Digging,
I haven't tried sea holly yet but I grew Globe Thistle 2 yrs ago via winter sowing and they bloomed last year. Can't wait for their show this year. You have great plans for your gardens. I have a large border in the back of my property it started out as 25ft long and I extended last year to 55 ft. I took lots of digital pictures last year so I spent the winter trying to edit the bed. My first task of the season is to add lots of compost. I don't think I prepared the bed enough last year. Next I want to create more drifts. My tendancy is to plant one of every plant on the planet(lol). I need to think more in 3's and 5's instead of 1 of this and 1 of that.
I also want to create beds around the front of the house but this year my plan is to prepare the beds and let them sit til next spring for planting.
Erynne,
Congrats on the hosta sprouts! It looks like you will be very busy as well. The weather has been beautiful here the last week so I have been checking my gardens regularly to see what is popping up. I have a large nursery bed which is completely filled with winter sown plants and others that I wanted to try before giving them a permanent home in the garden. Definitely have to move some out of this area this year. Now the million dollar question would be can I stay clear of the garden nurseries! NOT!
Michelle
Columbines of all sorts
Hello everyone! Been enjoying all the columbine pictures and discussions. Must say I love columbine, but have none. Have not lived here long, and creating garden beds from weedy neglected areas has been slow and arduous. This fall, I would welcome some Columbine seeds, although I have nothing to trade. Would be happy to send money for a selection, postage, whatever. I plan to prepare the area where I want columbine this summer, so that would simply be ideal. Thanks! BAM
I know the weather is so yucky. But its warmed up today and the wind died out.Hope thats the last of it.Man i just hate winter wish there was a pill to take to hybernate i would buy it.
Congrats on the hosta Erynne,mine arnt up yet but when thay start you wil have them comming out your ears, what your planing with your garden sounds realy nice.
Yes i realy bent your arm with the columbine "OCH,"OCH lol.
Did i send you a purple lady bonnet if i did ,i now have a blue one to grow ,its a baby blue with a white center,traded with boot-and-all for it
what a pretty columbine.
This message was edited Mar 29, 2006 2:27 PM
Thank you Michelle and digging_dirt for the congrats on the Hosta sprouts. It's my first go at starting things indoors and it sure does make me proud that things are sprouting all over the place. I know the Hostas probably won't come true but that's okay by me. I've got alot of shade spaces to fill and all are welcome.
I've got Aquilegia Chrysantha sprouts taking off but it seems the other types make take their own sweet time. I could post a pic of the Chrysantha sprout but I don't think that would get too many people excited as it does me, lol.
Yes you did send me the purple lady bonnet :o) This is going to be another fun addiction and I can't wait for the day I can actually have pics to add to this thread.
Oh and Michelle, don't even think of trying to stay away from the nurseries because that's just futile thinking, haha.
Bam, pleased to meet you. I know the feeling of moving into a place that's been sorely neglected and needs a ton of work. In the autumn, I'd be happy to send you seeds for postage....just send me a reminder via dmail.
Erynne
This message was edited Mar 29, 2006 1:57 PM
TY Erynne! I have already been out digging out quackgrass. What a constant battle. That stuff is horrible. I fight it every year, plus roots from a voracious box alder that travels everywhere. But, I love digging. And I love seeing things grow. Rain to start on Saturday, so I guess I will be stuck indoors, painting that last kitchen cabinet. Will be happy when it is finished. I want to be outside! LOL! BAM
Wow, I never dreamed a columbine thread would go on this long. Ann, if you check by here again, DigD is right. You could try the soap and water spray. I just use a couple of squirts of cream hand-soap to spray aphids on my houseplants and it does a pretty good job. They die real clean.
DigD, I tried both the Sea Holly and the Globe thistle a couple of years ago from seed. I was a little disappointed to learn the Eryngium was a biennial, it is very pretty. Globe thistle(Echinops) makes a nice architectural plant, not real pretty on its own, but makes a good statement. There are quite a few different kinds of both of these plants, so if one doesn't work, try another.
I noticed two little seedlings of Fritillaria coming up, out in my greenhouse. I winter-sowed them in 2005. Just kept them under the bench all summer. Sure hope they make it. I would like to get started on an rock garden this year and finish the back of the horseshoe shaped bed in my yard. I still need to bring in a couple of 20 yard loads of good soil. I think I have to quit then, I will have too much to look after.
Erynne, what temp did you start your hosta seeds? Good for you, I usually have trouble with hosta seeds. I'm sure there are a few of us that would love to see any pics you have of your sprouts, We sure do understand the thrill. And you are right, staying away from the nurseries - what kind of a summer would that be? miss out on all that fun- no way.
Michelle, I am trying to get away from the one of syndrome too. When you start a bunch from seed, that really helps to make those splashes of colour. I usually buy one plant with the idea of propagation for more, but sometimes that takes too long.
Bam, I can send you some seeds too, but I probably won't have as many varieties or named ones as some of these addicts. A lot of mine are species.
B
Diggin and echoes
Thanks I will try the soap thing it could save a bunch of time!
Thanks for the tip!
Ann
Echoes,
The temp in my laundry room hovers around 67 degrees where I'm starting just about everything right now. I didn't do anything extra-special for the hosta seeds like use a heat mat or anything. I put several seeds in a 4 inch pot of Pro Mix that was very damp but not soaking. I then put whole pot in a clear bag, sealed it shut and stuck it on a window sill that gets some indirect south-west sun. But again, it's a basement window so it's lower and not burning hot like the one upstairs can get. I'm assuming the window sill is warmer by a couple of degrees though. Putting the pot in a sealed baggie, to create a little greenhouse was advice to me from Sandy (sanannie) on how she starts hers and I KNOW she has sprouts, lol. I don't know if I'm doing everything correctly or not but I figure if I've got some germ happening, I'd better not fudge with it too much. I will get a pics of my set up and sprouts when I get home tonight. I don't know about everyone else, but I get a real kick out of watching all the different seeds sprout; in one instance they all look the same with two cotyledons and then they become so different. Kinda like my kids, haha.
Erynne
ha,ha die realy clean good-one.
yes,yes i to have a hosta up.I wont get into the datura man thay grow quick.
Erynne do you pic at your seed trays to im allways at it im so impetient
digging_dirt,
Nope, I don't pick at them because I'm afraid to introduce any cooties into their environment. Now that's not to say that I have "the cooties" but I'm sure you know what I mean, lol. I do however, confess to sitting for rather long periods of time inspecting them and with that said, I try hard to not to breathe on them either. I think my issues with keeping things as clean as possible comes from 10 yrs of hospital work.
I have tons of seedlings on the go indoors and many are sprouting outdoors in the winter-sown containers. I'm sowing as much as I physically can because when the plants are ready, I'm going to do some window boxes up for several seniors in my area and also plant some directly into their gardens. One old fella in particular doesn't have the "get up & go" as he calls it, to do the planting anymore but he promises he can manage watering. My sister also is going to be the recipient of many things I've started due to her "black thumb syndrome".
Erynne
oh i can justn pitcher you stearing at your seeds ,i do that to
Thanks Erynne, I'm going to blame my problems on the seed then, if they don't come up. I agree, watching seeds sprout is facinating. (Someone spell that for me) I eyeball every tray about five times a day.
Is'nt gardening fun you can be a little crazy , and no one realy thinkes anything about it .In most cases when someone talks to things that arnt people thay lock you up but it ok to talk to plants.I do that all the time think i will worry if thay talk back ha ,ha,ha.
Oh will back to planting my seeds ,im running out of room,I wonder if my youngest would mined bunking in with his brother i could use his bed hmmmmmmmm.
finly my flower beds are pooking out of the snow,it was +10 here today,what a cutting the snow took ,and i could not belive it a couple of my columbine are starting to show new growth.
And my tulips are comming up like crazy ohhhhh just love this time of year.
Has anyone here heard of a plant called rocky mountain bee plant
cant fine a thing on it anywere,it is'nt suppose to be beebalm,all though i have a feeling it is hope someone can help
This message was edited Apr 1, 2006 5:10 PM
I think thats one of the Cleomes, DigD
yes you just might have it.
I will plant the seeds and hope thay arn't beebalm.
beebalm growes like a weed here.Almost as bad as jacobs ladders man thay grow up your a#**s if you sat by them for a min lol.
Thats one plant i love because of its color but it is one little bugger for spreading, even when i dead head it still finds ways to spread .
Echoes do you have any plants like that
Oh no not in my well manicured totally behaved half acre. Uh uh, no.......well maybe one......or two. Still weeding out the odd Campanula rapunculoides (hel's bells to some) and bishop's goutweed. You think I'd learn, but I think I started another campanula or two that could be thugs.
oh i forget about Bishop's weed i have that as will .Yup thats one bad plant as will,the campanuld dozent spead bad here ,now it do spread but hard to deal with.
Thats like perennal Batchler buttons i have them contained but planted more seed last week oh will more for the chruch.
Hi echoes! Would love to trade with you!
DigD, I just starting checking this thread. I also have a fair number of columbines but only a few of the vulgaris types; white, pink, pale blue, deep blue, purple-blue, bicoloured blue and white, wine-red, pink-long spurred, clematiflora in white, pale pink, deep pink and wine-red. I prefer the dwarf alpine types. Among those I have A. flabellata, A. flabellata 'Cameo', A. flabellata 'Alba', A. saximontana, A. bertolonii, A. laramiensis, A. ecalcarata, A. kuhistanica, A. discolor, A. viridiflora. Stratifying now for germination (hopefully) next month are A. grahamii, A. rockii, A. canadensis, A. formosa, A. desertorum and A. jonesii. Here's a pic of A. kuhistanica...I think it is correctly A. atrovinosa. The flowers are almost black-purple.
Todd,
That columbine pic is gorgeous! I love the dwarf types as well though my collection is not extensive as yours! Can't wait to see more of your pics!
Michelle
Weegy, I'm sure we can work something out for you.
Wow, that one is dark Todd. I think I like the little ones the best too.
I bet we can echoes!
Let me know, postage or irises!
What a gorgeous color, Todd!
:) Donna
yes it is a nice dark one todd.
I like all columbine tall and short.But i tend to lean toward the tall.
And i think it's because i only decovered the dwarf kind last year and thay are growing on me parden the pun.
Todd maybe we could set up a trade
This message was edited Apr 1, 2006 10:41 PM
Columbines are easy to trade they just hybrizie so much you never know what you will get. I started with a deep pink Clematiflora and from self seeding, ended up with white, pale pink and wine. I must admit that my dwarfs have not crossed...just the vulgaris types. Here's an example of some of the variety that cropped up in the Clematifloras
Loving this thread......thank you Todd for the gorgeous pics. Ü
Such a variety of flower colours and even heights.
I'm going to try some of those next year.
Thanks to all who posted pictures.
I'm going to have to try more dwarf types allthough having columbine,or any perennial openpollanated is so much fun you never know what you will get.
Todd were do you fine the dwarf types seed i cant find that meny
DigD, I get my seeds from seed exchanges...primarily NARGS 9North American Rock garden Society)and ORGS (Ontario Rock garden Society), but some seeds came from the ARS (alpine garden society) and RHS (royal hort. society).
If in St. John's this summer, look me up. You are welcome to come see my garden. I work at the Botanical garden so you could look me up there as well.
I have Nora Barlow(along with other columbines) in my garden and it self sows around. I got a nice self sown solid dark pink form of It. Bloomed first time last year and I'm looking forward to see what my other volunteers look like!
Steve
yes Steve i know what you mean i have had a couple crosses come from my columbine as well one i have is from a pinktower i think but now it a pale baby blue with little spots of a darker blue. cant wate to see what i get this year.
This message was edited Apr 3, 2006 12:25 PM
Todd i just might do that allways wanted to go to the Botanical Gardens.Even when i lived in town for seven years never went, got to go this year.I will look you up when i'm in town this year my wife and kids are comming in for a week in July My oldest would injoy it as will.
Digging, your blue columbine with the spots sounds nice. I have about 5 or more that are going to bloom first time this spring. And my Canadian 'little lanterns' columbine seems to have come back well (it didn't come back very well last year). I wounder if that one could cross with the Barlow.....
Steve
Shame on you DiggingD for not having visited the Botanical garden! It is really a premier garden. You would see a few interesting columbines here.
Steve i have that one canadian little lanterns have the seeds started for it now should be a nice one.
I dont see why it wouldn't cross with a barlow columbine cross very easly thats one reason why i like them so much.
Yes i do feel ashamed for not going to the Botanical Gardens, seeing that we have one here in Newfoundland.
Todd do the gardens have a seed store like the one in B.C.VanDusen
Botanical Gardens i have bought seed from there meny times,i would buy from ours if thay offered seed for sale.You know it think i know more about that one then ours ,now i should realy go and flog myself
by saying that have to emend that this year.
Digging, I'm now going to move one of my barlows next to my 'little lanterns'. I bet that would turn out really interesting. When is the best time to sow the seeds?
Our garden sells some seed but no columbines.
You do will .i will have to buy some in the fall no columbine bummer.
Oh will there are other plants that are just as nice gees did i realy say that lol