2014 Seed Starting, Part 3

blomma.. not sure what your expecting up your way.. here the mountains will get up to 24" and most of the ski resorts have already closed for the year but they may change their minds and reopen, which they've done in the past... Here where I am they have updated this morning to 4-9" in my area (south of Denver) on Sunday. It will start as rain and then change to snow by midmorning. Will try to get out later today, gotta go to the mailbox as a package is due with plants.... If I make it out willl head up to Denver as the Denver Botanic Gardens sale start today...lol, how bad is that..... (up, refers to driving north....cuz actually I'll be heading down in elevation...lol... I know confusing...)

Pretty Iris Juhur, so far only have dwarfs in bloom, or maybe I should say were in bloom, will have to go out and see what didn't get frozen.... I'm a 6b but it's the difference in elevation I believe...my TBI won't be until e. June yet.... I'm having garden tour on June 8th so hope most will be in bloom....

Mipii ' Muave purple Desert prince is as near as I can remember I went through trying to remember the name , and it ende in a now crashed com file ,,,

Further about the humor ;; It is all way to serious for me , lol

Good grief Kathy , all that and Snow too ! oh well Skiing in June , good for business , bad for gardening ,,
Denver Botanic Gardens , I was driving through , riding through actually the interstate and saw the Sign to there once ,,So I can say I've been close enough to see the signs ,,lol I actually did a science paper once as a youngster from there ,, really though , i just enjoyed plants !

Here's some this evening ;
Mipii ) Robin ' as near as to "real" with the Tulips as I can .
Baby Watermelons ; coming up in the Garden'
Since this is a seed Germination thread ,lol and one of the Babies still has it's seed "coat" on ! Must be feeling kind of cold or something still ... he , he
Sprouter full of celosia ..
Next few weeks I will still be Plug- n along .. lol ..he he ..

Wow, that's a big difference...like night and day, lol! They're still pretty. Did you sow watermelon in gravel?

Yes that evening light is different , , would make a nice greeting card cover for those who like scrapbooking .. Mothers day , or relationship celebrations ,maybe ?
That is Sand&Gravel in two larger size tires , tires a couple levels deep , sitting on stone and rock pile way underneath ..
Yes these two were sown .in place , in the garden , in the The Gravel ,, It stays wet about 6inches down this time of year , and the tires get Hot in the Sun ... Solar watermelon bed ..
The secret , if any ,, is it is to difficult for a couple watermelons ,,
wears me down making the bed ,
Matches my Adolescent mind and Humor though ...lol ^_^ (that is an "age: "old" joke though

Kathy I feel for you :(
Wish we lived closer, you could foster mom all my orphan seedlings! Glad you belong to a gardening group, I'm sure they'll take great care of you :)

Celene, sorry I always forget you WS in flats. It's a great idea honestly I may do it that way next year if I can score free lidded flats.

Evelyn what a trip, the weather you're getting! I just wish this drought would end, I'm ready to go out and start doing a rain dance LOL

Oooh pretty pretty flowers Juhur, keep them coming, bet you're happy things aren't only just green now huh? Old ma nature is finally adding some color to your neck of the woods :D

Solar watermelon bed huh, that sounds like a good trick. What else have you sown in them?

Mipii Awwww Be nice now , it's my first one , ... lol
I have had three watermelons that were right in about a 10 years ,
Had a couple hog melons near 200 pds .
My moon &stars , all kinds of smaller 8 to 10 pounders .
Maybe if I do another , I will try peppers in there , unless I decide to replace it all and grow watermelons again ,, too , too , tiring (he , he ) to think about .
I had made a greenhouse ,cold frame cover ,but it blocked the tire heating up . so undid that .
I am really unhappy about my butterfly weed not returning , 5 years old and maturing really nice it was , I have one small one remaining and huge empty space in my front garden Grrrrrr!!!

Here we go !I had this gizmo made up , and was using this to start with , it actually blocked the heat though , oh well, back to the drawing board .


Marigold shortly ,,to have a companion plant ..

This message was edited May 10, 2014 12:32 AM

No Ju, really, that's pretty inventive! I'm honored to have met you and your spinning brain cells. There's always a method to your madness (so to speak). I can see how it'd work. It might even work for zone pushing. That's exciting!

Did your first one reflect the heat?

I'm not to sure what it was doing , not warm outside or inside in the Sun , So I presume the cover was dispersing the heat collection somehow ,,

My long term ,,lol is this ,, double pane , from ironed plastic , stapled to the frame , and painted ,, windows for coldframe or greenhouse
Darn thing is ,, figuring out how to do about 8,000 of these real quick like ,, I will be a while at this one ,,
I have about eight or ten of them made ,,clean , iron , staple , paint , seal , it takes a while ..
I came back to say thank you Robin , About a three or four way convo going on ,my way , I liked your light , coldframe project also !!! ,,
I got this way from making WW1 airplane reproductions from cereal boxes as a youngster ,, that's what happened ! lol really ,, it's a potato chip thing !!! ^_^
I planted today because it was suppose to rain , none so far ,,, it has all gone crazy ,, even fooling the radar system ,, hmmmm???

This message was edited May 10, 2014 1:30 AM

We've collected shower doors.

Cool Ju, It was Turtles13 that built the light project. I just built some shelves to harden off seedlings, still got to take some pictures. I am planning to build both a cold frame and a shelving/light system to germinate/grow.

Turtles, shower doors...wicked smart if you can go that large! Honey has to grant me turf, he's been so great/supportive so far.

Go for the first down, robin! A few yards at a time, so to speak.

Right now the shower doors are going to be teepee'd over sections of the new raised bed. What I find funny is that DC will only accept doors with the same glass in them. Eventually they are meant to become a roof of sorts over my gardening work area, with hopefully a greenhouse setup.

Thanks for the attribution of the lights, that was sweet.

You're welcome, thanks for showing me how to build them. I first thought of a cold frame with the shower doors and then realized greenhouse because you're collecting them. I like the idea...a lot!

More babies : Neat ideas about these threads ,,I am looking for polyvinyl square tubing to use for the junk windows , can add tubing for a heating system to the little windows if I manage to do that . besides it is better than wood ,,, you know rot away thing ...

#5 is white swan Echinacea ,, few dropped after sprouting in winter sow , these went dormant and in a cooler place are sprouting now ^_^
False nettle, celosia , tomatoes , late is better than never ?

LOTS of sprouts Ju, you're rolling very nicely along. Yes, many good ideas on these threads. A big thanks to all that share.

yes indeed and more ;
Zinnia
Salvia
pumpkin (giant )
snapdragons
Baby milkweed

weed thing ; stinging nettle with Red Admiral ,,, Nothing like caterpillars in the tea ! ^_^
A little green worm thing ,,

Shower doors! Yes how clever is that?? I love it :)

Ju all those seedlings, you don't miss a beat!

Thank you, but actually we saw it as a patio covering here at Bring Recycling.

But I do/will have two

I am potting up the last big batch of Deno'd seedlings. Morning glories and assorted Ipomoeas and related vines, pumpkins, melons, cucumbers, squash, and beans.

Got up early to bake batches of cookies to send to MIL.

Oh good grief. There was more to that post, sigh.

Sounds as that someone is having a Happy Mother's Day .
With someone else being Frustrated some ..


Happy Mother's Day ) all of you . here's the Flowers

Little warm outside today ,

Aww, juhur, thanks for the pretty flowers. They're the first I've ever gotten for Mother's Day! (I didn't have children.)

I'll repost the disappeared one later, in case anybody is hanging on the edge of their seat.

I am still doing the cube thing , no planting today except a pepper plant . My back is sore and it is Sunday ,, ahhh Relax ....
The cube thing and some fill of plants grown from seed
Catnip
hollyhock
cubes of false nettle . the dots in the middle
fleabane
feverfew

Ok, just back from my daughter's house, 25 miles away... Weather was just getting nasty. Rain had changed to snow and when I left her home a few hours later,,ICK!!!! Snow and it was blowing sideways...lol. Made it home, but oh the road was a mess!!!! I can't see out my windshield at the moment, all splattered with mud! Looks like I drove down a dirt road...lol..ya, ok I did.. Will let Mother Nature wash the car though...lol. They are saying we'll get most of the snow overnight, up to 14" maybe...so far about 2". And the mountains are now expecting up to 24".... Where's spring? When's it coming? LOL Next weekend might be 80*... Amazing!

blomma did you get your's yet? Will share...lol.

I potted up some Cosmos, annual Centaurea, Annual Dracocephalum, and a few huuuuuge Datura. All of a sudden everything's bursting out of its space... Lobelias look store-bought (but not potbound, lol), on the verge of blooming, first time I've ever achieved that. Usually I plant sad little clumps and it takes them forever to show any color.

I'm not sure what made that happen. I did try new potting mixes and additives, but I'm thinking it may be the Peter's fert. The new mixes have lots of micro-nutrients added, but no fert. In the past I've relied on the MG mixes for that, but have also read that 6-9 month time release formulations aren't quite exactly reliable. So this year, I tried Maxicrop, a seaweed based product. I realized pretty quickly that although it was great for germination, my babies were still hungry. I've used the Peter's 2 or 3 times, at 2 week intervals. Wherever the credit belongs, wow! What a difference!

Anyway, I'm happy! :-)

Cross post...

Yikes, Kathy-- spring blizzard! Enough, already! I know you need the moisture, but what a nasty way to get it!

I've been in the garden after several days away, and it's finally beginning to look like spring here. But suddenly sooooo much to do! I planted Digitalis Pam's Choice, did a little weeding, and put up all the new peony rings. Just in time, too. They've gone from barely showing to 12" high. In another week I'd have to bend (and probably break) every stalk trying to get the grid on.

Some of the iris I thought were NG are beginning to show growth. But a few are definitely gone. Somehow last season, between trades and purchases, I went from a handful of varieties to dozens (partly your doing, WWK), so I still have plenty.

Best news: my beautiful little double pink Platycodon has sprouted! Last year cuttings didn't work, seeds were duds, but she's back for another season, so all is not lost.

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Pretty!!!!!

Pfg Very nice !!!

It's pouring rain here ,, I'll take and keep it .

Kathy ; not meaning to sound mean but as cooler weather is predicted here later in the week , I hope , really hope that snow stays in the Mountain states ..

Feel bad that is causing trouble for you though I really do .. What a mean thing to do for Mothers Day .. Weather has no manners at all, except BAD lately ..

You know...it's actually a most Wonderful Mother's Day present!!! And Yes I'll keep mine too..lol.

Hey Kathy I don't know if you will enjoy this or not .
The tree growing and all , Planted about five years ago Came up next to a few flowers three years ago ,, let grow , and is identified as Black Cherry Prunus Serotina ,,,
old seeds I thought were not going to grow ,,

Wow , what a goof in dealing with time ,, and I bought seeds to replace and try again ,,


This message was edited May 11, 2014 10:04 PM

Pam, your pink platy is breathtaking.

Juhur, it's doing a good job at that non-growing gig! What a lovely surprise.

Kathy, I'm glad you're back and safe. Hope there's nothing you have to go back out there for, until its finally 80! We are also supposed to hit eighty next week, but we're only starting from 55. Just think of that deep long drink your plants are getting (? A tall cold one, so to speak?)

Thanks for the Mother's Day Flowers Ju...really sweet, I loved them...
going back to read all the other posts now, you guys have been busy chatting up a storm!

Kathy, my order for fine weather didn't get to you in time. Sure am glad you didn't hit the road any later! Geesh Turtles, you've pretty much taken the words right out of my mouth about Ju's Prunus and Pam's Platy, lol. 'A tall cold one'...ha, ha...as long as they don't suffer brain freeze.

Had 3" of snow by this morning. is 32 degrees now. Still snowing and will through tomorrow. Won't see the sun until Tuesday. Roads are clear but everything else has snow on it.

Spent the day at my DD. She is making me proud with all the veggie seedlings she has growing on her South facing enclosed porch.

Where is Spring?

Kathy, I bet you are getting some of this storm also.

Persephone and Demeter have got to stroll through your areas soon!

So far have ended up with 6 1/2", not sure how much melted as it was a wet snow and of this time (920am), it's still snowiing (another 1-3" before it's out of here).... I'm thinking we won't get that 11-14", tho some places in the mts got 28" and still snowing there also. News said we got atleast 1 1/2" of liquid moisture if melted down.. So yes is very welcomed...sure hope my babies make it under their blankets!!!!!!! Local school is closed for the day along with several others in close by ctowns (rural areas). I'm thinking it's a goood day for seeding more annuals...lol. Later folks...Kathy

Good luck Kathy! Soon you'll be swimming in plants again, you'll see :)

Hope y'all get some warmer weather soon!