Who has started inside sowing yet?

Kathy, that is a pretty pieris! I have a smaller red flowered one in the garden I was working in today, but I can't for the life of me remember it's name. It took a while to flower well for me, but has stayed nice and compact, and is now full of blooms getting ready to open.

Wow, Julie! They are coming out of hibernation already!
Kathy, you take care of them just like rhodies, camelias, and azaleas. Acid loving, they are.

I fertalize mine when I feed the rhodies (same rhodedendron fertalizer....time is right about now) and mine bloom very well.

Isn't he pretty!! Look at his wings - your camera captured the stained glass pattern on them. That's beautiful. I haven't seen or heard from bees, but I'm looking forward to their companionship. :-)

Excellent. I have that fertilizer and am ready to go. Not often that I can say that.

^_^ I have had quite a few in that rhodie and the pieris that is growing right next to it. It is extradordinairly early for them as far as I can tell, but I have always found them a joy in the garden, so am glad to have them out so soon. It's things like that that make me believe that our winter is over for certain this year. The animals and insects seem to sense things so much better than anyone can predict!

It is awfully early. I'm always waiting for the Mason Bees and they usually come out some time in early March for me. It'll be interesting to see what they do this year. I bought replacement tubes for them today ($20 - eek!). Once they're out this year, I'm going to clean up their houses and make better protection for the fronts. Something (probably raccoon) is standing on the roof and pulling off the protective shield trying to get at them. :-(

Mason bees has been on my "to do" list for a while now. Just haven't gotten around to researching and getting a home set up. It would be wonderful to have your own polinators hibernating in your yard!

They're pretty easy - get (or make) a house, get the little guys (they're refrigerated) and put them out. They'd like some mud and something to pollinate and then they just find their houses and are off!! It's a really nice, low key little hobby, IMO. Oh, and they are very, very gentle. No hive to protect, so they don't protect anything.

Interesting little tidbit, when the bee puts the next generation in the tub, the females go first and the male is the last. That way he hatches first and can mate with them when they emerge. Very efficient of mother nature, I would say.

Mason bees will be next year... too much spring stress this year, but it's on "THE LIST!".

I have been basically off line this week as I am working double duty... taking a web class to become a state certified caretaker for my Grandma (long story, and I am SO not caretaker material) from 8am to 1pm, and then trying to get the rest of my "real" work done when the class ends (am taking the class at my work computer, so I can still kind of run the shop at the same time). It has been a long week, and I am really tired of looking at the computer by the time I get home, so don't feel like being online much.

I did however want to share this in this thread, because IMO it is an awesome deal. McLendons has their four tiered mini greenhouses on sale for $29 right now, which is as cheap as I have ever seen them. They are limited to stock on hand, but I had to at least pick up one. I have my greenhouse for starting seeds, but the mini greenhouses work perfectly for hardening off stuff. If you don't have a greenhouse, they work perfectly for just getting a bit of a jump on your seed sowing. They also have a few really cool plants... hechs, mirror plants (which I will show in the container thread when I have time cause that's where mine are going), several carex varieties.....

Sounds like you a lot going on - hope you're finishing up with the class.

I'll check out McLendons this weekend. I have 3 of these, but I'm always looking for a good deal. Thanks for the tip!

Coprosma is frustrating to me - another plant from New Zealand - I have tried it a couple of times, but haven't been able to get it to overwinter. Argh!

Coprosma never wins at my place. Which is really too bad, because i like it so much. Of course, that holds true for quite a few things.

I was just thinking that the first time I picked up Coprosma, it was at McLendon's. :-)

Kathy - if McL's has an extra mini gh, could you grab it for me? I will come get it from you, with coffee! =:0)

Hi all - I've been lurking around here for a while but haven't really posted. Obsessive gardening runs in my family, but I didn't come down with it until a few years ago. Last year was my first year starting seedlings inside, and this year I've graduated to a grow light and heat mat in the basement (hopefully we can avoid rearranging the dining room to give more room to the seedlings under the window like we had to last year). I sowed broccoli, cauliflower, basil, peppers, and borage over the weekend and they're all up and happy. This weekend I'm going to sow my tomatoes and annual flowers.

I also direct sowed arugula, carrots, lettuce, radish, and leeks outside last weekend. No movement on that front so far - but even with raised beds it's significantly colder out there than my happy little basement setup.

Anyway, very happy to meet you all. Oh, and I'm in Seattle - in the city.

Class is over after an 8 hour hands on course tomorrow. I will be a state certified "individual provider". I have honestly learned a lot this week, and a lot that will be very practical in life in general. I have also learned WAY more than I have ever wanted to know about the human body and it's functions........YUCKKKKKKKKK! I have always had a huge respect for those in the medical field, but that has been renewed 100fold! Kudos to those who deal with this stuff daily!

There were two varieties of Coprosma at McLendons... can't remember the names and am two tired to walk to the deck, but one was a red (Roy's Red?) and one is a verigated green/red/orange (Autumn Glow?) and they were little, and they were $2.69. They said zone 8-11, so I have no dilusions about them surviving the winter outside for me. On the other hand, most pot stuffers are just that expensive if not more, so after Kathy's container thread got me really thinking about my pots this summer, and I figure that they can come in the greenhouse just like the heuch's did last fall. The colors are wonderful......

No prob, Kate. You got it!

Welcome, Kymmco. I commute to downtown Seattle daily and many of us have lived there at some point in our histories. It sounds like you have a great setup and will have lots of veggies this summer. There's a little "farmer" in all of us, I guess.

well, sometimes "a lot" of farmer.
our true colours show when it warms up a bit.

Hi Kymmco - glad to meet you!

Rarejem, ditto on body stuff. Yuck. There is a reason I didn't go into medicine. EEEWWW! Sorry you had to spend so many hours looking at that stuff on a computer. I am completely not listening to you about what McClendon's has. (Fingers in ears LALALALALALA - I Can't HEAR YOU!) I do not need to plant shop with all the coops I'm in and the clematis, etc.

Kymmco, welcome! If you've been reading the posts for awhile, then you already know we're a little bit crazy when it comes to the gardens. Pretty much anything goes. Just jump in and join the conversation!
Lucky you! It sounds like you have enough sunshine to grow vegetables!

Kymmco, what part of Seattle are you in? I grew up in Lake City, but rarely get down to the city anymore (I'm about an hour north now and pretty firmly entrenched in my 'hermitness'). When I do occasionally go down, though, I remember what a fun place it is and I miss it.

Thanks everyone. Bonehead (is that a polite mode of address? sorry if it isn't) - I'm on Beacon Hill, just above SODO and the stadiums. On a good day I have a view of the sound and the ferries coming in - on a bad day all I see is the industrial district/port and a lot of telephone wires :)

I guess farming is indeed in my blood - I grew up on an organic grain farm in Oregon in the '80s. My dad was sort of ahead of his time though and it never really caught on, so he eventually moved on to another career. But the frustrated farmer lives on in our genes :)

I've got a small backyard that I'm slowly stuffing to capacity with perennials, a small herb garden, small koi pond with a few pond plants that have survived the ravages of raccoons, and four raised veggie beds out front in the parking strip to catch what sun is available. (The key word here is small - and soon to be overstuffed! But I imagine that's not an unfamiliar quandary around these boards).

Kymm, I STILL have that problem with addressing our dear friend in Cedar Home as "hey bonehead." Maybe bone for short?

We'd all love to see pix of what you have done so far.

Pictures of my garden? Man, you guys really are enablers aren't you!

Thanks for the excuse to take a trip through my summer '09 pictures - just the thing for a rainy February Seattle day. Here is a picture of my raised vegetable beds fairly early in the season last year. See how I planted zucchini in between tomatoes and thought that would be a good idea - hah!

And here is pretty much the same angle later in the season. I've got lots of pictures of The Garden that Ate my Front Yard (including The Butternut Squash of Doom), but I think I'll leave it at this one. I'm sure you get the idea.

Those are Scarlet Runner Beans mingling with my pole beans on the trellis in the back. Those were fun - I'll definitely be doing those again this year.

As far as flowers go - here is a shot of one of my favority combinations from last year: Peruvian daffodil, alchemilla mollis, and petunias. I just love the combo of chartreuse and magenta.

Mid-summer botanical chaos in the south facing bed in the backyard. My house is brick and this bed gets about 6 hours of sun a day - about the best I can do in Seattle for trying things that like heat! As a result I probably moved things in and out of this bed way too much last year - it was never the same from week to week. I still haven't gotten it quite right, but trying is the fun part, right?

That looks fabulous, Kymmco. I love a wild and crazy vegetable patch! The scarlet runners are beautiful. "Butternut squash of doom"....funny. Did it attempt to kidnap innocent passers by?

And welcome to the PNW forum, a true home for the obsessed gardener.

And last but not least - the koi pond. Seen here in between raccoon maulings. The reedy thing that used to be in the back has already succumbed, but the lobelia and canna are as yet unaware of their fate. Around the pond, different carex and sedges, hosta, and Sweet Cicely.

Thanks for letting me share y'all. Can't wait to see summer 2010.

Yes, the squash of doom could not be trusted with innocent passersby - small children, pets, entire families could vanish into the depths and never be seen again.

I triumphed in the end though, and am still eating the spoils of my victory. Tasty, in a squash-murdering sort of way!

Oh Kymm, you made my day!!! I absolutely love everything you've done -- so original, daring & vibrant.

Oh, we have the same favorite color combination! I love magenta and chartreuse together in the garden. It's my very favorite. Here's that color combination in my garden. I'm forever trying to find ways to use it.

I am so impressed with your vegetable gardens! Lovely! The farmer in you must be so proud. The Peruvian daffodil is lovely. Do you leave it in the ground all year? I might have to have some of those.

Enablers? Us? MWU HAHAHAH!!!!

Beautiful Kymmco!

Welcome Kymm to a family of nut cases. I being the only one with my feet on the ground welcome you warmly. I like your attempt to green-up the Beacon bump. Though you are too practical for most of us. I didn't see any over zones plants. AND no greenhouses? Oh that's right you are on Beacon hill it would just slide down. LOL

Beautiful pics to warm up a dreary day. Thanks.

Soferdig - resident comic!

Thanks for all the kind words. Pix - glad to meet another chartreuse/magenta addict! Love your photo - could you tell me more about the plants in it, especially the chartreuse foliage one?

The Peruvian daffodils were new last year - they're supposed to be marginally hardy. I left them in the ground, but I'm afraid the cold spell we had in December did them in. They're summer bloomers so I'll have to wait and see if they made it or not - I'll probably replant if not, they're so awesomely bizarre looking.

And soferdig - I'm doing my part to green the Beacon bump, but I'm certainly not alone. The urban gardeners have moved in en masse over the past few years - in fact my neighbors yard is the picture on the city web site about sidewalk strip gardening! And the Asian grannies are holding tough - lots of winter greens gardens.

Instead of a greenhouse in my backyard I have a skateboard ramp, courtesy of my husband and two boys. Anyone have any design tips on how to camoflauge a four foot high half pipe in the middle of my lawn? :)

Kudzu?

Hee!