What cool plants /great bargains have you found this spring?

There are millions of seeds in your soil. When you add components on top, the worms will work it for you & open up the tight clay structure, which makes it easier to pull the weeds. When you turn it into the soil, you will expose many of those seeds which will more than likely germinate.
I'll admit - I prefer to clear an area prior to topdressing or mulching. However - time & energy are factors to be weighed, as well as the planting goals you are trying to attain.
When i manured the beds last year, I had to force myself NOT to pull the existing weeds. I found out a bit later that the attrition rate is high for smothered weeds, except for dandelions & the like. But, they were far easier to pull in the fall, and now they come right out. I know that I will see some of them again, but there are fewer, so it's working well for me.
Get to know your annual weeds & pull them prior to flowering: they are easily buried into the soil & the worms will be grateful. Anything with a tap root - just rip off the root & bury the rest. The root must go far far away...

I will let you know how my bokashi experiment worked on my weeds. I'm hoping for success, as this allow me to reuse the weed roots; recapture the bio-mass & utilize the nutrients present in the various weeds.
I read about using this method on weeds - so I have 4 trash cans full to the brim that have been brewing with Bokashi & cattle-grade molasses since last November or so.

It gets better all the time - and I have much, much less ranunculus this year than in the past. With a mattock most everything comes out - I have just a few more salmonberry crawling under the fence from the woods. I know that I expose seed every year, but it'll be a long time before I have the luxury of not turning the soil over. I love watching it change every year, though, so I'm not complaining - it's just that it sucks up all your time!

I'm using a garbage can for my Bishop's Weed, Ivy, and Lamium "pullings" this year and will "bokashi" them when I'm done similar to what you're doing.

Kathy, your C&C is beautiful! (As is the Osmanthus, but that compost....Oh la la!)

Katye, how long have you been using the bokashi method? I was just reading about it and it sounds kind of interesting. What do you do with the 4 garbage cans full? Are they a smelly liquid?

A couple of years ago I mixed up the alfalfa, molasses, etc. can't remember what all, but the smell was so bad that neither of us wanted to empty the garbge can I used.

Kathy your dirt pile looks lovely as does your new Osmanthus. Off to google "bokashi" and see what I've missed.

I just planted some seeds that I got from Select Seeds - and while I can't say they are cool plants yet, I'm awfully excited at the idea of them. I planted out a mix of seeds from two Opium Poppy cultivars (Papaver somniferum 'Lauren's Grape' and one called 'Heirloom') and started some Clary Sage in peat pots inside. All three of them are actually pictured at this link http://tinyurl.com/ydwlrtx (scroll down to planting companions) - but if you don't feel like clicking the poppies are shades of purple and carmine and the clary sage is silver and pale purple.

I put them in a new bed that currently only has some Euphorbia, purple iris, and geums. I can't wait until summer to see them!

No bad odors, Jnette. They smelled pickled with an earthy undertone. To hasten decomposition, I used feed-grade molasses mixed with water & now they are steeping.
I'll keep this for another month - 6 weeks, then dump it all in one spot back by my brush pile, and observe for a few weeks. If all is fine, it will get moved to create a new bed, which will get manure/grass clippings/coffee grounds & planted this fall.
I think I started with Bokashi in 2008. Mainly to get a handle on the compost bucket kept inside - no offensive smell when mixed in. So far, so good. I read about other folks using this with their weeds, and I liked the idea of using this as compostable material without the worry of seed/roots growing. It's another "do what you can with what you've got" concept.

Kymmco - Lauren's grape is a stunner - and if you let it reseed, next year you'll have some interesting surprises. I threw 8 year old papaver som. seed next to the walkway last November - they are really taking off, and there was probably a 50% germination rate. I love poppies, especially when the birds use them as landing ports.

Today I brought home Heuchera 'Hercules', some geranium striatum, convulvulus cneorum & Tuberose bulbs. My lily order arrived from BDLilies. and I found a very nice Dahlia that I'll go back for. Making more work for myself...

This message was edited Mar 23, 2010 9:37 PM

Kate, so, um, I guess you don't need the Hercules start that I'd promised you after all?

Someone will want it. Bring it along to the party.

What's a hercules?

Read the last paragraph in Kate's post - she bought a Heuchera 'Hercules'.

lol, ok.

Sue - I just got the little guy a big buddy. They'll be hangin out in the pot ghetto together.

Kymmco, Your future garden sounds very pretty. Isn't the anticipation fun?

Katye, Sounds like you will be very busily planting! I will be curious to see how the tuberose does for you. I tried it in Federal Way, and wasn't really successful the first year, and they didn't come back. I just love the smell when they bloom.

I am not sure how much of a bargin this was, but it sure is fun for the eyes. Mom picked this up at Lowes this morning....a flat of mixed seedum......

Such wonderful textures and colors. To bad you can't freeze them in time just like this!

I love the chartreuse one Angelina - but thin it regularly or it will take over the less robust ones. It will grow anywhere. Just for fun, I dropped a few pieces under the dryness of a cedar tree last summer. It's rooted and is growing just fine . . .

Julie, those are gorgeous. I saw some birdhouses made with those growing on the roofs. They had put sides on them about an inch or 1 1/2 inches and I don't know if they had painted with a sealer or used some plastic so the water didn't run into the birdhouse. But they were selling them.

I have also seen pictures (I have the instructions somewhere for them) stand alone bird feeders with roofs on them like that. But they were bigger than the birdhouses. They were almost the size of a flat. But on a post like a 4x4 with a foot on it. Maybe a foot square or whatever I guess would hold them.

I think they were put on their deck. Where did your mom buy them? I might see if fI can find some over here. Might be fun to make one.

Julie that's a great photo of the sedums. I have a bunch in a shallow bowl that were beautiful last year,and I hope they do well this year.

You can also get an inexpensive birth bath and fill it with sedum instead of water. Works like a charm.

Jnette, The sedums were at Lowes Hardware. I like the birdhouse idea a lot.

Kathy, I have one similar to the chartruse one (mine is grayer in color and a little finer in texture) that I swear would grow on a rock if I laid it there, and it does take over. It is a wonderful groundcover for those of us with cedar trees though! ^_^

I am sure that some of the plants in there will take over and some will probably get overrun, but what a pallate to start with.

Judi and Kathy... if you put sedum in a bowl or birdbath, what do you to to prevent too much standing water?

Well, that's a good point. I mound up the soil and put in a rock or few for interest. The "bird bath" I have is under a cedar, so it doesn't get much rain in summer . In the winter I tilt it so the water runs out.

Gotcha... I could see tilting the bowl, but had a hard time visualizing doing it with a bird bath. I may be tempted to stop myself on the way home tonight and pick up my own flat. I can see a glorious little "planting" in a birdbath and a couple of contrasting bowls under the cedars along my driveway. It would make a nice splash of color.

Yes - there's nothing like chartreuse for a shady spot!

WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!

Clicking on this link may reduce the size of your wallet.

http://www.xeraplants.com/Xera/New_Home_Page_09.html

Julie, the bowl I have the sedums in is actually a planter shaped like a bowl and so has drainage holes. It is rather flat and about 18 inches in diameter. The soil is mounded up in the center with plants of different heights. This photo is from last summer, and I was too lazy about pinching some of the plants back so it looks a little ragged.

That doesn't look ragged; it looks marvelously happy!

Judi, that bowl is wonderful! I must be hungry, because the first thing that popped into my head when I saw it was Key Lime Pie! I don't think it looks ragged at all..... exactly what a content sedum planter should look like.

I did give in and stop and pick up a flat for myself tonight, so will be scouring the second hand stores for the right containers for the side of my driveway!

LOL Julie, we talked you into it huh? You will have fun with it I know. The different colors and textures are wonderful.

Julie, your sedum is so pretty. I bought 3 or 4 little pots last year, and they are still sitting in their pots. At least they are alive. I saw a display at a nursery where they had planted several in an old mailbox, and used straw as a "nest" to plant them in. I was going to do this, but I was too cheap to buy a whole bale of straw, when all I needed was a "nestfull".

Katye, where are the prices on the link? Of course, I had to look! You are such an enabler.

Lynn - this was from the grower - they don't sell directly. Look for the link that says where their plants are sold. There are many nurseries in Oregon and in Washington.

Was thinking about you today. Any news on your cougar?

Key Lime Pie??? Now I'm getting hungry! And everytime I look at that sedum bowl I will think of pie.

Nada on the cougar. I have a bad "out of sight, out of mind" attitude regarding everything (including my closets!) We have been tackling that area trying to clean up debris, blackberry vines, and devil's club, so I try to be cautious. He has probably moved on, and he probably didn't like our chainsaw activities out there.

Key Lime pie, yum!

Excellent. I'm sure the chainsaw is a good deterrent.

That reminds me of a piece I caught while walking by the television set the other night. The Lyre Bird can mimic pretty much any sound. What I saw/heard was the bird mimicking the sound of a chain saw. It was the most amazing thing. I wish we had something like this.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyrebird

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8REVxZgkOs

That is different. I wonder what other sounds they can mimic?

Does anyone know who has the new Hydrangea 'Vanilla Strawberry'? I must have this one!!! I found it online at Gardener's Supply, but I haven't ordered anything from them before.

Very pretty. Is it supposed to stay pink regardless of the soil? In general, it takes quite a bit of work to keep a pink hydrangea in these parts.

I think that was the one on the cover of Jung's catalog. Jung Seed.com I think. It is beautiful. I almost ordered it but have wanted the Harisons Yellow Rose for so long I bought it instead plus other stuff so I didn't get it.

Because they have a half a dozen shrubs that I want, but I know I would never get them, and all my WS, planted so I only ordered the rose a phlox, and strawberries.

Yes, it is on the cover of Jung's catalog. It is cheaper, too. I wonder what the differences are - size, shipping, quality. I have a coupon from Gardener's Supply for free shipping, expires the 31st.

What is the difference in the plants and the price Lynn? I have purchased seeds, dahlia tubers, and roses from Jungs and have always had good luck with their products. I just got my rose from them yesterday. Harison's yellow. Yellow Rose of Texas.

Last year I got their Westerland. I love it. It was a very good and healthy rose.

The one from Gardener's Supply is in a #1 POT, $29.99, FREE SHIPPING.
Jung's is 12-15" bareroot, $19.95, $5.00 shipping.

Okay, here's another thing I shouldn't post, but I just saw it on Facebook:

http://www.shop.twogreenthumbs.com/category.sc?categoryId=42

I love miniature gardens, though I'm not inclined to do one myself. I wasn't, that is, until I saw this.