First seedlings/cuttings....

This is my first time to successfully start ANYTHING from seed (indoors) and my first time at trying to root cuttings of any sort. So here are my pictures!

This first one is on my bookshelf in my spare bedroom. On the far right are mostly hollyhocks (happy lights and queeny purple). There is also a brug seedling in there. Next to that are all brug seedlings. I am so proud of myself- I received 12 and planted them all doing my "egg carton method." I got 11 to germinate, then broke the top of the stem off two of them (don't ask) so now I have 9 of the 12 all growing quite well if I do say so myself. In the front of the picture are my datura seedlings.

Here is a closer picture of all that stuff...

Here are 2 of my brug cuttings. Isabella in the coffee can and the limp one is Snow White. I truly do the "let them get totally dry before watering" routine. As of right now, it has perked up quite a bit- Isabella was still damp so I didn't water her today. So far, that has worked for me! But it freaks me out to see them so limp.

These are on the little dresser in the same room. From the left in the back there is a Bird of Paradise. My elephant ears came REAL early from Parks, so I put the little 3 inch pots around the edges of the BofP pot. Seems to be working ok. In front of that are 2 more brugs- an un-named pink and another Snow White. Then to the right are 2 pots of impatients. I saved cuttings this fall and rooted them. Never tried that before, but it worked fine. They actually bloom quite a bit and did all winter long.

I ordered 5 evergreen wisteria seeds from Ebay. 4 of the 5 germinated. 3 look alike and I assume they are actually what I ordered. But that 4th one clearly isn't the same thing! Oddly enough, it looks like my datura seedlings. But I put each of the 5 seeds in separate Jiffy pellets and put them in the tray w/ the cover. I didn't open it until I saw green, and that's what came up. How strange... So now I am going to plant this mystery seedling and see what it turns out to be!

Congratulations!!! Everybody looks happy and healthy, and I will be looking forward to updates!!
Thanks for posting these pics, I will go off to bed dreaming of your babies LOL
Jackie

PS, It's not your spare bedroom anymore, it's your nursery!

I know, you're saying, now Jamie, are you really starting more seeds?! What could possibly have left? Do you really need to do this? Oh wait, that's not y'all. That's my husband! LOL! So yes, I did start more seeds tonight. I got my "Dolce Petunia" collection from Park's started as well as my Calliopsis "Tiger Stripe" and Calendula "Radio" seeds from Select Seeds started.

In addition to this, I have 8 more rooted brug cuttings in my living room and all of my houseplants are inside. I can't wait until I can move it all outdoors.... just a couple more weeks to go. Yea Spring!!!!

Thanks! And you're right- it is officially a nursery from late November through well, about right now! When I can move all that stuff outside, it can go back to spare room mode. :)

Very nice looking seedlings, good for you.

It won't be long now and you will be able to put them outside. You garden will be full of color this summer. LOL . . what we do to get an early start and to hold plants over in the winter.

Very healthy looking seedlings. All your plants look great.

Looking good, texasgarden.

They are all looking good! I am about to start some hollyhocks too, I love those!! Are yours doubles or the singles?

I hope you are young, the wisteria take years and years to flower from seed. Grafted ones bloom much earlier.

I hope your brugs are all hot!

texasgarden I had that happen to me, I planted some lily seeds they are all alike excepting 2 they are totaly different , I will have to wait and see what happens.

Everything looks so good and I know you are excited about the new season and all the beautiful Flowers you will have. I hope you have tons.

Dee

Awe.... aren't they the cutest little things ???? Good job, TxG !!! It won't be long now :) :) :)

Nice looking plants. Your summer will be very fulfilling.

Thanks guys!

Kell- you reminded me of Paris Hilton just then "that's hot." Ha! I think mine are all singles- hollyhocks that is. I know the wisteria takes a while to bloom from seed, but I'm only 28 so maybe they will bloom during my lifetime! I only need 2 and have 3. And Terrie (trunnels) said she wants it. I told her about the long time to bloom thing and she STILL wants it, so she can have it! That Eden site (addictive gardening online nursery place) had small pots for like $7 I think. But I have only seen them in big pots and they are expensive! So I opted for some cheapy seeds.

Well, if I don't kill it all off, I will post pictures when/if they bloom. Willard Scott said "11 days until spring" this morning on the Today Show and it's going to be in the upper 70s/low 80s all week, so I will be out in the yard getting my beds ready for all this stuff! Woo hoo! Spring fever much?!

Jamie

Gosh, 29 Jamie. STOP BRAGGING!! LOL. I want to be 29 again.

I still would get a grafted wisteria. You may wait 15 years wisteria bloomless, and even then it may not bloom. What a sad, sad 15 years. When you could be enjoying them this very year!!! HD always has some flowering ones fairly cheap. And they grow so fast once in the ground so you can buy a small one. I would only buy one with flowers already on so you know the variety and you know it can bloom.

Spring without wisteria blooms is a spring without its soul.

Kell, Kell, Kell. I am 28! NOT 29! Creeping up on 30 is freaking me out, since I still don't feel like a grown up. And I just turned 28 a couple of weeks ago, so it's not like I'm close to 29 and just in denial. Ha!

My wisteria is the evergreen/tropical kind. Millettia reticulata I think is the "real" name. I have never seen it in garden centers or a nursery. Online the cheapest I have seen is 7 gallon container for $30. I may break down and do that if I have to wait 15 years for blooms! Eden whatever its called had small pots for much cheaper, like I said, but I forgot to say the part where they were sold out! I can find it online in 15 gallon containers too but that of course is even MORE expensive.

Nice quote about the soul of spring too btw. :) Is that a "Kellism?" Ha!

I was going for your heart, doing a hard sell. LOL!!

Well, see how old I am, I can't even read anymore. My goodness, 28 not 29!!! My advice is stop now before you end up like me. I will have to look up this Millettia reticulata. Is that the dark pink one with short racemes? It is quite possible that I have no clue and all I said was a lie. I am not familar with Millettia reticulata . See, another problem with old age, you think you know everything and really know nothing!!

Oh, dear, Jamie, your pics remind me how far behind I am - your plants, all of them, look great - we are in the same zone!! I wonder where Willard Scott expects spring to land in 11 days??

Jamie your plants and first timer are great. Wish I could worry about being 29 or 30 even again. But out of luck. LOL
You can tell how old I am when your term life insurance has ended. LOL

Lol, TAR!! I realized I was not as young as I feel, when I went for a cast change and the other people, all guys, with an injury like mine had not graduated from high school or college - I felt like I was at a pediatrician's, whew!!!

Way to go, Jamie. High five!!!

Kell your wisteria is gorgeous.

:) Donna

Here ya go Kell- this is the Plantfiles info on it:
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/59543/index.html

I want this kind b/c it's non-invasive like a lot of wisteria. And it's evergreen. I am using it to replace my jasmine that was supposed to be evergreen, but isn't. The smell is out of this world! And you aren't a big liar, it really does take a long time to bloom from seed just like other wisteria! LOL! Someone else told me that after I ordered my seeds. I would be more than happy to buy it in pots but I need 2 for both ends of my L shaped porch and I don't want to blow $60 of my plant budget on two vines. Okay, so that "budget" is a theoretical figment of my husband's imagination, but I try to keep it within reason. Ha!

Thanks all- I am proud that they all made it through the winter inside... knock on wood!

For the record, I am not one of those women running around saying I am too old or too fat or anything like that. It's more a matter of WHERE DID THE TIME GO? It seems like just yesterday I was wishing time to pass so I could be 21. Then, after that long drawn out process, suddenly BAM 22 BAM 23, 24, 25 BAM BAM BAM!! SLOW DOWN!!!! I'm afraid that it will feel like a week has passed and I will be saying "oh I just turned 48." Not that that's old either, y'all simma down now, I am just making the point that time flies and it really freaks me out!

Jamie

Well Jamie, I hate to tell you but that is exactly how it happens. You turn around and you rlife has gone on fast forward. Inside, you feel like you are still so young and then you try to stand up. LOL

Anyway, I just looked up your wisteria in Peter Valdar's book. It seems yours is not a true Wisteria species. It is from southern China and Taiwan and is usually used as a potted plant there. The flowers point up it seems and are small so you will not get the thrill of hanging long racemes. No fragrance either.

So Jamie, you still will need a true Wisteria to have a soul filled spring! LOL

Thanks Kell. Don't tell me that though! I wish I had a "slow" button for life- like on my VCR remote. LOL!

I don't know what the deal is- I knew it wasn't a "true" wisteria and that it was chinese, but it IS fragrant, according to eveything I have read and people who have responded saying they grow it. In fact, that's WHY they grow it. Now I want to buy one in potted form so I can test it out myself! If it isn't fragrant, I don't want it anyway. Wait 15 years... for what?! Ha!

Edited to add that of the 4 PlantFiles ratings/notes, one person did use the word "fragrant." Not someone I recognize from posting on the forums but maybe I can email him/her and see what they say... the descriptions I have read on Ebay and the few online nurseries I found that carry it also describe it as fragrant. Oh, and that picture you posted doesn't look exactly like the others I have seen. Your pic looks a bit more lavendar purple where the ones I have seen are a deeper, almost blackish purple.


This message was edited Mar 10, 2005 10:02 PM

Just remember every day to stop and enjoy everything you are exposed to, and it may still go by fast but you will have a much better time!

Well who knows, maybe Peter Valder is not the last word of its fragrance! The pics in the Plantfiles look more like Millettia sp., Satsuma Sakuko Fuji according to this book, but that one too he says has no detectable scent.

The one in my picture above is Wisteria floribunda "Violacea Plena," a double flowered wisteria which is the best one there is in my opinion!

Picture from Wisterias, by Peter Valder

Now to me, that picture looks more like the MR I was thinking of. Yes, I am abbreviating it now b/c I am sick of typing it out! Ha!

Well I will get myself an actual plant and not seeds. Then I will report back with a fragrance/no fragrance answer. :)

OK!! Sounds like a deal. LOL

I bid on some on E-Bay. I swear, if I ever get one I am going to do what this woman did! She just roots cutting from hers and fools like me pay $25+ for it! That is my bid anyway. We shall see if I "win" my auction... Abe hates when I say that about E-Bay. He always says "if you WON it, it would be free! You are just being honored with the privledge of buying someone else's stuff." Ha! Anyway, I'm gonna go see if I won it. LOL!

Hey Kell- FYI, I got that wisteria on Ebay!!!!

It is so funny, I love when this happens. Some punk who I outbid just let it ride until last night, 2 seconds before the auction ended then tried to swoop in and outbid me. But he/she got in a bidding war with someone else so at the last minute they drove the price waaay up. So that punk won it. But then I got a "second chance" offer from the seller. I had a feeling she had more than one so I was expecting this to happen. What does that mean? It means I am getting the exact same plant as "punk" and "punk junior" (his/her last minute bidding nemesis) but I get it at my original maximum bid and they are paying $15+ more for it. Soooo, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah!!! :)

I am so immature... and Ebay appeals to my competitive nature. I will report back on a fragrance, as promised. Just wanted to tell y'all I got it!

Jamie

LOL Jamie. Sounds good and you also got a bargain!!! LOL

I got a one gallon pot for $25 plus shipping ($6). For this particular vine, I think it was a pretty good deal. You can find it cheaper, but they are almost always sold out. And I never see it in nurseries. From the picture, it should be a full gallon. You know how it is, sometimes in these things the person (or online nursery) say its a one gallon plant and then just put a stick in a one gallon pot and call it good. If that happens, negative feedback baby! :)

my favorite time down in Charleston SC was in the spring when the wisteria was dripping purple in the leafless dogwoods that were lit up with their white flowers.

I guess there has to be a balance in life. I figured a counter point to the amazing beauty of spring is how they're plagued with the fireants and the flying teeth (a.k.a gnats or no-seeums).

I lived in Georgia for 2 years and never knew what that "purple stuff" was that grew wild up every tree along the highway. It was, of course, wisteria.

The stuff I ordered, as Kell and I discussed, isn't a true wisteria. The common name is Evergreen (or Tropical) Wisteria. Unlike the regular stuff, this does stay evergreen and has purple, almost red, blooms from summer to frost. The jury is still out on fragrance... I think it is supposed to be fragrant but Kell's book says it isn't. So, I am going to be the judge. My decision is final. Ha! :)

LOL. I can abide by that.

Kell- How 'bout I mail you a peice of it so you can be the independent verificiation? Ha!