I was able to have any success with Astilbe. It absolutely can't be let to dry out, and it really prefers shade, even in spring.
It absolutely can't be let to dry out
Chris, I looked up that Pam's Split Digitalis. It's very pretty. Where will you plant it?
LOL Stormy, good question! With Digitalis taking 2 years to bloom I have time to figure that out. No really I am planing to add flowers to both sides of the picket fence and have dumped last years container soil out to start a new bed.
This is a picture of the side facing the public sidewalk I want a mass of flowers on the other side.
LOL, Chris. I'll be interested to see how your babies feel about that.
Stormy, I would go halves with poppy seeds if you would like.
I really want Zinnias this year. I was thinking they might be a good one for WS?
I remember someone showing a huge bed of them and commenting that they pulled the seed heads. Maybe there will be some at one of the swaps?
Anyone growing Pansies, are you starting them yet?
My Astilbe grows well they are in a shady location. I think I should get more for that raised wall bed and maybe over by the potting shed.
I will have to rethink my purchasing practices as the co-op pickings are going to be slim this year.
This message was edited Dec 28, 2009 2:06 PM
Holly, Send me your email address and I will send you links to what I want to order. Some are to die for.
I bet Ruby has some Astilbe seeds. They might take several years to go from seed to bloom.
Stormy, That is one reason I'm doing all the planting. The girls will still have the gate to do their barking, I'm hoping "out of site out of mind". Of course I'll have to put up one of those wire edging fences to keep them out of the bed till it gets established.
Paul is working on the basement area for my seed starting, he has to finish the cement floor, install the kitchen sink and cabinet that my boss tore out of the apartment above the office, install outlets for lighting, timer and heat mats, and move in my plant stands. The question is will he have it done in time.
Holly, I remember the thread on the poppy seedheads, the neighbor turned her in for growing poppies for drugs. Thats a standing joke at my house too with all the lights on in the basement.
Such silliness. I think it's only 1 type of poppy that is illegal to grow, and I'm not sure it's a federal ban, might vary from state to state. I was just reading about it recently.
Holly, JFleming said she had a ton of Zinnia seeds.
Yes, that is who thanks Stormy,
LOL Ladyg, what a great improvement that will be for your growing area. Sounds like a good bit of work for Paul especially the cement floor. I will be looking forward to pictures when you get it done.
Holly, It won't be much of a looker, it's the area where the coal was dumped, and the large sewage pipes for the house. It will be better then the space under the steps and using the chest freezer top for my work space and having to put everything away so we could get into the freezer and carrying watering cans down to water everything.
I may just be able to grow enough extra plants to put out a small table to sell extras on the weekend, when people are searching yard sales. I think that would be fun.
Lady, That sounds like a lot of fun. You'll probably make a few friends (gardeners) and may meet a lot more of your neighbors.
I also want to try a few more varieties of Galliardia this year. They bloomed right up until they got buried under 18" of snow.
Wonder why I haven't gotten my Bluestone catalog. Maybe the postmistress is a gardener and is reading it at lunchtime. I must look up that digitalis. I had one in 2008 purchased from the spring plant sale, but it didn't reseed. Definitely time to try again. I do have packets of pink and purple zinnia seeds from 2009 that I never got around to. I wonder if they're still viable.
Pam, They probably are. I'd go ahead and plant them.
Pam, go ahead and request a Bluestone catalog on their website, you may not be in their mailing system. I had to do that, now that I mail ordered from them I get a catalog from them every year.
I'm going to try my 3rd attempt at growing some Lupines. Maybe they will survive this time, if I sow them earlier. Last time I started them in March.
I'm gonna do both, start the seed and sign up for the catalog. I have ordered from Bluestone the past two years based on y'alls recommendations and been really pleased. Maybe I inadventently threw it away in one of my tidying fits. Fortunately those don't come upon me too often.
I've had bad luck with Lupines too. Wonder what the secret is?
Pam, not to make you jealous, but I live about 1 hour away from Bluestone, I try to get up to their sale the 2nd week of June, but if there is something I really want I'll mail order as by sale time some things are gone.
Don't know, Lady. My friend who lives near Holly, grows beautiful ones.
We will see about the Lupines, I planted one a couple of years ago and it was just beautiful. The next year it was gone but I had new ones popping up. Last year Ric picked up somemore which got planted pretty late in the season. So I am waiting to see what pops up next spring. Good thing about Lupine seedlings I can recognize them and they don't get weeded out. LOL
Well ladies, I did read that Lupines like soil on the acid side, good drainage, and dislikes clay, which I have plenty.
Holly, I have had the same experience as you with the lupines, here one year and maby a hint of a few the next year that never grow up.
But I will try again.
Same experience here, although one lone plant survived and got big this summer, but never bloomed. My friend actually lives about 35 to 40 minutes north of Harrisburg, so I think it is cooler there than at Holly's home.
Ladyg, I have a lot of clay soil here. LOL Sally's comment last year, She said you can always tell my plants at the swaps when you get them home cause they are planted in that funny red dirt.
Hey Stormy, I will be out your way tomorrow. Heading down to Camden to the Aquarium with my daughter and a couple of grandchildren. Ric isn't comming says he will wait until Sunday to do all his walking. LOL
Have a good time Holly. The weather should be Ok, just some flurries, maybe. I remember your red clay soil. It was like brick red glue. I have one bed that could use some of it. I raised it and put way too much leaf mold in it. It needs more real dirt, something to make it bind together better. I get a lot of heaving there.
Hello, everybody!! Hope you had a nice New Year's.
Oh, yes, seeds. Last year I bought a number of poppies and started them but they got lost in the transplanting. This year, I am going to put them in makred pots and keep a close eye on them. I think the bunnies know what happened.
I am looking at Renee's Gardden for vegetable and herb seeds, wanted to try some new greens and lettuce and hot peppers. I pored over Territorial Seeds catalog yesterday. I want to get their Heliotrope plant again and some seed, too. It smells wonderful!! The plant didn't overwinter last year.
I want to try Goji berries and Boysenberries. Also, a new strawberry. I don't know what kind I currently have. They have been doing well for 5 years, but I want to try the new varities that are supposedly improved on flavor.
Foxn, I was looking through Nichols Garden Catalog, they are carrying a lot of Lettuce and Asian Greens. They also has the Wolfberry (Goji) plant. Might want to check them out. I'll have to check out Renee's, I have never seed that one.
My clay is tan, and hard as rocks, the soil to the north up near the Lake is sandy ( Clay + Sand = Cement) I go through a lot of compost and peat, not much organic matter in my soil, but it has been improving over the years. Finding more worms when I dig, which is a great sign.
Foxy, You should reserve some of your Poppy seeds and try direct sowing them. You could sew them in the ground now and leave them alone or cover them with soda or milk bottles with the bottoms cut out. The seeds need to be cold. I've had limited success with starting them in spots other than their final destination. Lots of seeds used, and very few survivors.
The plants have to be just the right size and vigor and the location ideal for the transplants to prosper. The ones that did survive, I sowed outside in February in peat pots somewhat sunken into large trough planters full of last year's soil. The ones that survived were sown in the larger peat pots having very little root disturbance on transplanting.
I've never heard of any Goji berries growing in the midatlantic. I wonder if it's cool enough to grow them here. I think they prefer lean rocky soil.
Stormy, Thanks for the tip, I'll try some winter sown poppies in a 3x3" peat pot in the garage. We both love them, but they usually end up a disappointment. Ric
Ric, They have to get some rain too. They like it dark, so put some peat/soil on top of them.
OK! Thanks Stormy! Ric
