Lea - once you get the ones you like set the others aside, I'll come get 'em :)
And I HOPE my back's better by then - LOL! If not then I'm gonna be in a world of trouble this year!
I keep thinking about WS the tree seeds, but I'm not convinced the weather's gonna cooperate with me. I've got one white crocus in the back and four purple ones just burst open today. A bunch of daffy's look like they're gonna be blooming in another week or so..I figure stuff that needs the strat will just have to deal with my efforts via the fridge :-P
Join Us! Seed Swap Seed Starting & Conversation #8
You're in z5 and I'm in 6 and my daylilies are only up about 6" too early here for blooms and I keep watching for my wisteria to start budding but it hasn't yet, I have some muscari (sp) and it's not up yet but my daphs have been coming up for a while and one is about to bloom :) My purple plum tree isn't ready for flowers yet it's just now starting to bud out though just a little bit. I have a black adler I got in a trade last year and it's starting to come out I'm so glad about that one I have another one and it's not doing anything. My sand cherry is starting to show a little bud too! Sensation lilac is starting to get leaves on it and my old fashion lilac, I have one redbud in a pot that is starting to bud but I have another in a pot that isn't and the one in the ground isn't, my sparkleberry hollies are starting to come out a little bit but not the beauty berry or the oh some shrub can't think of the name spice shrub? lol My black lace sumach is starting to leaf a little, but I'm thinking we still have some cold weather to come what did Suzy say about the seeds being in cold it only has to get to like 40 I wonder if that would be for tree seeds too. The columbines are coming up but they have been for a while and I keep pileing dirt on my hostas they keep trying to come up too lol
I put osteospermum on the list for you Robin :) If I just get two darker ones I'll be happy.
I forgot I still haven't planted my columbines yet LOL I need to do that and get the seed trays outside!
I can see everybody has the same problems... trying to juggle the 'what to plant when' and the 'which seeds can I stand to leave out'. I haven't potted anything up yet because I'm afraid to. Once I start there will be no end to it. But I have petunias (the lilac supers) and kong coleus that aren't going to wait much longer.
I do have a quick ??-I WS my Columbine weeks ago-was I not supposed to?? I will be oh so sad if I don't have any that germinate:(
Good news though, MIL was over today & we went to the new garden center that just opened (this week) down the road & it was AWESOME!!! They have some of neatest things-they have this probe thing that is supposed to test the acid/alkaline level in your soil as well as the soil fertility and some other stuff I forgot it is supposed to do...They also have easily 3 dozen things I WON"T be able to live w/o, but most of it is garden art-they won't have their flowers for a couple of weeks, but they had some trees in that were very well priced-MIL was looking at a grafted blue spruce (3-4' tall) that was under $100!! Plus the guy out in the trees sections was soooo good looking, that this place will be my new fave hangout!!LOL They had some beautiful heelebores for like $10 and some lilies (blooming-looked like 5 bulbs in a pot) for $8!! They also hade an iron butterfly who had a pot in the middle of her body for $25!! Some of the other stuff was a bit overpriced (home goods), but all the garden stuff was wonderfully priced!!
Sorry-I am really excited-can you tell!!
Dryad, I am so sorry about your back....when the back or neck hurts, it is ALL bad! Can you come over Monday afternoon? The Cannas are here and I have those paper pots for you. Maybe we can dig some bulbs, or if your back is hurting, I can dig some for you to take home.
Lea, Don't let Dryad be a piggy with those Osteospermum! Somebody else might like a couple. ROTFL!
Fairy, The Columbine will be fine...don't peek at it. They come up sort of a few at a time and it's depressing until they are all up, then they look just like little Columbines!
I can NOT go to the Garden Centers at all this spring. I joined that Yahoo BnP (Bulb n Plant) Coop and am embarrassed by all the money I have spent! It's good that it's so close to you, though -- makes it easy to run up to get one little thing (and come home with a trunk full!) :))
I really need somebody out here to make a pergola and a Cottage Garden walk through archway for me. I meant to do it in january ,but it was so cold and gray I kept putting it off. Same thing last year, but I really need some height and the lilies just aren't hacking it. :) I want climbing flowers & roses!
Suzy
I'm exhausted........planted a flat of larkspur from a friend.......picked up a nice batch of Easter flowers on sale half off........weeded....got more seeds planted and transplanted too. Somewhere in between ran the vacuum etc etc! My husband even worked in the garden today and got it all tilled and added 10 bags of humus/manure :)
What do you all use to fertilize your veggie gardens? We are having an impossible time of finding plain cow manure any more. Home Depot used to carry it but doesn't anymore ~ around here anyway.
What I really should do is get serious about composting, our compost pile is there, we have one. We keep adding kitchen scraps to it, but we can't take it to the next level and actually transfer the compost to the second and third bins!!!!!! what can I say...
Sound busy! I have been doing daffodil stuff, so I didn't get outside at all and Mr. Clean wantsme to watch the NCAA with him. LOL! It's a commercial now.
Diana, You could have put the unfinished compost on your garden and had your husband till all of it in. It only takes 3 weeks to decompose when you mix it with a tiller because it makes the pieces nice and small, and mix with soil which has all the microbes.
Using compost is one of my favorite things :))
Suzy
Hi all, I worked all day today but managed to transplant dahlias with my dd, she had fun filling the cups with mix. She told me "I love this time of year momma, I help you plant seeds."
I am using cups like Tuink too :)
Dryad - I also have some seeds cold statify-ing in the fridge. I think my eaten tree is this one http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/67870/ I know I have the tag somewhere, I'm sure I'll run across it somewhere, I have a bad habit of saving every tag from every plant! lol
Fairy I have some cute toad liliy seedlings to thank you for.
This message was edited Mar 30, 2008 10:34 AM
Ok Suzy I'll put some Osteospermum on the list for you too :) My nursery guy wants a couple too but I told him he had to wait until they bloom lol I really hate waiting till they bloom cause the want to come out more down at the bottom and I think letting that bloom go is slowing that down but I have got to see what color they are!
Wind if you feel like you don't have enough compost to put in your garden you can use 10-10-10 that's what I used to use and if you decide to use it you need to put it in a couple of weeks before you plant.
Fairy your columbine is fine I just wanted to wait to put mine outside then bring it in the house in about three weeks so it will germinate in the house, yours will probably germinate around last of May to June I would say...I like to hover over my columbine when it germinates lol I wish we had a nice garden store near by with all kinds of goodies :)
I need to make another compost pile I keep scraps in my freezer and I'm starting to run out of room lol There is just so much to do when it's nice outside and anyway I always get stuck running around or I have planting or transplanting to do. I like my snakes in my compost pile LOL I've been watching for them but it must be too cold for them to come out yet :) My tall phlox came in and I need to get out there and pot them up they are in the fridge for now. Red ones! They're gonna be purdy!
My neighbor's kitten is having kittens, I was so hoping to get her fixed before that happened cause she's sort of mine too lol She stays here anyway she's so sweet :) She looks like she only has a couple of weeks to go I need to fix her a place in the garage. Both her and the papa are smaller cats almost look like kittens. I never liked cats that much but these two have won my heart LOL Little momma is getting kind of lumpy LOL
Morning all!
Guess what, it's raining again! No setting up my tomato greenhouses again. However I just sowed them so there's still time....
Hi Tuink!
Tomorrow is the big day for me to set up my greenhouse, but we are scheduled for Thundershowers. Mr. Clean won't go out in the rain, so I have to figure out how he can be INSIDE the greenhouse cover when we set it up. ROTFL!
Hopefully the showers will be a single one, and only a 10 minute one, and it will be as nice and sunny afterward as it was today. Cold for the date on the calendar, but at least we are seeing the dang SUN!
We've never talked about it, but are you close to the bulb district at all? Keukenhof? Or even the flower auction? That is on my list of what I want to see before I die, but I also want to bid (and win). Even if I just take the whole cart of flowers to my hotel room!
Suzy
Hey, peeps, I am once again wide awake in the middle of the night, so I went down to look at my cuttings.
I have never been a big fan of those milk jugs for wintersowing, not because they don't work well, because they do!, but because they look so trashy outside. BUT the milk jugs are wonderful for cuttings, too, inside! I am astonished by how fresh-looking the cuttings look, even though I left all the foliage on. This doesn't mean they are rooting, necessarily, but it means they haven't wilted or rotted, and that's half the battle.
I guess I just wanted to share my delight and the idea. I actually used pots that fit inside the milk jugs instead of putting the soil in and putting the cutting in the soil. It wouldn't make any difference, just what ever is easier, and pots are easier for me.
Too bad I don't have more stuff around here to root, but everything outisde is still asleep and woody cuttings are a bit more difficult for me than soft &/or softwood.
Suzy
Just as well, you'd very soon be out of space!
I moved five trays of babies outside yesterday to make room for new ones. Another five trays have been moved from the nursery (at the attic) to the guest room (first floor), where it's a lot cooler. They'll be moved out in two weeks time (or earlier if it gets cramped again).
I don't take cuttings very often because I like to try NEW things, and not things I had before. But I've done it just to learn how to do it. It's a very cheap way to get new plants if you have enough space for them.
I'm trying to envision you building that greenhouse from the inside! Well, here it's one more of those dull, gray, dreary days that start with rain and end with rain and it won't stop raining in between. So I've dedicated it to seed sorting (heaps of new ones have come in that I want to trade with) and seed packing and seed sending. Oh well, it could be worse I guess. I can only hope this cold spring means that we'll get a warm summer. The last few years it has been warm springs and cold summers.....
Well, the good thing of living in Holland is that EVERYTHING is near. The Keukenhof is only 1 hour drive. The auction is a little further, but not much. Private persons cannot bid there which is not strange as it's become completely computerised and too fast to follow! Luckily there's quite an extensive bulb shop at Schiphol airport so you don't have to drag them all along. Maybe, if you want, I can try to sneak some smaller bulbs into the States. It has worked for me the other way round, so who knows!
Have a nice day, hope it works out with your greenhouse!
I wish I had just sown my tomatoes in a couple more weeks they will be fighting the lights again and it going to be way too early for that LOL The beefsteaks are looking good though I must say, ummm tomatoes! I can't wait!
Hey gang!
Suzy, I have doc appts all Monday morning, and then a final one at 1:00, but I can stop by after that - I'll call you when I'm done to see what you're up to.
I've ws some clematis, but then I remembered someone saying that they like to be "stirred" or that the seed likes to be messed with a bit every now and then before they root, so I also have some stratifying in the fridge, and have been trying to remember to "mess" with them a bit. They've been in the fridge for a couple of weeks though, and I'm wondering how long to mess with them before it jeopardizes their sprouting. Or am I just stirring some cold dirt??
It was so nice (sun-wise) yesterday that I couldn't help going outside - and this is so off-subject, I gotta find the Spring in Bloom thread in the CG forum - but we have so many bulbs coming up that I can just barely contain myself! I gotta find some time to transplant some daylilies while they're still small enough to deal with - but must get one of those nice steel pry-bars first and take out some stone that's in the way (that whole remake of the front yard thing). So I'm with ya Suzy, I hope it just sort of drizzles and then stops so that I can get some spring prep work done in the yard.
I'm all giggly over my petunias - I'm not the kind who likes the smell (and I definitely don't like the sticky) but I love the bloom, and I've got at least 6 that look like they're putting on buds. I've decided no pinching there :)
Tuink - I was laughing when I read about your moving seeds from one part of the house to another because of heat - I do the same thing! Just moved all of the violas to the basement last night so they would be cooler since I can't set them outside in this weather.
I don't like the smell of petunias either or annual geraniums and haven't grown them in a while just because of that, they stink my basement up LOL
I've left my violets, pansies and parsley out in my little greenhouse and so far they are doing fine but like I said they are under a dome out there too :)
dryad, hope the dr appts will yield something that will help your back
I love everything about the petunias, including the sticky LOL. I have some I have to pot up today. When I was a little girl we had a 'Children's Day' at church in the spring and each child received a potted petunia. I was always so excited. I haven't grown any from seed in years and had forgotten how much I enjoy it :0)
I don't have a compost pile...yet. but this is my year to start one. I may get one of those tumblers. Does anybody have one? I have so little to put in. but it breaks my heart to throw away those big cauliflower leaves and stuff like that. I save all my eggshells and freeze banana skins for my roses. When I had a veggie garden, I used to dig holes in the paths and just bury the stuff from the kitchen. I figured it would break down and get tilled for the next year.
Fairy, shame on you (re: the good-looking guy at the nursery LOL). I want to come shop with you. That place sounds great! Last year I w/s my columbine in Jan/Feb. It germinated the end of April into May.
Meredith, sounds like your dd is off to a great start as a budding gardener. Planting seeds with a child is great fun.
Petunias do have an odd fragrance, don't they? Its one that sometimes I almost enjoy, but theres an undertone of something nasty there. I have the same thing with paperwhite narcissus, when they first open I like the scent, but a day or two later it starts putting me in mind of cat pee. Kind of like that with petunias too, or should I say pee-unias, LOL.
Tuink, you're only an hour from Keukenhof! I'm green with envy! The pictures I've seen from there look heavenly.
I've got one of those big tumblers like from garden supply I love it! I still have piles going though, I traded my little mantis tiller for it to some lady that came to buy plants :) It does make compost in 15 days and I usually save some leaves to put in there thru the summer for browns and put all of my trimmings off of my plants in there too it's really cool!
I've got some putunias yet in the seed tray I need to get out today I dread trying to get them apart they've been in there a while LOL
Lea-I am glad to hear it about the tumbler-Santa had BETTER leave one under the tree for me this year or I BETTER get 1 for my Bday or there will be a price to pay!!LOL
Meredith-I am SOOO glad that your toad lilies are sprouting!! I was a little worried since I couldn't find the seeds anywhere online I didn't know if that was indeed the seed, but figured it had to be because the hirta var. is the one that seeds and nothing else looked remotely like it!!
If I bring my columbine inside, will it start to germinate now then??
Jan-I couldn't help it-he was SOOOO good looking-he tried the "don't I know you from somewhere" line, so I joked that no all us hot blonds look alike!!LOL That is just my personality, but I tell ya, I am seriously considering taking a lawn chair this summer & camping out there w/ a glass of lemonade just to watch him work!! I'm married, not dead!! I did find the PERFECT fountain there-I do frogs and bugs in my garden and this fountain is about 3.5' tall and looks like a large pot that has a cracked chunk missing out of it. The water flows down 3 leaves that all have toads on them...too cute and it was only $130!! I have this funny felling that it will be my Bday present from my MIL-she was the one that found it & she always buys me gift cards for gardening with a little "suggestion" as to what I should buy with it!!
How long to pansy/viola take to germinate?? I put them in a folgers container and in the bottom of my hutch to have total darkness and don't want to peek in too much...
Jan-you can come anytime. We live close to lake erie which is fun to go to a park for the day and we have 2 spare bedrooms & 3 soare beds, so you just let me know-maybe we can go drooling together!!LOL We do have a lot of neat nurseries here too-I really want to go to the daylily farm this spring-I don't know where it is, but they put signs out on the road corners that point in that direction, so can't be too hard to find!!
Robin-thanks, I had forgotten about the stirring-now I will have to do that to get those puppies rolling!!
I've got one of those tumbler composters, and so far so good, but you do have to chop stuff up fairly well or it gets stuck on the axle in the middle and doesn't tumble so well. I also found I had to get one of those compost sifters as when you open it up to dump stuff out - well, it sort of dumps and you've no way to stop other than tip it up, which can be hard with just one person (and a fairly full tumbler that's balance is tipped to the "dump" side). The three problems I have are winter time (the lids freeze shut), remembering to tumble it every day, and remembering to check the moisture content. In spite of me, it works :) I've also got a mature pile behind my greenhouse (6x8) that I'm going to sift and sort out for use/re-composting this spring, and like LeBug I think I'll keep it as a backup of sorts.
Suzy, I hadn't thought about using milk jugs that way - I like that idea, got some extras so I can give it a try.
Meredith - sorry - I meant to comment on how much FUN it is when kids want to garden!!! They see things in such a pure way, and sometimes the plants they want to combine may make us wince but they end up being the most fun part of the garden.
Hi Fairy - we cross-posted. It took my violas about a week to germinate (I peeked). I actually had them in those peat pellets in a tray with others that took light. Just kept them covered with a piece of cardboard - worked like a charm - when I saw three seedlings I waited one more day, and then took the cardboard off. Some of the first ones were a bit leggy, but they pretty much all germinated (they were from Weez).
Lea -- which tumbler do you have?
Mine certainly do NOT make compost in 15 days ... i'm coming up on 18 months!!
I dont know.. .maybe i just dont know what i'm doing....
this is the one i have http://www.cleanairgardening.com/tumcombincom.html oh and i LOVE the tea... or atleast my plants do.
I think if i were to do it again... i'd get one of the shelf things - something like this http://www.cleanairgardening.com/composter.html
I just didnt want the compost PILE look, since it is visible, and not on my property. so i went with the one i purchased.
I think this will be a good year for my daughter to help with the garden. I think she is just old enough now and I am holding back some annual seeds for her to plant and have her own garden - near her swingset. Of course giant sunflowers is on top of the list. I am still trying to decide what else but it's hard because I want to choose all non toxic stuff so my other younger daughter can be around there without any worries.
Are zinnia's toxic??-those are easy...
My composter sort of looks like this they have changed the style but it's as big as that one:
http://www.gardeners.com/Compost%20Tumbler%20Batch%20Composter/20706,36-662,default,cp.html
I don't use mine in the winter I just make a regular compost pile and put a tarp over it that's why the snakes are there in the spring they go underneath it when they are cold, then they are on top under the tarp when the sun is shinning on it :) I have one fat one out there it's just a garter that will lay there and I will look at it a while and he will let me touch him, I keep waiting for some babies so I can get one to bring in the house :)
tcs, is yours in the sun that makes a big difference :) an you have to get the right ratio, I'm not really sure about that but I try to even scraps out in it, I don't get to turn mine every day sometimes I forget lol I don't ever add moisture in it there is usually enough from the scraps. I didn't get the book with it so I've just been winging it.
Lea -- that one is huge.
One thing i dont have is a lot of "browns"
we have no trees, so i dont have dried leaves.
last year i shredded an old phonebook and added that.
I also have a neighbor [bless her heart] that adds to my composter
but it's things like huge watermelon rinds, whole yams ... she doesnt break things up.
once i found chx bones... really grossed me out.
SO - i just pretty much use the tea, and what ever else comes out of it , well, comes out of it.
Can you save your grass clippings? you can wait until they turn brn. I'm pretty lucky there I have a neighbor that has all of his family living around here and he cuts their grass and his and the neighbors next to me and he puts all of the grass clippings back by the cedar tree but then I have room for that, there's a whole line of it on the property line lol I get his leaves too and if it even looks like he's taking them to the recycle place I go chase him down and he tells me I have enough and I tell him never enough! LOL But he still tries to sneak some away though LOL
I didn't use compost tea last year just too much to do with planting all summer and trying to keep things watered that was a full time job but I need to get it together this year and make some my plants will thank me for it esp. the tomatoes lol I could tell a big difference in my plants for not using it.
Therese-or try hay-that is what I am using for my brown this year...
I have a ton of zinnia seeds I was hoping to use and I don't think they are toxic but I need to double check.
I have lots of germination today, I am finally starting my seeds that germinate more quickly. If I had started them sooner it would be to early here.
Thank you...
Fairy - dianthus siberian blues
Hyssopus officinalis - Bluespiral
Lebug - Purple Majesty Pennisteum
Flowerhead - Coral Salvia
Shirley - Blue Bedder Salvia
Can I have opinions on which one of these to buy?
Oh man I was just looking at this yesterday and it was in stock, but now it isn't darn! guess I can't get this one now!
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=4875460
This was my other choice
http://www.growerssupply.com/farm/supplies/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&catalogId2=10001&ftCatalogId=10001&storeId=10001&langId=-1&division=GrowersSupply&searchMethod=wcSearch&searchType=ANY&searchBeginIndex=0&searchDefaultPerPage=10&ftSearchBeginIndex=0&ftSearchDefaultPerPage=10&mfPartNumber=104120
I better just order that one so it doesn't end up out of stock too!!
tcs, you'll have to bring some brown home with you from your other place, you should have plenty there lol o you have a compost pile there? Not much sun though or it didn't look like it, is there a good spot to make one there?
Fairy,
Give you poor columbines some time! They won't flower this year, anyway, so you could as well leave them outside.
Pansies take two weeks to germinate (indoors). Outdoors would take a bit longer. Violets need more time (in my case forever, I never get them to germinate!). And they must be stratified!
As far as I know, Zinna's are not toxic!
Dryad,
You can put your clematis seeds out of the fridge now. When they've warmed up a little, you can give them one final stir and that should do the job. In a couple of weeks they'll germinate. With a bit of luck......
Meredith do you have any big box stores around you're not the one that said there wasn't any around are you :) I'd check around and see if you can pick one of those up a little cheaper, around here big lots or the dollar stores carry them sometimes for less than $20, I hate to see you spend that much money if you could find one cheaper :) They are nice you have to be real careful with the zipper on it I've had several go bad really quick on me but that's what I have out back and I love them!
I like that other one too it's a shame they are out of stock maybe they will get more in shortly call them and find out.
OK (sigh) I guess if the columbine won't flower this year, than no rush:(
Meredith-I would call your Wallyworld 1st B4 you give up...I like that one better-seems like it sould get more light...you are too good-I don't have any clue who most of my seeds came from!!
Lea-Big Lots?? If that is true I am going there tomorrow after work!!
Lea -- you are right... up north, i have all shade, not good for composting.. plus i bet its not allowed. Rules and Regs.
and I could bring home leaves/pine needles... but i think DH would think i'm nuts.
but i thought i read something about Oak leaves... not being good for mulching.
Of course now that I can't have it - I want the one from Wally world! It's size should hold 3 more flats than the more expensive one and it has those wheels that would be nice to roll it in the garage on cold nights. I called the only store that had them out of stock and she got my hopes up saying she thougvht they had them, then told me they sold the last one! She thought they'd get more in so I will hold out a little longer! I do have a big lots abot 15 miles from here I could check. The dollar store here only has $1 items so they probably won't get any. I've checked lowes and hd and they don't have them, and I've never seen them there before. I guess they are not popular items to stock here. :(
Everybody should have those, we need to talk to the manager LOL Kmart has them sometimes too but they are like $35 I think, no Sam's Club or anything like that around I guess, I went to Sam's last week hoping they might have something I could use but they didn't :( The dollar tree won't have them for sure.
I have one in a box I could send you if you want to pay postage, I have enough I'm just picking them up as I see them cause the way I use them they don't last long being out in the sun all summer I keep the covers in a tote but they rust pretty quick that's why I hate to see you spend so much on them :) If I sent this one it still would be cheaper to pay postage to mail it I only paid like $9 for it at the dollar store last fall I have another one to fall back on it wouldn't put me short :)
Lea-you need to keep your eye out for them for us!! We all need them!!LOL I really liked the ones at all greenhouses, but the Amazon ones were a little cheaper....