How to Buy Plants

Seed catalogues flooded my mailbox at the beginning of the month. There is one, from a company in Maine, which comes in the mass of mail right after Thanksgiving. I have never ordered from them and, because it comes so early, I'm not inclined to consider what I might be planting a full 6 months in the future. I have my favorite companies; Jung Seed, Park Seed and Select Seeds. I received a new catalogue this year, something from a nursery which specializes in prairie plants, which looks very intriguing. Other than these four, everything else has been thumbed through and discarded. You find companies you like and you stick with them.

The same goes for nurseries. I go to Planter's Palette. I've been going here since the place opened and have watched them grow, specialize, diversify. I know, if I have an issue, I can go to them for advice. They told me what I needed to put in the raised bed to get good plants. The guy I spoke with also said, "Don't buy our top soil. It's overpriced. Go to Wal*Mart and get some of theirs. But, you'll need to amend that with our mushroom compost; one bag of compost to one bag of top soil. Next year, mix into the box more compost. The year after that, add top soil. Keep doing this and anything you plant in the box will thrive." I appreciate that kind of honesty. I did that and I think it's one reason the sunflowers in the box were gorgeous.

I want to make the north side of the house, now that all the trash stuff has been removed, a bit more exciting. It's just the bare wall, foundation and the two pine trees which had their dead branches removed with the clearing of the brush. I thought adding a ground cover and filling the area with ferns and hostas would be a cool idea. Unfortunately, the cost of ferns and hostas means this has to be a long term project, but I could start with a couple.

Well, what to start with. Planter's has an abundance, almost mind boggling, number of types of ferns and hostas. Big, little, with color, straight green, you name it. I was prepared to spend an hour wandering around the tables, looking at the varieties, reading about them, pondering, looking at what I was going to buy and deciding how much I could afford. It took me 15 minutes.

This hosta is called "Mouse Ears". You can see it, right? Here's the fern.

It's called "Godzilla".

Yes, while I was prepared to do some research and ask questions, I picked a hosta and a fern solely because they had cool names.

The ground on the north side of the house is hard and compacted. I couldn't get the holes dug as deeply as I wanted to get these planted. I also bought some pachysandra for ground cover. I watered every other day and then we got some good soaking rains so I didn't check up on the plants for about a month. When I came around the side of the house, they had been eaten down to an inch above the soil line. In October, however, the fern and the hosta had put out new bracts, which was encouraging.

Over the weekend, when I rehung the bird feeder, they were nowhere to be seen, but I think they die back. My neighbor to the south has several large cinnamon ferns and those die away completely with the first hard frost. The pachysandra was still there.

I did think that perhaps I need a raised bed on that side of the house. The creeping Charlie has taken over where I had scattered grass seed. I probably need to cover the ground with landscape fabric and let the sun's heat kill the grass and weeds under it. It's an old method of killing weeds in the soil. If I cover the creeping Charlie, that should, in theory, kill that patch and I could start anew with grass. I really wanted to put poppies on the north side of the downspout. I forgot to buy them last year. I love the look of poppies and used to have a couple plants in the front.

There will be some landscaping changes this year. I'm not retiring and moving away, yet, so I want the lawn to look better than it has in years. I was quite neglectful.

Beverage:  English Breakfast Tea

Deb

A Watched Seed Doesn't Sprout

This is the third week since the seeds were planted. The first week, I checked on them every day, adding tepid water sparingly to the fake terrarium, just enough that the sun's heat would create a nice greenhouse effect. I tapped down the water I found condensed on the top, trying to keep this little ecosystem going. I want peppers on the deck this year, please. After 10 days of daily checking and no sign of anything remotely green, I gave up. I didn't even look at it when I came in to change kitty litter.

This morning I checked and saw this.

Holy sprouts, Batman! Not only did they sprout but they are pushing the top of the container. I tapped off the water, took off the tape holding the two pieces together and opened it up.

Well, not too bad on peppers. Left to right: chocolate has one sprout with leaves. It's also got a stalk but I will be surprised if that one makes it. It's been my experience that chocolate peppers are hard to sprout. I'll be happy with one. Lilac peppers have three good ones and one spindly one. Orange has two decent sprouts. I have 5 sunflowers spread over two pots. This is okay. I'm happy with these. Now to get them stronger and sturdier to put out, I hope, around Memorial Day. 

Those flower seeds I tried didn't do very well. I guess they are beyond the point of viability. So, next year, I should look for flower seeds. I have the seeds Patt sent me last year. They are direct seeded into pots so I'm hoping the weather will be warm enough in a month to do just that. 

With 6 and maybe 8 pepper plants for the deck I need to start looking at what I will put them in. Last week, I noticed the pot by the deck steps was sprouting greenery. 

Originally, I was going to use this one for peppers. They get a lot of sun since this is the southwest corner of the deck. But, with the dianthus self-seeding, I'm going to have to consider something else. I don't remember, right now, if I have a large pot in the shed. I want to give the peppers room to spread out roots. I guess, if I have to get a large pot for them, that's what I have to do. Fresh picked peppers off the deck beginning in August is worth a $25 pot. 

Beverage:  Root Beer

Deb

Dirty Hands

I miss gardening, at least, right now I miss gardening. I used to have a rather large plot at the back of the yard. We grew strawberries, peas, lettuce, zucchini, cucumbers and attempted corn. The raccoons always seemed to get the corn before we did. I remember radishes and attempts to grow carrots. The latter never got very big. I enjoyed gardening until about mid-August, and then it felt like a chore to trundle out to the garden to weed. By September, I was seriously wondering why I convinced myself this was fun. Yet, every spring, I would start with hope and promise.

What I really like are peppers fresh from the garden. I love orange flesh peppers. They have this sweetness not found in green or red peppers. It's amplified if you grow them yourself. This year, I decided I would see what I could do about that.

Left to right: red, orange and chocolate peppers. Yes, they are called chocolate peppers. They are green peppers that, when allowed to ripen fully, turn a velvety chocolate brown. They have a spicy taste to them. I think it's spicier than regular green peppers. I'm not fond of the jalapeno or other similarly spiced peppers although I grew banana peppers, a pale yellow, thin shaped pepper, one year. Those were okay.

I probably should have started these at the beginning of March, when the seeds arrived. But the best of intentions don't always translate into actions so it was this weekend when they were actually planted. I dug the stuff up from the basement and it sat on the living room table for 3 weeks. I think I need to credit having to do things with Flat Stanley for my actually getting around to planting these.

I had the small square peat pots but knew they wouldn't be very good for my peppers so I bought a couple stacks of the large circular pots. Then, as I was putting everything back in the basement, I found a box of circular peat pots. Oh well. If this goes well, maybe I can be inspired to do it next year. The dirt is seed starter mix I have on hand.

Peat pots should be soaked in water before you add the dirt. They absorb and hold water for the seeds and emerging plants reducing damp off, a problem where plants keel over and die because they rot where their stems meet the dirt. I will still have to watch these and reduce the water in the tray if I see signs of damp-off. You add the dirt to the wet pot and then wet the dirt.

The back row contains three pots of four seeds each of the peppers. I'm also starting two pots of those Teddy Bear sunflowers I like so much. The squares contain flower seeds from packets I've had for a long time; two kinds of nicotania, three kinds of marigolds, lobelia and one other whose name escapes me at the moment. Six of these seeds were purchased at Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's home. He had extensive gardens and imported seeds from France. I've had these seeds for a long time and am not sure they are going to sprout. If they don't, I'll add the whole mess to the compost pile. If I go visit Carole in Virginia this year, maybe a trip to Monticello is in order to buy fresh seeds.

In the box containing seeds, I have quite a few mixes. Once the weather gets warm, I'll put those in pots as I did last year with the seed mix Patt sent me. We'll see if they sprout. I see I don't have any zinnia seeds. I like zinnias. That's a purchase for next year.

The tray the seeds sit in is actually a plastic top used to cover actual seed starter trays. I used to have two of those but could only find one and the geraniums I overwinter are sitting in that. Oh well, necessity is the mother of invention, so to speak. The tops I ordered last year came 4 to a box. I simply put two together, taped them sort of shut and stuck them on the ironing board in the south window.

In theory, the water contained in the tray will evaporate in the sunshine and this will provide moisture and warmth to sprout these seeds. I'll need to check on it every day to make sure there is adequate moisture in the tray, just enough and not too much. The girls won't jump up here and knock it off or try to lay on this.

All of these will go in containers on the deck. I bought a large bag of potting soil that's supposed to be specifically designed for containers. I was looking at the plants in the living room, the ones I've had for a long, long time and thinking they could use a repotting once the weather warms. And repotting the geraniums wouldn't be a bad thing either.

So, wish my little sprouts luck. If all goes well, my hands will be dirty for the month of May.

Beverage: Irish Breakfast tea

Deb

A Big Success

So, last week, I came home to this on the deck railing.

This is what was left of the sunflowers.

I think these were a success. They were perfect for a pot on the deck.

 

The flower heads didn't get very big, 3 inches at maximum, and they weathered the drought okay. I had to water everything and they were no different. I didn't think there was that much in the way of sunflower seeds in the heads but obviously some squirrel thought differently. 

I think next year, I will plant these in the pot by the steps where they will get full sun for most of the day. That pot is bigger which should give me room to plant more. These were called Teddy Bear sunflowers and are bred to be deck container size. 

Beverage:  Dr Pepper

Deb

Morning Glories

The flowers are coming along.

In spite of the raccoon, the two pots of flowers from seeds are doing well. I'm particularly thrilled with the sunflowers. They are supposed to be compact and designed for containers. They are growing well in this heat. I need to spend another $6 and fill in the white pot and the one next to the deck steps.

I'm also okay with the quality of photos my cell phone takes. For the kind of documentary purposes I need, it's acceptable.

Beverage:  Irish Breakfast tea

Deb

Weekend Project

Well just "ewww". I fished the two deck chairs and the table out of the storage container last night. I haven't had them out in a couple years. It was much, too much, of a hassle to move everything to get these out and then put them back in.

But with the deck painted and flowers growing in pots and actually feeling better, I want to be outside now. That space is more inviting. I was going to fish these out last weekend but got involved in other things.

They are pretty dirty. Empty, dirt-filled flower pots sat on both of them. I found the chimney to start a fire, if I'm ever inclined to grill on my falling apart Weber grill. I found the brackets that go over the deck rails, if I had money to fill the pots that sit off the rails. I really need to recoil the hose and reorganize the contents of the container so it's easier to find things. That's not going to happen now.

The weekend's task is to scrub these off so they can be used. If Zeke comes around to mow the lawn while I'm home, I'll ask if he could power wash them. Otherwise, where did I put that scrub brush?

The other thing I need to do is buy gray spray paint and repaint these two plaster animals I got about 10 years ago in Canada. They have seen better years but they are whimsical and I like whimsy. They just need a fresh coat of paint for more weather protection. That's a pig on the top and a chicken on the bottom. I get an expense check next week and I also want to paint the front steps. I think next weekend will be a painting weekend.

And three out of the 6 pots in which I planted seeds are doing well. I'm unsure if the other 3 will even sprout. I need to water them all tonight as we've gone almost a week without rain. Our next chance is next Monday. I should also rotate 2 of the pots as you can certainly tell these are set against the north side of the deck.

I'm not sure if I should try to replant, at this late date, those other pots or just let them be. Who knows what might happen if just left to their own devices. The biggest plants are the sunflowers. To the right is a mix and those small plants in front are asters. The white pot is supposed to be poppies and nicotania is in the pail at the bottom.

Once I add the chairs, the table and the statuary, this will be a comforting space to be in.

Beverage:  Raspberry Earl tea

Deb

Planting

After Saturday's deck staining, Sunday morning was devoted, primarily, to adding flower pots to the newly stained deck. Back in February, my friend, Patt, sent me 4 packages of flower seeds. In my head, I was going to start them indoors, along with a few other seeds. That didn't happen. So, I pulled pots out of the storage shed and added seeds to fresh potting soil.

This first pot is just a random mix. I also planted Asters, Shasta Daisies, sunflowers and white Nicotania. I have a package of poppies to plant but the pot I wanted to use was ant infested. I shook them around and now they will leave so that pot will be available later this week for the poppies. The nicotania are seeds Carole and I got from Monticello when we visited several years ago. I hope they will sprout. We'll see. I keep my seeds in the basement, in dark and cool conditions which shouldn't cause them to deteriorate that much.

It will be interesting to see if anything really does sprout and grow in this grouping.

As I was filling containers with fresh potting soil, I was kind of kicking myself for not starting this sooner. But, in talking with friends who have gardens, plant growth has been retarded due to the unseasonably chilly late spring weather. It was 87 yesterday. Today's high is only supposed to be 65, a full 22 degrees cooler. For plants that like the warmer temperatures, this isn't helpful. We did get rain so that was a plus.

I also brought the geraniums back outside. They will be out for the year now. I had to cut back the big pink one. It had grown in the two months it was back inside and was quite leggy. I cut it back by half and added fresh soil to all the geranium pots. They look so nice.

I really want a bright red geranium. With the deck stained, next month's project is to paint the front steps. I'll bet Ace will have geraniums. I didn't look at their plant selection on Saturday because that wasn't what I was there for. Eyes on the object and don't get distracted by other shiny things.

Now the waiting game begins. Will or won't these seeds sprout. I won't have flowers until mid-to-late summer but just doing this is great for me. Expanding my space is a huge plus.

Beverage:  Africa Rooibos tea

Deb

Helicopters

This is the time of year when the front maple tree goes bonkers.

Look at all the seeds. I don't remember, in recent years, there being this many in this tree. Perhaps it's a result of the weather.

They are everywhere in the front yard and into the street now.

Mostly there are individual ones around but, in some places, clusters have fallen. And there are still more on the tree.

They are hanging on tenaciously, waiting for that one breeze to dislodge them and send them spinning. I haven't seen them fall. It's like they wait, on purpose, for me to be gone and then everyone makes the leap.

I had a college friend who was a missionary to Bangladesh. She taught in a small school attached to a Christian church. It was the only school for something like 20 miles in any direction and, as they were quite well funded, had things the villagers had never experienced, like books and basic first aid.

One year, I collected about 3 dozen of these and sent them to her for the class she taught. They made it through customs, which is always a concern when you send plants, and all the way to her. She gave each student a seed and then they all tossed them into the air. She said the children issued squeals of delight when they watched the seeds twirl to the ground. It took up the rest of the day. Of course, by the time I got the letter back saying these were a huge hit, they were gone.

It's such a wonderful mess. I have a rake now. I could go out and rake these up. Zeke will just mulch them into the lawn. There is something magical about this, however. I love collecting handfuls and tossing them into the air. I'm sure it spawns some rather strange looks from the neighbors. Life is too short not to toss maple seeds and watch them spin in the breeze.

Beverage: Lipton tea

Deb