I've been enjoying all the posted photos :)
Gita that is a great photo at Rawlings, that Agave looks like it is meant to be a prop for a photo backdrop!!! I've never seen anything like that.
I'm glad the photos of the datura seedlings were posted, I wasn't sure what size pot to start them in.
Seed starting 2008
Wind,
There are 2 other huge Agaves in the desert House, but this one is the most stiking--as it is variegated.
The whole Conservatory is awesome! They have 4 "Houses"--Tropical, Mediterranean, and Desert. Then--thee 5 story, all glass palm House. Also an Orchid Room. It is in Druid Hill Park, next to the Baltimore Zoo--just in case you ever come this way...
Gita
This is, obviously, the Orchid Room
Thanks Gita, I'm adding Rawlings to my list as a place I would like to visit :)
in case you or anyone one is interested, there is a DG group headed for Longwood Gardens in PA ~ Saturday May 17, 2008
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/817018/
forgot to mention some seeds I have started inside include:
red rubin basil
Critter's Italian basil
Lime basil
lemon basil
Critter's capsicum flurorescent purple
bounty hybrid banana pepper
kung pao hybrid pepper
Jamaican hot chocolate pepper
ancho pepper
chiltepin pepper
Holy moly pepper
white habanero peppers
red thick cayenne peppers
bulgarian carrot peppers
Juliet tomato
Brandywine tomato
my compost cherry tomatoes
mini red snap dragons
alternanthera Royal Tapestry
browallia amethyst
chaenarrhinum origanifolium
geranium summer showers burgundy
viola penny purple picotee
I won't bore you with any more....better stop....but I have alot of great seeds added to my collection this season thanks to DGers and Illoquin's cottage garden swap!
Is anyone from there Baltimore/DC vicinity planning to go on this Longwood gardens trip?
I have a $60 gift certificate( a few years old...) that needs to be used up--if it hasn't expired.
It is only about 20 minutes from where I live......
Please--Speak up! Gita
Gita- I've been planning to go-guess you hadn't caught my comment. Only 20 min from you? great
just divided and up potted a couple dozen daturas, yellows and purples. I found that I have an unlabeled seed pot that I now can NOT recall what it is LOL Just got a few Asclepias incarnata sprouts.
This message was edited Mar 28, 2008 9:24 PM
Boy! Sally--you are way ahead of me! My Daturas don't even have their true leaves yet--but my Tomatoes, MG's, Cosmos, Moon Vine, Hyacinth Bean, and Purple Amaranth are all going gung-ho! Tall! Viny! Robust!
My Basils are all up too and everything else to different degrees.
And--the pinch of seeds I sprinkled from your tall, white Nicotiana are all sprouted--but, tiny, tiny.....
I am very happy the way my seed set-up with the lights has worked out. Next year will be easier--and I will be a bit smarter too......
SO! Are you planning to go to Longwood gardens? Let me know.....
Gita
Speaking of Nicotianas (not that I've planted anything still..) I LOVED mine so much last year that between what ya'll gave me, what I bought...traded for plus mine own I have.....ready.....??????
TEN KINDS now!!! Scent heaven...here I come!!!! Also an "old fashioned spicy climbing petunia"
This message was edited Mar 28, 2008 10:13 PM
Chantell, can you tell me a few of your favorite heavily scented nicotiana varieties?
Wrighie - the only one i have personal exp with is my 'Fragrant Cloud' - I still have some seeds if you need some.
The ones I rec'd from you all, other DGer's and bought are:
Flowering Tobacco Perfume Deep Purple Hybrid
Nicotiana x sanderae Perfume Deep Purple
summer-long blooms of deepest purple on neat little plants just 20 inches tall and 12 inches wide! Park Seeds
Flowering Tobacco Perfume Hybrid Mix Item
Nicotiana x sanderae Perfume Hybrid Mix
Mix Colors (white/lavender/redish-pink/yellow) on neat little plants just 20 inches tall and 12 inches wide! Park Seeds
Nicotiana alata – 3-4 ft tall – colors: red/pink/white/crème/lime green
Ebay Ebay
Nicotiana glauca – 3-4 ft A perennial in extreme southern zones, this is usually grown by the rest of us as a pretty flowering annual for its fragrance and hummingbird food source. Very easy to grow from seed and will probably become its own stable reseeding annual in your garden. Despite it's genus name it does not contain nicotine. The plant is supposedly named for it's similar appearance. Hummingbirds love the stuff. Ebay
Nicotiana Alata – white and pink/red (ordered 2nd set by mistake thru ebay) Season: Perennial/Annual Height: 36 - 48 Inches Bloom Season: Summer/Fall Environment: Full Sun/Partial Sun Zones: All zones as summer annual/ Zones 10 - 11 as perennial
Nicotiana (Woodland Flowering Tobacco, white) Critter/Jill (DG)
Nicotiana red – Happy (DG)
Nicotiana x sanderae ‘Fragrant Cloud’ – seeds from my plants 2007 LOVE THIS ONE
Nicotiana x sanderae 'Sensation'
Nicotiana mutabilis DGer said this one has an incredible scent - don't have these yet
Nicotiana suaveolens DGer said " It is a great little garden plant, much smaller and more refined than Nicotiana alata and just as night-fragrant to my nose."
I think that Nicotiana sylvestris (Woodland Flowering Tobacco) from me is actually extra seed from SallyG... sorry if I didn't put that info on the packet! I'm sowing her seed behind my oriental lilies this year... I think it'll be a yummy combo!
No worries, Jill...i just like to keep track who it's from - esp the less common types. Now that you mention that though.....Ohhhh Sallllyyyyy!!! How big (width) does the sylvestris get? Some how in the back of my mind I think Glen (FSG) said that one gets some size on it...that will determine whether it goes in the front yard or the back yard.
Neal (Gemini_sage) posted some pics... his looked maybe 2 feet across, and about 7 feet tall!
Hey, speaking of Glen ... has anyone checked to see what his latest venture is? I need to go look him up.
Alrighty then...back yard it is...LOL...and maybe the neighbors as well.... Hey wrightie let us know if you find anything out.
This message was edited Mar 28, 2008 10:27 PM
Jill and others, Nicotiana sylvestris, has a big footprint. The lower leaves lay close to the ground and can cover late plants emerging. I'd say leave about 18 inches from center. I was very surprised when I first grew it. Make sure you go out in the evening to enjoy the fragrance. Also it gets very tall so in the back it goes.
Chantell wonder if you could make a nicotiana garden the tallest in the back and coming down in size to the front. Could you imagine the delight to the nose!
chantell, I have extra Nicotiana glauca, tree tobacco seeds if you would like some for your nicotiana collection? It is easy to germinate ~ mine are just starting to come up now, sowed them indoors.
I have no idea what tree tobacco plants are like, this is my first time trying it. I'm thinking of keeping them in large pots...has anyone in this region grown these?
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/51448/
Hey ya Wind!! I'd like to hear from someone that's grown it - w/regard to scent since that's my mail goal...LOL. I do have plenty of the "Fragrant Cloud" that I could share if you wanted some. I think I've got some extra of one of the others too...I'll need to peek
This message was edited Mar 29, 2008 10:54 AM
Good to hear that the Lamb's Ear is doing well Diana. I am sure that things at your place are beginning to look really nice. I loved your place, if I haven't already said that a dozen times. You have an especially beautiful garden.
Chantell, I think of you often. I have a very healthy pot of the succulants that you brought to trade at Hart's last year. The two that I have planted together are called something like pigs or mouse's ear or tongue or something. I also planted a start of another succulant that someone else gave me about the same time. I am enjoying them all.
Ruby
Awww Ruby...glad the pig's ear is doing well for you...they're such easy plants...might put mine back outside in the ground again this year...their colors turn so pretty in the sun!!
I lost my pig's ear over the winter, too! *sob* I'm really embarrassed to admit that I lost both the special plants Chantell shared with me... Her plants aren't going to want to come here any more. LOL
Plenty of piggie ear to share again...what other plant though, Jill????
maybe the Echeveria Pulv-Oliver that I also got from you, which is doing well for me...and thats the pot I have the mystery seeds planted in, so I keep thinking--"NOT Echeveria" Still have my Pigs Ears too- debating whether to pot larger, cut and root, maybe I'll just get it outside--Full Sun once acclimated?
acck- got potatos to plant and tomato seeds..
Yepper...they love the sun!!! If that's it, Jill...I'm sure I can clip off another for ya! Now that I think about she's way over due to be moved up a pot size too!!
*shamefaced* remember the passie vine cuttings that rooted so nicely for me and then perished of spider mites?
Now I have to look up Echeveria... LOL
Ahhh...LOL...the ole passie...if you only KNEW the amt of those that ended up dying in my care. I've learned if I get em...they need to go IN the ground ASAP...ok...except the non-hardy red one that's survived in it's pot (in my kitchen) God bless it
Good Grief, I have spent the better part of the day today potting up seedlings into my Cow Pots and I still have more to do ... I have nearly finished up my box of 500 pots. Lawdy!
Got "brave" and transplanted all my Tomatoes (13 of them) in the round, 4" pots. They needed to move on--were really tall and healthy looking. Will have some to share with a few "select" people. I can only plant--say, 5-6 in my bed-by-the-shed......
Will do 2 of each. These were all seeded on March 2.
Sun Gold-
Cherokee Purple-and
Mortgage Lifter (estlers).
Can't wait to see what all the hype is about the M.L.!
I Googled it and it said the tomatoes can be 2-3lbs! I will see........
Has anyone reading this grown these? Your comments, if you have, please...
Here are the seeds that have not come up at all. Don't know why? Got most of these at the Swap..... A couple were my own. Old? Don't like to be started indoors?.....Should be winter sown?
--Gaillardia (from you, Holly?)
--Pink Gomphrena (took a seed head from yours, Jill)
--Brent's perennial Salvia (gave you some of these, Jill. Have yours come up?)
--Gloriosa Daisy (from you, Holly?)
--Tall mixed Cleome (only 2 seeds are up)
--Some Marigold seeds I harvested last Summer. Might be infertile ones....
BUT! About 10-12 seeds are up from a mini Alpine Strawberry kit someone gave me!!!
Jill--you have these. Where do I go from here? The seedlings are all still itsy-bitsy....
Did you grow yours from seed or did you purchase the plant.
What should I feed the Apline Str. you gave me? It is alive.....has green leaves, but from last year. No new growth yet.
OK! Glad that is done!
Gita
This will be my second year growing Mortgage Lifter, Gita. I liked them a lot last year and I gave away several -- I received lots of great reports from those who grew them. Is estlers the name of a seed company?
No. As far as I know (from when i was on the Tomato Forum), the person I got the seeds from said that the "Estlers" variety was the best. Obviously--there are at least two kinds of Mortgage Lifter strains of Tomato.
I guess a question on the Tomato Forum would give you the answer. I posted (here?) the name of the person who sent them to me. I remember she was from Utah.
How big did your fruit get? Anything else special about these?
Jill - meant to post the link for my photo of it: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/140549/
Oh, Chantell, that's a stunning photo! I love the pink in that plant... that's the same coloring that I thought made your "pig's ears" so adorable!
I should give Mortgage Lifter another chance one of these years... I try some different ones each year, looking for ones to add to my "must grow each year" list. Problem is, as that list gets longer, my garden doesn't get bigger, so I end up either growing fewer new varieties or doing the thing I did last year, with 24 plants of 24 varieties along the back of my garden -- in alphabetical order, no less! LOL
This year, 'Potato Top' and 'Pruden's Purple' were my pink beefsteak "must grows" from previous years. 'German Red Strawberry', 'Wisconsin 55', 'German Queen', 'Russian Black', 'Yellow Brandywine', 'Tumbling Tom', 'Sprite Grape' and 'Dr. Carolyn' (yellow cherry) are some others that I've grown in previous years and am growing again. I've also got just a few new-to-me varieties started... :-)
good morning :)
Lots of interesting tomato cultivars posted that I've never heard of! I'll have to look them up. Critter, did you find the flavor decent on the pink beefsteaks?
I stopped growing the yellow pear cherry tomatoes because we thought they really lack in flavor, they look real attractive and gourmet in salads, but flavor ~ not so good. We don't have a fav 'pink'.
I'm excited to say I harvested some cherry tomato seeds from a really good tasting plant that came up in our compost pile and it worked!!! I did the method that was posted on DG where you squeeze them in water, let them soak for days until the 'gunk' floats to the top etc etc. It worked! I planted the seeds and they are germinating now.
Chantell, I have some nicotiana fragrant cloud seeds to try this year...I thought I may have gotten them from you? I'll have to look it up, thank you for offering though :)
I MUST grow pink beefsteaks every year, because they are my very favorites for flavor -- so sweet, so fruity, so unlike any tomato I can buy at the grocery store! Limbaugh's 'Potato Top' has been a consistent performer in terms of both taste & productivity in my garden for several years now. I've tried Brandywine (OTV, Sudduth's strain, and "regular"), and they were not productive enough to suit me, although the flavor was also outstanding (to me, 'PT' was just as good). My very favorite tomato for flavor and amazing, almost silken texture is 'Rose', but I only manage to get a couple of fruits on the plant, maybe 5 in a good year (and they're not huge).
I must grow red tomatoes because they are DH's favorite... and I throw in a couple of plants of yellow/gold and black tomatoes for fun & contrast & a different, also delicious taste!
Sorry, didn't mean to turn this thread into a discussion of all things tomato!
Here are some of my seedlings. I have five more flats in my sunroom since they will no longer fit on my stand (I have visions of a 2nd stand next year, lol).
Different angle - My basils are still sprouting and I won't get round to transplanting the tomatoes before next weekend, though they are ready *now*.
Geese everyone has good looking seedlings. I am still a month and a half from safe patch planting so my babies are just starting to show off their stuff.
Been down tinkering with my seedlings, moving some out from under the domes, misting some that needed water, and taking pictures.
Here is a picture of my Carolina spice bush, 2 seeds germinated so far but this one held on to the seed coat a while, it fell off easily when I blew on it and underneath I found this. Thought it was pretty spiral.
2 verities for foxglove, the taller one is Pam's Choice and smaller is Milk Chocolate, both were sown on the same day and have been growing under the same conditions. Which goes to show you not all foxgloves are alike even when they are babies.
Coleus just starting to show some color, These are last years seeds I had left. Germination seems to be down. I did plant more fresh seeds this year.
