2009 - What have you sown so far... #2

I have quite a bit of experience from them....

i've been ordering for a LONG time... way before i had a PC.
I do have to admit, i always enjoyed their guarantee.... but over the past few years, i have found that with most of my orders - many of the plants have died. Ive used many of the 'certificates' because of the guarantee... and those plants die too.

their plants used to be very good... but i will not order from them again. I think i still have some 'certificates' -- i'd have to see if it would be worth it to 'cash' them in.... at my old house.... [i've been here 7 full summers] I used to have great luck with their plants... but ever since moving here, not much has survived.... is it the soil.. i have no idea. But i'm tired of wasting my money and time on them.

I've done many of the "Buy one Get one... " and if half died, that was OK in my book. but i still had some where they all died. I've never purchases Lilies from them, so i can't help ya there.

this is just my experience with them.... do read the comments in Watch Dog... there are A LOT of negatives.

Sandstreet, I checked out what Spring Hill had for their 'reblooming' daylilies. Only 2 are real rebloomers, and those are Stell D'Oro and Happy Returns. The others might be registered as rebloomers, but we northern gardeners are lucky to get rebloom on those types, as we just don't have the right conditions or a long enough season to get rebloom. We might get rebloom occasionally, but not that often. Happy Returns is part of the Happy Ever Appster series of daylilies by the hybridizer Daryl Apps. Some of the ones in that series that are supposed to be good are: When My Sweetheart Returns, Rosy Returns, Romantic Returns, Red Hot Returns, Sunset Returns, Just Plum Happy, Apricot Sparkles and Scentual Sundance.

Yes, I have heard a lot of negatives about them. I would not order from them.

Karen

Thanks so much for the information! Also, I was curious about these 'rebloomers' because I have one of these daylillies (Pardon Me) and it is not a rebloomer -- at least not like the Stella d'Oro.

Oh well, I guess it was just too good to be true! :)

I will look for the Happy Returns ...

Lisa

I never get much rebloom on 'Stella de Oro' anyway.

Not sure if this link to my diary / blog page will work or not:

http://davesgarden.com/community/blogs/t/claypa/11169/

Today I sowed tomatoes indoors: Early Girl, German Pink, Cherokee Purple, Black Krim.

Still to sow: Brandywine, German Queen, cherry tomatoes

I hoped to get some onions and lettuce planted, but no such luck. Maybe tomorrow or Tues. Also want to get some cukes started. I did get all the roses pruned, so that's done! Yay.

Lisa, I have Parden Me as well, and it never reblooms for me. Maybe it does in the south.

Karen

I've seen rebloom on my 'Pardon Me', I think -- just one or two blooms, but mine is still small.

Happy Returns is more of a constant bloomer than a rebloomer for me.

Ok, here's my puny start to WSing so far: Most of the seed came from the Newbie Seed thread, so if I know who sent them to Lorraine, I've put their name beside the flower.

Feb 1:
Purple Coneflower (Potagere)
Mexican Hats
Blanket Flower (TCS?)
Dwarf Sunflower "Teddy Bear" (Bright Star)
Tithonia Rotudifolia (Seandor)
Hollyhock (Lorraine)

Feb 8:
Yellow Marigolds (my seed from last summer)
Orange Zinnias (same)
Multicolor Marigolds (same)
Mammoth Sunflower (bought seed)
Oleander (Lorraine)
Canna (my Red and Lorraine's Coral)
Red & White Cypress Vine (My Red and Lorraine's White)

I'm expecting more seed from a spring swap forum and from Lazlo's Mystery Mix thread! So I'm now looking for more jugs!
I belong to a local Freecycle group and put out a "wanted" on the list. I've had 6 people email me offering me their gallon milk/water jugs :)

Yes, this is addicting!! Now at least SOME of these plants better grow! LOL
Chris

This message was edited Feb 8, 2009 6:53 PM

Oh I am sure they will. And I don't think that is a puny list at all. Rather a respectable one, actually. Yeah, it 's addicting, sure is! ;-)

Ok, first of all, all the talk on Texas BBQ is making me home sick! I am still waiting for my seed order to come in................sigh! I am saving all the containers I can muster. I do have a question though, since I am up here in the coldest part of the country, should I WS in storage containers just to be on the safe side?
It has finally been two days in a row with temps ABOVE zero! Woohoo!

nutsfordaylily, thanks for the info on coopers bbq. If I go to visit my friends in Harper or San Antone I will check them out. I still think the best bbq is my dad's smoked pit BBQ brisket and spare ribs dripping with 'secret' sauce and moms potato salad! YUM! Oh yeah, were supposed to be talking seeds!

Anyway, if any of you have any other suggestions for me up here in the tundra, please let me know. I am worried that my seedlings will sprout and then we will get a hard freeze!
Thanks for all the info! Yall are great!
Shirb

I have now added:

Baby's Breath ('Convent Garden')
Christmas Senna
Coneflower (Purple)
Coreopsis (Grandiflora)
Cosmos (Peach, Bipinnatus Mix)
Cypress Vine (Red)
Holly Hocks ('Country Romance,' Med Pink, Lavender Single, Dk pink w/yellow Ctr
Ruffled, Light Pink Ruffled, Med Pink w/ yellow Ctr Ruffled)
Malva (Zebrina)
Petunia (Wave Mix)
Poppies (Shirley, Mixed)
Rose of Sharon (Doulble)
Salvia Farinacea ('Blue Bedder')
Torenia (Purple/ White, Pink/ White)
Tricyrtis ('miyazaki', Mixture)

Here is a pic of what I have done so far. There will be more!

OMGoodness! I look like an amateur compare to that!

You mean because of the number of them? LOL here is last years...

I am almost up to last years! Last year I did not have near as many 2 liters and I did not do any milk jugs, but I have found I really do like them after all. It depends on what I am planting, but the milk jugs do allow more seeds per container. Some seeds I still like to do smaller amounts though. So I still us a lot of the starbucks cups with dome lids. And no, I did not drink all that coffee! LOL Last year I also filled the coldframe you see in the background, but this year I won't bother with it. They did not do that well in there. I used the 4 inch pots because they did not have covers, so I put them in the coldframe. This year I have been putting them in gallon zip locks. They hold 2 pots, and I used staples to keep an inch or two open at the top.

This message was edited Feb 8, 2009 9:28 PM

This message was edited Feb 8, 2009 9:29 PM

Now if you were talking about the neatness... DH is to get credit for that! He hauls them out on the wheelbarrow and arranges them on the slab. The slab was the foundation of my first greenhouse. It only lasted one season... It was made of PVC pipe and the plastic film and that deteriorated in the Texas heat. So all that remains is the slab and we put it to good use!

Wowser, YardQ: What a display! If they all germinate, you'll have enough to go into business unless you're planting acres and acres. Great job. Neat and everything.

Well, I do plan to give a lot to my daughters and my sister-in-law and some friends. And I will take some to my Mother and sister when I go back to SA in the spring. I am not planning to go into the business! LOL I may trade some though if I have any left. Last year after I gave away everything people wanted, I almost didn't have enough to fill my beds!

Impressive list and impressive organization. Makes my little stash quite the hodge-podge.

So far I only have Gaillardia mixed which has germinated.

Well, I got as far as drilling the holes in a few jugs tonight. . .does that count? Then I got interrupted with homework concerns, and never got back to it. Maybe tomorrow. . .

Yardqueen, my jaw about hit the floor when I saw your pictures. I thought I had a dozen or so milk jugs saved back in the garage, but discovered tonight that they got recycled. I only have about 6 to start with, which seems pretty paltry compared to yours! And not nearly enough for the box of seeds I have stashed for this year. . .

Booker

Well it helps that I am retired, and this is my 3rd year at wintersowing. The 1st year I only did a few things. ALso, DH is retired and helps a lot or I couldn't do it. Or at least I couldn't do very much. I get sore and achey just doing what I can. DH does the lifting, and and the stuff like that. In Spring he does all the digging. I just tell him where to dig and what to put there. If he didn't play golf every day we could do even more... LOL I do get carried away and once I start I can't quit. I have so many seeds thanks to seed trading, and generous DG-ers and I am afraid they will get too old. Thank goodnes for Wintersowing because I would never have enough room indoors to provide the proper light, etc.

Ya'll look on the plant trades this spring and see if I have any to get rid of. If everything sprouts and grows I am sure I will. And some of it might be pretty interesting...

I don't know what to think, yardqueen. Last year or this year? I really like how you used the Starbucks coffee cups. Did they sell them to you again this year? I'm thinking of asking the middle school for the water bottles they recycled. The milk jug is too big for me. I am trying out the plastic bags on just a few seeds, just to see. Most of the stuff are in the water or Coke bottles, the small ones though. I don't have enough seeds to do it in the milk jug. That's too big for me. The thing I find that is convenient is that the Starbucks cups, you can just fill and put the top on. It take forever for me to cut the water bottles and puncture holes in them. I'm thinking may be tomorrow, I will check out some styrefoam cups with lids.... I've been using a few of those too. When we go out to eat and they give those, I rinse them out and re-use them.

Oh, and I hate digging. My DH is not going to like me asking him to dig out some of his grass, but I told him back in the fall not to plant them in certain area!

This message was edited Feb 9, 2009 12:06 AM

Booker,

We kind of cross posted. I am wondering if you have any people that you could ask for milk jugs and 2 liter bottles? It helps that you are in 5a becasue you have more winter left. I am almost too late this year for 8a. Anyway if you could get a few people to save them for you if wouldn't take long to get a pretty good stash. There are a few other containers you can use. And also you can do the Zip lock thing. Either with pots or without.

Lilli,

I have some ordered for my indoor sowing this year which I will do in March. I REALLY love them for that because they don't have to be sterilized which is a pain for indoor planting. The ones I used already are left from last year. We found some that we didn't use and also some that were cleaned from last year. It sounds like you have aquired some too! And yes they are convenient and faster to use, but you still have to make holes. DH turns the stack upside down and drills holes through several at once. I did it too when he wasn't home...

I like haveing different sizes for different kinds of seeds. How fast they grow before I get them out is one consideration. I didn't like using small coke and water bottles... Depending on the shape some are just too hard to get the plants out. I did it the 1st year, but not anymore. The 1st year I used a lot of things because I didn't know about it enough ahead of time and I had to make do.

In Ontario we generally buy milk in three bags. The jugs of milk are too heavy for me but if we do purchase them we pay a deposit on them. Return the jug, buy a new filled jug and they put the deposit towards the new jug.

We also have a great recycling program and plastic, tin cans, paper and cardboard go into the recycling.

I did get containers out of the grocery store's recycling. Yep. I am a garbage picker and may be one again tomorrow morning. Small price to pay for containers that can be used for WSing. I have no shame - LOL.

Elaine and Otis

I now have bronze fennel sprouting. Yippee!

OH... if that is new to you... you are gonna just LOVE it. I loved the fennel... great foliage.

Elaine,

I have heard of several people rescuing containers from recycling... But here I think you get in trouble if you get caught

Really, you would get in trouble for that?

Ours are large dumpster bins at the waste center. You have to jump all the way in which is fine when they are not full, but I would go regularly and get boxes and newspaper for packing, they have a separate one for glass and plastic. Don't know if I would go in that one..... ha!

But one cool thing I found one time was a whole box of home decorating magazines, the expensive ones that are like 9$ each. We were just buying this house and know it needs a lot of remodeling. It was a great find.

Here no one minds dumpster diving, it is kind of fun.

I read that somewhere... I can't remember if it is a fine, and I can't remember why, but I read it somewhere here on DG

Here, each household has a recycling bins and we put our newspaper, magazines, glass, cans and plastics #1-3 in there and we pay a company to come and pick them up once a week.

Did you know you are supposed to take the lids off the plastic containers before recycling? otherwise they can't recycle them. I think it's a different kind of plastics.

Karen: I have it in my Asheville garden and the swallowtail caterpillars cover it in the summer! I love the bronzy, ferny foliage, would never be without it in my garden.

Well, I just WSed my first batch of seeds today. They are in pots, which I put in large, clear plastic storage bins. It took a lot more time to do than I anticipated! I will have to do some each day to get it all done. I have to wash all my pots before putting in the seed starting mix and seeds. I used an organic seed starting mix made by Ferry-Morse, which I picked up today at Lowe's. Here is what I sowed today:

Showy Evening Primrose (Oenothera speciosa)
Dwarf Chinese Delphinium 'Blue Butterfly'
Digitalis ferruginia
Digitalis purpurea 'Dwarf Red'
Digitalis 'Elsie Kelsey'
Digitalis 'Monstruosa'
Digitalis 'Apricot'
Digitalis 'Pam's Choice'
Digitalis 'Dwarf Foxy'
Delphinium 'Pacific Giants Mix'
Delphinium 'Burpee's Cutting Mix'
Delphinium elatum
Delphinium - red
Hollyhock 'Peaches 'N' Dreams'

Karen

I have wsed several varieties of annual poppy.
Will sow Orientals in March, in pots and have
Nemophila maculata Chelsea Blue
Nemophila menziesii PennieBlack coming from Thompson Morgan.
I just dont have room to raise seedlings.But couldnt find these plants anywhere and dont want to spend $5.00 per plant anyway.

Well done, Karen! Just reading your list gave me a beautiful mental picture of a tall, colorful row of long stemmed beauties. Before this forum, I didn't know what most of these flowers were, having only planted impatiens, petunias and pansies from the garden center. Oh how my list of "must-haves" is growing now!

Happy Planting,

-GB

ge1836: You are one of those Doubting Thomas who is a hard sell on winter sowing. You will be delighted to see those poppies peeking back at you in spring.

Really, though, I have to tell you. You should try those orientals now, at least a few seeds as an experiment, and you could be planting them out in your beds by April. Just be sure to transplant them to the beds when very small, at one or two true leaves, while the weather is still cold. They'll be very tiny then, only about 1 or 2 inches tall.

Karen

I am in such a heat to plant something I will try your trial method. I will be seeding in Peat pots.
The annuals are in the beds now ,sowed them in Dec.

Ummmm... I have to mention this. I've tried peat pots and paper pots and not had very good results with them. Others have used them successfully, though. They can just dry out so fast and I'm not always here to water, gone to work too long during the day. Just watch the moisture carefully. I've had them turn moldy in wet rainy weather, too.

At least with poppies they get planted early.

The annuals that are in the beds now, did you wintersow them, start indoors, or direct sow? My soil has been frozen so long I can't even remember. Our foot of ice and snow just melted Sunday. It seemed weird to walk outside to a world that wasn't dirty white. There are still mounds of snow around in shady areas.

Karen

I direct sowed somniferums and Shirlies in November. Just pulled the mulch back and sprinkled.
The ground hadnt frozen yet.
I have time to over see the OP's in peat pots.DD says they can sit in the cold garage for awhile befor they need to come into the house.They dont need light to germinate.

I had planned on direct sowing my poppies but it's going to rain a couple of days this week and wondered if they would "wash away"...

ge1836: A lot of folks have good results direct sowing. I haven't tried poppies that way, I've only done them outside in winter, sown in milk jugs. I don't have the time, set-up, or patience for indoor seed starting. Let us know how yours work for you.

I'm confused though. Which ones are you going to try by wintersowing? Annual poppies, orientals? And have you wintersown them yet? I don't mean direct sowing, but rather wintersown in containers

Clother and other sites say they do need light to germinate. I just sprinkle them onto the surface of the milk jug soil.
http://tomclothier.hort.net/page04.html#p

Karen