Week Two

The first garage/antique/bedding plant sale went just great!

I will have some new plants ready to go for the next weekend and I hope to see you there! Two more families have added goodies to sell, and I have cleaned out a little more too, so there will be new "stuff".

Just Friday and Saturday this time. Still noon - 7 p.m. and no early shopping please. Can't beat these prices!
Bedding Plants - 4 and 6 packs $2
Gerberas, 4" pot plant $3
Tomatoes $2.50 ea
Geraniums and Peppers $2 ea
And I have more petunias ready to go. They are not big, but some are even blooming.

BEDDING PLANT, ANTIQUE, COLLECTIBLES, GARAGE SALE

Clearing it all out!

May 8, 9, 10 (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) and

May 15 & 16 (Friday and Saturday of the long weekend)

Noon to 7 p.m. each day

No early shopping please.

Along with the list of bedding plants on the right, I am having a garage sale and also letting go of some antiques and collectibles.

It will be a multi family garage sale, the usual stuff.

Antiques include washboard, galvinized boiler, tobacco tins, brownie camera, kitchen chairs, LP records, old school books, Canadian National plates, some blue plates from the Independence Hall and other odds and ends.

Collectibles included bells, steins, stamps, first day of issue covers.

Garage sale will be the usual stuff - books, Tupperware parts, stuffed animals, clothes, exercise bike, a few toys, Toshiba pocket PC.

Don't know a this point what other people are bringing, but it will be worth a browse. If you are looking for something, call or email me - chances are I have something I don't need that you might.

56404 Range Road 273

Things are blooming!

It is amazing how fast a week can go by. Last Thursday at the Garden Club meeting, Lily from Lily's Greenhouses showed us how to make a moss planter. I could not believe what she sells them for! Needless to say, I had to try my hand at it myself, since I have tons of plants to play with.

I had coir basket liners, so thought I'd try them. it is very tricky getting plants through holes cut in the coir, and I see a few of my plants are a little the worse for wear after poking through the coir.

Ryan looked after everything while I attended a fitness leader workshop all weekend and everything survived, I am glad to report.

It helps when the weather does not get stupid!

Yesterday I spent 6 hours transplanting tomatoes and arranging things in the greenhouse so I could put more out there. I really need about double the space - but what's a person to do? Everything is getting leggy because I can't get enough light to it.

The Livingston Daisies are still growing like mad. I thought I'd have blooms by now at the rate they were going, but not a one yet. Unlike the lovely Lemon Drop marigolds, which were started way later and are looking fabulous.

The geraniums are looking fantastic too. They have been in the greenhouse for a while and had a bit of a tough time with some of the hot days. All in all though, they are coming along nicely.

This is the first year I have tried grasses (one seed at a time when I have almost two acres of lawn already?) and they seem to be doing well. I was able to restrain myself and just started a few plants. I hope they get big enough to be something worth looking at by the time summer comes.

So these are for you, Mom, who is constantly telling me I should plant some grasses. Both the Blue Fescue and the Pink Pampas grass are doing well.

Spring - NOT!

It is definately spring - the days go from summer-like to winter-like in hours.

The Ruby Moon Hyacinth Beans are doing wonderfully. I wonder if I started them too soon? Last year, nothing germinated in a timely fashion. This year, everything is germinating in the shortest possible time.

So I panicked, and if it said, "Takes 5 - 21 days to germinate" I assumed it would take the 21 days. Heck, some stuff even germinated in less time than the package said.

And my petunias do not seem to be able to make up their mind what colour they want to be. Can you tell the difference in the colour between these two? In real life, the top one is definately more red. It is a little difficult because they were taken under different lighting conditions.

I guess that's the chance you take when you save your own seeds. At least if the germination rate is only 20% you are not out a lot of money, but you have no idea what kind of flower you will end up with next season.

But I don't think I started the petunias too soon, because they are doing fantastic and I can tell what colour the blooms are! Bonus.

The marigolds on the other hand, especially the crackerjack, will have to be repotted soon because they are almost a foot tall. And the zinnias. More soil. I think I have gone through enough soil, peat moss and vermiculite to fill the back of a 1/2 ton truck so far this spring. On the plus side, with all these plants in the house, the air must be super oxygenated and the humidity level should be good for my skin!

Guaranteed to make me smile

All babies are cute (except birds) and although this in no way compares to a newborn baby, it certainly puts a smile on my face to see a plant poking its way into the daylight.

I like to plant scarlet runner beans to climb over the arch on my bench on the patio, and indeed I do have seeds for them again this year. But I was intrigued by the Hyacinth Bean packet, with its pretty pink blooms and deep purple-red bean pods.

I wonder if the hummingbirds like them as much as the scarlet runner beans? It is such a treat to watch them flit from flower to flower, and just as much fun to watch the cat watch the bird.

While the scarlet runner beans are supposed to grow to about 10', according to the packet the hyacinth beans are supposed to climb to a height of 15'. Quite a feat from these humble beginnings in my seed flat.

The blooms are supposed to be fragrant too, so that should make them attractive to the birds, I'd think. I bet they'd look nice intertwined wtih my moon flowers. That's another vine I am quite excited about.

Moon Flowers (ipomoea) are a member of the morning glory family with great big white blooms that open at night and close up by noon the next day. They too are supposed to fill the night air with fragrance and almost glow with white luminescence in the moonlight. Unfortunately, I have limited places I can plant climbing vines, so I will only be needing a few of the 16 hyacinth beans and 15 moon flowers I have planted. Maybe I am counting my chickens too soon though. The moon flowers are not up yet!

Big excitement yesterday - I saw black soil peeking through the west garden! Surely planting is just around the corner....

Out they go!

Or is that in? Outside, into the greenhouse. You decide.

After two successful nights (I did not kill anything) in the greenhouse, I decided to put some more plants out there.

The strange thing is, even though I have all these plants in the greenhouse, there are still all these in the house. And more in the bedroom yet.

Some things are blooming - I don't know if you can pick out the lovely Lemon Drop marigolds in the greenhouse picture. I have one Red Brocade blooming too.

You can just make out the splash of colour amongst the greenery.

What you can't see are the hanging baskets I have started in the house. There are three hanging in the sunshine. What a lot of soil it takes to fill the big ones! I have a 16" one with a coir (coconut fibre) liner planted with white wave petunias and the purple convolvulus. I'd like to do more, but I don't have the soil yet. See that really big leaf in the centre of the picture? That is a butternut squash started from seeds I saved from an organic one Ryan bought. (I pay attention and don't generally buy organic stuff - tests have proved the benefits are negligible of organic over the regular stuff. Depending on the food, of course.)

My Powder Puff Asters have sprouted, as have my African Marigolds. I started some Ruby Moon Hyacinth Beans, Scarlet Flax and Moon Flower on the weekend and am impatiently waiting for them to sprout. My second batch of nicotinia are up, just wish I knew what colour they are! I guess we'll see when they bloom. And last but not least, I picked up more Salpiglosis seeds yesterday and got them in the soil. So exciting. How long till the snow is gone?

I am truly blessed to have a husband who says "What nice flowers," not "Where in God's name do you think we are going to find a place to plant that?", when I bring home yet another seed packet. Despite 4 acres of land, we really only have a few good spots for flowers, so most end up in planters or rows among the vegetables. And since we spend a considerable time weeding and watering out there, it is nice to have them to look at.

Here is our 1 acre garden spot in June '07.

When is a houseplant not a houseplant?

Who knew I actually knew what I was doing for once? Last year I took cuttings of pothos, baby's tears and started some spider plants. Many house plants start easily from cuttings and can be used like an annual in a planter outside.
Think tropical - think rain forest - and then find the perfect spot for these plants. Most tropical/houseplants do not tolerate the midday heat. Morning or late afternoon sun, or dappled shade is best for them. I put some in a barrel under my birch tree last summer.
The spider plants, while a common and often disdained house plant, look very much like dracena in a planter. Pothos have such a beautiful leaf to trail out of a planter. I mixed mine with some coleus for a colourful planter at the back of my house which receives very little sunshine and it just thrived. Of course, these tender plants require serious hardening off and can't go out until there is no danger of frost, or even near it.
At our garden club meeting in March, Michael from High Q Greenhouses suggested doing the exact same thing!

I even had some parsley in it to do triple double duty. It adds a lovely green bush effect and being right outside the door, it was handy for cooking.
Come to think of it, chives would add height to a planter too, and provide tasty snippings for baked potatoes all summer long. Think I will divide my chive plant and add some to my back door planter.

Pictured here, top to bottom: Pothos, Baby's Tears, Pearl Plant

Shop-a-holic

It is a really bad idea to browse my Lois Hole's Favorite Bedding Plants book and then go shopping. Either one on its own is fine, but combine desire with opportunity, and I come home with more seeds. I mean, who can leave a package of beautiful scarlet flax seeds just sitting on the shelf?

I was actually looking for annuals that had large blooms, and was on the hunt for something called Octopus Dahlias, which are supposed to have beautiful large flowers. No luck, but I did find Powder Puff Asters.

Left my list at home, and totally forgot what I wanted most - Salpiglosis. The name is not pretty, but these hardy plants rival any fancy petunia. The multicolour blooms last a long time and there is really nothing else like them. Also known as Painted Tongue. They take quite a while to get to a decent size for transplanting, and I keep forgetting to pick up seed.

Meanwhile, I am hoping that our test to see if we can keep the greenhouse warm enough overnight is successful so I can get some stuff out of the house. Today I had to transplant dahlias and gerberas and tomatoes, and it is getting hard to find enough spaces with sunshine for everything.

Oh Grow Up!

Transplant, transplant, transplant. You see, many seeds can be started in a small container. I like the wonderful little plastic takeout containers from Safeway - black bottom to retain heat and an attached clear plastic top. Perfect!
Starting in small containers prevents empty cells from ungerminated seed and saves quite a lot of space. Once they get their first true leaves, then I can transplant them into 6-cell packs and bigger trays. I don't like to put them into anything too big, because, well, I have a lot of different plants, and space does run out as the spring progresses. So even though some things will eventually be in 4" pots, I am in no hurry to get them into the bigger pots, because I can fit 72 plants in a 10" by 20" tray in the little 6-cell packs, but the same plants will fill 4 trays by the time they are in their final pots. So I spend a lot of time moving plants up to bigger containers as they become rootbound or need more space so the leaves aren't crowded. I would hate to get some disease because my plants are too cramped, and it is hard to water them too when they are crowded.

So the geraniums that at one time fit nicely into one tray are now taking up six trays, 36 plants to the tray. Yep, I have plenty of geraniums, but a hundred of them are already spoken for.
Geraniums are a very satisfying thing to grow. Shortly after sprouting, the send out the most darling little scalloped leaves. The plants are sturdy and grow quickly. They are very tender to frosts, but can be kept indoors over the winter and will bloom constantly if they have enough light and water. That is if you remember to bring them in before the first hard frost. Sigh. I had quite a few nice varieties I was planning to keep. Once the days start to get longer, cuttings taken from the newly vigorous shoots will root easily and make many new little plants.
All my geraniums are from seed this year, but I hope to be more vigilant this fall and get my plants into the house in time so I can start cuttings next year. Already planning spring 2010!

Garden Huckleberry

Garden Huckleberry (Solanum melanocerasum)
Condensed from an article by Ross Nicholson, the Gardner for the Prairies magazine, Spring 2008
The garden huckleberry is easy to grow and can produce an abundance of fruit. It is not related to the true huckleberry, a woody plant in the heath family; rather it is an herbaceous annual in the nightshade family, closely related to the tomato and pepper. They look and taste similar to blueberries, but the fruits are two to three times larger and will do not require the acid soil that blueberries need. Each plant will produce hundreds of berries about ½” diameter or larger. They taste wonderful and are great in pies, pastries and preserves, alone or mixed with other fruit.

Developing fruits are green but they ripen to deep black. Because it is a member of the nightshade family, the green berries or foliage should never be eaten, as they could be toxic. Harvest when they are have changed from shiny to a dull, dark purple, and they are even sweeter if you wait until after a frost. They may be eaten right off the plant or if you find them too bitter, parboil the berries for 10 minutes in water with a pinch of soda.

Grow garden huckleberries as you would tomatoes. Start seeds indoors in April and set out when all danger of frost is past. Like tomatoes, make sure plants are hardened off before setting out in the garden and they can be planted deeply if the seedlings are leggy. Plants require no care other than water, about 1 – 2 inches of water each week, depending on the temperature and type of soil. Do not over fertilize or you will get all foliage and no fruit. Since garden huckleberries are related to tomatoes and peppers, they should not be grown in soil which had either of those plants the previous year to prevent disease.
Plant in full sun at least two feet apart as the plants can get very large.
Small white flowers appear in July and fruit will form in as few as 75 days after planting. However, do not harvest until all the fruit are a dull purple and starting to soften.
Ann's note: Mine did not get 1/2" berries on them last year (they were smaller), but they got a late start. This year I have a good start on them and should have nice plants to put out in May. I think two plants would give you all you want. And I have a couple recipes for them too....
I have about 40 plants.

The big picture

I think we need to add on to the house.... either that or take out the pool table so I have more room for seedlings. I sure wish I wrote down when I put the plants out into the greenhouse last year. This is what the pool room looks like in front of the windows, and if I about turn, more on the other wall.

But that's not all. This used to be the "spare" bedroom. Thank goodness for the Murphy bed which gets the heck out of the way! From the doorway you get a glimpse of the mess which I tidy constantly because it is tight and gets messed up every time I plant or transplant. A lot of little plants crammed into this tiny room.

As you can see, there is no room on any of my stands for more plants. Well, a couple on one in the pool room, but all the ones on the floor are just catching rays for the day and will be going on the stand come night time for some extra light.

I shudder to think what all this lighting has done to my power bill this spring. And once again, I am out of potting soil. I really like the Garden Club stuff from Canadian Tire, but they only have it in small bags yet. Seems the big ones are outside covered in snow. It does not seem to be mostly peat moss, which I really don't like as it gets so hard and crusty if it dries out too much. I sure hope they bring it in soon - and put it on sale.

I planted Livingston Daisies in those two bright green pots. Will post pictures when they look like something - i.e. they bloom.

Today I started some blue Morning Glories and Statice. I am dying to start my watermelon and butternut squash, but it is still too soon.

Calibrachoa

What a glorious day! It got to 90 F in the greenhouse today, so Ryan and I spent some time cleaning it out. I now have room to put 26 flats of plants in there without them being too close to the walls. That's important, because when the temperature drops at night, the ones too close to the walls can get frozen.

Unfortunately, I already have 28 flats in the house. And many to be transplanted from little containers into bigger ones.

Some of the calibrachoa are blooming now, and the marigolds and alyssum are close. I have some thunbergia (black-eyed Susan vine) I am keeping for a friend, and one has bloomed. Such a hopeful time of year to see things start to colour. I also have an amaryllis that blooms off and on for me - and look at it now!

Convolvulus Confusion

Insanity runs strong in my family. I won't name the others who have it to preserve their dignity, but you know who you are. Enough said.
I think it may have been a bad idea to buy starter trays that have 200 cells in just a 10" by 20" area. Herein lies the root of my problem. I saved convolvulus seeds last year, so I have many. MANY. And you never know how saved seed will germinate, so I started 200. I mean, I HAVE the tray... and the cover fits nicely. And you can't put a variety of plants in there, because they may have different germination rates and requirements.
How exciting. On March 19th I planted my little seeds. March 23rd I had 54 seedlings up! March 24th at noon I had 72, and at noon on March 26th there were 110 (shown above). Seems they were pretty fertile. Notice how the little leaves are shaped, compared with the mature ones, which are a beautiful heart shape. And the little guys get right to work growing - about 2" high within a day. They are in the same family as the Morning Glory, for those of you who think that that is what they look like. You're right!

Now these lovely plants will either climb or trail, and I was inspired by a speaker at our last garden club meeting to put them in hanging baskets. They will both climb up the hanger and tumble over the edges.
There is just no describing the beautiful deep purple blooms with light throats. You have to see it for yourself. Anyway, as I said, they climb. Last year the darn things intertwined among themselves before I could even get them into the greenhouse. So this year I will be putting them in baskets and pots (and empty milk jugs and tin cans and a variety of things if they continue to spout) and give them a good start in their final homes.
They do not get as full as say, wave petunias, so it will take a fair number to make a basket look full. I think I will throw something white in with some of them for a most striking display. And speaking of white blooms, it looks like my alyssum are going to start blooming any day now.

And look at the great little pots I picked up. I think either portulaca or Livingston daisies would look fabulous in them. They had them in blue (instead of the green) too. I think I may go back and get a couple of them. I just wish they were a little bigger, they are only about 7" across.

When is the snow supposed to be gone?

I plant, therefore I am

Oh man, will I ever learn? There are just so many pretty seed packets in the stores...
And why is it that seeds that cost $6 and have only 10 in a packet only germinate at about 50%, but the 99 cent packages have hundreds and every one germinates? And who needs 300 cabbage plants? That reminds me, I was going to start some cabbage...
The biggest cost is the darn soil. Takes a lot to fill all those little cell packs. I spend an average of 3 hours a day looking after everything. Some days it is as much as 8 hours, some just an hour making sure everything is watered. Good thing we had a lot of snow, as our water is very bad for plants so I have to melt a lot of snow.
Below are a few pictures of what I have on the go - in video form.

I think I have more than I will need... so if there is something you want, make sure to let me know. I will be selling off the extras the long weekend in May and the weekend before that. I hope to make enough from selling my plants to cover the cost of seeds, soil, flats and propane which I need to keep everything from freezing once it goes into the greenhouse. Last year I used 5 tanks of propane alone!

The long weekend I also plan to have a garage sale and also sell all the antiques I really don't need. So if you want to come for a drive - see you then. In the meantime, you can follow along and watch the plants grow!