First Time WS#9 Stayin' Alive, Stayin Alive.....

Oh, Gemini, you make my heart leap! I LOVE Blue Flax, but my WS ones are so almost feeble that I was thinking of composting them. I will now try to have some patience and wait on them.

LOL, Blue flax is definitely one of them. The amaranthus that I thought was supposed to be fairly tall is still about 2inches high, milkweed varieties, corepsis which I thought was an annual, so I don't know if it will do anything!

We have had fairly low temps, like in the 70-85 range, which is VERY unusual for this zone. Usually we are well into the 90s by now. So maybe they don't really go for it until it warms up.

Jim, my blue flax looked so tiny and pathetic last year. I don't think they got over 2" tall. This is what one "hunk o seedlings" looked like in April- they must have growing roots last year.

Here's some of the first blooms. That clump ultimately reached about 2 1/2' tall, and nearly as wide. Loads of seeds are ripening now :-)

Blue flax is definitely a tough plant, so have faith. Generally you can ignore them once established. Don't let those delicate looking flowers fool you.

Gemini_sage: I usually don't wait for seeds. I give the thing a haircut after the first round of bloom, then it will rebloom later in summer.

Karen

Karen, do you think its too late for me to do that now that seeds are ripening? Heck, I'm behind on deadheading the stuff I meant to, LOL.

I don't know if you still have time. I'd deadhead most seeds, leave a few stems of seeds to ripen if you wish. Then collect those seeds as soon as they're ready, and cut back. Chances are they'd bloom again, at least some, in late summer. Probably not nearly as much as the first show of flowers, though, mine don't anyway.

My feeling is this: I can always buy more seeds if I have to.

Karen