Seed Swap and Chat #49 boxes enroute...

Happy Birthday Becky

Lea, I have never grown the lisianthus. I tried once and they didn't germinate so I have not tried again. What do you think I did wrong? They are beautiful in the pictures. Would love to have some grow for me.

Also, what is the lantana seeds you are planting? I have only been able to get the Camara (I know that is wrong spelling) are there any other colors out there in seeds? I suppose the only way to get them is to buy the plants and collect them.

Jnette, I had some old lantana Camara from last year don't expect anything from them because they are a year old not sure how long they are good for never looked them up too lazy lol The other one is FireWagon I think from last year I had reseeders in this zone! I was so excited I had to try and plant a few of the collected seed figured they were related to Camara since they reseeded. I think Camara, if I'm not mistaken are the only seeds that are good aren't they correct me if I'm wrong :)

I keep my seed mix a little dry not sure if that's good for Lisanthus but oh well, I did mist them twice at the end just before they came up, they were under lights don't think the heat mat came on even while they were under lights but it was setting on 70, I had a clear tray cover over them, they germinated in 7 days :)

Happy Birthday Becky.

Hi Becky, HAPPY BIRTHDAY
AND
wishing you many more.

Ella, I'm so glad that you're ok..be careful, Lady! Thank you for my box..it arrived Friday, but this is the first time I've gotten online to let you know. I can't wait to get everything WS'ed and growing :)

Imzadi..I am really sorry about the fire, but very thankful that no one was injured..very lucky there!

Carolyn, my condolences to you..never easy to lose someone that you love.

Cheles, I bet you're talking about TLC :) I love the one up by Edmond..there used to be one in Midwest City, but they closed it down. You'll find a lot of roadside nurseries (not TLC though) throughout the city once spring hits up there..probably starting late February. And check out the one down by Bricktown..there is a big nursery down there that has been there for years and years.

Ella, thanks again for all your hard work..I look forward to the next one!

happy birthday becky i hope your day was nice

pam sue

Ants, I work backward from April 15th as my last frost date here. The spreadsheet I was working on last spring was mainly with that in mind. I wanted all the 'weeks before last frost' so I'd know when to start them. Here's the link. It's certainly not everything, but lala-jane and I made a good start.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AjX12qw9Y_bgcHRLazdGTkR4Xy1MTmJaTTQzMVV6RFE&hl=en

Going by these dates, I was pushing the lights with some of the Salvia, Tomatoes, hmm, can't remember what else. Nothing was too bad though, so I'll go by them again.

We've got a new DG feature that will help with these calculations! Go to the "Guides & Info" tab at the top of the page, and you'll find a link for a frost/freeze calculator. Dave added it just recently, and it seems to work well for most areas (CA being an exception, as I recall from the discussion thread in the DG forum).

and Arizona - at least the Phoenix area...

oh, sorry, Kelly. you can often find frost/freeze info by googling for your local extension service... or just see if you can find out when folks in your area put out tomatoes. Plants that can tolerate a good bit of cold (even a light freeze) can go out a couple weeks before tomatoes, plants that like warm soil (like peppers) should wait for a couple weeks after tomato planting time, so tomatoes seem to be a good benchmark.

Even with all the info for firsrt and last frost dates. It just plain hard anymore to knwo exactly when to start or stop.

My last frost date is suppose d to be april 15 yet most years we have ahd major huge golf ball siz e hail and sleet aroudn the 21 of April. We ha d tornadoe s that came through too.

I haven't looke d to se what the almanac ha s said for this year, but them farmers are usualyl pretty good abotu prediciting. What I tryign to find, is a place to go where can look for sevral months the highs and low s for last year.

The tv weather folks onyl giv e ya a fiv e to 7 day window , but surely ther e som eplac e that would have the informationof last year day to day month to month stored, but can't figure otu what to google.

This year been so crazy with weather, I knwo I allowing a two week window just to be on the safe side.

Suppose d to be warm today, so gonan go back out and try and get plastic doen again. Wih em luck. yep and got ladder this time. : )

Ella, here's my link to my 'gardener's forcast' on weather.com.
http://www.weather.com/outlook/homeandgarden/garden/weather/tenday/29681?lswe=29681&lswa=GardeningForecast&from=locator
I'll be darned if I can figure out how I got it, but I've bookmarked it now. Maybe you can just change the zip and stay on the 'gardener's forcast' . Anyway, to the right in a box are 'historical monthly average', and below that in blue a link to 'other months'.

Hope you can get to your's!

http://www.farmersalmanac.com/home_garden/gardening

I like this one, it gives me planting dates.

Kls: Thanks for that link. Yes; all you have to do is go back a page and enter your own city or ZIP code and it will give you your own gardener's forecast. Great link!

And thanks to you, Ridesredmule, for that link as well. Both of these now live in my favs!

This message was edited Jan 18, 2010 8:03 AM

I found that yesterday and added it to my fav's.
Now I don't have to keep searching for it. I use it
to plant everything. Love it!!!

KL, Rides, Thanks for the links - I do try to plant by the moon.

Ella, please take care of yourself - you're much too precious to all
of us !!

Becky belated wishes - you make the 5th person I know who has
a birthday on this date!

Can't wait to get my lisianthus started - on my to do list today. Only
hope I can keep the seedlings alive this time !

Cris... Just don't over wate r them. Don't let them dry out, but don't over water them. It so easy to los e seedling s to daming off becaus e of too much water. I got me an old spray bottle from dogs fle a spray that was empty and washe d it out good and us e it to mist the seedlings.

Cool links. Ya it works if ya put in yoru own zip. Seen wher eit wil giv e for the end of the month, which is bette r than just a coupel of days. : )

Sorry piggies......... I just couldnt' wait til evrybody got there box. I dug in mine and puleld out a package. Got seed fevor. LOL

Now I pulel d out Astilbe. Whhoo hoooo had been wantign soem for logn time and now I got some. Would do the piggy wiggle, but think it still bruise d and broken for right now. LOL I kind a have to do it lop-sided. Can somebody teach me how to start them? I doign inside so need directiosn for that if somebody know s how.

I always try and write down when we had our last freeze when we have a freak year and the last frost date then lose them somewhere of the shuffle of plants I guess lol I do write them down but never find them the next year! lol I'm soo organized! If I think about it this year I plan on putting the dates on my spread sheet! If I think about it lol

Thanks rides, I though I put that in my favorites last year but couldn't find it I was wondering about the dates here to plant seeds :)

Yep Cris don't keep your lisanthus too wet I have a spray bottle on top of my lights just for them with H202 in it no certain ratio I just dump the peroxide in when I make a new batch I buy those big bottles because I go thru so much when I have seeds, it's not good from what I understand after 24 hrs. so you have to keep it fresh. I woke up this morning and my lisanthus was pretty dry I was freaking but they are alright I gave them a drink lol

Need to get ready for town :)

That's one thing I've never started Ella good luck someone had luck with them last year but don't remember who it was.

Don't despair! Spring is on the way. Did a walkabout and here's what I find in bud:

Hellebore:

Winter daphne is also budding:

YeeHaa!

HI Everyone
Lebug why not write it on a calendar that's what my MIL used to do she also wrote down when she planted something and when it came up on the same calendar.
Ella I'm hoping someone answers you on the astible as I got some too and am dying to plant them and like you they will be under lights.

http://www.doityourself.com/stry/how-to-plant-astilbe-seeds
I hope this comes up. but when I need to grow seeds I like to check so I google to see how to grow them.
Tomarrow will be a good day.
Best of luck

Star...here is some info for you. the first is a list of perennials for winter sowing. The rest is for Astilbe, including info on soaking for 24 hours prior to planting.

http://www.wintersown.org/wseo1/Common_Perennials.html

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/92557/

http://pss.uvm.edu/pss123/perastil.html

http://www.doityourself.com/stry/how-to-plant-astilbe-seeds

Ok, i the seed need soake d for 24 horus, hwo ya soak them tiny tiny eed s withotu losing them. Unles s I lookign at chaff and not the seed. Which coudl be a possibility.

Mindy. What ya think looks like seed or doe s all of it?

Hemophobic.. neat. Just hope that cold ove r for now, but kno in heart it not but woudl be ncie if artic cold is at least over.

Speaking of spring, while I'm waiting I can dream. Here was one of mine from last year....

Yummy! I want one that looks just like that picture. LOL

OH.. i just love those Orange Calendula. Most of mine were yellow. I'm hoping i saved some orange seeds.

Thanks everyone :) That's what I was trying to do, was go from the last frost date. Info I found was 12-8 weeks before for eggplant, 10-8 for peppers, 8-6 for tomatoes, etc.

I put my zip code in the DG thing & it said my last frost date is April 8. Also found the highs & lows for my zip code, but not what I was looking for. Like Star, I was trying to find something that would show me recorded temps for past years.

cheles_garden, sounds like my dates match up to yours pretty much, so maybe I did it right. Thanks for the confirmation :) I've been writing everything on a calendar this year trying to figure it out & I have Feb. 11 as the date to start my tomatoes.

I have Eggplant on Jan. 14. Broccoli, Cabbage, Cauliflower, & Peppers Jan. 28. Celery & Tomatoes Feb 11. Spinach (direct sow) Feb 15. Peas (direct sow) Feb. 20. Radish, Turnip, & Rutabaga (direct sow) March 1. Lettuce, Beets, Carrots (direct sow) March 10. Sow Collards indoors March 10. Chard, Kale, & Mustard (direct sow) March 15. Corn & Cucumbers (direct sow) April 8. Snap Beans (direct sow) April 14. Lima Beans, Okra, Melons, Squash, & Pumpkins (direct sow) April 19.

Did I miss anything? I don't have all of these, but would like to try them all eventually.

klstuart, I had 3 Hellebores I grew from seed about 8 years ago. One of them mysteriously disappeared last year. Now this year the freeze caused one of them to bend in half. They are still blooming though & I am hoping that it they will self seed.

ants

going to start a new thread... this one is getting long... gimme a sec or two.

New Thread ..... come on over.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1070274/

We are having a heat wave here 48'F! I had to come in to wash the muddy dog. My Westie, Tiffany, aka The Great White Hunter, was chasing chipmunks and squirrels while I was repairing the coverings of my roses and blowing leaves out from under my heater. We both had to head directly to the shower or else I would have to shampoo the rugs. I have these fabulous seeds to play with, I don't need extra housework.

I have a question for star. Is the "lemon mint" menta lemon or Monarda citriodora.

I am so excited about all of the wonderful seeds in my piggy box! I am attending a local swap this weekend. I am taking pinches from some packets and bringing them to share!

Did you all see this?

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1070916/

Jeanette

Did you all see this?

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1070861/

Jeanette

Jeanette, stay tuned to the thread (and its continuation) in the DG forum. DG has been sold, but we're hoping for as smooth a transition as when NM bought it a while back. Dave will be staying, and they're working out his role, not sure at this point what will happen with Terrry & Melody but we're hopeful.

I just realized I never posted about my piggy box, and I was just wild with excitement going through it! THANK YOU all so much for sharing such wonderful seeds with me. And Mittsy, that "JOY" ornament is just perfect, thank you. :-)

Yes, I saw Dave's own message too.

Jill, so glad you approve of the ornament. I couldn't resist. Joyanna has brought so much Joy to all of our lives as we followed her progress to becoming your daughter. Can't wait to see the picture of the spring bulbs blooming. Hope you'll take her quilt outside and sit her on it amidst all those blooms. There's a testament to the love shared here on Dave's Garden.