Seed Snatchin' XII...Snatchin' Bunnies

weez, can i get some blueberry seeds? (or cuttings, I don't know the best way.)

Dyson, I don't know if wild-type blueberries will grow well in VA's warmer climate...

WZ, you kindly sent me seeds for Linaria 'Northern Lights', and they've been just lovely in my windowboxes... They're nearly done blooming, and I went out yesterday and harvested a lot of those tiny little seeds! Now I can pass your generosity along... :-)

I may head out today to snatch several bushels of grass clippings from a friend's place since we're finally supposed to have a dry evening here. I don't know if grass clippings really count as a snatch, but my veggies sure do love being mulched with them!

Dyson, I think Critter is right about the blueberries. They grow in specific spots, and I've never had much luck even transplanting them here, much less collecting seed. I'll take a look this fall to see if I can find any seeds for you. Chances are, they need to stratify.

Critter, so glad the linaria did well for you. They do put out nice seed, and you'll probably get volunteers under your windowboxes, as well. They are self-seeders, but not as invasive as Linaria vulgaris. Hey, when snatching grass clippings from neighbors, try to find out if they use 'Weed & Feed' on their lawn. If so, I wouldn't recommend using it as mulch around your plants... just a thought.

Well, I've got to head to town this morning to do a housekeeping job, so I'm taking my camera and a few supplies in case anything is in seed yet...probably not. The real seed snatching around here begins in mid-August through early October. Once the heavy fall rains start, the seeds are often moldy and useless.

oh, not to worry, these are organic grass clippings, LOL! Al was thinking maybe he could put a sign out on the main road, "organic grass clippings, free for the cutting!" They have a huge place and just got a nice new riding mower (zero turn), so every so often I go out and haul back a load of clippings in the back & the rear seat of the CR-V. Last time I had enough for 4 heaping wheelbarrow loads, and I have a big, 2-wheel barrow!

I snached an AV leaf for the plants my mom got in the hospital yesterday! I couldn't help myself - it was already broken (and I swear she will probably give me the whole planter anyway) LOL!! I am encouragble! if you're wondering - my mom had a mastectomy yesterday (the ulimate snatch).

Heather

Oh, Heather, I'm sorry to hear your mom is going through that! I'm sure she's relying on your strength as well as her own -- not to mention your wacky sense of humor -- "ultimate snatch!" Erk!

Heather, I hope your mom heals quickly! What a hard thing for your family to go through.

prayers & hugs for you & your Mom, Heather

snatched a cool plant stnd on wheels, will probably hold a 3 gallon pot, painted a silly torquoise, guess they didn't like the color LOL, if I had thrown that away (it was in our dumpster!), i would have at least kept those four good casters, geez

i snipped some seeds from a lilac bush (any good?), and some wild daisies, and some orange cosmos. all of these were on our property, but if you don't snatch 'em, the wind will LOL! got the cosnos from someone here on DG, sure wish my camera were working...

Hope you are doing well Tamara Faye Fritch!!! Hows the arm?
I am in Chicago at the Hyatt until Friday if any of you Chicago DGers want to get in touch it's room 2009.
sidney

i can now scratch my nose with my fingers!

but the piece of staple they missed caused an infection, and the mis-fitting splint is causing very poor circulation

appt tomorrow :-)

Sydney!!!
What are you doing in Chicago?
Traffic sucks but we should do a hook up.
Hyatt where? Hopefully right around O'hare and if I can't steal for a quick roadtrip, I'd come up and get some face time.

check your DG mail for alternative email addys

Just snatched Cosmos seeds from a friend's neighbor's yard. Is it too late to sprinkle them in my garden? What should I do with them?

I have Cosmos that reseed themselves every year, so I'd say they're a good candidate for fall or winter sowing. I have some fresh columbine seeds that I was debating sowing now or later, but I decided to wait until fall since I want to clear a largish area for them. I figured if I sowed them now, there would be too much time for weeds to grow in their midst before they sprouted up in spring.

I totally relate to your post, critterologist. As my good plants are dying off in this drought, the weeds are just going crazy.

I guess I'll take my Cosmos out of my pocket and put them in an envelope for sowing later. I hope I remember!

It would be cooler there at least Weez!!!

Yummy blueberries! Maybe I can trade some weeding for blueberries!

My neighbors were on vacation last week and I watched their house, etc. Well, their poor Coleus were rootbound, flowering, and scraggly! So I repotted them, trimmed them, and darn if I don't have a bunch of cutting rooting! I have so many Coleus this year from Snatches! Don't think I'll be growing any from seed next year! LOL!! My plan is to take some of their rooted cuttings back over and put them in their pots for a filler until their plants catch up.

Before they left my neighbor Jon was telling me exactly how to water their 2 big ferns, how much etc. They don't garden but know about my addiction. Anyway, his wife looked at him and said, "Good grief Jon she knows how to water a plant!!" LOL!!!!

Hey Ivy1, Cosmos is one of my FAVS!! Great Snatch!!!

Sidney? Where are you now?

Tamara, keep us posted woman!!!! I hope your visit gives you results!!!

Nicole

NC - In this heat it's hard not to turn into a curmudgeon! My weeds are up around my ears, I lost a prized Clematis, I killed a Bridal Wreath Spirea that a friend said she would come and get, so I potted it up for her and then she couldn't come. It fried while we were on vacation and I've got other plants in pots that are slowly roasting to death!

Anyway, thank you for always being enthusiastic! It's nice to come online and find someone so upbeat. I struggle in my gardening between complete joy and utter despair, and you make me feel better.

This message was edited Jul 26, 2005 9:45 AM

Thanks!! Glad I SOUND up beat! LOL!! I have had insomnia for several months now and last night was the worst! I actually felt 'drunk' coming into work this morning. DG is always a good pick me up though. Tonight it's bath, milk, sleeping pill, and seperate bed. If THAT doesn't help I'm going to a doctor. This is getting old.

Same here on the heat thing! On plant I have looked high and low for and water every day is not 'perking up' like it usually does. Uh oh. It's called Purple Showers and I took one plant and divided it 5 ways - 4 in the yard and one in a pot to take with me. So it's not a total loss, I just dread having to dig another if this one dies though! You just can't water enough right now! It's supposed to be 100 degrees today which I know is nothing compared to other places..

Nicole

We are also at the almost 100 degree mark today. I used to live in Okla. and this is nothing compared to there, but it's sooo humid here, it makes it feel worse.

Congrats on your coleus snatch. Brilliant house-sitting ploy! I will have to try that one. I watch my neighbor's dog.... she came over the other day and asked if I wanted a 3 foot boxwood clipped neatly into a ball shape. Now I just have to figure out where to put it and when to collect it. It would look pretty in my daughter's garden at the corner of her swingset, but she'll never stand for something that doesn't bloom.

I just have to tell this story to someone... Yesterday I was at a friend's house. She has a nice garden with a mish mosh of plants. She is sort of hyperactive and I think she gardens more for something to keep her occupied rather than a love of plants. So she is pruning a little here and there, when she sees ants on her daughter's sunflower plant. (her daughter planted it from seed) So she quick prunes off the leaves with the ants, goes to the garage and gets the bug spray and sprays the heck out of the ants. Anyone else would leave it at that, but no.... she then says "You back me up on this- we'll tell Emma her plant died" and she rips the entire Sunflower out of the ground (it was just ready to bloom, too) and throws it in the trash! I was so stunned I couldn't even speak! Have you ever heard of such a thing?

who says ignorance is bliss?

I'm thinking she doesn't have any peonies... or not for very long. ;)

She has one.

Maybe I can just happen to be there when she rips it out......

My goodness! Poor sunflower and poor Emma! This lady needs an education, and maybe some medication!

SUCCESS! My coleus has 4 roots! Yes, I know that they are supposed to be easy to root, but I'm still thrilled that I have any success at all here. This may give me no choice but to return to Lowe's carrying a large purse because they have several really lovely varieties of coleus right now. So.... how do I transition this beauty to soil? Should I do it slowly by adding a bit of soil to the water a little at a time as the roots grow? I recall many years ago that I rooted something in water, can't remember what, and that I killed it by putting it into a pot. So I'm traumatized. What should I do , oh coleus snatcher experts?

Congrats! Just pot it right up into damp potting mix!

That slow transition stuff may be necessary for African violet waterbabies, but coleus is pretty tough. Pot it with the roots & stem a couple of inches below the soil surface, if possible... even if the 4 roots are just on the very end, more roots should start growing out of the stem once it's potted up.

Please post pictures of your expanding coleus collection... ;-)

Wish I could send you folks some of my cooler weather. We are due for rainy weather until next Thursday, and it's overcast most of the day. We are getting rain showers, as well, so no need to water. In fact, I've got to get out there and spread some Sluggo or my strawberries will be their dinner.

I'm looking forward to the fall when I can start snatching. The pickin's look thinner this year. I supplied all the plants for the municipal beds, so grabbing seeds there would be like snatching from myself! LOL! However, there is a lovely bed of red/white & blue/white nemesia I plan to visit later on. My nursery business has slowed down, so I can make some recon trips looking for future seed pods!

I've never seen red and white before!

Yes, they seem to be more compact in habit than the Carnival mix, but they certainly spruce up a border. Here's a closeup.

And here is the blue/white.

WZ, do you have any tips on germinating nemesia? I tried wintersowing and also starting inside, and not a single seedling popped up. The seeds were from a trade, and I'm hoping it was me & not the seed, since I shared that generous packet with several other people.

I don't think I knew nemesia came in these sorts of colors! Are they really fragrant, too?

I don't think this type is fragrant. There is a type that is supposed to smell like coconut. I grew a basket of them this spring, but sold the basket. I've got to go see how they are doing. Here's the entry in the PF: http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/68549/index.html

As for germination, I collect the seeds when the seed pods are dry and papery. Here's a link to Tom Clothier's germination site: http://tomclothier.hort.net/page07.html

Yes, it's the coconut scented ones I really want to try! I did have them on my "cool" shelf and tried wintersowing as well, so maybe it was just one of those things. The seeds were inside thin, papery capsules, and they looked fine, but who knows.

BTW, I did snatch some nice looking Mountain Bluet seeds from a friend's garden! (I had asked you previously about some sad, dried up looking C. montana seeds.) I also got a lovely assortment of columbine seeds!

Mountain bluet is easy to start from seed. I'm glad you got some good viable ones. You could probably sow both the bluet and the columbine seeds outdoors this fall and they'll come up next spring.

That's my plan! I know some folks are sowing their fresh columbine seeds now, but I'm clearing a larger area for them, and if I sow the seeds now that won't sprout until spring, that will just let the weeds take over!

wow ivy1, that lady is nuts, probably already on medication...

great job NC! have you tried essential oils, chiropractor, massage therapist? stress can cause sleeplessnees because of overwork of glands, esp adrnals. some chiros can reset your electrical system to turn them off and back on & adjust, your system is just in a defense mode that does not allow sleep. some massage therapists could doi thisd too, may only take obe visit & one bottle of supplements to settle this problem you poor thing, i had no idea...

dr appt result, got one plate taken out of splint to allow better circulation. that was a stitch my body was puchingout through the healed up incision rather than absorbing it, today i am vety sore, as they had to pull it out past the knot to trim off -- ouch! but mno infection whew! today i have been able to (gently) run my fingers through my hair (when freshly brushed). better every day i say. but such a beautiful day to start fall plants, & i am having one of those worst ti,mes of the month, with no energy, my poor boys running circles around my lifeless body

beautifukl flowers weez!

great job everyone!

back yet sidney?

Thanks, TamaraFaye. Love those nemesia.

Edited to correct typo.

This message was edited Jul 26, 2005 7:40 PM

Critterologist, I'll pot the thing up tomorrow and post a photo. I do hope it makes it! It's really a nice color. I took cuttings of the coleus I bought at Lowes, hoping to get some going so I can have more. Hope they take.


Made a possibly major snatch tonight. My DH and son and I went Geocaching on some open oak prairie land that has wetlands on it, (so no one can build a dang house on it). Naturally, since the land is in town, people feel free to dump stuff there. Someone had dumped some iris and I got an armload of them. I have no idea what kind they are, look like two different kinds and they probably didn't bloom this year. So I'll just stick them somewhere and see what happens.
Also have to go back and get a couple of the wonderful ferns that are everywhere in the wetland. I'm not sure what kind, but there are hundreds of them. It's private land that's set aside for the community, so I'm thinking it's okay. (I hope so, anyway.)

Dumped Iris? (shaken head) Thanks for the sleep suggestions all! I especially love the massage one - I love those anyway!

Yeeaaahhh! Pixy has roots! :)

Oh the poor sunflower! Good grief!! That's the inth of being a perfectionist I suppose! The Bill Gates of gardening! LOL!! Is her house really clean?

It's another scorcher here today! Weez maybe I should just send all my plants up there for summer vacation!

Nicole

My four-o-clocks that i snatched seeds for from my college campus finally bloomed. This cultivar smells profusely like jasmine and doesn't open until around 5:30 but it doesn't close until around 8:30 in the morning.

purty!!!

Okay, here's a photo (not a good one, though) of the roots on my coleus. I believe I can cut this into three parts, as there are roots below each set of leaf nodes. I think you can tell that in the photo.

Beautiful 4 O'clock! I grew some for the first time this year and can't wait to see them. I got seeds from some older cultivars that are supposed to smell heavenly. Between the nicotiana and the lilies, right now I can get 'drunk' just walking around the garden in the evening!

Well look at those roots! Go woman!!!

Nicole

I wonder if you need some leafy material on your rooted stem in order for it to grow.