WS#4

my first containers.

You know those ice cream containers are kind of cool because they have handles. I just drilled the holes in the top too for air circulation

My new bed waiting for all my wonderful flowers. :)

I have an ice cream bucket that i used the first year... i just stick it back in the garage and use it every year after that... i'm not sure i have the lid though... i may have a spare in a cabinet though.

That is what I was thinking, that I could use it again, since I can just take the top off at any time. I actually didn't eat all this ice cream! LOL, I have an aunt and uncle who eat TONS of ice cream and they had a whole years stash in their recycling closet, so I grabbed them. I only have 10 or so of these, but they will be great.

Lissa! Lovely progress, so good to read of, and what delightful little boys helping you, my goodness, are they yours?

yes, indeed! I have 5 little guys. :)

That's partly why we bought the land. It needs a lot of work but there is so much room for the boys to play.

Lissa they are so gorgeous!! I bet you have tons of fun. We have four girls and two boys. They are old enough [most of them] to 'pretend' to NOT be interested but each has asked 'how are you little seeds'! :)

Good job with the kids helping get them ready.

lol, this counts for homeschool right?

Science time works well with Mommy's hobbies. ;)

Actually we are going to do a temperature and weather chart this spring and keep an eye on when the seeds germinate and stuff, so I truly believe it does count towards our yearly goals. I am not "just" trying to get away with playing with seeds. Heehee, I am multitasking.

For sure Science.....make sure they check the average temps for the week till germination. And document the containers. I would take some pictures let them do a 'science project' board after they start growing......tons of fun stuff you could do.

I think it ROCKS as a science project......my kiddos are in public school but several teachers want the documentation and my kids are gonna get extra credit.

Lissa, what absolutely beautiful children. And what a splendid mother they have.

I agree with Henygirl, fab way to teach them about so many things......

Lissa, what an adorable pic! Such pure expressions of joy on all their faces- that's priceless! What are their ages? You're one busy lady!

Talking about biennials - hollyhock and silver dollar plant [as well as many others] fall into that category too. The key is to keep planting the seeds every year. This way you will always have blooms - except for the initial year.

Anita... Since i wanted more colors of HH this year, as i currently only have pink... last summer, since i was gone most of the summer ... i gave all my HH seeds to my neighbor [she and i sort of have a combined flower garden] and asked her to 'spread the seeds' -- that way they would have germinated and I'd [we'd] have more flowers this year.... she never did it. In Sept or Oct i asked for the seeds back but did put some seeds in the ground.... I'm hoping something started late last fall, but i have my doubts.

So -- i will probably have to wait until 2010 for more colors.

Terese, if ya want to get some other colors this year, you could try the double hollyhocks. I winter sowed a bunch a couple of years ago and they all bloomed beautifully the first year. They mostly behaved as annuals, a couple returned, but were smaller and didn't make much impact the 2nd year. At the same time I had wintersown the black single ones, and they didn't bloom till the 2nd year.

thanks Neal... i do think a lot of what i got in seed over the summer are doubles.... well, except the Yellows, i think those are single.... but I thought those would look GREAT with the Black HH. But i know i have Whites that are double. **Thanks Lissa** and the Yellows i got from Veronica [indynanny]

Lissa-I have boys too, I never dreamed that I would never have a girl. God knew what He was doing though, they have taken me places that I didn't even know I wanted to go, and I tell them this often. I was going to try no-till vegetable gardening this year but my 11 yr old told one of my clients that he could hardly wait to rota-til because he loves to feel the dirt on his feet. Yes he does it barefoot. So many kids never get to experience that.
Happy WS
Lisa
Garden2grow

Jim, you're not a grouchy old man - just 'experienced'. Your answer is exactly what I was looking for. Thanks!

Thank you for your compliments on the boys. They are great kids. Ages 8, 6, 3, and the twins are2. :)

I never imagined I'd have all boys either, but it has been fun. I hope to get them hooked on growing things too.

I am kind of in the same spot with my Hollyhocks. I collected all of them from our old house, but didn't get them planted last fall since the grounds were such a mess. I am hoping at least a few will bloom this year since we do have quite a long growing season here. Otherwise, I am going to have quite a show the next year! Ha. :)

Congrats, LissaD! On the WSing and those handsome gents. Isn't gardening more fun with a little help? :D

I accidentally posted this on the wrong thread, so here it is again (even though I bet a bunch of you have seen it on "What have you WSed so far...")

GreenerBeaner wrote:
What would you do?

DD and I filled 20 jugs with soil yesterday (3 short of total needed for Feb 1 WSing) and had a ton of fun. Woohoo!

BUT, it was sort of an impulsive thing because we had nice weather and I just happened to have a bag of soil and we were outside and it just happened. Then, once I had all 20 filled, I started to wonder if the soil was the best. It's sort of mulchy - it's MG organic garden soil. I remember tcs sending my a link to a WS soil discussion, but I've misplaced it and am now concerned that this isn't great stuff for this purpose. I have other things I could use this soil for, so it wouldn't be wasted if I started over, I have time, and DD (ok, and me too...) had so much fun playing in the dirt I wouldn't mind doing it again. Would you start over, and what would you use?

Thanks for your thoughts!

-GB and MiniBeaner

Really enjoying the pics and comments about the young gardeners. Makes me even more anxious for some grandkids! Ok, ok. Gotta wait till I get some kids married off first, but the first one will tie the knot in May, so who knows.....?

Do any of you WS Calendula? I'm curious if I can go ahead and sow them or if I should wait till March or so.

Back a bit you were discussing Aquilegia (columbine). They are a great candidate for GA3 (gibberellic acid) I find. I was wondering if anyone uses GA3 wintersowing. Thanks muchly.

Calendula can be winter sowed. They always selfsow in my garden, also in very cold winters.

Thanks so much Jonna! I was thinking I'd read that they reseeded.

GB: I don't know anything about MG garden soil, never used the stuff. But soilless potting mix, not garden soil, is usually recommended.

Karen

dahlianut, please do tell us about GA3. I've never heard of it, and I bet I'm not the only one.

J.L. Hudson carries it.

Karen

Here is some info on GA3. It is definitely not suitable for everything as a friend of mine discovered when she lost alot of her seedlings. http://gardensnorth.com/site/

O sorry that link doesn't work that well. Click on the 'About Us' Tab and then 'Germination Corner on the left side and you will see the GA3 topic there.

This message was edited Jan 22, 2009 2:35 PM

Wow, dahlia. That is a very interesting seed supplier. Think I'll have to spend a few hours there sometime!! - and possibly some dollars, though it's expensive. And thanks for the info on GA3.

I recommend this supplier highly. She has a big sale in the spring. I will post when its on.

Thanks. I'd like to hear, though hopefully I'll be up to my eyeballs in sprouts by then.

Happy Birthday, GreenerBeaner!!! Cute MiniBeaner!

Ditto that GB

Hope you have a fabulous day.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday Jenny!

Hope you have a great day GB!

Tonya

Okay, Jim, what is that daylily? Lovely, lovely.

Angie

In case anyone's still wondering, there are about twenty different species of digitalis, and they're all true perennials, except D. purpurea and D. ferruginea, which are considered biennial.

Here's D. purpurea x lutea 'Foxy', a perennial foxglove:

You are right. Swallowtail actually has a large selection of seed - http://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/perennials/foxglove.html

Ah, yet another nice seed supplier to add to my bookmarks. Thankee kindly! ;-)

OOh! And they offer one that blooms in five months from seed, even. Most excellent.

This message was edited Jan 24, 2009 7:05 PM