Ooops, I received a phone call in the middle of writing that last post and didn't see the last 5 or so...Karen, we would LOVE to have you!
I tired the Meconopsis here late winter-early spring sowing and they were doing so great ....and then the heat came with no relief and worse, no rainfall, and they fried in a single day. (This is even with some watering).
Looks like we have a broad spectrum of new people and old hands, which always bodes well for the final product!
Suzy
SPECTACULAR 2007 COTTAGE GARDEN FRESH FALL SEED SWAP!
Those Queen's Poppies are gorgeous - they look like tulips!
I have lots of seed of this cleome - It's Rose Queen and it got really tall in my garden. I love it, and I've invited it back next year.
Always a fine guest in my home, Budbloom.
I've heard cleome will pretty much invite itself back... yours is lovely!
How prickly is cleome? I got scared off by the warning in PF...
Prickly? I need to go find this warning, never heard of that.
Y'all can see I love the tall stuff! Here's the cleome in my "rose garden".
Peggy
I had to run outside and check it out - I couldn't remember. It had a few little thorns a rose would be ashamed of. I can't see it being a problem unless it was right where you had to pass all the time. Mine is at the back of the garden by the fence, and draped itself out over everything as you can see in that last picture.
I'm about to go and grab mine, too. lol! I've never noticed any prickers before. I've also not had a problem with it being invasive or a garden thug, though I see there were a few comments to that effect by local gardeners.
Thanks Suzy!
Weezing~ those poppies are gorgeous! Hmm I would be tempted to try them, but I know better..they would fry in the Spring before you coulld spell blue.
Waving back at you Bluespiral! I planted 3 of the peonies ctyledons out in July, so look forward to a bloom or two in 7 years! LOL!
Not even regular poppies like my garden much... Bluespiral might have a chance with those blue ones.. I swear, she can make anything grow!
Thanks for the reassurance about the cleome! I've been battling thistles here since moving in, so the idea of planting anything prickly on purpose... well... :-)
Suzy, here are my 2 favorite recipes for pickled peppers: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/538639/
Peggy, that is a lovely picture!!!! You must have some very fertile soil -- mine are tall, but not that tall! I want to take a picture of mine -- they're purple with a lighter lavender above, and growing with some jumbo purple Zinnias and just lovely.
The prickles come from when you decide you don't want it reseeding in the front of the bed and go to pull it when it's over 18" tall. Then you get a handful. If you pull them from the bottom, say a foot or so from the ground, there aren't any prickles. You must grab them from the bottom in the fall because you need loppers to get them cut low enough and the stems are thicker than you might imagine, and tough! They have a very small root system from what I have seen.
It's very nice....it reseeds, but if you collect the seeds for trading, then the ones that drop are just enough to reseed for next year. I once let them grow when they were wall-to-wall, cheek to jowl as babies and they all died from too much competition. I collect them when somebody calls me on the phone and the conversation lasts a little longer than it needs to. Portable phones, gotta love them!
They are very tall, but do not need staking -- even when grown in the shade! For years I had a piece of ground that was under a 5 story-high Pin Oak (on the south side, so sun in spring and fall, but not in June or July) and the only things that would bloom were Feverfew, Ladybells, Impatiens and Cleome. I have since added some special Asiatic lilies and found some bright spots in there, but it was just gorgeous in its purple and pink and white splendor. A big area with only 4 different kinds of flowers, it was so pretty. (Until I junked it up with other things. LOL!) And I hardly ever watered it, just let the Impatiens wilt out.
They grow in full sun, but also grow & bloom in part shade and almost what you'd call full shade. They have a very small footprint and can come up between things, they bloom when very short and just keep blooming until cut down by frost.
They are best direct sown, so if you want them and don't have them, please let me know on your note to me so I can send you one of my packs that has the directions on how to get them started for the first time. The packs are extra large, maybe 300-400 seeds so you'll have better luck with them. (Of course if you want pink and not purple, you're out of luck)
If you pinch them, it delays blooming, but you will have a branched plant with a totally different habit.
Suzy
OMG! Critter, those sound so good, and I wouldn't have to worry about using a recipe from a book that might or mght not be good! Thank you, thank you! Oooh, I am going to CAN!
Count me in on some peppers, please. I don't care what kind, but I don't want to burn my tongue and stomach lining. :)
Suzy
me me me please! I tried wintersowing some this year without success.... so I definitely need those directions! and purple is my favorite color!
(yes, I'll add the request to my note!)
I would like to join, Please.
I have been seed collecting seriously for the first time with the intent on sharing. never realized how much fun this is.
Hey GardenGus, sure, join in!
Pam, No you don't need to say anything, or you can if you want. The note you send me will have what I need on it.
I helped Summerkid with her hosta & fern and hellebore coops one day and she drove herself crazy by having to go back and read the entire thread to see what people wanted, didn't want anymore, when they were going on vacation, etc. -- and this was for each shipment she was packing! NO WAY I am re reading this thread, so everything will be on your note to me.
HOWEVER, There have been some cases where people say they will send somthing that doesn't quite fit the parameters of the swap, and offer it "if anybody wants it" and you'd better pipe up then because it doesn't sound like they'll send it unless somebody specifically wants it.
As a reminder to all the most recent people who signed up, the rules are on the first post -- the Latin name (& common name if you have it) height, color and your DG name are all required information on the seed packs you make. Naturally, we are happy if you add sowing instructions or other miscellany, but those 4 things need to be on each packet.
Is there ANYBODY who doesn't grow this Rudbeckia? It's listed as Rudbeckia speciosum in Plant Files. If you don't have it, I do! It blooms for 4 weeks and is really a great landscape plant & flower, and also cut flower.
Suzy
Sorry for the delayed answer to your question, Wrightie. Our spring starts in May. The plants spend about a month growing back up out of the crowns, then bloom in late June or early July, depending on the kind of spring we have. They continue to bloom through July, developing seed pods as the petals fall. I generally am able to harvest some seeds in September through early October. Our last danger of frost ends around memorial day. Our first danger of frost can be anytime in mid September to mid October. The summers seldom reach 75 degrees, but we've seen a few days in the 80's. The nights drop down into the 50's. At the moment, it is around 50 degrees and raining... a typical fall day in Seward.
Suzy, my rudbeckia is low and spreading. In fact, all the seed I've gathered is from ONE plant. It's about a foot tall and 3 feet or more in width. Somebody please tell me if this is wrong, it's not rudbeckia. I bought it last year as a plant and it came back this year without reseeding anywhere, just the main plant.
I've gardened for years, but my house was surrounded by huge pine trees, so many that my husband said we lived in the woods. So I could only grow shade plants, except for a little garden I had in the school field out in front of my house, where I planted vegetables and cut flowers. I couldn't see the flowers, so I had to cut them and bring them inside. Makes sense, doesn't it? Anyway, after Katrina (the hurricane) I had considerably fewer trees, and lots of sun for the first time. So I'm kind of a newbie, none of my gardens is more than 2 years old, and I'm kind of a "gee-whiz" gardener, still in awe of all the flowers. Feel free to jump in and correct me whenever.
Ok, I'm done rambling.
Peggy
I've got a very tall rudbeckia. I need to look up the seeds for them because I'm not sure if I can ID them or not. Perhaps the finches are beating me to them...
Are the flowers a black eyed susan type? If so, then it's just a different kind of Rudbeckia.
If not, maybe it's Gaillardia -- when I was first gardening I would get those 2 confused because they are both prairie plants and both end in a "ee-ya" sound.
Or maybe it's a coreopsis - also a prairie plant.
But if it's golden yellow with a black or brown semi-cone shaped center, then it's Rudbeckia. Look that up in plant files and I bet you find the name from the posted photos.
Suzy
Just out watering and looking at things,
Question?? blazing star (latirus), seems to have lots of seeds does anyone grow these from seed? I thought they were grown from bulbs.
Yes, and I bet there are a lot of us who would like some of those to add a vertical element. The seeds make the bulbs...a little one the first year and then the second year it is about full size.
ALL plants with bulbs started with seeds. Some can take 7 years to bloom like daffodils and martagon lilies. Some bloom the first year like Allium, but most are the same as perennials: 2 years to bloom with good luck and cooperative weather. Just because a plants grows from seed doesn't mean there arent other ways, faster ways to propagate it.
And also division will yield the exact plant as the mother, while seed is an admixture of both the pod and pollen parents.
Suzy
Alliums bloom the first year? LOL I've had no luck with allium seeds, I guess... even if they sprout, they just stay teeny, and eventually they perish.
Thanks, Suzy - I went out and took this picture. Want to be accurate if I'm sharing seed. This has got to be rudbeckia, right? And as a matter of fact, I AM interested in your rudbeckia, the tall one. Just in case you want to send some my way :-)
Oh, that's a cousin I sort of forgot about, Bud -- the Gray-headed Coneflower. Ratibida pinnata.
See if this matches to be sure:
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/1064/
Just write down "Suzy's Rudbeckia speciosum" on your list. No problem!
Suzy
That looks like my coneflower - thanks, Suzy!
Peggy
aha! I must be getting better at this... I looked at the bloom and thought, that looks more like a coneflower. LOL. I don't think I've seen that one before. It's the regular black-eyed susan that's ubiquitous around here!
(I guess you don't need any extra seed of the ordinary one... I'll leave them out there for the birds!)
Critter, perhaps I mispoke. Allium tuberosum blooms the first year if it's started early under lights, but part of that might be because instead of blooming in the spring like most Alliums, it blooms in the fall, so it has a little more time to set flowers.
You know your clump transplant theory? Alliums like to be crowded when they're babies. Well, I've had good luck that way.
Pam, A long list isn't quite what I'm looking for unless you think the seeds will be showing up beause they were listed here on the thread -- think in generalities and send me something more like this: I like Orange. I want trees. No annuals. I hate herbs. (Only you'd choose the things you want and don't want. LOL!)
Suzy
My tiny wintersown allium seedlings were plenty crowded... they just never ever grew up!
Clump transplanting works great for basils! not so hot for peppers or tomatoes... LOL
Suzy, my list will be very short. I'm putting everything I *don't* want.
Heh.
Okay, I posted my list on the other thread. Now here it is on this one:
Bachelor's Buttons-dk. pink, dk. purple, blue, plum purple-I have them separated but can mix them for the swap.
Violas-bright yellow, pale yellow, purple, white, purple-orange-collected separately.
'King Henry' Viola - dark purple, smaller flower head (like J. Jump Ups).
Tall Purple Phlox (hot pinkish-purple)-old variety.
Tall David Phlox
Nicotiana, fragrant - white, purple, wine red (back) and pink (inside).
Gaillardia-red center, yellow tips.
Blue-eyed Grass.
Portulaca - red, orange, bright yellow, pale yellow, maybe rose pink-I forget.
Rose Campion-white.
Dwarf 'Red' Cosmos - more like a fiery dark orange- an attention grabber!
Purple 'Breadseed' Poppy
Plains Coreopsis (see pic)
Wrightie, Are you referring to Rudbeckia Maxima? I also have seeds harvested from this year I can share. Also have tons of rudbeckia goldtrurm.
Arlene
Hi Arlene, I'm actually not certain which r. it is, but it does get over 6ft. tall -- I'm not sure how many varieties get that tall.
That's maxima, Great plant and I got tons of seed this year. Been growing it for 8 years now.
Arlene
ok, so far I have:
Hollyhock-double
giant sun flower
lg. double black eyed susan
disco belle hibiscus
would really love fox glove
kathy
I also have yellow German Chamomile. Here's a pic of it with the Dwarf Red Cosmos.
i also have milyway morning glory, and amythest bean