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

Happy Birthday Meredith!

:-) I've got a few volunteers of salvia, that I'm desperately hoping are Coral Nymph in the front, and Yvonne's in the back. I didn't get any of them started this year, and the hummers and I love both of them... keeping fingers crossed that that's what I have!

Thank you both for the birthday wishes! It has been a summer like weekend here. We enjoyed the pool today. Thanks for the ideas, I feel like the Salvia needs a head start here. We usually get a killing frost by the second week in October. I had some Scarlet Sage reseed one year but it barely made it to flower so it couldn't reseed itself. I found soe Mirabilis that reseeded, they are only the first leaves, not sure if those will have enough time. Hope so because I absolutely loved them last year. I kept putting off seed starting, telling myself if I couldn't get my house organized I wasn't allowed to do seeds. So now I still have an un organized house and no seeds started! I should have just did my seeds! lol

I know i have a few Pineapple sage babies at home [i'm hoping to get back about the 20th of June]

but i found a pot at WallyWorld... two plants in a "bonnie" peat pot for $3.33

they are a good size... i hope to plant them in the next day or so.

Happy B day Meredith!! i almost missed it.

Thank you :) I've only had luck with Pineapple Sage blooming here, when I got one already blooming from the nursery. Every other time they just got huge and leafy.

Meredith I'm just starting to see volunteer Cleomes and cosmos in my garden. We're a little colder than you but I'm sure if you direct so you'll be fine. Also Verbena Bonariensis, a favorite of mine, and various nicotianas. I'm also just direct sowing various annual poppies, nasturtiums and alyssum. They take a little longer than indoor starts but you'll get plenty of bloom soon enough.

Good luck!

Pam

Meredith I'll always have an unorganized house and I blame it all on flowers that's my story and I'm sticking to it Ha!

That's about the time we get our killing frost too maybe it just doesn't get as hot there that's probably why PS blooms here and I do get to enjoy them before the frost gets them thank goodness.

What Cinderella is left is getting buds on it, it just seems so soon for these flowers to bloom the summer is going to be gone before we know it. I'm such an optimist aren't I lol

I got a tall salvia kind of like PS but taller from Tuink in the swap last year but it's suppose to bloom earlier so it blooms longer that would be sweet! Can't wait to see it do it's thang :) Well shoot just googled it and they say 3' seems like I was told it would get about 5' someone on the swap not Tuink, maybe I misunderstood that sure is possible lol I thought I looked it up too though some sites can give different info. too unfortunely. It does bloom longer though I'll save some seeds for the swap I'm sure :)

http://www.smartseedstore.com/salvia_excerta_praeclara.html

This says it blooms 8 wks. after sowing I'd says that's pretty good. Now I just need to get it in the ground ;o Think there are three out there about ten inches tall.

Good luck on your quest for flowers Meredith! Let us know how it goes at least you have your lovely blooms to enjoy from last year.

I've only had one hummer just put more feeders out it's getting so hot here they are bound to be here shortly.

I have at least 4 hummers that share the 3 feeders in my small yard. I've seen 2 that will 'share' a feeder, but mostly there is one that shaggs the others away. I know last year i had 4, this year i could be up to 5.

I'm trying to get plants that they can use as food too.

I'm still trying to get plants in the grounds... work is really getting in the way, then the weather.
Hopefully Friday morning i can get the last of'em in the ground.

I have marigolds, salvias, those 'spikes' for pots... but i think i need some 'peat' for the huge pots i bought... which means another trip to Home depot. then I have other shade plants... and i'm waiting on a shipment of Caladiums - i think i have 40 bulbs coming... no idea where i'm gonna put them all.

Lea -- those Blue Milkweed... remember i got 5 seeds... i have 4 plants. maybe i'll keep 2 up here and take two home at the end of June... longer growing season there -- and hopefully i'll get some seeds to share.

Thanks Pfg :) It sounds like you are starting a lot of the ones I want to try.

Lea, I'm glad you have some cinderella, I still haven't seen any here. Maybe the Monarda swallowed them up!

I used to have all kinds of hummers until last year I probably only had about four and that's pushing it I used to walk thru the yard to the house and they would buzz all around me I still had them buzzing around me but not everywhere I walked, there sure were a lot of butterflies out last year and this year haven't even planted my plants yet! Too many weeds just finishing planting tomatoes,peppers and basil. Trying to get my priorities right this year planting the veggies first but it was hard!

I've let a lot of purple top come up this year the hummers go nuts over that and some is just starting to bloom I really like verbena bonariensis but don't like picking the seedlings out where I don't want them they are always wall to wall lol

Meredith I didn't get any seeds from my Cinderella last year because of having so many milkweed bugs and aphids I sure hope to get some this year! Those plants are like shrubs I wish they were a little lankier and didn't spread out so much I think I'll trim mine next spring might help with the hard rains too.

Ah! I forgot about the blue milkweeds Terese! Gonna have to see a picture of those plants even without blooms, will they bloom the first year, do you know? That red prairie milkweed I think is blooming now that I had in the swap last year but not the plants that I planted last year I just can't believe that poor thang makes it every year it's right where Max can get to with his tie out and he gets his tie around it all of the time and just pulls it off as he walks away they must be tough plants I have one of those white hibiscus/red center that came up around that area too and same thing with his tie and they still do good lol

Lea -- they should be first yr bloomers as they are an annual for me... hardy to zone8
Southern Star, Tweedia
Tweedia caerulea

I love the little blue flowers on those seems I remember you saying they were an annual for us just wish they would show a picture of the whole plant instead of just the flowers the leaves look interesting heart shaped:

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/124860/

Five seeds are pretty scary for me can't believe four out of five germinated good for you!

I have had a hummer on my Nepeta Walker's Low a lot this week. I thought the flowers looked like something they'd like, that's why I got it, but I can't remember ever seeing a hummer on it before this year. So that made me happy because those sure take up a lot of space. I started with one plant that I split into 3 sections, three years ago and each section is as big as the original plant was already. I was so excited to see a Monarch laying eggs on milkweeds today. Unfortunately it wasn't in my yard but I was still a wonderful sight. : )

You have someone else in your neighborhood growing milkweeds that's cool no one here does don't know of anyone doing it guess the poor thangs have to depend on the wild along the roadsides I do see when the county mows they go around the orange milkweeds so that's a good thing I try and encourage people here to grow it but it's kind of hard when all they grow is shrubs because they don't want to take care of anything the way I feel these hot days I feel about the same way getting too old for all this heat and humidity I ask myself every year why I do this to myself lol

I have a couple of walker lows too and yes they do take a lot of space just divided one had three and sold it too much room but it is beautiful and the cats here just love it I have it all over the floor all summer and half the winter I always pick a big pile and pitch it on the kitchen floor of course it ends up all over the house ;) They must not have much of a smell in the spring my cats wouldn't pay any attention to it then for some reason...

Actually it was at a VFW parking lot... Milkweeds growing along the edge. I am pretty sure they leave that area unmowed. I drive a bus and I pull in there between schools to check my bus, that day I saw a Monarch fly over to the Milkweed. I ran out with my camera phone but every time I got somewhat close enough to get a pic she took off. I saw one in my yard today and it was pretty funny that it went right to the Walker's Low.. lol :)
My kitty that has passed on liked it but not as much as the real deal nepeta cataria. My kitty Scrappy likes to sleep near it and sniff at it but he was never much of a catnip lover like my Simba was. :)

Gosh my cats roll all over it and eat it it's so funny to watch I've planted the nepeta cataria or I think that's what it was three times from Critter she sent so many seeds lol But it doesn't come back the next year for me for some reason and they like the walker's low so I just use that one.

Man! I was going to check for eggs on the milkweeds here and never did today it's been a busy day and HOT almost 100! All I could do is water seedlings in pots running in to cool off then going back out to take them out of the water then back in to clean :( Kind of like winter it's so hot so I try and stay in and clean lol Pulled a few weeds but not that many just can't believe I have all of these darn weeds again I've gotten rid of them once!

I hear you, I was trying to pull weeds last night, I didn't get too far. My problem is soe kind of annual grass, it trys to come in thick as a rug in some beds. But I can't get grass to grow out of the bed! I've also tried the nepeta cataria and it didn't come back for me either. It says it's hardy to z3 and invasive so I thought it was odd. I figured it's cause the cats eat it down to nothing so maybe it never develops enough to make it through winter. I hope that heat comes this way for the weekend I'm having a birthday party for my youngest daughter. We need pool party weather! lol

Uggh, you can have our heat. We were out a little late this morning, didn't get moving until 8am... by 9:15 I was ready to call it quits and had probably sweated a few buckets of water. Was all I could do to weed a little and water the pots on the deck. NO fun. This is august weather, not May/June!

we had a beautiful day yesterday... too bad i had to work til 3pm.... but we had a good day when i got off.

today - for 3 days.... 90-95 & humid .Ugggggggg. Raining right now... bad storms south of us.
Losing internet... so it's that bad.... BBL - hopefully....

It was real hot for the few days around memorial day and I felt the same way, but it was awesome chillin by the pool weather. lol Bad for yard work though. Now my bloods thinned out and 60 feels freezing lol.

I'm not much of a pool person my neighbor has a pool and I can get in it even when they are at work but never do they have lived here for about ten years I guess and think I have been in it maybe twice.

I had a seedling in one of my jugs that was different and potted it up it sure looks like catnip doesn't have a smell to it it's only a couple inches high but sure looks like it. Maybe the cats did eat the catnip never thought about that I have a few ferals here along with everyone else's cats that roam the field.

Terese send some of that rain here I sure could use some. Hope it doesn't storm too bad there.

Saw my first BST cat today sure was pretty! I showed it to the African lady across the street that doesn't speak English and she said 'flower' I told her 'butterfly' not sure she understood sure wish I could speak her language she is always chattering away about my flowers.

95 for the next two days then high 80's with tons of humidity Grrr it's killing me watering Kelly I agree this is only June what the heck is up with this! I can always make it thru August cause I know it will be over in a month but gessssh! I still have five gal. jugs to transplant it's just too hot and weeds to pull so I can get these plants in the ground I started just pulling weeds enough to get a few plants in last night guess that's what I'll do then worry about the other weeds if I ever get done lol

in our Park... there are 2 small beds up by the 'upper pool' [that is the one up the hill from me]
I have been working on them about 2 yrs now. When i was doing my spring weeding, i noticed a plant -- and wasn't sure if it was a weed or not... i left it to see what it was... weds are easy to pull due to our sandy soil....

so glad i left it alone... saw it blooming the other night when we were at the pool. Very distinctive blooms.....

Mountain Coneflower.... Last night I looked up my notes [on google docs] and found i did indeed sow some, but according to my notes, nothing germinated.... whoops, guess 1 did and i planted it, because that is definitely what it is. I'll try to remember to take a photo.

We have 2 pools in the Park... upper and lower [due to the hills in the park] I'm about 70 steps below the upper pool ... can peek to see if it is crowded before i head up there.... Well, the lower pool is closed due to some 'imbalance' [so the health inspector says] so everyone, including all those screaming kids, are at the upper pool. so much for relaxing.... I worked til just after 3, floated from about 3:30 til 4 yesterday... it was very refreshing.... today is supposed to be worse temp and humid-wise from yesterday.... and peeps are already complaining that that Saturday is supposed to be 60. I think they are exaggerating ... i havent checked the forecast .... We [the Upper Mid-west forum] have our RU this Saturday... i'm so not prepared.
Last year i had tons of plants to take... this year, zip.

That's too bad about the 2nd pool, hopefully they will get it opened back up soon, so the screaming kids go away! This time of year it's hard for me to get in but once the water is 82 degrees I can go in it for hours. So yes about hearing lousy weather is on the way, well lousy for my pool party anyway. Today I would have been in heaven if it was 60 degrees.. Way too hot for working without AC. My youngest dd is turning 4 and I've never thrown her, her very own Birthday party so I was just hoping it would be a perfect day for it. I guess when you want something that bad it never comes true, Murphy's Law right?

I'll send you all so me of my heat & humidity I can hardly breath out in this stuff anymore, you all send me some cooler weather we'll put it in the trade tracker LOL

Last night I went to turn my sprinkler on to water my plants in the side yard It's one of those double circles that shoots water way out all around the bed still doesn't reach the edges but it's a God send I just love it! Well last night it wasn't rotating I've had it a few years after I turned it on and off a few times it was alright but I was freaking it's so much easier to water the bed that way going to take some duck tape to it today around a cupling that I saw leaking and hope that is the problem or maybe a bug got in there somehow to mess it up it's got to last forever I don't have the money for another one :)

My coneflowers are just beautiful this year and thought I lost my orange and lemons but I think I see it all of my other gaillardias were up way long before that one showed back up if it is that one, I waited so long for that plant to show up in our nurseries last year was the first year I ever saw it and it's been around for a long time! We are so far behind times here in the nurseries!

Those sprinklers are great! I feel like they break easy, they make them that way so you have to keep buying them lol.. Some of my plants are beginning to look drought stricken already. I have soaker hoses in the beds but some of them shoot water out where the hose attaches to them. They are brand new, they seem so cheaply made, with plastic ends, but I can't find any that have the metal ends.

I'm sure you checked to make sure you still have washers at the end of the soaker hoses Meredith they do the same thing when they fall out. I've still got soaker hoses to get put out and haven't done it yet they make them so long wish I could find some shorter ones.

Those copper sprinklers are expensive! I couldn't afford to get another one never see any that aren't copper wonder why...

I went out to mess with the soaker hoses again and it's just too darn hot out I do good to water plants in pots that I have left to water in the evenings and get a plant or two in the ground even the new plants in the ground don't like this heat they seem to do better in the pots.

we are 40degrees colder than we were 2 days ago ......brrrrrrrrrr

Actually I didn't check, but the water is squirting out below where the hose attaches, not from the hose and sprinkler attached area. It's like where the hose attaches to the plastic end. I tried twisting it a little but I was getting sprayed and was in a rush. I'm gonna fiddle with it some more another day. Hopefully I can fix it. It was close to a hundred here today, but then a thunder storm rolled in about 4:30 and cooled it down to 67 degrees. Much more comfortable!

I want some of that cooler weather and some of that cott'n picking rain! We have chances of rain all weekend I think but I don't believe it.

Get this 'one' of the guys that said he would till my garden called last night and wondered if I still wanted him too, the last time he waited to till it after it rained not much but enough not to be able to till we are suppose to get showers today guess that's why he said he would this evening :) Think he's gonna have to till this evening cause I doubt very much that we get any rain just wonder if it's too late to plant my cukes, zucchini and corn, he's going to till it weither it's too late or not so it will be ready for fall, I planted my zucchini late one year and didn't get anything off of them.

How about a piece of duck tape worth a try Meredith.

That reminds me I had vases put on my grandmother's, mom and dad's stones cause they were slanted and it was hard to put flowers on their grave without getting them weeded at the side of the stones and ruining them well went up there to put more flowers in with water and they had drilled a hole in the vases! That is not right! Guess they did it because of the skeeters laying eggs? But someone should have notified me of what they were going to do I just put duck taper over the holes :)

When I plant around the graves, I put Preen on the soil and edge the bed w/Round up to keep the grass and weeds from coming in too fast. A little salad oil in the vase would keep the mosquitoes from breeding
Herman

Thanks Herman :) I'm planting some daylilies in between the stones this fall saw some at another grave site but they are pretty easy to weed around I have three graves so I will have two daylilies to plant my uncle is there too. The salad oil sounds like a great idea thanks so much!

There's so many Daylily cultivars you could probably find one with their name or something else to commemorate them.

I have a few daylilies I split some up last year and planted them in the beds never even thought of putting any at the gave site until I saw one at the graveyard, no funds to even trade for any daylilies this year it's been a rough one but I have some pretty ones left to divide yet with this heat we have been having won't be doing it till this fall.

We have so many ticks this year! It creeps me out to even get in my weeds from all the rain in my beds to clean them out I've had so many on me so far this year! I cleared a bunch of weeds out in this one bed and ended up with about five ticks on me I've even seen them in the garages crawling on things CREEPY! I have several 5 gal. buckets under the gutters of one garages for rain water and went to get some water the other day and one was crawling around the top of the bucket! We have the big ticks and the little bity deer ticks that you can hardly see...those are the scary ones because you can barely see them.

Yes it has been an awful year for ticks! We have a lot around here too.

Ahhhhh, I'm up in Delaware this week visiting my parents, and it's been mid 70s high most of the week! Love it! Picked up a Crape Myrtle (my mom has always wanted one), and got it planted Monday. Such a pleasure planting in this weather!!!

Glad you are having such nice weather to plant in Kelly :)

I just lost one of my crape myrtles that I grew from seed in the field the boy that bought my field ran over it with the lawn mower :( I planted three in a row and the one in the middle (4' high) is growing like a weed and the other two on each end (only about 10" high) just sits there so he thought it was dead oh well I still have two left but just don't think one of them is going to make it. Then he proceeded to cut my Verbena hastatas by two of my grasses! Just thought they were weeds! I do have a few of those in my moon garden that reseeded though those are so danity looking I just love them and they do seem to glow in the evenings not sure if that's a good spot for them though considering how they are going to reseed lol The field was a better place for them just glad I got brave and planted some there last year or I would have lost them altogether.

Then my son took the push mower to the hill by my back door the other day for me and I had a sweet william that seeded from me just pitching seeds out (it was blooming!) that I thought were old and Terese that red milkweed was 'blooming' that I think was the red prairie and he cut that one down too :( Not a good week for my plants lol

Ooh, awful when that happens. Yet, nice to have the help so hard to fuss at them I know!

I'm a little worried to see my plants when I get home after having DH take care of them for me while DD and I were in Delaware... we had a bunch of storms at home, and I asked him if any of the pots blew over. He said yes, and he picked up all the ones he notices... hmm... not sure If his powers of observation can be trusted... we'll see!

I just got back home to IL today... should have 3 full days of pulling weeds. got the kid to help me a bit.

Lea -- I will have to find out what it is... but it's an agastache with tiny blue flowers...i mean TINY. I'll have to find my camera.

there is tons of stuff blooming now... hopefully tomorrow will be good for working outside.. but i doubt it - mosquitoes are hungry.... but i'll do an area at a time and then take pics.

the remained of seedlings will go in the ground and what didnt germinate will get dumped.

I had 3 out of 6 canna germinate. never had them before.

I'm exhausted... just gonna read and then rest....

Lea -- I checked my spreadsheet... the Agastache that has tiny blue flowers... that was the "Agastache Surprise" that i had in the Hog Swap. I was thinking they would have been Purple Pygmy... guess not.

I have tons of them 'out back' too.. I had Alex weeding back there and there are thousands of little/short agastaches... they are about 8" tall.

Kelly lol I hope your plants were alright :) We had a good windy storm here too (54-60 mh winds) just knew some plants were goners because I had put some small pots on some shelves so the air good dry them out and had a late sowing of a tall red nicotiana that I finally found and it was water logged and beaten from another hard rain but all was well of course my nacotianas were still water logged :( I've lost half of those because of so much rain I just hope I get a couple of plants out of them.

Yep Terese those little agastaches are really small but so cute I've planted them with other short little plants so I have a little mini garden in front of a taller one in my side yard in between the house and garage decitated to those :)

I love those spider zinnias too they are so cool looking one got planted right in front of my purple catnip and they go so well together I'm thinking of planting the rest there how much do they fan out? How far apart should I plant them I have three more to plant ended up with five or six and gave one to the lady I volunteer for and one for Lisa up the street, I was thinking of planting one in the garden to attract pollinators I already have three of those african marigolds planted in there.

That reminds me I had this beautiful 'fireworks' plant last year never could tell what the seeds were to collect them but they have reseeded like crazy in my side yard I'm so happy it was such a huge plant that I'm afraid it won't have time to get full grown and bloom but heck my lantanas that reseed do so I'm hopeful it really attracts the bees so I put one of the seedlings in my garden too :

http://www.burpee.com/flowers/gomphrena/gomphrena-fireworks-prod000219.html

They say this plant gets up to 4' tall and 2' around it's more like 4' all over! But beautiful! I know my water guy last year was having a time trying to get to my water meter to read it mostly because of that plant last year I tried to make sure these reseeders aren't in his way he has big feet lol

Terese my fingers are so sore from pulling weeds! I have all of these cracks on my pointing finger from it I hate wearing gloves it does help but you can't get the smaller weeds when you have gloves on and I have so many of them.

Lea -- those tiny Agastaches are everywhere in that bed.... i mean everywhere!! but with them being so small, i dont think they will choke anything out.

too bad, none of my Spiders came back from seed... i was hoping they would. I'll have to see if i have more seeds... i believe i gave you the packet from SummerHill. I had so many seeds that i did not get a chance to sow this year... mostly Zinns and Marigolds.

I went out in long jeans, long sleeved shirt, socks and shoes and still got chewed up today.... with the rain this morning, the weeds pulled out easily.

I had to clear areas so i can plant the last of my WS"ed stuff. plus i have Caladiums bulbs to stick in the ground....