Toadfish Monastery

I'm in Plant Zone 7 and have the following seeds I hope to sow this season:

1) Marigolds (saved seed from last year)

2) Sweet Red Pepper- organic seed source

3) Luffa Sponge Vine- " " "

4) Four o'clocks (seeds given to me by a friend)

5) Sacred Tobacco (Nicotania rustica- not for recreational use!) organic

6) Flowering Tobacco (Nicotania Alata- for scent and color) organic

7) Golden poppies (Eschscholzia californica) organic

8 ) Bloomsdale Long standing Spinach- organic

9) Lettuce Burpee Bib

10) Tomato Large Red Cherry

11) Sweet Green Pepper

12) Pea Alaska

13) Radish Sparkler White Tip

14) Sweet Corn- early Golden Bantam

15) Carrot- Nantes Coreless

16) Onion- White Lisbon bunching

17) Pole Beans- Kentucky Wonder

18) Zinnias- Dahlia Flower mixed

19) Artemesia ludoviciana- Old Man Sage

20) Mullein- Verbascum thapsus

Ambitious, aint it? Especially the corn, which I haven't got much room for, but decided to play with, anyway.

I don't have a lot of experience with vegetables, but have grown some lettuce, peppers and tomatoes before. I'm tring this now because the store salads have become so expensive and I don't know where they come from.

I also have several Native American ceremonial plant seeds because I am trying a Four Winds garden and want to have some plants in with the veggies as representatives of the indigenous philosophies.

I'm going to be starting some peppers, spinach, tomato seeds indoors early so I'll have a chance to harvest them before the earm weather wears out.  I'll also be starting some Native American ceremonial plants inside because I am so unfamiliar with their seedlings that I want to be sure what not to pull later.

The spinach, lettuce, pea, radish and onion seeds will be sown outside in April, as I understand that they like cooler weather to germinate.

What're you sowing this year?

tomatos
cucumbers
squash (both yellow crookneck and zuchini)
peas (all kinds)
green beans
sunflowers
radish
that's probably it for now--- don't have time to really keep up a garden right now

I'm going to put out the datura from Arizona(and hope no one recognizes it and steals it)- we've always called is 'sacred datura' it causes visions-- but is poison in the hands of idiots who are just trying to get a high. I've never taken it myself-- just something special and connects me to home and the past.

has anyone ever done ladybugs(ladybirds) via mail before? did it work ---etc.

So far I've planted seeds for two types of sweet peas, morning glory, wild strawberries, dill and a flower who's name has slipped my mind.   I've been supplementing south-window exposure with a grow bulb at night.  The sweet peas (one variety, the other is lagging) are getting a bit ahead of themselves, but the morning glories and dill are doing quite well.  The strawberries are so tiny! - I've never tried them from seed before and am glad I got them started nice and early.

I'm stuck to balcony-gardening, so I'm going to stay mostly to flowers and ornamentals this year.  Darlica inspired me with her morning glories last year, and I have netted in the balcony to keep the pigeons out and the vines climbing - hopefully I will get good coverage with the morning glories and sweet peas.  I will be moving out a few plants that have overwintered inside as well, and probably will pick up some bedding plants too.  I'm skipping veggies, other than maybe a hybrid Super Chili (I've had good results with them).

I have seed leftovers that I'll likely plant out directly, just to see how they compare.

I usually direct sow some of the seeds I start outside, too. Sometimes they just work better that way. The netting sounds like a lovely idea.

I've never sent out for ladybugs, as we have scads of them here. They do a very good job of eating aphids, especially when the ladies are in the juvenile stage. If I see a bunch of aphids on a rosebud, I go and seek out a ladybug and put her on the rose. She will go after those little suckers like a cat after tunafish!

I have some ladybugs-- they obviously took up residence inside over the cold months and are now coming out of hiding-- but they keep commiting suicide on the stove when I am cooking  (I suppose zoning in on heat) and I keep scooping them up and taking them and dumping them on the roses in the hopes that they get it! Very silly to see a woman in her valentines boxers carrying bugs about on a plastic spoon (they will not climb onto my hand) or a sponge and then dumping the bugs out on her plants. But I need more than the few I am able to save- hopefully some are getting out on their own as I've been leaving the kitchen window up and there is a gap they could get through. So I was thinking about getting some via mail order.

If you're putting them all in the same place, maybe you'll get lucky and they'll git down and make some hungry larvae for you! (Maybe you could play them some Barry White or soemthing!)

Quote from: Opsanus tau on March 13, 2008, 06:47:12 PM
If you're putting them all in the same place, maybe you'll get lucky and they'll git down and make some hungry larvae for you! (Maybe you could play them some Barry White or soemthing!)

:ROFL:

I'm in zone III so I have to wait until at least early April to start cultivate plants in doors or they will be ready to go out doors when it's still too cold.

I haven't got a balcony any more but I do have my mothers garden and an small greenhouse to play with. :)

I plan to sow.
Marigolds
Scarlet Runnerbeans (I have seeds from last year).
some sort of peas with nice flowers (instead of Sweet peas).
chilli, haven't decided what kind yet.

It's too windy for morning glory or moon flower (I would love to have moon flowers because of the fragrance) I know it will just wither and die as soon it get out side >:(

My mother and I will probably buy some plants from a local garden mainly herbs and such, we do that every year and there's a big garden exhibition coming up in mid April they always have quite good prices on seeds and bulbs (Lillies and other summer flowers) so I plan to do some shopping then.  ;D

I tried Mirabilis jalapa or four o'clock's some years ago I think I might try them again I would love one with broken colours.

Also,I will buy a Flowering Tobacco plant I tried to cultivate them last year but didn't succeed and I love the smell it's not summer without them. :)

Can you grow delphinium up there, Darlica? I love delphinium but our summers are just too hot and humid for them. We can do the annual version larkspur, which are very pretty, but not those fabulous blue towers like you can grow in the north.

I would like to try the beans (vine types) and peas on a tent like trellis this year-- to make a sort of hidey place in the beans. My grandmother would put them like this -- and then pick from the inside and out and of course it made a nice place to play as well.

I was thinking of just getting long poles-- maybe bamboo-- lots of people have it and have let it go insane in their yards (what are people thinking when they plant bamboo in their yards anyway?) and tying them at one end ala plains indian style and setting the bottoms in soil fairly deeply-- I think that is what gran always did---- she has some sort of poles she kept year after year to reuse--- knowing her they were very likely smallish lodge pole pines (very straight tree). Then I could just put some netting or even chicken wire around it for the runners to grow on.

I've got a black walnut tree in the back yard and I can't wait for it to bloom- I picked up a fair amount of nuts from last year-- the squirrels had a field day as well! They are hard to crack and don't have as much meat as an English walnut but they are so delicious.

Seed Savers Exchange (http://www.seedsavers.org/)  non-hybrid seed source

Nice link, A! I went in and ordered their catalog.

I've been thinking about how to support my climbers, too. We have some bamboo from my Mom's Japanses garden to work with. (People who like Japaese gardens like bamboo, even if it is invasive. There are ways to contain it, but not everyone bothers.)

One year I did gourds and I put them in a small bed near our shed and leaned/tied the poles to the shed roof. That made a fun sort of tunnel along the shed wall. I may do that again, or maybe I'll do the tepees. The Opsalette would probably enjoy the tepees quite alot.

Yes, we have one delphinium (at least) together with the pink Lilies.

Among the other perennial plants we have are Peony's Lilies, Lilac's, different types of Orpine's, roses, and a strawberry Philadelphus, Ivy, perennial herbs/spice among others. There are much much more but I'm not sure I know the proper names so I can't really identify them and translate to English.

Does anyone know a vigorous climber that can take a bit of dryness?  It's very low humidity here and with the south-exposed balcony (plus occasional absences) I'm looking for something that will take a bit of heat and (short periods of) drought.  Also, since I'd like something to grow up my anti-pigeon netting it shouldn't mind a bit of wind (Darlica's got me worried on the morning glories; I will try to keep those closer to the wall, where it's wind-protected). It's got to be annual plants, because I don't think any perennials will keep over the winter (too hot inside, too many temperature extremes outside and extremely dry).  Otherwise I'd love some hops....

I didn't have very good luck with scarlet runners last year; they did grow for a while, but then they stopped.  Very few flowers or beans.  Could have been the wind factor.

That sounds like a beautiful garden, Darlica. I had to look up "Orpine"- we call them Sedum, here.

I grow pink sedum, lots of iris and daylily varieties, golden and gooseneck loosestrife, lily-of-the-valley, Shasta daisy, daffoldil, crocus, tulip, roses, astlbe, hosta, azalea, rhododendron, mahonia, lilac, plume grass, and others in my perennial garden.

Yesterday I tilled the new raised annual beds. They still need more soil, though, which I hope to get this weekend with the help of a Home Depot gift card I got for Christmas.

Oops, posted with Aggie. I'm under the impression that most vigorous vines need plenty of water. I wouldn't worry about the morning glories in the wind, though. They should be fine, once they get a grip.

right- should have been more clear about bamboo-- I should have said- what are they thinking if they don't plan on containment! if it is contained (my fav is a buried old bathtub with about a 3 inch lip sticking above ground and be sure all holes are positively plugged!) it is a nice addition.

I think if we get our children involved in gardening- no matter how small- it will stick with them and connect them to our earth-- making little greenies if you will. I can remeber the girls being little in their great grandmothers garden in Arizona and meeting and greeting not only growing things (like beans and cukes right off the vines) but various bugs as well and learning about how the bugs do the garden good (except grubs-- SMASH grubs). And how you can plant the pumpkins in the corn and when it's time to pick the corn the pumpkins are already growing well on their way. Ok now I'm going to have a mommy cry..... where does the time go.

Darli------ how cold does it get where you are? I would think that you have lots of tough perennials about.

Wow multi posts at once --- YEAH

here is a link to drought tolerant vines   (http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/quickref/vines-groundcovers/droughttolerant_vines.html) and here (http://www.virtualplanttags.com/DroughtTolerantVines.htm) as well --- look at cardinal climber-- it is an annual that will make enough tiny seeds to keep every one you ever know in it, very vigorous and lovely as well, green feathery foliage, would look good on a balcony, will grow in pots.

whatever you do--- never ever ever ever plant or get any sort of Kudzu vine started anywhere-- I don't care what people say-- it is evil, it will get out of the pot, it will take over.

Quote from: Opsanus tau on March 14, 2008, 04:36:42 PM
Oops, posted with Aggie. I'm under the impression that most vigorous vines need plenty of water. I wouldn't worry about the morning glories in the wind, though. They should be fine, once they get a grip.

I am going to try to set up some kind of a low-tech drip system for when I'm away; it's the (lack of) air humidity rather than soil dryness that I think might be an issue. 

Thanks for the tips & links!


PS isn't Kudzu tasty?  I don't have to worry about anything tropical getting invasive here due to -30 C winter freezes.

yes you can eat Kudzu---- and it will eat you

ok I've warned you about the Kudzu--- (Chatty-- tell 'im will ya, I'm going to have to bonk 'im on the noggin bout this stuff  ;)  )

it's been spotted doing very well in Illinois USA  --- garden zone ? but it gets darn cold.
http://www.ubcbotanicalgarden.org/forums/showthread.php?t=22374

Albany NY @  -28 F   yep it has survived it  Here (http://www.thestar.com/living/article/265643)

so you see it is actually on it's way-- just sit still and listen for it rustling north.

;)

Don't worry, I'm not actually looking to plant kudzu.   ;)

There's a little bitty town in southern Mississippi that was evac'ed for a hurricane back in the early 80's. The gub'mint was remiss at letting folks back in--over a week!

Kudzu had almost covered every building in the town--all 32 of them. The houses nearest the edge of where they'd been beating it back were completely covered.

On an optimal growing (spring) day, with an open space?? The rate of growth can be monitored in  centimeters per quarter hour. Yes, visible to the (patient) human eye.

However, you can go to places covered in it, rip it down and form vine wreaths of it quite easily. The problem is keeping them from rooting until they're dry. (All those "grapevine" wreaths in craft stores?? Betcha at least half or more are kudzu.)

So, how do we make biofuels out of it?  Better than all this silly corn ethanol that's driving up food prices. 

I'm sure it's possible.

If biofuels can be made of garbage (and they can) then kudzu should be no problem. The problem is that ADM and all the other corporate "farmers" can't make a profit off of kudzu.

I'm rapidly becoming a raving socialist--or at least in favor of nationalizing the economy-raping corporations just long enough to break their death grasp on us.

Oh well , it looks like everything I'm doing this year has been covered . I have so much in my little plot that everything is running wild .

I hope to start some organic foodstuff going in large containers this year as opposed to in the yard . ( So cat doesn't fertilize the stuff )

Quote from: Sibling Chatty on March 14, 2008, 10:01:55 PM
I'm rapidly becoming a raving socialist--or at least in favor of nationalizing the economy-raping corporations just long enough to break their death grasp on us.

Start with the banks.... 

I have something growing in my yard that must have come from the compost . One tough plants that is sending out some tenacious runners .

It is about 6ft. tall and produces (few) berries that are very sweet , I'll have to take a picture of it .

I'd like to know what it is , the fruit resemble baby blackberries .

Oooh....  sounds like blackcaps (black raspberries).  My FAVORITE Rubus species...  they are rare back home so I know the location of individual bushes various places around the region.

Rare? Really ? Heck I have one growing out front that refuses to go away . It is growing out of a crack in the concrete , I've cut it right down but it comes right back , year after year .

In BC, anyways.  Mom and Dad have quite a few bushes at the beach near their house, but other than that, I think I know of 3 other patches in the whole area.

If it's the same thing, the berries are similar to raspberries only black and a bit 'flatter' and very sweet...  I think it might be a different species out east, but similar:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubus_leucodermis
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubus_occidentalis

I'll have to get back with a photo sometime later in the season .

Raspberries (ever bearing and some other variety--can't remember)
Bachelor's Buttons
My lovely little spice bush (Calycanthus occidentalis)
Four O'Clock
Golden Girl tomatoes
Other tomatoes--need to get out to the nursery to pick some out (we have a ridiculously long growing season out here, March to about November)
Peppers (anaheim and a few others)
snapdragons
morning glories
watermelons and honeydew
more lupins (god, how I love them)
Rosemary, sage, thyme, basil, lemon grass
Blood orange (which is looking much better this year)


Going to try to get berries out of my manzanita bush (Arctostaphylos viscida is my variety, I think) this year, too.

I never had good results with melons , mainly because i forget to start them indoors , and another problem is getting enough direct sunlight .

Quote from: Agujjim on March 14, 2008, 08:25:27 PM
Don't worry, I'm not actually looking to plant kudzu.   ;)

Oh I know that--- you are many things- but dumb is not one of them; but everyone has a Kudzu story about how they warned so and so and well now just look at it.

bio-fuels would be a good use for it-- but then do we actually plant more?

The word is that in North Little Rock there will be (soon) a statewide farmers market that will be dedicated to food. There is a farmers market in Little Rock (do a search on Rivermarket Arkansas)-- but they've let it become invaded with people who do the travelling flea/craft market thing- and some of them are quite aggressive when all one wants is a few cukes and maters. I like craft fairs and flea markets- but not all the darn time.

Ooh, I have a friend who is going into the bio fuel business. I'll suggest kudzu to him. I wonder if it has anough sugar to yeild a good high quality energy? Aggie says it tastes good, so maybe it does. Hmmm....

Scrib, I see you're doing Four o'clocks (Miribilis). Do you (or anyone else) have previous experience with them? A friend gave me these seeds and I am not sure where to put them, yet.

Melons need lots of water to fruit properly. Otherwise I'd grow them. I love melons of any kind.

Anyone have theories about supporting tomatoes and peppers? Some people say to grow them on the ground, some say use cages. Maybe I could tepee them as well?

Tepee or cage, unless you're planting in a raised and well mulched area, otherwise the fruit lays on the damp ground (it's heaveir-est, ya know) and rots.

Quote from: Agujjim on March 14, 2008, 04:33:55 PM
Darlica's got me worried on the morning glories; I will try to keep those closer to the wall, where it's wind-protected

I didn't have very good luck with scarlet runners last year; they did grow for a while, but then they stopped.  Very few flowers or beans.  Could have been the wind factor.

Don't worry, my balcony was a bit windy but it faced the South, the morning glories thrived. Our garden on the other hand lay on the side of a big body of water and faces the East and it's completely open to winds from the North to East. Not enough sun+ wind= disaster. Scarlet Runners grow like crazy though.

QuoteThat sounds like a beautiful garden, Darlica. I had to look up "Orpine"- we call them Sedum, here.

Aaah. Sedum is the family name, I thought that was a too broad definition. :)

I have a slight problem, no Swe/Eng dictionaries I have cover flowers very well, not even the on-line ones, so I have to take the Swedish name and search for the Latin name, take the Latin name to a site (preferable with pictures so I can see that I've got it right) that can translate it in to English...

 

QuoteDarli------ how cold does it get where you are? I would think that you have lots of tough perennials about.

Not that cold, it's Zone III around here. The winter temperature is usually somewhere between -10 to +3 C with short periods of really cold weather some years down to -30 C but that is getting more and more unusual.
This winter was the warmest in a hundred years here, no real winter at all late autumn just became early spring somewhere in January... :( 

We generally (in Scandinavia) have a lot of tough perennials, but there isn't many of them in our garden at the moment. We have a lot of wild life around the house; roe deer, hare's, moose's, wild boars to name some and we haven't got a proper fence.
Some years ago my mother and I carefully planned the garden and bought perennials for I don't know how much and then some... they bloomer very nice the first summer but when the autumn and the cold came some one started to use our garden as their walk in pantry... A couple of weeks in to the real spring every thing was gone, not a root, not a leaf was left... :fit:

So until we have that fence we stick mostly to seeds and on year plants it's cheaper.


Four o'clocks (Miribilis) is said to be able to grow almost every where, I found them quite demanding. The want good soil but not to rich, they want a lot of sun but not to much or they get scorched, they need plenty of water but not too much or the roots rot... I'd say a well drained pot or spot of land, sand mixed or other "semi light" soil and wandering shadow.

What is it about people making ones garden a walk in pantry--- we had the same issue in Tucson--- my dad planted grape vines (yes in the Tucson desert) and tended them and got them producing a few small bunches--- that was 22 years ago and he now has enough that he can make his own wine!-- anyway here we are anticipating our first little old bunches of grapes and one morning we get up and they are gone! It was a person- left huge foot prints behind. So we had to wait until next time--- but we got them back-- so back--- we put up "Warning-University of Arizona student's at home project!- Uof A off campus agricultural test station- All plants watered using reclaimed water and treated systemically with a chemical known to cause testicular shrinkage-These plants are not for human consumption-- however, nothing has changed from last year",  we ate our own grapes that year. And from then on I always watched my neighbors for signs of looking down their pants to see if they'd shrunk yet.

Opsanus--- I like to prop up the tomato plants, keeps them off the ground. And remember to keep pinching off those suckers-- this is one time you don't want lush green growth-- you want the plant to make tomatos not branches.

Every time I see this topic title I hope it's a place to acquire a New Man. Then I see it's gardening. <sigh>

Sorry, unless you are looking for something like this

(http://www.artknowledgenews.com/files2007a/GuisepeArcimboldoVertumne.jpg)

I'm afraid this is the wrong place...

;)

Wow! He's a beauty!

Whadda hunk!

Thanks for the advice about the tomatoes.

Hmmm, the miribilis don't like too much sun, huh? I think I have to revise my garden plan. I have them in a raised bed (good golly it took a lot of soil and composted leaves to fill those things!) but it's in full sun. Maybe I'll try it in my sandier beds out front that have some afternoon shade.

Go ahead and use the Latin names, Darlica- most of our garden books go by them, so we can look up anything you mention!

Yesterday I went out and took four hours to put up anti-kitty fences. It took the kitty about an hour to figure out how to crawl under them. *sigh* ...I'll just pretend they are somewhat of a deterrent! Or maybe grow the sweet peas up them.

*pieces mourns her comprehensive herb garden back in wiscaaaaaaahnsin*

Quote from: Griffin NoName on March 16, 2008, 03:44:13 AM
Wow! He's a beauty!

Wait till you see where they put the cucumber!

Quote from: Black Bart on March 25, 2008, 12:57:56 PM

Quote from: Griffin NoName on March 16, 2008, 03:44:13 AM
Wow! He's a beauty!

Wait till you see where they put the cucumber!

Rats! I was hoping for a zucchini!

After this intermission about the importance of a well grown cucumber, I'm getting back on topic. ;) ;D

I was like a mentioned elsewhere I was at Nordic Gardens a big garden fair/exhibition yesterday (Friday 11/4). Had a really nice day and came home with a lot more seeds and bulbs than I planned to...

Yesterdays loot:

Chili peppers and vegetables
Espelette
Serrano
Habanero  Purple Hazel
Rocoto
Jamaican Bell (mostly for my mum who like chili's but have a problem the capsicain)

Purple French Beans

Flowers
Queen of the Night Cacti (for my mum she loves cacti and succulent plants, I plan to give her a couple of small plants and the rest of the seeds as a birthday present)
Mexican Aster (Cosmos bipinnatus 'candy stripe')
Four O'clock's
Tigridia bulbs
polyanthus tuberosa

Mary golds
Sweet peas
Sweet Sultan (Amberboa moschata)
 
(The latest three are for the tenant-ownership association, story will follow soon in another thread)

Most of the Chilis will be planted in my mothers little green house one or two will probably stay in our living room. The rest will end up in pots in my mothers/my garden and then we have the trio that stays in our garden by the flat. :D
I'm going to be busy this spring!   


BTW I found out that they have updated the growing zones apparently I now live in a Zone II.

I'm guessing that's a Zone 2 and not a zone 11, but it's a bit confusing.

http://www.backyardgardener.com/zone/

I don't know if I'm a 6b or 7a.

Good booty, Darlica! Sounds like you'll have fun with those.

All the seeds I thought would be difficult sprouted and all the old standards (tomatoes, green and red peppers) did not! I can't imagine what's with them ,except maybe it wasn't warm enough. I'm going to try starting some in the hothouse and see if I have more luck. 

I Should have realised that we have a different way of naming the hardiness zones here...

The North European way, the hardiness zones  are numbered 1 to 6 in Roman numbers, 1 is the warmest and 6 is Arctic. On that scale I live in zone 2. As I understand it after reading the maps in the link, this would mean that I live in a zone 6 according to the American system.

http://www.backyardgardener.com/zone/

Quote from: Darlica on April 15, 2008, 12:58:57 PM
I Should have realised that we have a different way of naming the hardiness zones here...

The North European way, the hardiness zones  are numbered 1 to 6 in Roman numbers, 1 is the warmest and 6 is Arctic. On that scale I live in zone 2. As I understand it after reading the maps in the link, this would mean that I live in a zone 6 according to the American system.

Leave it to whomever was in charge of that to make it more complicated than necessary!  ::)

Plant lists:
Vegetables and fruits:
Tomatoes--will depend on that I can get (anybody know which seed service is reliable?) but I want golden girls at the very least, in addition to the beef steak variety we usually get.
Peppers--going to try for bell and Anaheim again.
I think I'll try for some spinach and lettuce this year. :P I'll have to see what can survive the blazing heat and sun of my zone.
Herbs--basil, anise, oregano, thyme, and we'll see what else I can pick up. I can usually get good deals at the botanical garden sale.
Apricot (need to fertilize the heck out of that tree and hope it doesn't frost)
Blood oranges

flowers:
Salvia (I think we're up to about eight varieties, now)
lupins
toadflax
more snapdragons
Sweet peas
Nasturtiums (jewel and empress)
Morning glories
Annnnd whatever else I pick up.

Think I may have to expand the garden this year.

Hey Scrib! I just ordered some seed packets from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds (http://rareseeds.com/).

I just started getting their catalogue last year, as I was investigating organic sources. I like their selection and prices, and no matter how much you order, the shipping and handling is a flat $3.

I ordered:

Val D'Orges, Iceberg and Little Gem lettuces,
Purple Beauty Pepper
Morning Sun yellow grape tomato
Chives
Delaware indian Sacred Nicotania
Scarlet Flax

They also have a "seeds for peace" option, where I donated a buck to send seeds to help people in struggling areas grow food. Seemed nice.

I'll let you know what kind of service I get from this company.

Excellent! Thanks. :)

I'm going to do Marigolds again from the seed from the ones I grew last year.
The roses of course.
OH-- to funny the dafffodil bulbs that I 'lost' under a pile of leaves have sort of taken root and are trying to bloom- poor things they weren't covered by soil -so they are sort of short and stunted but are bravely trying anyway- they will probably be done for after it's over but I feel I should let them try and then maybe save them and put them up and actually plant them.
Probably nothing else- just too busy and the landlord has decided that half the yard it going to parking for her daughters beauty shop next door- the back yard not the front.
Whatever-- if they don't cut down the massive old pecan or black walnut tree it'll be ok- otherwise the shade is gone almost entirely.

 :) The marigolds live on!  :)

I'll bet that the daffs are not doomed. You can probably stick them in the earth even now, but they may flop over and pout out the rest of this season.

If you can pack some dirt around them where they lay, you can probably just allow the leaves to ripen and when they go yellow you can lift the bulbs and put them where you like. They may just grow leaves next year, but they probably will bloom again and be just fine!

That reminds me, I have some cheapo hyacinth bulbs I got recently- dregs from last year. Wasn't sure how good they were. I started some inside and by gumby they're growing and forming buds. I think I'll tuck the rest into some pots out in the yard.

Yeah-- i'm going to baby the daffs and see how they do- the deserve it for being the little powerhouses they are. I think that if the foliage will live for a while it might allow them to store enough energy for next time- and even if it's only foliage it's still nice and green.

I drug all the big limbs that have collected all winter around back and piled them on the pile where the tree fell down and is currently slowly returing to earth early last year-- it's a big pile of brushy stuff now-- the landlord swears he's gonna bring the truck but ya know it is sort of a nice messy bird sanctuary pile- it does look ugly but does have a use.

The squirrels are as fat as hens- they got absoutely all of the pecans- they weren't very good this year (bag worms-which I only thought took the foliage but something got them) but good enough for squirrels-- what would one call a 'heard' of squirrels anyway- at least the eaves/attic/etc are closed up good so they can't get in the house.

The black walnut tree lost all it's leaves and many, many unripe nuts early last fall- so they did not do well either- got some but no where near the usual amount-- I think the tree is ill--

ok none of this is really on topic-

How do you find out what planting zone are you on?

What do you think Opsa, I have a large deck but I really would like to have a decent herb harvest this year... can it be done???

I am in Middle TN and my deck faces West (sigh)

ps: me love these posts about gardening and plants :), do you have wisdom to share on how to harvest wild plants to???That would be soooo awsome!

Quote from: Opsanus tau on April 15, 2008, 04:38:44 PM
http://www.backyardgardener.com/zone/

Just type in your zip code, and it'll tell you what zone. From there, you sort of have to extrapolate, though there's a link to a site that'll tell you your sun zone, too.

What Scrib said!!!

Stelli- if your deck gets at least 6 hours of sun per day, you ought to get some great herbs going. Most herbs like lots of sun and lots of sand mixed in with the soil. Will you be growing them in containers?

We have a wild (native) plant thread here (http://toadfishmonastery.com/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=32&topic=559.0), if you'd care to pick it up.

Quote from: stellinacadente on February 11, 2009, 05:14:51 AM
ps: me love these posts about gardening and plants :), do you have wisdom to share on how to harvest wild plants to???That would be soooo awsome!

My knowledge of wild plants is necessarily local, but get your hands on "Stalking the Wild Asparagus" by Euell Gibbons (or any of his other books, for that matter). :)

Scribe, Opsa and Agu, you guys are the best!!!!

thanks for the fantastic tips! I am going to get headlong into deck" garden planning"!!!!

Keep us in the know. You can post your herb choices here, or start a new thread here just for your garden.

Quote from: Opsanus tau on February 13, 2009, 08:08:44 PM
Keep us in the know. You can post your herb choices here, or start a new thread here just for your garden.

is there a list of herbs that would grow in particular zone?

I won't have the time before planting season to "study"

:((

If you're in middle Tennessee, you're probably Zone 7.

Check out this Herb Society of Nashville (http://www.herbsocietynashville.org/all_about_herbs.htm) list of herbs.

Quote from: Opsanus tau on February 15, 2009, 05:39:30 PM
If you're in middle Tennessee, you're probably Zone 7.

Check out this Herb Society of Nashville (http://www.herbsocietynashville.org/all_about_herbs.htm) list of herbs.

Opsa,

you're a life saver :) thanks bunches :)))

hi there,

I have been doing some internet home work on the seeds and native plants and I have a couple of links that might be of interest:

seeds: http://www.richters.com/index.cgi?cart_id=9777314.16735
native plants: http://plants.usda.gov/

my apologies if these were known or had already been posted

( I just get sooo excited when i discover new things I can't keep them to myself!!!!) ;)

Thanks, Darli! :) That second one looks like it'll be dead useful.

Side note: anyone have experience with citruses? I bought a new tree (a sweet Palestine lime) and I am finding nothing!

My Valentine's gift to myself was a gorgeous Sweet Lavender plant...

last year my Provential lavender died of a non so pleasent death in this weather and there was nothing I could do... can someone give me some tips to avoid this plant the same faith???

Thanks!

Ah, yes. Many lavenders suffer in our humid summers. There are a few that will do okay, though. I've been growing a kind called "Lady" in my windowboxes over the past few years and they've survived. Not exacvtly thrived, but survived.

There seems to be a little about the Palestine Lime here (http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/Citrus/limes.htm).
Hope that's helpful.

In the meantime, my master gardening class today was about plant propogation and we got to take clippings and cuttings and seedlings of various plants. We also were allowed to take some seed packets from a generous pile of "packed for 2008", which means that ideally they should have gone into the soil last year, but many are probably still viable. Plus, they were FREE! So I picked up

Larkspur- Imperial Blue
Sweet pea- Lilac Ripple
Alyssum- Wonderland Mixed Colors
SHISO- Perilla Red (a pretty herb)
Portulaca- Mixed
Statice- Mixed
Bachelor's Buttons- Midget Mixture
Zinnia- Dwarf Classic orange, yellow, white

Of all of these I am most thrilled about the Shiso, but I haven't a clue about it. Anyone grown Shiso?

Thank you.  :-*
I was expecting the silly tree to have special needs, but other then the fact that it's going to be in the ground instead of a pot, I can treat it almost like my blood orange. Good to know. :)

I got jewel nasturtiums(!) (http://fc00.deviantart.com/fs13/f/2007/075/4/9/Too_much_fun_with_by_dorkanese.jpg) yesterday at the nursery. I have trouble finding them around here and they only seem to reseed themselves for a couple years. I am very, very happy. Still need those golden girls, but I got brandywine tomatoes, too. Need to sprout those puppies, soon, come to think of it.

Quote from: Opsanus tau on February 17, 2009, 07:18:59 PM
Of all of these I am most thrilled about the Shiso, but I haven't a clue about it. Anyone grown Shiso?

Yep, am growing perilla (it's currently recovering from a major prune-back, battling spider mites ::) ), although ours is deulkkae not shiso (and in any case I call it gaenip because I am food-oriented).  Confuzzled yet?  ;D 

Regardless, it's not a fussy plant and grows like a typical mint-family annual.  Ours seems to appreciate a bit of humidity as it's done better since we moved it indoors (south exposure, lots of sun) than when it was outside for the summer. Horribly dry here, though, so I doubt you'll have problems.

Ah, thank you, Aggie. I knew I could count on you. Last year I grew purple ruffled basil and it was so beautiful. The photo on the Shiso package made me think of it. I like some dark red foliage colors in the garden to contrast with all the green. How do you use it in food?

Scrib, I love nasturtiums. Two of the plants I transplanted and took home yesterday were dark red nasturtium seedlings. I know it's too early for them here, but I couldn't resist.

I've been thinking of starting some of my early seeds on the windowsill. I guess that some of my early veg seeds can even be sown outdoors in a few weeks.

Quote from: Opsanus tau on February 18, 2009, 05:01:53 PM
Ah, thank you, Aggie. I knew I could count on you. Last year I grew purple ruffled basil and it was so beautiful. The photo on the Shiso package made me think of it. I like some dark red foliage colors in the garden to contrast with all the green. How do you use it in food?

We use it to wrap ssam (http://www.trifood.com/ssam.html) for the most part, but it's good shredded and added to dishes, at the end as a garnish or in some cases as an ingredient.  Mind that the Korean variety tastes different from Shiso, but the usage should be similar. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perilla

Nice linky there, Aggie!

Crazy plant, it looks like. Used in food and ...varnish?

I found this discussion about Red Shiso here (http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/90581/) which has this encouarging comment:
"On Jun 11, 2008, CurtisJones from Longmont, CO wrote:

From your friends at Botanical Interests: Do you love basil? Then, you must try this native of the Himalays and eastern India that is popular in Asian cooking, but relatively unknown in the U.S. Akashiso is the red (dark burgundy) form of the plant. Its flavor has been described as curry-like and as a combination of cumin, cilantro, and/or parsley with a hint of cinnamon. The leaves are a superb addition to mesclun salad mixes, a superb garnish served along with sushi, especially good sprinkled over cucumbers, cabbage, or fish, and the 3-6 week old sprouts can be used as a tasty garnish. You can also chop and add them to any sauce including pesto! The flowers are edible, and the leaves make a fragrant tea. Also called, Japanese basil or Japanese mint. The 18" plants will tolerate full sun or shade."

The package I have mentions a basil/curry flavor (I love those flavors!) and something about tea. The seeds are poisonous, but I guess that's so with quite a few otherwise edible plants.

Ohhhhh  , so that's the name of them things growing like weeds around my place .

I thought it might have been from the basil family , i've  keep it around for the great contrast the foliage gives to all the green stuff that sprouts up around here .

I wish i could locate all my seeds in this disaster zone I've made of my home . I 'd like to get a nice big patch of mallow going on the boulevard .

I'm hoping to sow more seeds instead of buying ( tis hard to resist a pretty plant ) so much this year .

Besides mallow i have ,

Morning glories (all colours )
Moonflower
Tomatos
cilantro
and a half dozen others whose names i've forgotten yet again .

I gotsta keep a list, or I forget, too. Then I gotsta remember to update the list. Then I gotsta rememeber to pin it back up on my bulletin board. Then I gotsta have a garden map, so I can remember where I planted what.

What?

Quote from: Opsanus tau on February 19, 2009, 08:51:35 PM
The package I have mentions a basil/curry flavor (I love those flavors!) and something about tea. The seeds are poisonous, but I guess that's so with quite a few otherwise edible plants.

Call me dead, then... I have eaten them, and the oil from the seeds goes especially well with pork. 

The Korean name translates out to "wild sesame" (as noted in the article); the seed flavor is stronger than sesame, though.

I love sesame seeds!

Hey- got my Baker Seeds order today. They had run out of the Purple Beauty Sweet pepper and refunded me!  :(  Oh well, I'll probably just get pepper plants at the Opsalette's School plant fair.

They did send some free sample seeds. They are for Baby Eggplant. I am clueless about growing eggplant. Anyone done this?

I grew some eggplants back about two decades ago. I don't remember there being anything difficult or complicated about it - planted the seeds according to the instructions on the package (oops, pkt), watered, weeded as normal for anything else, then picked the ripe ones and parmesanned 'em. I do remember difficulties with some of the other stuff I was growing in that era, so I'm assuming that lack of PITA memories about the eggplant equals easy growing. Sorry I don't have anything from this century for you...

That's all roight, m'hearty.

I don't know. Maybe these seeds are duds, 'cos not a one sprouted. Everything else I got from the same company came up like gangbusters. But since they were freebies, I considered them only a test, anyway.

I love eggplant parmesan, though. It would be cool to try them for real, maybe next year.

I gots teensy yellow grape termaters and teensy cherry termaters happening! And we've been eating lotsa garden fresh lettuce and onions all ready. The pepper plants are taking their time, but it's been rather cool and rainy. I think they will do better once we have more consistent sun.

Anyone in Toronto ,  Canada and wants some cuttings and tubers and such in exchange for ice cream or grog can come on o'er and get 'em .

PM me unky BC and he'll tell ya ware ta go . ;D

What koinda fings ya got, nefy?

Ummmmm

Dare B lottsa gurlz in dare
Lik Iruss an Rose an Heaverrrr an Rhoda an Lily an an an
dare B no boyz in dare doh .

Y'arrgghh! If I wuz in the neighborhood, I'd be by in a flash!

Any seeds on the go yet, Sibs? 

I started some catnip last weekend, and despite the 14 - 21 days quoted on the packet, a few brave sprouts have decided to germinate early. :D

I'm attempting to go indoors with these little guys; a former co-worker and dear friend (who moved in across the street) recently got a cat, so I thought I'd give indoors a go. Tends to be tricky with full-sun outdoor herbs, but I've got southeastern exposure and full sun all day.  She's got two southern-exposed balconies, so they may get to live outdoors there (I'll probably keep a couple plants for tea). If they survive until plant-out, I might stick some over at the house, too, or sow directly once frost is past (July? ::)).


I'm planning to order up some 1000-year-old tobacco seeds (N. Rustica that were reputedly "preserved in an urn from a burial site and thought to be over 1000 years old") and tulsi for this season.  Both will likely be semi-indoor plants as it's too windy on the balcony, but might get to hang out in the backyard (southern exposure) at the house when the lease is up at the apartment.

Quote from: AgujjimI'm planning to order up some 1000-year-old tobacco seeds (N. Rustica that were reputedly "preserved in an urn from a burial site and thought to be over 1000 years old") and tulsi for this season. 

Now that sounds interesting!  I'll be watching for follow-ups on their progress.

Hey seed people! It's that time of year, again, isn't it?

I was going to go look at seeds today. I have this Jones to plant poppy seeds, and I understand they work better if you throw them on the ground before it thaws, so I plan to try that. (Plus- the sheer laziness of it is intriguing!  ;D ) I would also like to find endive seeds, because I love the taste.

I have grown a couple of forms of Nicotiana rustica, and they have done very well. I have been able to save seeds to re-plant the following year. I remember Aggie mentioning the ancient seeds a while back and am thrilled that he's going to give them a chance at life. (I sang to mine when I planted and watered them, but that's another flaky story...)

Ayuh, Ops knows I've been threatening to do this for about three years running. ;D

OK, I'll put the order in this morning!!

Might have to figure a way to smuggle a few seeds southwards if there's spares. 

I would be toadily honored!  :-* I have some saved Delaware Indian N. rustica seeds from my garden last year, we can swap!

Yesterday I picked up some red and pink Shirley Poppy seeds and sprinkled them on the snow over my front porch beds. I also got some Basil (a must) and red nasturtiums for my window boxes.

Ordered 'em! I got the tabbacy, some tulsi (holy basil) and some extra-lemony lemon balm (lemonella balm).

We gots to be sneaky to get seeds across the border, though....  I'm thinking homemade-paper cards expressing spring greetings, with the seeds embedded in the paper.  :devil2:

Just have to dry the paper quickly to keep the seeds from waking up!

I'll bet we could just tape them into a card and not be any trouble. They aren't considered contraband, are they?

Dunno, but Salt Spring Seeds can't ship to the US anymore.  I think they'd be suspicious of any loose seeds, in case they are Monster Invasive Plants. That being said, the chances of having a card actually opened and inspected would be very small.

_{One of my friends once smuggled some seeds that definitely were considered contraband in a dumped-out doxycycline caplet, but I don't think loose pills would attract less attention. ;D}

The seeds are super tiny, like poppy seeds. Maybe I could send you some of the Delaware kind to see if they have a problem.

I expected something larger, I suppose (big plant, eh?).  Little 'uns shouldn't be a problem to deal with.  I've got some gum arabic* that could probably be used to paste them lightly to a card without damaging 'em.

Depending on germination rates, I would only need a few anyways, as I'm not likely to keep more than one or two plants.


*nontoxic plant gum, used for envelopes and old lickable stamps

I'm sure that just a bit of scotch tape would work, too.

The Delaware Sacred N. rustica plants are shorter than other types, which is kind of nice, since they stay low and are less leggy (in my climate, at least). Here mine grew to only about a foot tall and had charming little green-yellow roundish bell flowers, which ripened into seed pods.

I'd love to try some - mine are likely to be container-beasties, so a smallish plant would be great. The 1000-y.o. variety is supposed to produce huje leaves (24" x 18") on a 3-foot plant. If the seeds are tiny I should have plenty to send.

Have you tried using the rustica to produce natural insecticides? From what I understand, the nicotine content should be high enough to use a tea for controlling bugs (but toxic to people and animals also - be careful not to leave the tea about for anything to drink!).  My indoor plants occasionally get infested with whiteflies and aphids, and while neem oil seems to suffice in most cases, it'd be nice to have something a little more serious for zapping bugs on problem plants.

I've heard that Nicotianas can be used as organic pesticides, but could not figure out how this is done. Basically, rustica has a very high nicotine content, which is a toxic substance. I don't know whether a tea from it would work or not.

There is some good agricultural info here (http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/aa260).

I grow it as a sacred smudge ingredient. I think it is something you should handle with great care. It is not for casual smoking. Some Indigenous Americans believe it is such a holy plant that you should not say or even think negative things around it, and people that have no control over their thoughts and deeds should stay clear of it altogether. I think of it kind of as a spiritual microphone- you want to talk directly to The Great Everything, you can do so around it, just be careful what you say! It's listening. And it's always on.

The ones I grew may have been smaller because my garden soil was a bit rich last year for native plants, but the Delaware is considered a compact, or dwarf version of the larger types. They did not seem to appreciate our late summer storms, and wilted a bit. I did not have the heart to pick them, but waited until they died off for the year, and then collected the seed pods and a few sun dried leaves to keep for smudge.

Nicotine's water soluble, so a simple soaking should work well.  It's not overly heat-stable, so I don't know if boiling water is optimal (probably not hot enough to destroy the molecule, but I don't think it needs it, either).

Rusticas are very much more potent than commercial tobacco, and probably orders of magnitude more potent than the ornamental 'park tobacco' I sometimes harvest a few leaves from (N. sylvestris).  I've heard that even handling the leaves excessively can cause one to adsorb nicotine through the skin, enough to cause an effect (natural nicotine patch?). 

I'll make sure to feed it some good energy, and watch what I'm thinking around it!

I grow the Nicotiana sylvestris flowering type, too. I was told it didn't like to be moved, but I moved some at an early stage last year and they did beautifully. They bloomed almost until winter in gorgeous purples and whites.

Oooh, got my seeds today!  The instructions say direct-to-garden sowing for the lemonella balm, and warm start in flats for the tobacco and tulsi (in late spring), so I might have to be patient.  I'll probably try a few seeds of each indoors for the heck of it, though.

There must be hundreds of 1000-year old tobacco seeds in this pack, so I'll definitely send some your way, Ops (want some, pieces?) - drop me an email with your mailing details.  You get spring well before I do. :D


_{I admit that I'm a little bemused by the $7 flat-rate shipping fee, considering that they sent it in an envelope with $1.22 postage - then again, it made me order three packs to spread out the cost, so I suppose it worked. ::)}

Yer darned tootin', I would! And I will send you seeds for the two types I have. Actually, I have three types, as I was mistaken about the flowering kind I have, which is N. alata. I can send some of all three, if you like.

My experience with the N. rustica is that it is very tiny and even though you can get it going early on a windowsull, it will not grow as quickly and leggy as others do. It takes its time. I let mine get to a decent size before hardening them off and setting them in the garden.

I'm going to be container-gardening it, unless I can park some in a backyard after frost danger is past (July ::)), so I might try a few now and a few later.  Just the rustica is fine, I have limited room.

The catnip seems to be doing OK for now, although I have to give it a 180 every day due to the low angle of the sun, because it keeps curving.

Want some tulsi while I'm at it?  Lots of seeds there, too. It's another sacred plant; several sites indicate that she actually requires daily worship for proper growth.

Sure, I'd love some! I worship all my plants.
:blush:

OK, will try to get a mailing-out done in the next week or two.  Will probably find some way of making the seeds not-obvious, because I'm sneaky like that.  :shuriken:

Goody! I'll have to plan a sacred planting area.

Check this video out for the full care details (do watch through to the end if you have 6 minutes):
[youtube=425,350]eUoGQQgTysY[/youtube]

He is adorable! I had to figure out that he was saying "Herbal plant" and not "horrible plant".

I think that the Tulsi would appreciate the Indigenous American meditation, as it seems similar, what with the facing east and respecting everything as potentially holy. It would understand the feeling, as plants do, in spite of the language. Language is for humans. It's really more of what we mean than what we say.

It certainly wouldn't hurt for it to adapt to the local vibe, and that would probably work.  Christie might take a run at more of a traditional care regime - I want her to be the caretaker as my schedule will not allow daily interaction when I'm out and about.  The Nicotiana will likely be a little more robust; N. sylvestris seems to grow vigorously around here.


I also did a double take on the 'horrible plant'.  :mrgreen:

Speaking of nicotine-as-pesticide, it is a common gardener's trick here in Sweden. You can either buy some "dedicated" tobacco, such as a packet of pipe tobacco, or just go the cheap route and use old cigarette butts, add it to water in a jar, let it steep for a few days and ta-da! I have used it both to water the soil and to spray the leaves of plants that have been affected by various infestations. It is quite effective, but you shouldn't eat anything from the plant for about a week afterwards, due to the high nicotine content. The solution keeps indefintely, but should be kept away from pets and small children.

Excellent advice, Lindorm- thank you!

Here's the contets of my little seed box right now:

Spinach Bloomsdale (left over from last year- had no luck with it, but may try again.)

Broccoli Calabrese

Beet Detroit dark Red (Can't forget the Motor City!)

Onion Evergreen bunching (A must for pizza)

Dill Long Island Mammoth (or as they say on Long Island- Lon Guylind!)

Coleus Rainbow Mixed

Bachelor Button Blue Boy

Basil Sweet (Gots ta have that pesto!)

Nasturtium Scarlet gleam

Lettuce Little Gem, Iceberg, Val D'Orges, Bib (successful leftovers)

Tomato Red Cherry, Morning Sun (probably will only do the cherry)

Saved from plants last year:

Nicotiana rustica regular and Delaware indian

Cleome

Cosmos


I'll probably start some of these on the windowsill this week.

Need to get those rustica seeds mailed to you, Ops - I've literally been in town for 35 hours in the past two weeks, so it's kind of fallen off the priority list. ::)   Should get some time in the next week.

Great! I have your seeds in an envelope and ready to go. All I have to do is get to the PO.

 :update:

I made it to the post office just now. They're off, Aggie!

Another update:

I had the need for seed yesterday and started several veggie seeds on my windowsill Jiffy pot starter.

OMGS!  Needed that smudge today!  Thank you!


Will get that out ASAP - I forget because it's snowing that planting season doesn't start in July for everyone. ;D

So you got it? Yeay!   ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

I have basil seeds sprouted on my windowsill, and it looks like one cherry tomato plant is beginning to show up. I check on them several times a day. My babies!

UPDATE:

I got Aggie's Tulsi and rustica seeds today. I'm looking up if I can start them this late in our area.

It looks like I can start the Tulsi (http://www.horizonherbs.com/pilot.asp?pg=tulsi). I will try them in my outdoor window boxes.

UPDATE UPDATE!

Sowed some Tulsi and 1K rustica on the solstice- how cosmic is that?

Below is a photo of some of my 'Delaware sacred' nicotiana rustica, which has just begun to bloom. The flowers are chartreuse, and the soft leaves are covered with potent oil.

I wouldn't dare smoke it for recreation, it's so potent. You'd definitely have to have your mind smudged and ready for serious contemplation. Some little beasties have been nibbling on some of the leaves, though. Maybe I have shamanistic bugs?  ;)

It's lovely!  Quite different flowers from a N. sylvestris, which I'm more familiar with.  I will hopefully get around to planting this weekend; I need to clean out the hordes of coleus clones (to be moved outdoors) that are invading my garden space.

Tobacco, if approached properly, really seems to lend itself to communing with other plants - given what you've said about the rusticas, I suspect that one could really get a main line going with the Great Spirit by having a little tobacco ceremony in the presence of your plants, perhaps with a naturally withered leaf.  Proper respect would definitely be in order.

I didn't think any bugs would touch the stuff, must be tough ones.

I actually did make and use some smudgesticks with some naturally withered leaves from last year before sowing this year's seeds. I also smudged before sowing the Tulsi and thousand-year rustica, just out of respect.

Also, I have a wonderful old oak tree that's dying (of old age-it's been dropping limbs and is also dangerous) and some tree surgeons are going to cut it down in a week or so, which makes me sad. But I asked the rustica if I could take a leaf to give to the tree as a farewell gift. It showed me a leaf with a little robin's down stuck to it, which I took with thanks.

It is said that the Great Spirit can hear your thoughts when rustica smoke is around- so you'd better be having good ones!

You've got excess coleus?! I tried to start some from seed, but only two survived. Maybe it's too hot here for them.

I'd recommend buying a plant or two, and then making cuttings (or just pinch a stem or two from somewhere ;D).  The stuff roots in plain water in a couple of days, and pots up without fail, for me.  I started with probably three swiped cuttings, and now I have dozens of the blaggards!  They like house life, especially if they are in a bright location.  The biggest issue I have with 'em is that one variety keeps trying to flower on me - I pinch back the buds, generally, but let one batch go to see if it will die off or keep trucking.  When it gets ratty looking, I just start some new cuttings and scrap the old, tired plants. 

Two of the varieties I have are probably hybrids, as they don't seem to flower.  When these get overgrown, they start trailing, and root where they hit soil, sending up vertical shoots along the stem.  It's probably the most prolific and pathetically easy houseplant I have; it droops to let you know when it needs water, but bounces back from droughts quickly.  It used to take our 80C apartment no problem, so I doubt heat will bother established plants.  They may need partial shade outdoors - not sure.

Wish I was nearby and had a workshop to craft that oak into something to keep - it's great wood to work with.  Oak picnic table for the yard might be a nice memorandum.

What a lovely thought.

It's been a great tree. It's very tall, and has provided shade, served as a lookout place for all the local birds- we've heard owls in it, seen hawks perch on it. It's probably the tallest tree in the neighborhood.

It will be odd to have a gap there where it once stood.

I do have some of it's babies around the yard, though, and may plant one in it's place.

The owner of the house next door is taking the wood to use for heating. I guess that will be a good use of it, but a piece of furniture would last.

As for Coleus- hmmm... I know where some is growing....  :devil2:

Planted sacred tobacco (all 3) by the midnight moon on Saturday, and holy basil by the noon sun on Sunday.  I spent all Saturday overhauling the indoor garden in preparation.

Here's a tulsi song for you, Ops... (there are a few on YouTube).

[youtube=425,350]6t2XwLv5Mfk[/youtube]

:mrgreen:  :twinkie:  :mrgreen:

Beautiful song, thank you! Looking at the Tulsi in all it's stages of life made me think of a family photo album. It is obviously well loved.

Tulsi and the old rustica are up and looking cheerful.  The other two varieties are lagging a bit; they don't currently get hit by direct sunlight, so I may need to move them to get 'em sprouting.

One of my rusticas appears to have three cotyledons, which seems very, very strange - I'll have to watch the others as they develop to see if this is just a leaf that has me fooled. I will take some photographs if I get a chance before they get too big.

How are they looking, now?

The 1k rusticas are up but a bit floppy-looking - they get all-day bright but only 3 or 4 hours of sun (at best).  The two you sent have had exactly one germination each to date - they do get some sun, but perhaps not enough - or perhaps the gov't irradiated the envelope on the way over. ???  I think the apparent 3-cotyledon was just the first one to get a leaf out - the rest followed suit eventually.

Tulasi is looking quite nice, with two pairs of leaves on the large ones.  I'm feeding a lot of good energy into those little guys every morning (including playing them tulasi songs, http://www.hummaa.com/music/playlistpage.php?pid=21363 ; I don't know enough Sanskrit to do the mantras as recommended ;)). Tulasi seems to be better suited to indoor life so far.

How are the little darlings on your end?

I only sowed a few, because I felt it was too late in the season for germination around here. Haven't seen any, yet. I saved some for another try in fall and early spring. I should get some more jiffy pots and do them on the windowsill where I can fuss over them a bit more.

I harvested some nicotiana rustica "Delaware" leaves today. I only took the lower ones that were showing signs of aging, and I sang to them. They are now drying on my picnic table.

I also saved some seeds from the beautiful sweet williams.

It's that time, again!

New seeds:
Giant Zinnia: Canary Bird, Scarlet Flame, Violet Queen, Purity
Hollyhock: Summer Carnival
Sweet Pea: Jet Set
Sunflower: Lemon Queen
Moonflower vine
Scarlet Runner Bean
Lettuce: Salad Bowl, Grand Rapids, Black Seeded, Great Lakes
Radish: Sparkler
Cucumber
Pepper: Cubanelle
Swiss Chard
Tomato: Jelly Bean
Basil

Saved Seeds:
Scotch Broom (red) (Don't know whether these are hybrids)
Sweet Williams
Tulsi (Aggie)
Nicotiana Rustica (Aggie's and mine)
French Marigolds
Dill
Green Onion
Beet
Broccoli

That sounds like an interesting mix.  :)

It makes me miss having a garden or at least a balcony even more.
But given the neglected state of or flowers in our flat it might be the best for now... :-\

Eh, it's a good excuse foe me to get off my can and out in the yard.

I have some early stuff sprouting in my windowsill greenhouse: lettuces, radishes, plus some sweet williams and portulacas we saved from last year's plants.

I still have the one plant that came up from your rustica seeds slowly growing away indoors, Ops.  It didn't get the sun exposure that it needed.  It's out-survived the rusticas I gave you seeds for, which got hit hard by mealy bugs and had to be put outside.

I plan to try both outdoors at my parent's place this year, along with the tulsi.  Any idea if tobacco is deer-resistant?  You'd think it would be once it gets to a respectable size, since it's toxic.  No other particular plans for growing things outdoors, and I'm likely giving away most of my house plants (will take some cuttings).

Swedish roe deers stay away from tobacco, that much I know. It's usually the only thing in my mothers garden that stand un-nipped for the whole season.  :)

I do see flowering tobacco (n. alata) listed on deer-resistant plant sites (http://www.dickinsonsgardencenter.com/dynamic_%28desert_blue%29_051.htm). I assume that since n. rustica is even higher in toxic content, it will also be safe. They never touched the ones I grew.

HEYYYYYYY
It's a new planting season coming up!

Aside from the seeds I saved from my plant buddies from last year, I have bought these new seeds to start in 2012:

Sweet Basil (gotta)
Spinach- Bloomsdale
Cabbage- Flat Dutch
Lettuce- buttercrunch
Beet- detroit dark Red
Nasturtium
Cosmos- picotee
Sweet pea
Larkspur- rocket

I suppose I ought to get the spinach seeds out into the garden as soon as possible. I've never had luck with spinach, but I keep trying because I just love raw baby spinach in salads.

There are a few I want to start indoors, but I'm trying not to do that too soon.

It's so hard to wait, what with all the daffies blooming in the yard.

Have you tried New Zealand Spinach (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetragonia_tetragonioides), Ops? It's not actually related, but it makes a good substitute and grows vigorously.

No, but if it's good enough for the kiwis it's good enough for me. Have you grown it?

I think one problem I have here is that it has been getting warm early. I don't have a problem with that, but I think the spinach seeds do.

We've grown it in the garden.  It's very easy to grow.

I'm plotting my seed lists and will be ordering some online soon (as well as buying from our local seed company). I'll post a seed list at some point.

Some of last year's chard seems to have overwintered here, and the rhubarb is showing some shoots.  We're still getting a bit of snow, so my biggest priority at the moment is to do a dormant spray on the fruit trees. I picked up a kit that includes lime sulphur and horticultural oil, but am debating whether to use the latter; I'm not sure whether I like the idea of using petroleum distillates on my trees. :P

Squee! Roommate has tons of leftover seeds from last year... the soil is workable here (if perhaps a tad wet), so according to the packages I can plant:

Spanish onions
Bunching onions
Carrots
Peppergrass Cress
Radishes
Beets
Swiss Chard (already in the garden, but time to start a new crop)
Kale
Butter Lettuce
Leaf Lettuce
Snow Peas

I'm seriously thinking about completely intercropping the main bed of the garden, with a few raised beds possibly in semi-rows. Herbs and veggies growing wherever they come up, plus a few perennial herbs tucked around the place. Garlic and onions planted throughout to keep the little monsters away. There's even a small apple tree in the garden. It'll confuse the hell out of the bugs, and it'll be more like foraging to pick it.  Less of a need to thin out extra conspecific seedlings, too... although one occasionally will have to choose between a carrot and a beet. ;)  The radishes and lettuces will be grown and eaten before the carrots and potatoes are big enough to need the space.

I may need to be a little strategic about plant height, and be sure to place the taller plants to the north, generally.

I also have a bad feeling I'm going to grow a ridiculous number of squash and pumpkin plants this summer. I fear that they might take over the lawn. ;) If nothing else, I can prune them back hard so they put their attentions into ripening a good crop of squash. I could use the green manure, as the compost pile is full of browns at the moment. I wonder if I can train squash to climb a net up the side of a shed, to get a pumpkin growing on the roof...

Ha! That sounds like fun. I suppose if you have strong enough supports you can tie it up as it grows. The main danger will be that of having a pumpkin fall on your head at some point. Maybe you can designate a hard hat area.

You've reminded me that I could probably start my lettuce and beets soon.

I know how you feel about the oil, but I'm told that it is recommended if you're serious about growing tree fruit. Are there more organic alternatives?

Some veggie oils will work, but essentially this is just mineral oil, so I'm a bit on the fence.  I'll probably open the bottle and use my eyes and nose to assess how pure it is...  I have a good nose for bad hydrocarbons. 

I have far too much of both the oil and the lime sulphur, so I'm considering selling the rest via the online classifieds or trading it for garden tools (or perhaps charging some co-workers a few bucks to spray their trees). I could probably buy the lime sulphur separate, but fell for the kit (it was $15). Need to pick up a sprayer before the trees start budding out!

Well, who can blame yer?

I sowed some lettuce and beet seeds in the garden, yesterday.

Still haven't seen any spinach sprouts, but that can take two weeks.

:UPDATE:

I got spinach sprouts!  :D

As a child I never would have imagined myself  so excited over spinach sprouts.

ye gods,  Opsa!

Lie down immediately until this strange affliction passes!    ;)

B-but... think of the fresh salads! Mmmmmm...

I've got peppergrass (cress) sprouts up in the garden!  Two weeks until salading begins! :D

There are also a few tentative sprouts from the snow peas, radishes and onions (I think), and possibly kale.  I forgot exactly what I put in each bed, and scatter-block planted rather than sowing nice rows, so it's a little tough to tell.  It'll be interesting sorting out the weeds at first.

The rhubarb has started to throw open the covering over its new shoots, and should be heading skyward soon.

I recently made up a couple of planters for the windowsills of my bedroom (using wood, screws, and woven willow), and have planted a choice of herbs into them. I didn't do it from seed, as i'm lazy, but chose small plants to start off with. The thought of waking up to the smells of herbs on a warm summer's day is very appealing. I have:-

Parsley (the really curled leaf one)
Sage
Rosemary
Thyme
Mint
Chives
Coriander
Oregano (pronounced O-ra-gar-no, not O-re-ga-no ;) )

They've already started perking up from their replanting ordeal, and within the next couple of months I hope to start harvesting some. If they do really well, or just become triffids (this always happens to me, lol), I may take a few cuttings and plant some in the garden. This is the first time i've properly attempted to grow herbs, even though i've been thinking of doing so for a long time, and I look forward to tasting them very soon. I'll post a couple of pictures when I can be bothered to take them. If this goes according to plan, I may increase the varieties of herbs I am growing, and devote a decent part of the garden to them. They can be very pretty, especially when you get flowers.

While I like flowers, I can't be bothered to give them space that could be otherwise devoted to food (I'm in the process of ripping out a flower bed at the moment; hopefully I can find homes for most of the refugee perennials).  Herbs are the perfect compromise - they are tasty, produce flowers, and said flowers are usually very good at attracting and supporting parasitoids.  The smell of them also helps to confuse pest insects, so they do the rest of the garden good.

Hey Roland, let me know how that goes.

I was talking with a friend the other day who loves fresh tomatoes but has a shady yard. He lives in a townhouse that does get lots of sun in the upper windows and wondered if you could grow tomatoes in boxes. I thought he could, but they'd have to be deep enough to contain the root system. I guess I might have mentioned those tomato hanging bags, but I don't have any experience with them.

I now have lettuce and beet sprouts, plus some sweet peas sprouted in the garden.

I started some things in my mini greenhouse, too:

nasturtiums (edible flowers, Aggie!)
cabbage
sweet basil (pesto!)
Joseph's coat (Amaranthus seeds given to th'Opsalette)
portulaca
cosmos picatee
and larkspur

I like to grow fresh veg for the body and fresh flowers for the spirit.

Oooh, sweet peas...  I must admit that strongly scented flowers are equal to food plants in my books.  There appears to have been large masses of sweet peas here last year; some appeared to have overwintered (or probably sprouted from seed in the fall) and I expect that they've self-seeded enough to take care of themselves. There are also some massive arching rose bushes, hopefully of the wild sort; I love roses, if they are simple and fragrant.  I enjoy flowers, but can't be bothered to fuss over them, so luckily this yard is already teeming with all sorts.

I also planted nasturtiums, Opsa... climbing ones near the back porch. :)

I just checked my beds this morning, and I've got the following sprouts up and growing:

Kale
Cress
Radishes
Onions
Snow peas
Beets
Lettuce
(rehash of last post, to some degree, but now it's well and truly growing)

Good luck with the mini-greenhouses, Opsa... the quite simple row cover I installed seems to be working wonders, considering I planted less than two weeks ago and there's still snow in the forecast for week.


Perennial herbs which have shown their faces enough to eat:

Chives
Lovage
Sage
Catnip
Rue

I'm having fresh dandelions from the garden for breakfast, with a bit of lovage to season them.  They seem to love the row-houses, and since it's nearly impossible to kill the root, I just hacked them off slightly below the ground. :)

Opsa, i'll let everyone know how my herbs go, but already I can see that they're starting to face their leaves towards their respective windows. The coriander, which was little more than thin shoots with the occasional tiny leaf, has started to sprout leaves with shape and definition, so it shouldn't be too long before it gets going. In fact, they all appear to be doing well. The soil I used is a mixture of bagged (and sieved) top soil, bagged compost, and homemade compost, so there should be no worries with their feed requirements for quite a while. All I need to do is water them correctly.

I suppose i'm just impatient, but i'm quite excited with my new project, and already want to expand it into something much bigger, moving onto a much larger variety of herbs and spices.

That's an impressive list of veggies you all have growing there. Nasturtium leaves and flowers are nice, with a peppery taste to them, and go well in salads. For the tomatoes, Opsa, their container doesn't necessarily need to be very deep, just wide enough to accommodate the root system. If you have something known as a "grow bag" wherever you are, this should be a bag of compost around a metre long, 30cm wide, and several centimetres deep. You can make a tear in the top and just plant them straight in, so growing tomatoes on a windowsill should be easy. A pot that is around 6" (15cm) high should suffice, and as long as the pot is around 6-12" square (not cm²), your friend will be harvesting tomatoes before long.

I'm tempted to try upside-down tomatoes this year, for fun... has anyone tried this?

I'm also wondering whether it'd work with eggplant, peppers, etc. I suppose I'll grow tomatoes, but will definitely grow those.

This website (http://www.homedepot.com/buy/outdoors/garden-center/topsy-turvy/tomato-planter-8149.html) claims that you can grow cucumbers, peppers, zucchini and herbs in the topsy-turvy bags.

Aggie, your new garden sounds fantastic.

Sounds like you've got the garden enthusiasm bug, Roland. I'll tell my friend about the wide windowbox for tomatoes.

Cucumbers?  Now that has some interesting possibilities. They'd grow faster hanging down than being forced up a trellis, perhaps.

Oh, I'm determined to grow some mouse melons (http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/2005-06-01/Mouse-Melons.aspx) this year...  I just need to get down to Kelowna to pick up some seeds.  I could have them mailed, but it's likely that myself or someone I know will be heading there soon enough. I bet those would make a good upside-down plant; the fruit aren't heavy enough to put strain on the plants, so the vines could hang down and then spread out over the ground.  We don't have curtains yet, so we're planning to grow climbing vines (probably scarlet runner beans) outside of the windows to shade the house and give some privacy.  ;D

Ma said that the rat-tailed radish (http://kitchengardeners.org/rat-tailed-radish) seeds I ordered have arrived, which I've wanted to try for a couple of years (you eat the seed pods, not the roots).

I'm starting to suspect that the cat has been whispering in my ear at night, although he may be confused about exactly what these items will taste like.  ;)

Quote from: Opsa on April 04, 2012, 03:28:19 PM
Sounds like you've got the garden enthusiasm bug, Roland. I'll tell my friend about the wide windowbox for tomatoes.

I've always been enthusiastic about the outdoors, plants, and nature in general, but don't always have the time to devote to it, alas. For your friend, make sure he/she feeds the tomatoes regularly, as the feed will soon run out in a pot.

When I was a lot younger I lived down a country lane, at the end of which were a number of nurseries growing cucumbers, etc. A friend's father ran one of them, so I had the privilege of eating cucumbers straight off the vine on a number of occasions. They are so much better this fresh, than when they've sat in a supermarket's warehouse for several days.

My friend is my sister's partner. I wish there was a better term for it. "Partner" sounds like they're in business together. Technically, he is her common-law husband, and we love him like a brother, if not a brother-in-common-law. He's a really neat guy, an incredible artist. He used to live on a farm and misses those fresh-picked veg.

I would suggest the topsy-turvy bag, but that would put the tomatoes too low to pick from the window and too high to pick from the ground level. Plus, there would be the looming threat of being hit by a falling tomato and feeling like a bad actor.

Quote from: Roland Deschain on April 05, 2012, 01:51:13 PM
When I was a lot younger I lived down a country lane, at the end of which were a number of nurseries growing cucumbers, etc. A friend's father ran one of them, so I had the privilege of eating cucumbers straight off the vine on a number of occasions. They are so much better this fresh, than when they've sat in a supermarket's warehouse for several days.

Everything is!  I consider gardening to be prep cooking taken to extreme lengths.

Speaking of edible flowers, I just twigged onto the fact that violets are edible. I'm making mango-coconut pudding for breakfast (over rice) and will garnish with violet flowers.  I think I'll try some violet leaves in the chickweed salad I'm planning for lunch, too.

Wow! That sounds yumtastic! I gotta find some use for the violets now blooming in my yard. I especially love the white ones.

I keep finding out that the weeds in my garden are edible.  Latest find: Ground ivy.  Between that, the chickweed, some dandelions and young violet leaves (and flowers), spring salads are there for the taking.  I had my first taste of rhubarb yesterday; one little stalk about an inch or two long with a snapped-off leaf.  :)

Hmm... I wonder if I can find any stinging nettles around that have poked their heads above the ground? They are my favourite wild spring green, aside from feral asparagus and spring beauties...

Ah yes, I think I heard a pack of feral asparagus howling the other night.

_{Could have been the burritos I had for dinner, though.}

 :ROFL:

I can heartily recommend the book Stalking the Wild Asparagus by Euell Gibbons; it's a classic and I daresay euell love it!

Technically, it's feral here as it's not native to North America.  We usually get it popping up in May, and there's usually some competition over the easily accessible patches.

Mmmm, wild asparagus. Sounds delicious.

Aggie, you've never had rhubarb before now? Wow, I hope you liked it. I remember dad growing rhubarb by the barrow. Once it gets going, it doesn't stop!

Try this link for some info on edible flowers - List of Edible Flowers (http://www.thompson-morgan.com/edible-flowers)

Excellent link there, Roland.

I'd like to try candying flowers one day. There are several on the list that have that as a suggestion, and they do look very pretty on cakes and breads. Anyone done this?

We had a freeze warning last night, but the sprouts seem to have weathered it just fine.

First taste this year. ;)  Although, this is my first very own rhubarb patch, and I've three HUGE plants.

I finally got around to chickweed salad this morning, just fresh-picked chickweed with a squeeze of lemon, and twist of pepper and a little roasted hazelnut oil.  WOW that stuff packs a powerful hit of aliveness! Total superfood potential, IMHO. Highly recommended.

Off to battle the bindweed...  It takes a while to clear a bed, but should be worth the effort.  Too bad that stuff isn't really edible... I've pounds of roots pulled already.

Is that Hedge Bindweed (large white flowers) or Field Bindweed (small white and pink flowers) you have there? Both look really nice when covering something you want them to cover, but they do tend to go mental if not pruned back regularly. They're a bugger to get rid of too, as their roots can regenerate from the smallest piece. They're what I like to call "Nucular Proof". ;D

I've never candied flowers, but I do know that they look wonderful on cakes, and taste delicious!

Due to unpopular demand, i've finally taken photos of my indoor herb planters. I've blacked out most of what can be seen through the window, as it highlights the plants nicely:-

Herb Planter 1

(http://img811.imageshack.us/img811/6766/herbs1.th.jpg) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/811/herbs1.jpg/)

The picture through the window is reversed so it matches with the two angles taken from inside.

Herb Planter 2

(http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/8427/herbs2.th.jpg) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/210/herbs2.jpg/)

The picture taken from inside is from a strange angle, as there's something in the way that I couldn't be bothered to move. The picture taken from outside is reversed to match the one taken from inside, but the light makes it a crappy picture, so please forgive.

Hint: Click pictures to view full-size.

Field, I suspect... the little stuff.  I'm going through the beds with a fine-tooth claw to get out any sizeable roots to about 1 ft of depth. I've heard the roots can go 30 ft deep, so I'm not trying to follow them all the way down.

Quote from: Aggie on April 07, 2012, 07:44:32 PM
Field, I suspect... the little stuff.  I'm going through the beds with a fine-tooth claw to get out any sizeable roots to about 1 ft of depth. I've heard the roots can go 30 ft deep, so I'm not trying to follow them all the way down.

Good luck with that. I can understand not wanting to follow in the footsteps of Snorri Sturluson and Professor Von Hardwigg (aka Lidenbrok).

Based on the bed I'm currently working on, which is approximately 3 ft wide, I'm removing enough roots to fill a bucket equal in volume to 1 L/linear foot of bed (i.e. for a 15 ft raised bed, I've pulled out a 15 L bucket of roots. I'm also starting to suspect that the previous gardener was trying to correct an iron deficiency using bent nails... ::)

I decided to get the raised beds done first, because the main bed I'm converting from flowers to veggies is approximately 6 m by 4.5 m.  Based on rough estimates of soil mass, I will likely be shovelling, raking and re-raking upwards of 20 tonnes of soil (I haven't considered the side or front beds in this total, which will probably not be as vigorously combed through).

The upshot of this is that I get to literally run my fingers through all the soil in my garden.  :D

There are some weeds you never can eradicate, and bindweed is one of them. You can get the upper hand, though, and it sounds like Aggie's doing just that.

I have autumn clematis in my rugosa roses, and I can't dig it out without messing up the rose roots, so I just pull it all spring and summer until autumn, then I let it go ahead and and make flowers.

Nice looking herbs ya got there, Roland.

I have cabbage sprouts in my mini greenhouse, and portulaca and cosmos and basil so far.

Well, a garden is not supposed to be a sterile wasteland with a few desirable plants growing in it; it's a living ecosystem.  I figure the best way to minimize the less-desired plants (and insects for that matter) is to let the more-desired ones get the upper hand and just outlive the rest of 'em.  

I am not going to be on much of a weed warpath this summer, either; if it's not significantly decreasing yields, why bother? I have room for a surplus of food, so a 20% yield reduction is more acceptable than spending hundreds of hours rooting out weeds through the season.  I'll just cut them back as they pop up for composts (before flowering, and after a trip to a planned solar death chamber).

I am experimenting with using clover as a cover crop in pathways and along non-intensive beds (i.e. around large plants and perennials) to keep the weeds back and enrich the soil.  I don't care if it gets in the lawn, which will be a pumpkin patch anyways. It's nitrifying and good for the bees.

Oh, built a proper hoop-house over my two planted raised beds last night.  It needs some refinement, but it's better than the temporary H-braced cover I started the season with.

Happy last frost date for our area! Plus, we had a full day of good, soaking showers on Wednesday, so I have been sowing seeds outside, here.

Yesterday I sowed more lettuce, more beets, and installed the sprouted cabbage and basil that I started in the mini-greenhouse. I also sowed the flower seeds.

E-gah, I love sowing seeds, and the dreaming that accompanies this act!

^ There's something primal about planting seeds, that's difficult to explain, especially if you do so outside.

My chives aren't doing well, although they were straggly to begin with, which I believe has something to do with the fact that my cat appears to like lying on them (she's a git). I may have to dig them out and replace them with a stronger plant, planting the old ones in the garden to see what they do. On the plus side, everything else appears to be doing relatively well. The mint, sage, and parsley are romping away, and i've picked some to test (it was good). The coriander's not ready yet, but is coming along nicely, and the thyme, rosemary, and oregano appear to be the slowest to grow, although they are getting there slowly but surely.

All in all, this is a very successful first attempt at herbs. I'll give it another 2 weeks and post updated pictures. Looking at what they were like 2 weeks ago, it's surprising how much they've grown already!

My experience with chives is that they tend be rather scrawny the first year, anyway. Mine are now around three years old, and they're out there blooming like crazy right now with their wonderful purple spherical heads.

Ah, then that would explain it. Thanks for the info, as I was wondering about that. I went out and bought some more, anyway, and have added some of the new to the old, so I have a decent patch of chives in the planter now. I also succumbed to a third planter in the bedroom, and put the rest of the new Chives, some Dill, and some Lemon Thyme in it, along with a Sweet Pepper 'Bellboy' and a Jalapeño Chilli plant. It's deeper than the other planters, and wider, as I was able to accommodate the larger size because it's not directly on a windowsill, but next to one.

It'll be interesting to see how much fruit I get from the Pepper and Chilli, as although they're not in a greenhouse or conservatory, they will benefit from the window directly in front of them and the much larger window on the adjoining wall, and seeing as the sun tracks round from window to window during the day, it should get a nice even spread of sunlight.

I also know how tall the Dill can potentially get, so i've stuck it in the middle, flanked by the Chilli and Pepper, the other herbs taking the outside.

On my original ones, the Parsley is like a bush now, lol.

I just love dill, it's so pretty. I've used it's light, airy fronds in flower arrangements. Basil is also really fun in flower arrangements, and it makes the house smell so wonderful.

I've never done parsley. I'll bet it's pretty as greenery, too. I have lovage in the yard, which is perennial and comes up by itself every year.

I noticed some new beet sprouts today (I can tell it's them by the beet red hue on them) and I can see lots of the picoteed cosmos coming up. We're up for a rainy weekend here, which I hope will encourage the others to sprout.

Lindorm and I have been growing Chili plants in our windows for more than a decade now...

Some types works better than others, I had a habanero plant (yes the same plant) for five or 6 years flowering and setting fruits from year 1. Thai type chili has done well too.
The fruits taste a little different from those grown out side or in a greenhouse, mostly due to less warmth and sunligth I think. Chinense (habanero and friends) tend to taste a little less fruity but they sitll taste good.

Good natural light is a must and a fairly large pot (or the plant will topple over when the fruits develop).
Chiliplants are thirsty (I heartly recomend selfwateing pots) but they are also forgiving, they can look halfdead and dryed out but will come back to life an hour or so after they get their water.

They are also hungry, and will need fresh soil now and then, just to fill up the pot. Of cause if you keep the plant for several years it you'll need to put it a bigger pot and/or change as much as you can of the soil as you can once or twice a year (do this around January/February and you will be grately rewarded  :) )  
I have found that soilblends ment for indoor citrus trees are very good for chilis too.

What limit the crop is really how good your are at pollinating the flowers, usually no bees in doors... You need at least one fine soft brush (if the brush is too hard the pistill will brake) for every type of chili you grow if you want to keep the seeds that is, I'm nor even sure a Capsicum Chinense plant will set fruit if pollinated with Capsicum frutescens.

Good luck!



 

Quote from: Roland Deschain on April 26, 2012, 02:21:12 PM
Ah, then that would explain it. Thanks for the info, as I was wondering about that. I went out and bought some more, anyway, and have added some of the new to the old, so I have a decent patch of chives in the planter now. I also succumbed to a third planter in the bedroom, and put the rest of the new Chives, some Dill, and some Lemon Thyme in it, along with a Sweet Pepper 'Bellboy' and a Jalapeño Chilli plant. It's deeper than the other planters, and wider, as I was able to accommodate the larger size because it's not directly on a windowsill, but next to one.

It'll be interesting to see how much fruit I get from the Pepper and Chilli, as although they're not in a greenhouse or conservatory, they will benefit from the window directly in front of them and the much larger window on the adjoining wall, and seeing as the sun tracks round from window to window during the day, it should get a nice even spread of sunlight.

I also know how tall the Dill can potentially get, so i've stuck it in the middle, flanked by the Chilli and Pepper, the other herbs taking the outside.

On my original ones, the Parsley is like a bush now, lol.

Cool. I've wanted to grow chili plants, mostly because I think they are beautiful!

We've been having perfect seed weather here, mild and showery. I've got nasturtium sprouts, now. I think I may be seeing the nicotiana rustica and amaranth sprouts, too. They are very tiny!

They are beautiful and there are a wide variety of flowers, they are all star shaped but the size and colour vary. Right now we have a Roccoto mini tree (approximately 140 cm with the pot) flowering with big deep purple flowers in our living room window.  :D

Ooh, that sounds very pretty! I like the wreaths that can be made from the fruited plants, too.

I hear that okra has beautiful flowers, but I've not grown it, myself.

Thanks for the tips on pollinating the flowers. I have a very soft brush ready, and shall be using it soon, I hope. Everything's growing very well except the Dill. I don't know what's wrong, but it was fine for a few days, then has seemed to wither. It wasn't large to begin with, but I was hoping it would take, as everything else has done. I know it hasn't been particularly warm here, but i've followed the watering advice to the letter. I'll see if it perks up in the next couple of weeks, but it doesn't look hopeful for the poor thing. If it dies, it's more room for the fruits, I suppose, but it doesn't stop me being sad at its loss.

I'm also working on a project in my parents' garden, which I think is my pièce de résistance. I'll have something to show here soon. Watch this space -----> . Yes, that one right there, lol. ;D

Loathe as I am to double-post, I felt this needed one all to its lonesome. This is part of what i've been working on. I consider my parents' garden mine, as apart from the guy who comes to cut the grass and trim the shrubs/trees, i'm the only person who really does anything with it, my parents not being as able-bodied as they once were. Add to this the fact that I don't have a garden of my own, and you get the picture. All my recent gardening has been for this garden, and i'm slowly coming to the endgame here.

The area holds a rotary washing line, which will restrict height for those plants under it, and it's bordered at the sides by a couple of raised planters (soon to have stained log roll attached, as soon as it's sunny enough to stain). The back has a wall and a few shrub-like plants, and the front is block paving. The area was originally covered with weed suppressant matting, but the wrong type was picked, and unwanted wildflowers (and grass!) rooted into it, so that had to come up straight away. The bonus from this was that the unwanted things came up at the same time, which saved me oh so much work! I then pretty much emptied the two compost bins of their mulched goodness, and dug this into the soil that was exposed. Then I put some decent weed matting down and bordered it with the weathered bricks, creating a nice feature. Some bags of topsoil were then dumped on top to give it a nicer look.

All that's now left to do on this is to put down bark/wood chippings/mulch to allow moisture retention, and hopefully to discourage too many unwanted things growing. This is the result of me being given a debit card and free reign. I kept it a surprise for them. After 3 1/2 hours traipsing around several garden centres, £50-60, and an expensive pint of beer, the plants were bought. The preparation took around a day, and the planting a few hours (height considerations, you know). Enjoy:-

The plant selection

(http://img534.imageshack.us/img534/1369/1herbsontable.th.jpg) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/534/1herbsontable.jpg/)

The bare ground (excuse the dodgy angles)

(http://img577.imageshack.us/img577/3450/2emptyground.th.jpg) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/577/2emptyground.jpg/)

The planted ground

(http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/4218/3aplantedherbs.th.jpg) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/338/3aplantedherbs.jpg/)  (http://img853.imageshack.us/img853/5212/3bplantedherbs.th.jpg) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/853/3bplantedherbs.jpg/)  (http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/3276/3cplantedherbs.th.jpg) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/23/3cplantedherbs.jpg/)  (http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/3763/3dplantedherbs.th.jpg) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/100/3dplantedherbs.jpg/)  (http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/1232/3eplantedherbs.th.jpg) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/84/3eplantedherbs.jpg/)

NB - You may well have to click the pictures to enlarge them once they've opened from the above thumbnails, as it'll make them easier to see.

And now for a guide to the numbers:-

#	Plant	#	Plant	#	Plant
1	Marjoram	12	Sage Icterina	23	Feverfew Golden
2	Mexican Tarragon	13	Sage (sp.)	24	Balm All Gold
3	Curly-leafed Parsley	14	Oregano Hot & Spicy	25	Lemon Balm
4	Dill	15	Oregano Country Cream	26	Spearmint
5	Common Thyme	16	Sweet Basil	27	Chocolate Mint
6	Thyme (sp.)	17	Fennel	28	Salad Burnet
7	Variegated Lemon Thyme	18	Italian Parsley	29	Chives
8	Lavender Thyme (?)	19	Curry Plant	30	Thyme Wooly
9	Rosemary (sp.)	20	Savory Winter	31	Treneague Chamomile
10	Rosemary (sp.)	21	Marjoram Compact	32	Double Chamomile
11	Sage (sp.)	22	English Mace	33	Wild Rocket

Very Nice!   :thumbsup:

You're going to have a lovely herb garden -- let us know when bees and butterflies show up.

Wow, that is a serious herb garden! It looks fabulous. Bravo!

Thanks! They've perked up now (the ones that had drooped), and seem ok. It's only been a few days, but when it's mature, it will be a riot of colour and form.

...and texture, too. It looks like you could wind up with the tapestry look which is tremendously attractive.

I've been mulling on (but not intending to attempt) putting together a pixelated garden of low-growing ground covers.  Using plants that bloom during different months, one could make a sort of living animated .gif of plants that spelled out a message over time or had a slowly-changing picture. Especially on a slope, this could be quite interesting.

Very cool idea! The main problem would be controlling the growth. Plants seem to have no boundaries when they're particularly happy. (And I haven't the heart to subdue them when they're particularly happy!)

I thought of a similar idea years ago, a ground-cover design to replace the lawn. That may be more forgiving than a message, but I still love the idea.

Lately on urban hikes, I've ran across mat-forming, low-growing perennials that are so vigorous that they start forming mats across the sidewalk.  I am not sure what the plant is; I will do some closer inspections and report back.  I think it has pink flowers (wasn't yet in bloom). That would work for lawn.

Re: growth - one would have to be a bit forgiving, but with low-to-the ground plants it should be possible to tidy them up each year to maintain their ground.  Perhaps if one made the 'garden' with a grid of cinder blocks or the like as a base, to keep the little darlings from invading each others' groundspace, it would be easier to control.

Quote from: Opsa on May 08, 2012, 07:30:40 PM
...and texture, too. It looks like you could wind up with the tapestry look which is tremendously attractive.

This is partly what I wanted, although I did so through not wanting plants that were too similar too close together (need to know what i'm picking). There are a couple of places this falls over due to where the plants needed to be, but overall it follows that general pattern. Oh, what I could do with 10 1000 acres and unlimited money! *drool*

Aggie, that sounds like a great idea. For the message/picture one, you'd have to engage in a little ground cover topiary, I think, but the rewards would be worth it. I can imagine planting a country scene on a slope, with plants representing the sky, trees, etc, and having the trees burst into bloom at certain times of the year. Now that would take some work, but it would look awesome! Check out the links below for some ideas.

Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawn#Grass_alternatives)
The Guardian (http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/jan/10/leendertz-gardens-lawn-advice-gardening)
Landscaping About (http://landscaping.about.com/od/alternativestograss/Alternatives_to_Lawn_Grasses_for_Low_Maintenance_.htm)
Lucifer Sam (http://lucifersam.hubpages.com/hub/Alternatives-to-grass-for-your-lawn)

I liked the photo of a checkerboard of grass/stepping stones!    :)

To update on the saga of my herb planting extravaganza, i'll talk about the stuff outside first. Well, the basil didn't like the incessant rain and overcast days we have been having in Blighty, and died. Then yesterday I noticed a little crop of baby shoots coming up at the edge of where it was planted. I can only hope that these are the basil making a comeback. If not, I may replace it altogether. One of the three marjorams also died, but that was because the local cats decided that they loved to dig over that exact spot (they've stopped now it's dead). The other two marjorams are doing fine, though. The rest of the plants have weathered the weather nicely, and with the sun now coming out for them, should soon start to grow vigorously, especially if I water them well.

I found that some whitefly had attacked my parents' lupins, and that a horde of tiny beetles had taken refuge in my wild rocket. There was nothing for it but to buy a spray to kill all of the little buggers, something i've never had to do before in a garden, all my previous efforts being completely organic. Hopefully the little blighters will die soon, as I do not want any other plants being infected, and the rocket has bushed out nicely, meaning that it will succeed if the beetles leave it the hell alone! :devil:

After all this, I noticed that the coriander (now 2' (60cm) tall) in one of my window boxes had a small infestation of aphids. For the love of...this really annoyed me, but a small treatment should stop any further infestations, although it does mean that there can be no harvesting for a minimum of 2 weeks, which is probably a good thing, as it gives them more time to establish themselves.

One of the thymes on my windowsill has started to flower, throwing out tiny pink/purple flowers in one area. The jalapeño chilli and sweet pepper plants also have a lot of buds on them, and with my soft-bristled brush standing by, i'm ready to pollinate when they open.

So apart from a few hiccups, it's all doing quite well.

Sounds like you're doing well. Gardening is a symphony of trial and error.

If the tiny sprouts have little shovel-shaped primary leaves, it's probably basil.

Quote from: Opsa on May 23, 2012, 04:10:25 PM
Sounds like you're doing well. Gardening is a symphony of trial and error.

If the tiny sprouts have little shovel-shaped primary leaves, it's probably basil.

They're tiny at the moment, so have nothing to really define their identity. The coming month should give more information on whether to keep or remove. I hope.

I tend to let unidentified seedlings alone until they make their identity known.  I know some are weeds, but I figure they have more biomass to use once they get larger (just make sure to pull before they go to seed). Weeds make good compost.

I leave unidentified seedlings alone, too. Sometimes they have produced nice surprises. Some weeds are easier to pull when they are bigger, too.

Ha ha, i'm the same too. There are a lot of things growing all over the place where i've let them alone to find out what they are. Most of the time they end up being pulled, but there have been some nice surprises as well, with random plants not originally planted in the garden turning out to be the most beautiful. I've also left a few stinging nettles alone in one area, as I want to attract butterflies to lay their eggs there, if not this year, then next. It's underneath some trees and large shrubs, and gets sort of dappled light, and they're doing well. I specifically want the Small Tortoiseshell, Red Admiral, Comma, Peacock, and Painted Lady butterflies. I know, I don't want much. ;D

Apart from that, i've come up with a cunning plan for an area that is being used to store the rubbish i've collected from all over the garden, and which will eventually contain the inevitable build-up of crud from the garage, before being carted off by some men nice enough to do so for folding money, and before you comment, it's all above board, being organised through the council refuse collection department.

This area is approximately 6-8m long and 2-3 metres deep, and contains a violet (huge), a cherry tree (also huge), a peach tree (currently suffering with peach leaf curl, grrrr!), a wisteria (currently attacking lots of things, but this will be pruned heavily!), and a couple of other random things I don't know the name of. They are all at the back of this area, and it receives a reasonable amount of light throughout mid-morning to evening, so will be perfect for planting.

I have decided upon the cunning plan of growing from seed, and found a wonderful site with some weird and wonderful (to me) seeds for sale. They deliver worldwide apparently, but appear to be based in New Zealand and a few other places. If you can fall in love with a site, I think this is one of them. I have decided to grow the following for later transplant into the bare area:-

Goji Berry (http://www.plant-world-seeds.com/store/view_seed_item/1894?actionName=view_all_vegetables&itemname=GOJI+BERRY&page=1)
Strawberry Spinach (http://www.plant-world-seeds.com/store/view_seed_item/1254?actionName=view_all_vegetables&itemname=STRAWBERRY+SPINACH&page=1)
Myrtus Ugni (http://www.plant-world-seeds.com/store/view_seed_item/2266?actionName=view_all_vegetables&itemname=MYRTUS+UGNI&page=2)
Rubus Lineatus (http://www.plant-world-seeds.com/store/view_seed_item/2560?actionName=view_all_vegetables&itemname=RUBUS+LINEATUS&page=2)
Wonderberry (http://www.plant-world-seeds.com/store/view_seed_item/1619?actionName=view_berries&itemname=WONDERBERRY) - Not being grown for its narcotic leaves.
Kiwi Fruit (http://www.plant-world-seeds.com/store/view_seed_item/2558?actionName=view_all_vegetables&itemname=KIWI+FRUIT.++ACTINIDIA+CHINENSIS+DELICIOSA+&page=1) - This is going in another area after I clear the Pampas Grass.

I like them because they're pretty and, as I said, unusual to me, but the fact that you can eat their produce is an added bonus. Does anyone have experience with these? I've read a reasonable amount on them all, so i'm prepared for several eventualities.

That sounds like quite a project!

Why Roland- you've gone fruit mad! You'll have to be brave and patient.

That is a beautiful web site, and very enthusiastic, too. How do you tell though, whether or not a plant will work in your planting zone?

Quote from: pieces o nine on May 28, 2012, 08:00:49 PM
That sounds like quite a project!

I know. Ambitious is not the word for it, especially growing from seed.

Quote from: Opsa on May 29, 2012, 07:06:24 PM
Why Roland- you've gone fruit mad! You'll have to be brave and patient.

That is a beautiful web site, and very enthusiastic, too. How do you tell though, whether or not a plant will work in your planting zone?

I am a patient man, and can wait, although for bravery, look to Rincewind. ;) I know that planting seeds now means i'll have to sacrifice planting in the area until next year, but i'm prepared for that. I also know that any appreciable level of fruit will be the year after, but this is a long-haul project for me. The benefits when they come will be many.

I started out looking at the basic info on the website, then looked up further info on several hopefuls on other, more informative, websites. I am confident that I can safely transplant any successful small plants to the area in the spring after what will hopefully be the predictable last frosts, and then they will be fine after this, establishing themselves before the end of year frosts. I think the worst thing will be preparing the ground, digging in all the compost to enrich the soil. And the weeding. There will always be bloody weeding! :mrgreen:

I kind of enjoy the digging and amending. The weeding shouldn't be too bad either, after the plants are established.

It's nice, growing shrubs. They are less likely to be overcome by weeds after a couple of years.

Once i've finished the garden, although it'll be before the seedlings are planted out, i'll take some photos. My parents have a large number of different shrubs and trees around the edges, and they're all at their best at this time of year. Some still need to flower, but that'll come in time.

The weeds will be heavily suppressed with bark chips. Very heavily suppressed. Any that survive through that will meet my Dutch Hoe (aka a Hee).

Oh dear, I'm afraid I'm anti-mulch.

Around here people go nuts with mulch, pour it in small mountains around their young trees and tend to kill them with it.

I'm not the person who would actively contribute to a plant's death by mulch, as I know how to use it properly. I hope, lol. The area directly around plants will be kept relatively free, whilst the blank areas will have a decent amount on it, thereby suppressing weeds where the sun shines, and not suppressing them where it doesn't. If that makes any sense. :o

It does. You know how to use mulch properly.

I think that the mulch abusers are just lazy. They want to get on their yee-haw riding mowers and mow the heck out of their laws, and lots of mulch keeps them from running things over. I don't think they are thinking about protect the plants from anything other than their power-tool zealousness.

I'm playing around with mulch this year, but what mulch spells for me is SOIL IMPROVEMENT.  BIOMASS! is my current war-cry. ;)

I got my hands on as much of I want of a large round bale (i.e. several hundred pounds or more... possibly upwards of half-a-ton) of mouldy horse-hay, and building compost with it.  I hauled home a couple of hundred pounds (estimate) of burdock greens from a yard I was cleaning up on Monday, and am alternating the two.

As an alternative to alternating, I'm also playing around with spreading the hay on the lawn and then cutting it, so the hay and grass are chopped up together.  Seems like a good way to make quick compost, and a mulch that might break down relatively quickly in-situ.

You'll have to keep an eye out for the hayseeds, though, and I don't mean the rednecks!

I'm all for composting.

Alfalfa and grass are no worse than the bedevilled bindweed. ::)  The weed-seed bank in my soil is already incredible, what are a few more seeds going to do?

Maybe they'll cancel eachother out! The bindweed is terrible here this year.

Quote from: Aggie on June 15, 2012, 10:12:27 PM
I'm playing around with mulch this year, but what mulch spells for me is SOIL IMPROVEMENT.  BIOMASS! is my current war-cry. ;)

I have an imagine of you running across a garden carrying a pitchfork and a hoe, covered from head to toe in weld, madder, and wode, crying "This is BIOMASS!!!!!" You appear to be a little like a green-fingered Boudica. :mrgreen:

I've cut down an entire Pampass Grass, which has rather filled an entire compost bin. I have another to cut down, but the other compost bin is 3/4 full, and the garden waste bins (emptied by the local council every 2 weeks) are also full, one with the dwarf conifer I cut down (it grew 8-10' (240-300cm) tall, I kid you not!), the other with other items i've surreptitiously trimmed from the garden.

I am also now addicted to Gardener's World. Again.

Quote from: Roland Deschain on June 22, 2012, 07:06:58 PM

Quote from: Aggie on June 15, 2012, 10:12:27 PM
I'm playing around with mulch this year, but what mulch spells for me is SOIL IMPROVEMENT.  BIOMASS! is my current war-cry. ;)

I have an imagine of you running across a garden carrying a pitchfork and a hoe, covered from head to toe in weld, madder, and wode, crying "This is BIOMASS!!!!!" You appear to be a little like a green-fingered Boudica. :mrgreen:

Sickle (usugama) and machete, plus a gas trimmer, are my biomass collecting tools. ;)  Head to toe coverage in weed and grass fragments is certainly applicable.

You guys are gardening warriors!

Today I was a sniper in the war against weeds. I picked 'em off here and there. But they keep on coming!

Quote from: Aggie on June 22, 2012, 08:38:24 PM
Sickle (usugama) and machete, plus a gas trimmer, are my biomass collecting tools. ;)

Lol! That's a kick-buttock version. ;)

Quote from: Aggie on June 22, 2012, 08:38:24 PM
Head to toe coverage in weed and grass fragments is certainly applicable.

Quote from: Opsa on June 22, 2012, 08:43:23 PM
You guys are gardening warriors!

You mean like the attached photo? ;D

Ut-oh... looks like the weeds are winning over that fellow!

Quote from: Opsa on June 22, 2012, 09:28:13 PM
Ut-oh... looks like the weeds are winning over that fellow!

I think he looks rather fetching like that. He cuts a fine figure when clean, though. ;)

Quote from: Roland Deschain on June 22, 2012, 09:19:02 PM

Quote from: Aggie on June 22, 2012, 08:38:24 PM
Sickle (usugama) and machete, plus a gas trimmer, are my biomass collecting tools. ;)

Lol! That's a kick-buttock version. ;)

Kick burdock, even! ;) My big black machete works better on 2nd year burdock stalks than the trimmer does.

The compost pile (grass mulched with hay, also uncut hay with chopped burdock greens) is humming along and hot, hot, hot!  I turned it; the bottom bits needed some air and were smelling ammoniacal. There's probably a bit too much nitrogen to carbon, but constant flipping should help with that. I also dug out a bit of a compost-grotto in the front of the pile to give more airflow to the bottom bits. I'm starting to believe the old stories about getting compost in weeks rather than months or years.

Sounds like yours is really coming along. Is it smoking, yet?

You'll probably have black gold by autumn.

Steaming, when disturbed.  The pile volume has probably dropped by half since I started it.  I need to go give it another flip today.  We've had tons of rain, so it will need some extra air, I suspect.

Well, who can blame it? Sometimes I get steamed when disturbed.

Speaking of which, I tried to move a few crowded lettuce sprouts, but the heat was too much for them. May they rest in peace in that big veg bed in the sky.

Quote from: Opsa on June 26, 2012, 08:38:09 PM
Speaking of which, I tried to move a few crowded lettuce sprouts, but the heat was too much for them. May they rest in peace in that big veg bed in the sky.

:'(

It will be time to move and thin out my broccoli soon. May they have more luck than your lettuce.

They probably will. The reason I moved some of the lettuce sprouts is that a neighboring plant had grown over them, so they were in the shade. The move was followed by a dreadful heat wave- near 100F, which was fatal to the tender little lumpkins.

I think of broccoli as being more sturdy than lettuce.

Ah, the weather. >:( The weather can be a real pain at times. >:(

My broccoli have partial shade, so hopefully they'll fare better if it gets that hot here.

Veggy-growing weather has been soggy but marvellous over here. A little more sunshine and things will go BOOM quick.

I hauled home about 3/4 of a feed bag (1 m₃) of grass clippings over the last two days, and picked up a full feed bag of hay today.  Tomorrow is Compost Day.
:mua:

How did you celebrate compost day, my dear Aggie?

Weather here has been dreadfully hot and humid. The weeds are pulling ahead!

Shredding and piling and moving.... 

The pile is still too nitrogenous, but some careful attention and frequent flipping should take care of that. It's a good workout.

The weeds...?  I'm just in damage-control mode on those now; pull anything with a flower, and eradicated immediately anything going to seed.  Some of the 'weeds' have revealed themselves to be quite pretty flowers.

I quite agree, and usually let some of them stay. Especially if I can't quite reach them! The downside of this is that they come back in droves.

Opsa's new seeds for spring 2013:

Capitan Bibb lettuce
Lettuce Leaf Basil
Nicotiana Rustica
Breadseed Poppy
Petunia
Zinnia
Cosmos 'Bright Lights' (yellows)
Sunflower 'Mammoth Russian'
Bachelor Button
California Poppy
Sweet William

I have the lettuce in all ready, but am waiting for the colder weather front to pass before sowing the others.

What you got?

No new seeds yet this year, although I've a hankering to try out a walking stick kale... 
http://www.thompsonmorgan.ca/product/Kale-Walking-Stick
(http://www.thompson-morgan.com/medias/sys_tandm/8796391669790.jpg)

In the garden, I've got lots of snow peas, last year's garlic, chard and kale, some multiplier onions and the usual gang of brassicas (radishes of several varieties, mustard greens, arugula, etc).

I was just reading in the paper today about kale as a mood lightener. That one you pictured ought to lift anyone out of the blues!

I saved a bunch of seeds from last season. But the other day I was in an antique shop and there were some Ferry-Morse seeds (http://www.plantationproducts.com/pages/cfFerryMorse.cfm) available for 25 cents a pack. They were packed for 2012, but I kept thinking about them, so I went back and bought them. I figured that they would be good to dream on, if nothing else.

They are:

Iceland Poppy, mixed colors
Oriental Poppy, red
Sunflower, Evening Sun (warm colors)
Sunflower, Velvet Queen (red)

I don't know why I keep trying to grow poppies here, I've never had any luck with them. I am charmed by their crinkly paper petals, which hold light like a lantern.

They're a danged weed in my garden, you can have 'em!

Haven't started seed-shopping yet but am thinking about thinking about getting some seeds ordered soon. ;)

Hey Aggie!

I forgot: I have had little orange field poppies in my front beds. They became weeds, so I pulled them all out one year. they never came back, and I missed them!

Today I made the mistake(?) by passing the garden section at the store. I bought some seed starter pellets and more seed packets: nasturtiums, bib lettuce and purple basil. I ought to stop, but am obsessed.

Okay, I spoke too soon. I just got some seed for Romaine lettuce, too.

All of a sudden, it was spring.  I'm sure winter will come back for a bit of revenge, but I managed to clean up the yard a little and got some kales, wasabi greens, radishes, seed garlic and green onions planted against the house.  I put up a partial cold frame consisting of a large (6' x 6') window in front, and some reflective insulation board for the backing.  The sides are still wide open, so it'll cool down at night, but it should be enough to give those hardy seeds a little head start. :)

 :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

Here, too! We had our first little tiny yellow crocus open on Sunday. Yesterday I started clearing out the front bulb beds and found the purple crocuses trying to bud under the leaves. Today I finished raking it out. (Going a little slow, as I've been under the weather.) I sprinkled some plant food down for the daff, tulips, irises and croci.

Today we expect rain. Tomorrow, back to cold- but spring is really on the way.

Gotta get my veg beds ready for the early guys, but haven't got back there yet.

Please keep posted on the cold frame! That is something I've always been interested in doing.

I've got four of these windows, so I'm considering setting up a sort of partial greenhouse with them to get a jump on the tomatoes and peppers, etc.  I might glass in 3 sides plus a top for the spring (and use solid material to back it), or just make it 4-sided in glass with an open top.  That'd work for the summer, anyways, as it'd let the worst of the heat out the top and keep things more humid by creating a wind-free microclimate.

Man, you are TEH efficient one. A little hothouse would get you a head start on those 'maters.

I'm usually trying to do a hunner-bazillion things at the same time, so I need to try for some efficiency.  ;)

This year, I'm going to try for less variety and larger quantities of vegetables.  I've tended to get a little too scattered in my gardening to this point.

Hmm...  actually, the tomatoes usually do fine, and I often grown more than I really care to eat, so maybe I'll focus on eggplant if I glass in an area.  I love eggplant, but never get good results before the growing season's over, usually because they get stuck behind a tomato plant.


Hey, here's a puzzler...  I've got an in-ground digester (one of those green cone composters) that leaches nutrients out into the ground around it.  What would be a good choice for a relatively deep-rooted heavy feeder to place next to it?  I don't have enough space to let a squash or pumpkin run in this location.  I was thinking this might be a good area for some larger tomato plants, but I'm not sure whether they root deep enough to take advantage of the nutrients.  It's a small spot between the garden and the path, so I wouldn't have room for corn etc.

What about carrots or beets? I've never had luck with carrots or beets here because our soil is so heavy and not very deep.

I've got the same issue here, but I'm going to try to plant some early beets and get them harvested while they're still young. Once the soil starts to dry out in the summer, it strangles out the root crops. Carrots like sandy soil, so one option there is to prep a single area to be more carrot-friendly by digging in some sand.

We're thinking about growing a pumpkin fort in the yard this year, for fun...  basically, planting vines around a meshed-in enclosure and training them to act as the roof and walls of the 'fort'. Not sure I'll get time, but I've got a few months to get it together, so maybe.


Top priority now is pruning the pear and plum trees while they're still dormant.

Oh! That fort sounds like fun.

We have tree and shrub pruning to do here, too. I enjoy pruning. I have some weigelas that I've been slowly getting to come back to their former glory. Two years ago I pruned them back by a third. Last year another third. This year I ought to be able to go in and take out all the ancient limbs that no longer produce.

Thank you Opsa!  :)

Out of curiosity I googled "weigelas" since I never heard that name...

We have one of those in my mothers garden. Grandpa must have bought it 30 years or so ago,    but for 20 years nobody have known what it is...
Both my mother and I have tried to identify the little bush but haven't been successful at all.

Now we know and we can take better care of it and perhaps give it a companion. :D

Cool!  :)

They are very old-fashioned flowering shrubs. Lots of people mistake them for azaleas, but they are quite different.

We have two kinds- the first I got as a house warming gift (a coupon to a plant nursery- nice!). We've been here over twenty years and it started to get kinda tired looking, but we did the gradual pruning thing and it regained it's vigor. It's a variegated weigela- the leaves are dark with pale edges and very pretty. The flowers are pale pink and cover it like fur on a monkey's tail. (See photo below)

I also have five smaller ones with darker flowers and plain green leaves. Those I bought through the mail as a flowering hedge.