Friday, February 14, 2014

A Time to Sow

 

Hello everyone! I hope your week has been a great one.
I know some of you have seen all kinds of weather this week from one extreme to the next, but I pray that everyone is safe and well.
We had maybe an inch or two of our snow melt yesterday but we are getting more than that today and tonight to make up for our terrible loss. LOL!
So many people are going to be glad to write this winter off and just move on.

Seeds 2014

Look what I got in the mail this week! My seeds from Swallowtail Gardens arrived and I am so glad they are here. Now I can hibernate indoors and plant seeds and dream of bright, colorful flowers and forget about all that white stuff outside.
In this order were the usual seeds that I plant every year, because that is what I can get to grow here on a good year anyway, such as
geraniums and  impatiens.

petunia_hurrah_red_22petunia_frost_fire_22
And of course petunias are a must here.
This year it is ”Red Hurrah” petunias, and because I always like to try a new petunia every year, “Frost Fire” petunias.
My window boxes will be decked out this summer in red and white in the sunny windows. Also there will be some…

pentasred
Red Pentas in the sunny window boxes.

coleus_wizard_velvet_22

The shady window boxes will have the white impatiens and these “Velvet  Wizard” Coleus. I am still trying to decide what else to add to the white impatiens and red coleus for the shady boxes. Anyone have any suggestions?

zinnia_zahara_scarlet_22zinnia_swizzle_cherry_and_ivory_22

Other annuals will be these “Scarlet Zahara” zinnias and “Cherry & Ivory Swizzle” zinnias. Do you see this pattern for reds I have going on? I just realized there is a awful lot of red seeds in these orders. Must be because I am really starved for some bright colors. LOL! I may have to think this over and get some more colors going on to add with them.

astermiladyscarlet
I got seeds to grow some  “Milady's Scarlet” Asters. They are annuals and I have never tried them before but I thought they would look pretty bordering my red perennial bed.

delphinium_blue_jay_2delphinium_king_arthur_2

Some perennials seeds will be these “Blue Jay” and “King Arthur” Delphiniums. My “Blue Bird” delphiniums were all killed last spring, well all but one plant, so I want to get more growing. I love the true blue colors  of Delphiniums and Larkspur.

jupitersbeard
Some more Jupiter's Beard will be going into the red perennial bed also. Good grief more red.

plumbago-escapade-blue-cape-plumbago-seeds-

Seeds for some “Blue Cape” Plumbago are in the mix. I grew these once before and just loved those blue blooms. I have since learned that I could have over wintered the plants in the basement for the following summer so that will be my plan  for them from now on.

Seed Order Outside Pride

The Jupiter’s Beard, Scarlet Aster, Pentas and a

dahliadandy

“Dandy” Dahlia mix seeds were purchased from a new company that I ran across when searching for seeds.
The company is  Outside Pride. Com out of Independence, Oregon.
Anyone familiar with them or their seeds?
I will try them once and see how they germinate and grow. Some companies I have tried to germinate seeds from do not always do very well so I like to try different ones.
Summer Hill, Renee’s, Botanical Interest’s and Swallowtail seeds do the best for me. With the big company names such as  Burpee, Johnny’s Select and Park Seeds you would think they would preform the best, but not so in my experiences with them, and in fact Park Seeds have a less germination rate for me than all the others. Keeping records of the companies, seed sowing and germination rates is where my Garden Journaling has come in very handy and saves  time and money when deciding where to purchase my seeds.

2d946f635557ea4486a215b1a81f332f
I would really like to grow these though if I had a favorite.LOL!

So I am looking forward to getting some seeds started in the next week or two. Are you starting any seeds for spring planting?

Valentines
Since it is Valentines Day today,
I want to wish you all a Happy Valentines Day!


And

Happy Gardening,

Lona

 

 

Technorati Tags: ,

17 comments:

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Hello Lona girl and I LOVE those doughnut seeds !! (could be Cherrios eh ? LOL).. (or what fun would Froot Loops be ?) haha!
You do have red in mind don't you?
I can not do the "seed" thing ... I kill the poor little innocents. Juts like house plants .. baby them too much and end up killing them.
I have a lot of respect for gardeners that can keep them alive and thriving to plant in their gardens!
I have a lot of fun with plant orders .. maybe too much .. I better stop ! haha
Yes .. I think we are all starved for colour and our gardens, hang in there girl!
Joy, way up north ! Brrrrrr !!

Gatsbys Gardens said...

Red is just a perfect theme for Valentine's Day. I always thought I wasn't a red person but I did a lot of it last year and loved it! It was so much more commanding than just pink. I can't wait until all of this snow is gone!

Eileen

Wsprsweetly Of Cottages said...

You definitely dream big. My gardening is so hit and miss that I am ashamed. I love perinnials but I seldom start my flowers from scratch. I just cut them back and up they come again. I should buy some seed and play with it. I did it just once..and it was wonderful..the prettiest flower garden I ever had. Beautiful flowers.. :) Your garden is going to be lovely!

elaine said...

Looks like you are going to have a really colourful garden this year - good luck with all the sowing.

FlowerLady Lorraine said...

Oh dear Lona ~ What beauties are going to be growing in your gardens. How exciting to get your seeds started indoors and to look forward to planting them out when the time is right.

Love and hugs to you ~ FlowerLady

Nadezda said...

Wonderful petunias, Lona, especially red and white! I've started sowing some seeds of purple petunias, the seeds are mine from last year and some seeds of lobelia paniculata. I love it. have white and bright blue lobelia. I recommend you this blue one to your impatience and coleus.
Happy sowing!

Gardener on Sherlock Street said...

Oh my I am jealous already of all those beautiful annuals. Maybe light on the annuals here this year if I can't water them. Red is beautiful. I'm trying to add more red to my garden. Our snow is melting fast. We had 12 straight days below freezing. Now, above freezing even at night. Crazy weather. Glad you are well. Happy planting!

Joanna said...

Thank you for such a colorful post! I ordered from Swallowtail for the first time this year. I'm hoping to get some winter sowing of perennial seeds done this weekend and some annuals started indoors.

Karen said...

Oh, donut seeds, oh my gosh, if I could grow those, I'd be in big trouble. Pardon me while I go out and pick a bouquet of a dozen or so. I wouldn't be able to stop myself, lol.

I love the flowers you've selected this year. I admit to buying from Parks very often and yes, I've had issues with germination in the past, too. I'm going to look into the companies you mentioned, I haven't bought any seeds yet and time is slipping away. We got another five inches of snow tonight, so I guess my head isn't really wrapped around spring quite yet.

Your garden is going to splendid again this year!

jerilanders said...

I am with you, I love going through my seed packets and dreaming of the forthcoming gardens! I always plant the zinnias from seed and the delphiniums. I also purchased ornamental gourds and heritage pumpkins last year, just to get the seeds out of them. I got loads and loads. I will need to have a giveaway!

WordsPoeticallyWorth said...

Nice flowers.

Thank you. Love love, Andrew. Bye.

RobinL said...

My first thought to go with your white impatiens and red coleus was to add a caladium with those colors. Now I've never grown caladiums, but I know you are up to the task!

gardeningnaturallywithclaudia.blogspot.com said...

Hello, Lona. Great to have spring to look forward to - have a great day.

Anonymous said...

Interesting note about seed germination from the "big" companies. I've had good luck with Thompson & Morgan as well as a few you mentioned. I haven't started many seeds in the last couple years but believe it or not, I plan to try some this year! You always have great success with them. Looks like you have some good ones ordered. Also maybe a red theme going this year?!!!! Red is cheery (maybe you ordered in a snow storm??!) so your garden should look happy this summer.
p.s. so sorry about your luck with Amaryllis. I cannot imagine what is going on??

Joe Todd said...

Spring can't get here soon enough..

Indie said...

That will be a nice bright garden come summer! :) I love bright colors in the garden, so it will be interesting toning it down this year, as I am trying a pastel garden with my new house.

Have you checked Garden Watchdog at davesgarden.com to find good seed companies? They have a lot of feedback - that's where I first heard of Swallowtail seeds. I haven't run across any that sell the rare Krispy Kreme seeds, though. That would be one awesome plant!

GRACE PETERSON said...

Hi Lona, what a fun post. I believe those Krispy Creme doughnut seeds have been GMO'ed to have no calories when they're harvested. So finally we can say something positive about the GMO movement. Ha, ha. I wish.

I love all your red goodies. I have never heard of Outside Pride but it's located only about 20 miles from my home. I'll be checking out their site. On the red theme, I just bought a large packet of red flax seed at Home Depot. Last summer I saw them blooming in a front garden and was enthralled. Like you I love red. Those 'Milady's Scarlet' Asters look wonderful. I'll try not to be away so long. Your blog is always so fun. Stay warm. Spring is coming.