Addendum to April 7, 2008
For anyone keeping tabs, that "John Wyman" Crabapple is actually called "Donald Wyman". I don't know what I was thinking... maybe Jonathan Apples. Mmmmm, pie. 
No, I haven't even heard of that one. I'll have to see if I can find that and keep some on hand. Thanks. After this incident (about the fourth post down), I'll try almost anything:
http://www.gardenbuddies.com/forum/messages/1108610/111139482.html
Your VC outbreak sounds like my PI. Are you sure it was the Creeper? Around here, the two grow together, so I avoid them both like the plague. |
| Seil Posted on Tuesday, April 08, 2008 - 03:56 pm: |   |
Everything looks so wonderful, DJ, and I just love how the "pumpkin" house turned out! So pretty! |
Thank you, Seil. I can't wait to see how it looks when the grass is green and the front beds are in bloom... and the leaves are on the trees... and green. LOL. |
| Stormdancer Posted on Tuesday, April 08, 2008 - 07:45 pm: | |
Oh Yeah, its definitely Creeper...took me awhile to id it, but once done its on the list of things for me not to touch...even though it grows like crazy in my yard. I'm not especially sensitive to PI, Sumac was what always tore me up. But Creeper, that's one that I once had to get a shot of Decadron (a steroid) to clear it because DUHmmy me inhaled the mist when I pulled some that was growing on my grandma's house...itched like a bitch on the inside and only was broke out on my wrist where I had wrapped it around to jerk it out of the ground. Was already broke out within five minutes of pulling it and I washed with soap and cool water immediately because I knew it was something I was allergic to. Never looked like yours though, even after taking the weedeater to it (on a wood privacy fence)and then rubbing the cuttings into my skin when I wiped it off, instead of washing it off...what was I thinking...hahaha. Of course I was in shorts and it was like 90 degrees and sweating, so all the pores were open. Went to the beach in the hopes that the salt water would help dry it out...was using straight bleach (like when we were kids), scrubbing it with dishsoap(Dawn)letting the soap dry, etc... all of the things that used to work when I'd get in it as a kid. Even other topical PI over the counter stuff wasn't touching it. The guy from FPL saw me with the "pink paint" and gave me the Technu and said it was what they used on the truck. Walgreens carries it and so do most other places that have PI stuff. What I like is you can use it "before" you might be exposed, "after" you've been around it or possibly exposed and "when" you get it and it is first noticed or even after you've had it (such as my case). The company is Oak-n-Ivy brand and they also make a good anti-itch gel to help after the Technu. Don't mean to sound like an ad for them, but this stuff really worked for me. |
| Yasmeenjohl Posted on Wednesday, April 09, 2008 - 05:16 am: | |
Dj.. Does ur day have more than 24 hrs?? How HOW do u manage to do so much and write so much?? I'm amazed.. Hats off to u! I really wanna come thr and c u do all ths.. wud be much fun to look at.. Ur home looks so pretty..
I'l wait to c the pics.. I'm sure u've already painted a pretty picture in ur mind.. |
April 8, 2008 (Wednesday)
(continued from before)
Whoa, that was time consuming. I just spent an hour and fifteen minutes checking for new seedlings in the plant room and transferring all of the Daylily sprouts to a tray. That last bit took forever. I snitched some materials from one of the new veggie beds to fill a tray, then went about poking all of the sprouts into the tray one by one. I have to say that it did not look like that many seeds when I stuck them in the fridge to stratify. Next time, either I shouldn't collect so many seeds or I should just prepare a little bed outside for them to sprout in rather than growing them inside.
That's awful! I can't believe you inhaled some of that and lived to tell us about it. Then again, I'm surprised that didn't have the same effect as getting inoculated against it. LOL! Ugh. Well, I shall definitely look for the Technu. I've heard that PI is getting more potent as the climate changes. I've not heard of VC being dangerous like that, so I am glad to have the heads up... I've been considering transplanting some to my front stone wall and it would be just my luck to break out from it and not know what to blame. Haha!
So funny. Never tried the salt water part, but I did do everything else on your list, followed by vinegar. Haha!! I had grabbed a handful of PI thinking it was a weed and immediately went into the house to try everything in sight to get it off. Something worked because I didn't get it that time.
If it did, I guarantee you I'd be spending those extra hours sleeping. LOL!
My son and I have a symbiotic relationship. LOL! He likes to eat all of the time (not that he actually eats much at any one sitting) and I get to use that moment of free time to catch up on my notes. Haha!
That is so hilarious! Here's a little story from yesterday... I was working on the last veggie bed. My son had been working in his construction zone under the shade umbrella all day (building a castle, digging a moat, filling it with water). He talked to me ALL DAY LONG. Yak, yak, yak. At one point it occurred to me that I'd probably get more done in a day if I wasn't asked to stop and admire his progress every few minutes, or if I didn't have to stop every few minutes to chat with him (because I'm too exhausted to work and chat at the same time). So anyway, at one point he came over and sat on the chicken coop path and watched me work. After a long time, he stopped talking and just watched, and watched, and watched. Eventually I was very close to being finished and I started to wonder how he could stand to just sit there and watch. I was certain that he'd rather be playing with his construction trucks and playing in the dirt and I thought that just watching me work would be so boring to him. Just as soon as I finished that thought, he said, "Watching you do all of this work is making me so sleepy." HAHAHA!!!
Since it was fall when I "finished" it last year, I just haven't been able to imagine it sitting in a sea of green grass and trees, or with a flood of blazing Rudbeckia in front of it, or a rainbow of iris. It's scary to sit here and wait... almost as scary as when I finally decided on what color to paint it. LOL! |
| Flowerfreak Posted on Wednesday, April 09, 2008 - 08:52 am: | |
LOL!!
I love the new beds you've made. That is what I was debating on doing versus my original layout w/ no raised beds. At this point, I'll be happy if I even have a garden this year.
...which reminds me that I really wanted to plant dahlias this year. I guess I'll have to find a spot (and time) for those too! |
| Stormdancer Posted on Wednesday, April 09, 2008 - 09:35 am: | |
Hahaha, yeah, I couldn't believe how bad I itched!! That was the only time I've ever had to get a shot to clear it up. The weedeater experience, was just plain stupidity on my part. I'm way more careful now when I know I'm going to be possibly in it. |
Too funny! Over the course of working on the last two beds, I had plenty of time to wonder what in the world is so great about raised beds. My back is killing me, my ribs ache, and I had a cramp in my side every time I used the hoe. Oh, and my hands ache. Aside from that, I bet there will still be weeds in there, which is really what I most wanted to avoid dealing with this year. On top of that, I broke the ground up by hand (well, with a hoe, but you know what I mean). How is that any different from non-raised beds? Not to mention the expense. I seriously started rethinking next year's plan of building four more identical beds. That is going to hinge on what happens this year.
If you don't, I highly recommend putting your raised beds in this fall (if it turns out that they are actually a good idea). I sort of wish I had built mine last fall.
Eesh. Yep, if I ever get another case like that one in the pics, I think I will go to the doctor and get a shot. Maybe I will even go early on and bring along those pics to back me up. LOL. You inhaling that reminds me of a guy who told me that Native Americans used to eat the leaves of PI to develop an immunity to it. I think I'll pass! |
April 9, 2008 (Wednesday)
It is 36 degrees this morning. The veggie beds have a lot of frost on them this morning. Yesterday morning, I only saw frost on the first veggie bed and it was so faint that I wasn't even sure that's what it was. No doubt this morning.
My ribs and hands ache. I bet the last veggie bed will take an extra long time to fill today. I am going to wait until it warms up outside, so maybe that'll give me a little more recuperation time.
Google Image Search
* +"victorian garden"
I love garden humor. While I was looking through the Victorian gardens, I found one that has a sundial in a bed of Creeping Thyme. Ha! I'm sure I've come across something similar before, but [OoGBoO], I still found it funny!
This was an interesting site:
http://www.victoriana.com/gardening/winsford.htm
Oooh, aaah, now where, oh where, can I find Victorian garden tiles in this country?
http://www.londonthestore.com/Images/Garden/DH000203.jpg
Here's a fun site to read:
http://www.rakishwit.com
And four. Yay!! It was a complete bear to fill that last bed, mainly because the breaking up of the bottom soil was worse than any of the other beds. Typical... the hardest one is always the last one, just to compound the bone and muscle aches. There were more rocks, bigger rocks, and one immovable rock. I'm not sure that even the tractor could get that one out. Naturally, that's the bed I planned to plant carrots in. Hopefully they will be happy anyway since I was aiming for baby carrots (and not the pre-fab "baby carrots" we find in the grocery store, all cut down to size from mature monster carrots). I think it took me two and a half hours to complete that bed. Ugh.
Fourth Veggie Bed
I pulled a hose out of the garage to start wetting the beds. I had to hold onto the tailgate and bumper of my truck to keep the hose from pulling me back into the knotted mass of hoses from which it came. I untangled it, once I dragged it over to the faucet, and discovered that it was actually two hoses. Good thing, because I wasn't looking forward to returning to the rubber viper pit. Neither hose seemed to leak, so that was an added bonus that sort of made up for the bed taking so long to finish. Spring has officially started here... the outdoor faucet has been turned back on.
Joy of joys... my lone Belamcamda has returned. I wonder why all of the others died last summer? Drought, obviously, so maybe a better question would be why did this one survive?
What can I say? I love my crocuses. |
| Stormdancer Posted on Wednesday, April 09, 2008 - 01:36 pm: | |
my thoughts exactly! A tree service friend of ours actually did decide to eat the leaves and his wife did also...both regretted that move as they developed a severe internal as well as external rash...took the doc to get them both through it...definitely would take the pics to show them exactly what it "can" develop into. |
| Seil Posted on Wednesday, April 09, 2008 - 07:54 pm: | |
I don't know where you can get those tiles. DJ, but if you ever find them let me know. They're gorgeous. I so hate those rough finished concrete things they have everywhere around here. |
OOOooff! Yikes! That reminds me of a story my Grandmother told me once. She and her cousin had to use the bathroom out in the woods one time when they were very young and... you guessed it... her cousin wiped with leaves of PI. Ugh! BTW, I looked up Virginia Creeper to see why people get a rash from it and it's because the juice contains oxalates. Very interesting, because so does Broccoli, which I am allergic to unless it is homegrown. Hmm!
Will do. Here's the pic that got me hooked:
 |
| Stormdancer Posted on Thursday, April 10, 2008 - 11:28 am: | |
Wow!! And I have NO reaction to Broccoli at all, I'm currently growing it in the garden and it is one of the veggies we eat quite frequently. I do recall reading on the Technu information that the essential oils in the plants are what the skin is reacting to and the ingredients in the Technu help make the oils release...which is why I can't understand why the Dawn didn't work for me...except that I had rubbed it in good in my attempts to remove the clippings on my legs. |
Eeee! It hurts just to read that. LOL. .... I had thought I had problems with broc because my husband had made so much of it for us to eat one year. One time after that, I went on a trip with my parents and my Dad had picked up some sort of veggie dish from the deli and we had a picnic. I took one bite and couldn't even move fast enough to get off the picnic blanket before I threw up. I read the label and saw broccoli on the list. Ugh. Then one time I had some organic broc and I didn't get sick, so I thought maybe it was a pesticide used on broccoli that was making me sick. Now I just don't know what to think. LOL! |
April 9, 2008 (Wednesday)
(continued from before)
I spent 45 minutes watering one of the beds this evening and mixing it all in. In other words, technically, I am not "finished" with my beds. I have three more to water, plus I still have some remaining material to put in, but I am reconsidering that part. I guess I will recheck the pH tomorrow. I had checked a sample once already and it measured 7, so I had decided that I didn't need the lime after all. We'll see what it reads now that it has all of its components and is soaking wet. If it turns out that I don't need the lime, then that just means I have plenty to attack all of the moss in the lawn with. I'll have to scavenge some of the moss for a moss garden, though.
As I was coming in from watering, I noticed that the old Violets are beginning to leaf out.
I ended the day by resetting the plant light timer to 16 hours. I think it had been at 14, although it hadn't been that for very long. I mostly kept it at 12 hours because I didn't want to mess with Roo's sleeping schedule too much. Since chickens lay eggs every 16 hours of daylight, maybe he will lay an egg now. LOL!
April 10, 2008 (Thursday)
It is 52 degrees this morning. It is supposed to get up to the 60s today.
I am going to search for those Victorian garden tiles now. ~~~~~~~~ Just so that I don't repeat my efforts again later when I continue my search, here is the evolution of a search for Victorian garden tiles in the US:
Search for Victorian Garden Tiles
* +"victorian garden tiles"
* +victorian +garden +tiles
* +"victorian tiles"
* +rope +tiles
* +rope +"clay tiles"
* +roping +tiles
* +"rope top"
* +precast +rope
* +"lawn edging"
* +"path edging"
* +"garden edging"
* +edgers
* +rope +edging
* +"garden edging" +terracotta
* +"barley twist" +edging
* +molds +garden +edging
For future reference, I'm listing tile sites that I thought were interesting.
Here's a mold that can be bought in Canada:
http://www.allmolds.com/misc2.htm
Wisconsin.
http://www.substiwood.com/edgings.htm
California. Might not sell to the public, but they have a number to call.
http://www.westcoasttimbercrete.com/Rope-Top-Edging.htm
Kansas. Has cool pavers, too.
http://www.vmcconcrete.com/pavers.html
I'm going to use this site as a reference for looking up specific names of tile styles. Oooh, aaahhh.
http://www.pavingexpert.com/edging07.htm
I really ought to post some of this stuff in the "Come Shop with Me" thread. I think the Garden Art on this next site is pretty cool:
http://www.unrealrocks.com.au/gardens.html
Michigan.
http://www.bichlerconcrete.com/lawn_edging.htm
Pretty stuff!
http://www.gardenmolds.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=01 &Category_Code=2
Wow, these molds are expensive.
http://www.armconmoldsusa.com/pages/ropetopedge1.htm
This place has some really cool molds:
http://flexteck.stores.yahoo.net
I am searched out, but I think that last search combination is worth revisiting again sometime.
I vacuumed the ladybugs out of three windows and dumped them outside in the garden. Then I turned around and saw hundreds more in four other windows. Joy. That will be a chore for later. Right now, it's time to go water the other veggie beds.
I finished one bed and then we had a picnic. Then I toured the flower gardens.
Plants Coming Up
* Bleeding Hearts
* Helenium
* nth generation Delphiniums
* 'Happy Returns' Daylily
* 'Stella de Oro' Daylily
* Poppy Seeds
Speaking of Daylilies, I checked the tray of Daylily seedlings last night and they seem to be looking pretty good so far. More great news: the Chrysler Imperial Rose is developing buds toward its base. Hooray, it's alive!
Monday and Tuesday night will supposedly be below freezing, so I guess those cabbage family plugs will have to wait. I don't really have anything to cover them if I plant them out. As for right this moment, one thermometer says 70 degrees. It's the one I can't trust too much. The one that I do trust is in the sunshine right now and can't be trusted at all because of that. It is a nice and sunny day, although a bit windy... as usual.
Yellow attracts flies. I noticed that when I was dumping the yellow bags of bedding material into the new veggie beds. They were not bags of manure, and interestingly, the bags of manure were not attracting any flies at all. (Of course the manure is composted, but it's still manure!) I seem to recall that deer flies are attracted to blue, which makes me wonder why I got attacked by one when I was standing by the chicken coop rather than at any time I was on the tractor. Reminds me of someone who said that surfers ought not wear yellow when they go surfing because sharks like it. They called it, "Yum Yum Yellow." Haha!
I have sprouts of Geum and Grassy Bells. I've had them for a few days, but they came up sometime after the Nicotiana came up on April 6th. I have three sprouts of Apple Green Eggplant. The Parsley is enjoying its first day outside in the shade. The tomato plants are looking pretty good and some of them are already getting their first true leaves. I do not see sprouts of any of the backup toms that I started, though. |
April 10, 2008 (Thursday)
(continued from before)
I added organic fertilizer to the two veggie beds closest to the house and mixed it in.
I have killed three or four mosquitoes already in the past week or two.
April 11, 2008 (Friday)
I sowed Cup and Saucer Vine seeds today and have started stratifying the Edraianthus pumilo seeds. I took the stratified White Tufted Evening Primrose seeds out of the fridge and moved them to the plant room. (I haven't seen any shoots of last year's WTEP outside yet, so I wonder if they survived.) I potted up three Apple Green Eggplant seedlings and seven Geum seedlings. I've started the 'Nira' Chives, Cipollini Onions, Scallions, Pak Choi, and Collard Greens indoors after all so that I can keep an eye on them rather than planting them right into the veggie beds. I'll transplant them when they are of a size to do that, which should (hopefully) give me enough time to monitor the pH, fertility, and wetness of the beds in the meantime and avoid the really cold nights that are expected in the next few days. I will sow the following seeds outside sometime today (if it doesn't rain): Kiss-Me-Over-The-Garden-Gate, Standing Cypress, and Bachelor's Button 'Jubilee Gem'.
It started raining while we were watering, raking, and hoeing the third bed from the house. (I guess I won't be sowing any seeds outside today.) I ended up finishing that bed and the next bed myself. Actually, I still need to add fertilizer to the third bed.
Our federal tax refund came today, and I think that other odd deposit at the beginning of the month must have been our state refund. That was awfully fast.
April 12, 2008 (Saturday)
It was 52 degrees this morning, but warmed up to between 72 and 76 degrees today, depending on which thermometer I care to believe. I put one of the water founts out in the girls' pen because it had been toasting up in the coop for a few days and I figured they'd rather drink outside than inside where it was sweltering. I need to put the screens back up in their windows so that I can leave them open during the day.
We went out shopping today (my husband's idea) and took a detour through Rhode Island. That's the first time I've ever been to that state. I wasn't impressed with what I saw. It was a very poor, rundown, cluttered, and dirty area, but I'm sure there are better parts somewhere. I hope to see some of them on another trip some day.
We went to an outlet mall so that my husband could find some shoes. He didn't find any in his size. He had offered to take me to a garden center, but the ones that we drove past didn't have anything interest looking going on yet, so we didn't stop at any, but we did stop and have Mexican food for lunch. That is a rarity up here. It wasn't the greatest, but it was light-years better than some of the other garbage people try to pass off as Mexican food around here.
We came back home and I took the plastic off the third bed to let it dry out for a while, but then it started to sprinkle so I put it back on. Later, we took our son out for his third haircut ever. I don't think I'd ever been in a barber shop before. How interesting. It's definitely a man's realm. A big flat screen TV on the back wall was playing the Red Sox game which was being blared by several speakers hung about the room. There were about 17 guys in the room, most in their 20s and a handful under 20. Only one other girl came in the whole time we were there. They had a huge stash of magazines in the front window, everything from sports to fashion. Five people were getting their hair cut and most of them were getting it shaved almost down to their skin. A couple of them were having designs carved/shaved into their hair and a few were also having their beards trimmed and shaved into odd styles to match their hair. Very entertaining. Also very odd, as I never see anyone like that walking the streets around town. I wonder why that is?
April 13, 2008 (Sunday)
I checked my plants before bed last night. I fertilized the celery seedlings. Some of the tomato backup substitutes have sprouted, but they have the same problem of not breaking their leaves out of the seed coverings, so I don't know what I'm going to do at this point. Need to work on that. I found several different types of eggplant sprouts. I think there were sprouts of other things, too, so today is going to be a busy day of potting up.
It's 46 degrees this morning and it's not supposed to be nearly as warm as it was yesterday. Then again, yesterday was probably about 20 degrees warmer than the forecasters had said it would be, so who knows what will actually happen today.
I need to fence in my veggie beds. The dog keeps running over there.
Even though it's going to be below freezing for a couple of nights, I think today I will take down the chicken tent. Maybe I will go buy my own wheelbarrow first. I should have left the path to the coop wide enough for the tractor. Oh, well, not a big deal. I've needed my own wheelbarrow for a long time anyway. I had my eye on a blue one to match the tractor yesterday. Guess I'll see what it's made of today.
I potted up six Fengyuan Purple Eggplant and three Apple Green Eggplant, so now the Fengyuan, Apple, and Round Mauve are all done. I wonder why I don't have any sprouts of Swallow Eggplant yet? I saw a couple sprouts of Purple Beauty Pepper coming up. I potted up three Geum seedlings. I have lots of sprouts of Pak Choi and a couple sprouts of Collard Greens. That was fast. The onion seeds make me want to say, "You reek!" so I have left the egg carton open to dry them out a bit. I saw lots of sprouts of White Tufted Evening Primrose. Was I planning for so many? I have put the Trumpet Vine seedlings in the dog room now. It's about 56 degrees in there and I should bring them in tonight so that they don't think they are going to freeze to death. I operated on some of the tomato seedlings to remove the seed coverings from their leaves. Not too bad, all in all. I am a bit confused about my tomatoes, though. I know I went for one extra Sun Gold and one fewer Yellow Currant, but did I go for one extra Matina? If so, then what else went with one less? And did I opt for five Gregori's Altai in the end? Ugh. Should be interesting to find out what I have once the season gets going.
As an aside, why did my calendar program decide to start working again?
Since the stores aren't open yet, I think maybe I will sow those seeds outside that were supposed to be planted last Friday. After that, I need to remember to shop for Dahlia pots.
Oh, what a nightmare. I just checked my seed list to see what's scheduled for tomorrow. I have 14 types of seed to sow outside tomorrow. I guess I should mark out where they'll go today so that it won't take so long tomorrow. At least the peas won't be sown until Friday; the third bed should be dry enough to use by then. (I hope.) That reminds me. I saw something sprouting in the Allium bed yesterday. I need to look over my list to see if I can figure out what it is. I also saw one Liatris coming up yesterday. They were so blackened by the drought last year that I wonder if that will turn out to be the only one that survived.
Oh, I bet those sprouts in the Allium bed are poppies. That makes sense since that's what's popping up everywhere else already.
~~~~~~~~
This turned into a big day. I went to the store to buy pots and bought all sorts of things, except for pots. I bought gloves for the chicken coop, gloves for the veggie beds, gloves for my husband, a butterfly net for my son, mixed annual seeds and two kinds of seeds of dwarf sunflowers for my son, seeds of red Oriental Poppies for myself, a pair of cutters for the garden (my other ones aren't working correctly), and a dandelion digger-upper. Yay! For once their silk flowers were on sale, so I stocked up on orange, blue, and white ones, plus some greenery, to make two new bouquets for the chicken coop. I need to remember to put the screens in the windows first. Then I went to the other store to buy a wheelbarrow. For some reason, probably because of the no-flat tire, the blue one cost twice as much as the black one, so I bought the black one. That's unfortunate because it looks almost exactly like my husband's wheelbarrow and I do not want them to get mixed up. Oh, well, it gives me an excuse to paint mine with a nice scrolly "Mine" on it. When I got back home, I set about taking apart the chicken tent and cleaning it out. That was when I noticed that the dog had yanked out the markers for the other half of my garden. That means there is a giant thumbtack lying around out there somewhere. With any luck, it's still attached to the end of the string. I hope so because I wouldn't want anyone to step on it.
In answer to the question of whether I expected so many WTEP, the answer is, "I don't think so." I was planning for twelve and I think there will be more than that. |
| Stormdancer Posted on Monday, April 14, 2008 - 07:10 am: | |
Hi DJ ...sounds like your dog is like mine...just has to be where he isn't supposed to go. Lol...that was why I insisted on DH getting the fence around the garden area as soon as I got it set up and before I got things planted. Even the new flowerbeds in the front are invaded by the dogs unless I stay on them like children. |
Mine, too. Grrr. LOL. |
April 14, 2008 (Monday)
It is 35 degrees this morning. Two more nights of freezing temps, but a sunny week in general. That's good... I'll get that bed dried out yet.
My husband finally started walking his dog on a chain, not because it was terrorizing the chickens and the veggie beds, but because it started eating the hay that I took out of the coop yesterday. I should have thought of that sooner... building a compost pile without a fence.
The hummingbird migration map shows that one was spotted somewhere around Worcester yesterday. I haven't seen mine, but that doesn't mean they aren't here yet.
One more thing added to the list of seeds to sow outside today: those Oriental Poppies that I bought yesterday. I think I'll put them behind the rock garden at the beginning of the chicken coop path.
~~~~~~~~
I sowed all of the seeds. Well, not all. I saved some of the Bachelor's Button, Ambrosia, and Candytuft because I had so many. I decided to start the Sweet Peas 'America' inside to increase the chance that some make it, so they have been nicked and are soaking right now. I'll pot them up tomorrow.
I need to start preparing now for May 23rd. I have 32 types of seeds to sow on that date, about 20 of which need to go in spots that don't exist yet. Ha! Ugh.
This is getting to be irritating... the pump keeps kicking on even when no one has used any water. I blame the toilet except that I never hear it cycle, so I don't really know what is going on.
~~~~~~~~
Oh, my word. I was just rooting around in the freezer for something to eat for lunch and discovered a bag of seeds. Just my luck. Purple Coneflowers, Blackberry Lilies, Joe-Pye Weed, and English Lavender have all been stratifying in there, presumably since the last seed starting season. Ugh! Think they've stratified long enough? *snort* Oops, that reminds me that something is waiting to get out of the fridge and into the plant room, two days late. I'm on a roll! ~~~ Ah, it was the Russian Sage. Can't wait to see how that does this year. ~~~ I am so happy to have found those Blackberry Lily seeds since only one plant survived last year's drought. Off to start those seeds!
~~~~~~~~
I started those four overly stratified batches of seeds, plus potted up 16 Pak Choi and 30 Collard Greens. I did a seedling check and those really were the Round Mauve Eggplant that I wondered about last time.
Earlier, I moved a bunch of baggies to the fridge because things haven't started sprouting yet and it's been at least a month and a half since I started them. I think I was supposed to keep the Filipendula in the plant room, though, and freeze it at the beginning of May, so I need to remember to move that back. |
