Seed Swap & Chat #60 winding down, preparing for winter

Oh Lynn... just take care of yourself. your physical well being is more important than a few weeds here and there.

You can always just willy nilly toss seeds in the beds and hope for the best... you will still have lots of color.

poo poo on the surgeries... hope you heal up quickly.

Oh Lynn I'm so sorry! Just think by summer you should be good to go though :) Sounds like a rough road to travel before you get there! I'll say a prayer for speedy recovery :)

Are you able take pictures of your weeds/plants and someone can id them for you not sure there's enough traffic on this thread.

Like Terese says [Your physical well being IS more important than a few weeds here and there.]

Hey guys,

I haven't posted in a good year... The last year was just horrible and I hadn't gardened and would like to get back into things... I missed the Piggy Swap last fall and would like to be considered this fall again as I will try to collect seeds this summer... just wanted to let you know that I haven't disappeared :)

Andrea

Good to see you Andrea. I think many of us are busy... not sure doing what, since the weather has been so horrible... either too many tornados, too much rain and certainly not enough sun for gardening. I was hoping tomorrow would be nice -- not sure, i hear more rain. but i plan to be outside after work and get something done.

Hey Andrea glad to see you back :) You got the bad year out of the way last year so now you are good to go give it all you got lol

We've had a LOT of rain too Terese and so sick of the clouds they do make good hardening off weather though he he

My poor potted up perennials to go in the ground from last year are so water logged! I put compost around the tops of the plants earlier this year hoping the rain would help it soak in but geeesh!

Hi Andrea! I've not been on here for over a year as well.....I lurk from time to time though. So don't feel bad at all! I love that we can come back on and find all our garden friends still here with open arms!

It has been almost 2 years now that I moved to OK....huge change....and in the past year I had to find a new job. So not as much time for gardening as I would like - but I have to say that I LOVE IT! :-)

I will not be able to join in the piggy swap, but will look from afar and listen to the oinks. We just purchased a new home - meaning newly built new home. Attached is my back yard. :-) Nothing but grass - so I will have no seeds to collect. Hee hee. But I will be doing a bunch of winter sowing. Yay! (there is a sign leaning on the fireplace that had not been removed yet).

I will be on here as much as possible getting garden ideas for my area. We are unlike most of you - in a drought! Uggh.

Ahhhhh -- clean slate. that will be fun designing.

Thanks for the warm welcome back :)

Cheles... I think what some people did for the Piggy Swap is to order seeds yourself and then split them into packets (because you never use the whole packet, lol) and list those to swap.... That way you get a lot of different kinds for your money that you invested in the first place.

It's so good to see that everybody still here!

i did a bunch of planting today.

anyone know much about sweat peas?? I hope they transplant well. super long root systems on them -- and of course, it was supposed to rain, but we have blazing sun ... i watered them good. most of all the other seedlings were tiny... so they should do fine.

salvias and a few agastaches... a long with lots of compost. Wonder if i should get some Humus?? someone once said I should have that for the salvias.

tcs,ive got loads of pink Pop Popping...I dont know anything about them.Will they bloom 1st year ??

yes, i have found all Agastaches are first yr bloomers... they should reseed, though the more 'tender' ones don't do so as much
but they will come back for you too, as they do for me.

Thanks for the Seed....I must have planted all of it..LOL...I ws an planted some underlights.I will bring some to the swap.

Terese I've googled the salvia and humus and it just says to use it or compost for good drainage or both I've always just used compost and don't have any problems with drainage and I've got that good old clay soil that stays wet forever.

I've only seen a couple of hummers so far this year hope I have more than last year I know they don't really start coming around until about June here but I'm already getting nervous lol Last year was the slowest year ever but it was gang busters for the butterflies I want both LOL

Lea -- i've heard we have Hummers in Wisc already, but i havent seen them yet... had the feeder out since midApril ... only the raccoons are drinking it.

re: humus .... and i may have to go back and find the thread to see what was recommended... but in the Salvia forum, there is a thread on Yvonnes ... when i posted a pic of my plant, it was said, i'm lacking something.... thought is was humus.

umm I have ws salvia,good fyi,thanks

Hey Chelle, that's a nice looking blank canvas... fun!! You can also get to know the local botanical gardens and public gardens, and keep an eye out for plants that might need deadheading ;-) I was at my neighbors today, and she's got pots of gerbera. She was asking me what to do with the flower stems when the flowers die. I told her to give the fluffy parts to me!! Got a nice handful of gerbera seeds already now.

So excited to see my perennials from 2 years ago really taking off this year. Last year I got a late start getting them in the ground, and they just kind of survived the summer. This year the coneflowers, agastache apricot sprite, liatris, monarda (uggh), Evening primrose Tina James, Salvia Wild thing, and so many more are really strong and full! It's a good year to not have done much I guess, resting on my laurels for a season.

I'm going to solarize the veggie garden this summer. It's been collecting weed seeds for over 10 years now, and could really use a break. I just purchased a few tomatoes and peppers, and will put them in the herb garden or in pots for the summer so the veggie garden can be completely covered in plastic all summer. With our heat, that should kill all weed seeds for sure... I hope!

Tropical Salvias ???

Hi everyone, I haven't been on DG for a while but I wanted to pop in and say hi. :)

Hey Meredith :) I think of you every time I look at my milkweeds lol I still didn't get all of my milkweeds planted this year but what I have out there is coming up really good I'm so courious about this red prarie and what the blooms are going to look like finally I'll get to see them this year :)) And thanks to Terese I have about eight of the orange tuberosa to plant for this year.

I had so many butterflies last year I'm hoping they come back for this year!

That's awesome! I still need to get some milkweeds planted in other parts of my yard. I have had no luck with Swam,p Milkweed and of course that's the one that appeals to me the most! I might have some purple milkweed to show for all the seeds I started but It Could be the regular wild kind that grows around here.. which I am trying to keep out of my beds. It's impossible to get all the roots because the shoot all over the place. I once followed a root from one side of my yard to the other!

Hey Meredith!! So good to see you pop in.

The swamp MW gets HUGE for me. I'm working on some Scarlets ... they have been very slow to germinate. not sure if i will even get seeds this year... though i do still have more left from Lea.

Good to hear Lea... I have no idea what my Oranges are doing... guess i forgot about them.

Hi tcs! So far mine keep getting infecte dwith some disease.. No one is really sure what.

I bet none of you have seen my post in the tree and shrub forum, but I had ordered what was supposed to be red buckeye years ago and waited for it to bloom until this year only to find out it isn't a red buckeye.. So I ordered one from Avent gardens and got it today. I'm so happy, even though it's a little thing it has a flower bud on it. Now I don't have to worry I am planting the wrong one again. Just wanted to share because it brightened my rainy dreary day for a few minutes. I love getting plants in the mail. :) It's supposed to rain here for a week straight. Today was the third day straight.. Great for plants but not y seasonal depression jk..

we too had weeks of rain... it was wonderful to have a few days of sunshine. it's cloudy this morning, but dont think rain is expected. I need some of my WS containers to dry out...

I would be so bummed if i ordered something i really wanted only to find out later - it was incorrect.
Glad you got the right one.

Meredith is it the Showy Milkweed?

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/283518/

I've found out it's native here I've never seen it around but I've had it a few years now not looking forward to those long roots either last year it started spreading underground and this is the bed I wanted to put my garden in!

Gosh Meredith it takes trees so long to grow too that's a shame you got the wrong one and watched it all of this time, congradulations on your new baby :)

A couple wks. of rain, a couple wks. of rain we had two solid months of it it is flooded every where here I had a lot of trouble with my jugs this year thank goodness I didn't plant what I used to plant I would be down to what I have now probably very few :)

Remember when I told you Terese that it looked like some of my seedlings looked like they were damping off I did get some seeds out of that jug I think they were the mistery Agastaches?

I bet your orange are up you should check the next chance you get my one is up about 10" I should really get rid of it it has some kind of disease but I just can't there isn't any other milkweeds around it it's all by it's self so I keep letting it stay...sigh But on the bright side I have seedlings from you :)

Ahhhh, Lea - I just checked my spreadsheet [thank heavens i use google docs] -- i didnt even sow any!! crap.

I know we chatted about this before, but I;m sure I gave you some Blue Agastaches... dont think it was on that list though.. .no biggy though, i bet they are sterile. My "Mystery" was a chia pet... When I was out pulling weeds and stuff before i left - there are hundreds of little Agastache babies out there... no idea who or what they are though... the Purple Pygyms don't look like they are doing well, only a lil bit left of the original plant - but there's something.

~~ I do have germination on the Red Prairie MW's you gave me. my scarlets - i brought up here, too wet and i had 2 little germinated seeds -- they are toast. not sure if i will get any this year.

tart Showy one, you posted the link for -- that foliage is pretty, but i dont think i'd like it in my flower bed, unless it was a 'wild' flower bed. I found some "common" MW's in a bed that is too narrow for them... not sure how i'm gonna handle that. If it's not "common" it's Swamp ... and that's too big too. the bed is only about 6" wide in front of my DR bay window ... i have English Marigolds gone wild there...

I have a 'ferny' milkweed that has gone wild in my rose bed. I looked them up once - but can't recall what they are ... think they have white blooms. they are small and dont take up a lot of room.. so i leave them.

The Scarlets are annuals for us Terese if you have any more seeds just pitch them out or you can start them over again it's not too late. I'm wondering if I will get any reseeders this year doesn't look like it unless they come up a little later I didn't sow any this year and gave Inez the rest of what milkweeds I had left over we just pitched them a couple of days ago.

I've got a Blue Agastache from Ella (I'm sure she just pitched it in the bucket) but I didn't get it planted I was afraid it was too large for the area I'm planting I don't do them anymore just too many bees for the front yard, I was just courious to see your mistery one cause you said it was small :) I don't plant the back yard anymore except for what is out there starting to find my limit and I really don't care for it LOL If I can't keep up with the beds out back I'll make the front ones beautiful :)

I was all caught up on the weeds and ready to plant then all of this darn rain came and back came the weeds and now I'm so busy I can't get out there to get them so my plants are on hold again until I do grrr!!! I was so proud cause I had all the weeds done and it was so early! I was going to take weed killer to them but I pitched rue and some other seeds and they are coming up so now I have to weed grrr LOL

The orange one is a warm germinator I'm pretty sure I'd go ahead and sow it even if the cats eat it before it gets big it will be back for next year. I've had that happen a few times.

If I'm thinking right the Showy milkweed that I have I traded for and it was suppose to be the purple I got the wrong plant, had it for years trying to id it and last year I think I did, had it for years and it never multiplied or had seeds then last year it went crazy all of a sudden I'll never get it out of that bed I'm sure it is pretty. I still haven't planted my purple milkweeds I'm almost afraid to if they are anything like this one LOL If I do it won't be in the front yard I'll have to put it out back until I see how it acts.

I bet Meredith knows if you are on here Meredith does the purple milkweed have runners?

I can't believe I've wanted purple milkweeds for at least six years! At first I couldn't find the seeds that's why I traded for it then crap kept coming up and I never got my seeds that I've had for at least three years planted and now I'm afraid to plant it LOL

Inez (the cat lady) has a white milkweed in her beds that has big old fat runners I'm dying to see what it is she asked me if I wanted some, yeah right LOL I've planted white milkweeds but the butterflies never paid any attention to them so I never planted any more.

That white 'ferny' milkweed sounds interesting wonder if the butterflies pay any attention to it you'll have to check and see if it has cats on it this summer I didn't have one cat on the white ones I had.

I see no evidence of those blue penstemons coming back :( Had some in a pot and in the ground.

re: that ferny MW... i think it's been in the rose bed at least 3 yrs now... no idea how it got there... [blown in seeds??] and never seen any cats anywhere..... the plants do not get really big either...

busy busy day... hope to get back on tonight...

Hi Lea, here the wild ones are A. syriaca I am pretty sure it's called Common Milkweed.. The purple ones aren't supposed to have runners, but they are much harder to grow. I've tried starting lots of seeds for them, 3 years now and I have never had any mature plants except maybe the ones I had last year but its hard to say they aren't just the wild ones popping up because they have popped up in different areas of my yard many times.. Here is a pic of the one that might be prurple milkweed, it's flowers don't look like the wild ones but the leaves are so similar it's hard to be sure.. What do you think? https://picasaweb.google.com/FlutterbugGarden/JuneGarden2010#5484882241953396770
https://picasaweb.google.com/FlutterbugGarden/JuneGarden2010#5484882278262899986
https://picasaweb.google.com/FlutterbugGarden/JuneGarden2010#5485388136120679234

edited the botanical name...

This message was edited May 20, 2011 8:24 PM

I've been trying to figure it out and I'm sad to say I am pretty sure these are just A. syriaca (Common Milkweed) I think what might be happening is seed companies selling the Common Milkweed as Purple Milkweed. Because I've planted out lots of seedlings from seeds I've grown sold as A. purpurascens and so far only common milkweeds have shown up the next season those spots. I am getting very discouraged. If any one knows where I can order plants of the real deal I'd be very happy if you'd share! : )


I found something interesting here if you look at page 4 that's the part I found interesting, http://www.newenglandwild.org/docs/pdf/Asclepiaspurpurascens.pdf
Maybe I have a cross breed!

This message was edited May 20, 2011 8:48 PM

I read that Meredith I'll be back later to comment have some things going on this morning :)

Meredith... twice in my trading here on DG, i asked for the Orange Milkweed [which i finally ended up buying - but forgot to sow this year... ] each time i got "common" seeds instead... talk about disappointing - especially since you have to wait 2 yrs to see a bloom.
Oh, that's Tuberosa, right? the Orange?

Same thing happened to me Terese it's taken me about three years I think to finally get the real Tuberosa from you and now I finally have it growing lol

I had no idea they had so much trouble growing the purple milkweeds I knew they were rare because they don't put out seeds like the other ones? I have some seeds to them Meredith but now I'm wondering if they will be the purple ones.

I've got Cinderella that I planted last year and I'm very seriously thinking of yanking them out they can't take the hard rains it just lays them down some of the branches break off at the ground I can't believe that they aren't more sturdy plants! I could take the branches and stick them in the ground to start more but wondering if I really want more of those?

I started the Red Prairie milkweeds along with the Cinderella’s last year and the Red Prairie didn't grow as fast and stayed small so I took the cats off of them and put them on the bushy Cinderella’s all summer, I would have run out of foliage if I had to depend on the Red Prairie so I really hate to yank the Cinderella’s out but they are in the front of my side yard three plants but they are looking pretty beat up with all of these down pours we have had.

Maybe I can keep them then when they start coming up for next year trim them back then them not being so tall they may not break off so much mut I have a feeling they will no matter how tall they are...

I think I started Cinderellas last year, but I can't see any growing back.

Maybe it's just a little early for yours are any of your others coming back yet think my red praries started first don't have any others to compare them to here :( I sure hope they come back for you we had a lot of heat before all of this rain started a couple of months ago so mine might be up a little earlier than usual seems like a lot of plants are blooming earlier too.

I'll keep my fingers crossed! :) I almost have a new spot ready to plant and I want todo all annuals I can grow from seed. However I never started any this year! Can you believe it!? So I am thinking Nicotiana, Verbena, Cosmos, Mirabilis. Tall stuff and some fragrant stuff. I would like the Tropical Milkweed but I need to start those in February for them to do anything usually. Any ideas if I still have enough tie for direct sowing any others?

I'm just sowing some petunias today I know when they start coming up in my pots it isn't until late but they still bloom for a while before it gets cold our summers aren't that long either. My petunias and a few others didn't do well downstairs this year think it was too damp over the winter/mostly early spring. I just sowed my red nicotiana but that is because I just found the seeds lol Castor beans maybe, morning glories I'm just getting ready to sow both of those of course my moon vine is out this year I know it's too late to start it.

Wish I could help you out Meredith but I don't sow that many annuals, just to fill in spaces in my side yard I usually end up buying a few that I can't grow like lantana and whatever else.

AK!!! Just noticed it's your Birthday Meredith Happy Birthday!

Pineapple Sage is one that reseeds later here too Meredith in time for blooms mine hasn't come up yet so that one should be safe to sow, my Coral Nymphs are just starting to come up and tall red sages like Bonfire. I'm walking around in my beds trying to find things lol