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.