This year, despite my best hopes, has become yet another year of intense learning about how best to grow things in my home garden. There are worse things, I know, but I am looking forward to eventually having a calm, uneventful spring in which I already know exactly what I like to grow and how to do so. That day, however, as Aragorn says, is not this day.
I posted on a Facebook garden group I joined a while back about all of the different varieties I had planted just by March of this year. Most members, also addicted to gardening, cheered me on, but a few were shocked. And I thought maybe the amount of plants–about half of which are new to me–may be a tad on the high side.
Part of my rush into gardening comes from the fact that, at 44 years old, I had bought a house and could finally do the amount of gardening I’d been dreaming of. Prior to this I had been living in the Bay Area of California, and despite CA being a lovely place to live, it is also extremely expensive, and I knew that I’d never be able to afford the type of house and yard that I wanted. So now I did finally have land–a good-sized yard (.15 total acre for the plot, 2/3s of which is lawn and garden)– in a nice older neighborhood in my hometown. And, boy howdy, was I ready to garden!
Another factor in my gardening obsession is, of course, Covid. I was locked at home for the better part of two years, and even now have the luxury of continuing to work from home. And Covid also brought with it intermittent food shortages and general societal and consumer anxiety, and like many others during this time, I found gardening helped to ease some of that anxiety.
Finally, an unexpected knee surgery in February 2021 literally made me sit down and do nothing for six weeks right before gardening season. I was bored, in pain, and itching with irritation at missing seed starting season again. (We had moved into our house Memorial Day weekend the year before, so that year’s garden started late as well.) So I made up for it by watching approximately a million Youtube videos and buying tons of packets of seeds and canning equipment. Thus the world of commercial flower farming, farmer’s market gardening, and, in particular, homesteading was opened up to me. For over six weeks, I spent most of my waking hours sitting at home watching my videos, and created the most massively detailed, multi-tabbed Excel spreadsheet to help me organize all my gardening plans. As you do.
All that said, here’s a list of new-to-me varieties that I’ve successfully sown this year so far–all 118 of them. All grown from seed unless otherwise noted. Note that these are not all of the varieties I’ve sown, just ones that are new to me this year. Some of the seeds were ones I bought last year but didn’t have any luck with or didn’t get around to sowing. The rest are new this year.
Herbs:
Basil, Emerald Towers
Basil, Cinnamon
Basil, Thai Sweet
Borage, ‘Alba’
Chamomile, Zloty Lan
Cilantro, Santo
Comfrey (from root cutting)
Dill, Bouquet
Dill, Mammoth
Fennel, Dragon F1
Fennel, Florence
Lavender, Munstead (from seed! finally)
Mint, Catnip
Thyme, Garden
Yarrow, White
Flowers:
Alyssum, Dwarf Rainbow Mix
Aster, Salmon Janina
Baby’s Breath
Bachelor’s Button, Classic Romantic
Dianthus, Sweet William
Gomphrena, Salmon Pastel
Gomphrena, Carmine
Hibiscus, Red Mahagony
Nicotiana, Jasmine Scented
Pampas Grass, Plume Mix
Phlox, Lavender Beauty
Poppy, Iceland–Pastel Meadows
Rudbeckia, Indian Summer (yellow)
Rudbeckia, Gloriosa Daisy Prairie Sun
Rudbeckia, Goldilocks
Snapdragons, Rocket Mix
Snapdragon, Black Prince
Snapdragon, Tequila Sunrise
Snapdragon, Night and Day
Snapdragon, Magic Carpet Blend
Strawflower, Apricot
Stock, Anytime Mix
Stock, Sissi “Shades of Blue” Mix
Sweet Pea, Bouquet Blend
Sweet Pea, High Scent
Sweet Pea, Knee-Hi Blend
Sweet Pea, Little Sweetheart
Sweet Pea, Perfume Delight
Sweet Pea, Royal Blend
Tulip, Darwin Hybrid Blushing Apeldorn
Viola, Brush Strokes
Viola, Cool Summer Breeze
Zinnia, Queen Lime Red
Zinnia, Queen Lime Lime
Brassicas:
Broccoli, Burgundy
Brussel Sprouts, Silvia
Chijimisai
Radish, French Breakfast
Radish, Miyashige White Daikon
Turnip, Tokinashi
Legumes:
Bean, Borlotto Del Valdarno
Fava, Aquadulce
Fava, Broad Windsor
Snap Pea, Magnolia Blossom Tendril
Cucumbers & Watermelons:
Cucumber, Salad Bush
Cucumber, Chelsea
Melon, Savor F1
Nightshades:
Tomato, Black Strawberry
Tomato, Cherry Fountain
Tomato, Hugarian Heart
Tomato, Purple Reign
Tomato, Tappy’s Heritage
Curcurbita (Summer Squash):
Summer Squash, “Avocado”
Summer Squash, Center Cut
Curcurbita (Winter Squash):
Pumpkin, Snowball F1
Winter Squash, Crown Prince (c. pepo)
Winter Squash, Squash 898 (experimental)
Winter Squash, Honeynut (hybrid, moschata/maxima)
Winter Squash, Marina di Chioggia (c. maxima)
ASTERACEAE:
Lettuce, Black Seeded Simpson
Lettuce, Little Gem
Lettuce, Marvel of Four Seasons Butterhead
Lettuce, Nancy
Lettuce, Parris Island Cos (Romaine)
Lettuce, Prizehead
Lettuce, Winter Density
CHENOPODIACEAE:
Beet, Detroit Golden
Spinach, Aurochs
Spinach, Gigante d’ Inverno
Swiss Chard, Verde De Taglio
Swiss Chard, Bietola a Costa Fine
Swiss Chard, Bright Lights Mix
Alliums:
Asparagus, Spartacus (from crowns)
Chives, Common
Garlic, Lorz Italian Heirloom (softneck) (from cloves)
Garlic, Music (hardneck) (from cloves)
Garlic, German Extra Hardy (hardneck) (from cloves)
As often happens in spring, I’m so busy doing the gardening that I don’t have the time or energy to write about the gardening I’m doing. So, here’s a summary of that’s all gone on the last few weeks.
All spring crops and spring flowers have now been sown. I’ve built two new small raised beds close to the back deck which will serve as my greens bed–several types of lettuce, spinach, and chard, as well as leeks and green onions. Herbs have been planted in my smaller greenstalk, also near the back deck. I planted some broccoli seedlings as well, but the snow/hard freeze we had at the end of March killed them off.) I also broke down and ordered some onions starts from Dixondale Farms when my leeks and other onion seedlings did not seem to be faring well; those are all now planted in my large raised beds farther back in the yard. My various onion, leek, and shallot seedlings are still coming along, and will hopefully be ready to plant out later this month.
As for spring flowers, I’ve had a lot of success with my sweet peas and pansies/violas, as well as my lobelia. My snapdragons, not so much. I put a few out before what turned out ot be a hard freeze, and they did not survive. 😦 On to round 2 of sowing snapdragons.
I also ended up purchasing a bunch of tubers/bare root plants, because I was inundated with a million garden catalogues and I only have so much restraint. I received a great looking bunch of purple viking potatoes from Gurney, but they were so fresh and juicy that when I cut them up, they all got very moldy and I had to toss them. Still chitting up are some french fingerling potatoes and red gold potatoes. Still to arrive are two types of raspberry bushes (most of mine died last year, due to some kind of disease); a trio of blueberry bushes; and some thornless blackberry bushes as well. As none of my asparagus seems to have survived the winter, despite growing very well last year, I also had put in another order of asparagus crowns.
I also picked up a new dwarf Fuji apple tree (“Reachables” variety, from Gurney) because I was finally able to find one in stock! The full-size Fuji apple I’ve tended since last spring will go to a friend with a much bigger yard. I also picked up two bare root yellow roses from Costco at $15 or so a pop, which was a great deal. (The red roses I picked up there last year are all thriving.) And my dahlia tubers are all ordered, but not shipped yet as I’m in Zone 5a/b.
Still to sow are my warm weather crops. This weekend I will finally get my tomatoes, peppers, and tomatillos sown. The flowers and all of my curcurbita crops (melons, cucumbers, squash) will get direct sown in May, as they don’t like to have their roots messed with. Also, I only have so much space left in my grown room in the basement!
Spring is definitely here, and I’m swamped. Hopefully I’ll be able to keep up with the blogging this summer, but no promises. Happy gardening!
One of the things I picked up from Nicole over at Flower Hill Farm is the idea of the One Seed Challenge (#oneseedchallenge). The main idea with this being that, yes, seeds are cheap, and we usually have many more than we could ever use, but it’s easy in the midst of that to lose the value of the seed itself. Any and every seed could be the start of a beautiful or nourishing plant. One seed could, in time, grow a tree strong enough to take down stone walls, or provide the underlying root structure to that could prevent acres of valuable topsoil from blowing away. Seeds, though many, are powerful on their own.
The seed I’m using for this challenge was very generously sent to me from a member of the Flower Hill Farm 2022 Grow-Along FB group. He had a bunch of Floret seeds to pass out, and I received a few Moonstone Aster seeds. I have one planted up now, in the hopes that it will pull through (and not get lost in the hundreds of other seeds I’ll be sowing this spring!) As it is, though I thought I had an almost full packet of aster seeds fromBaker Creek, the packet is missing, so this will be the only aster plant I’m growing this year. The variety–Moonstone–is my favorite color of aster, a dusky lavender. I can’t wait to see it grow!
Well, this month has almost gotten away with me. I’ve gotten a lot done–the basement greenhouse is finished, and I’ve sown over 50 varieties of plants at last count. I don’t have as much time or energy to blog now that I’m not laid up with a knee surgery. Hopefully this extra mobility will make sowing spring crops much easier!
Lat year I started a bunch of seeds. I followed the seed packets to the letter, erring on the side of longer when seed packets gave a range of days. I use my expected last frost date as the first week of May, which, according to both the local weatherman and many online sources, was correct. I didn’t give much extra fertilizer to my starts–in fact, most didn’t get any fertilizer until I planted them out.
That said, I still ended up with a nearly unmanageable jungle of oversized starts in my basement and living room by mid-April. It was a massive hassle up-potting and moving pots in and out doors in May, waiting for that final frost to hit. And then, after the plants were finally outside, at the end of May we had a few days of light frost. Augh!
It was a massive hassle that I am determined to avoid this year. This year I’l planning on a last frost date of May 15, with the reminder that I’m in 5a/b; I have enough time to grow pretty much anything before my first frost date, around early October, sets in.
Things I learned from last year:
Some hot peppers take forever to grow. Like, 12 weeks before they start to put on any significant growth. So, it’s okay to start those early. However, most mild or sweet peppers take about as long as the seed packets state, so 6-8 weeks or so. That said, peppers are EXTREMELY frost sensitive. There’s no point to putting them out until all chance of frost is a distant memory. So this year, I won’t be starting any but my hottest peppers until the beginning of April, at the earliest, with the plan of transplanting my peppers out around early June.
Tomatoes, however, grow really fast. Especially the cherry tomatoes. These were some of my biggest culprits last year. I still have nightmares about them constantly outgrowing their pots. I’m not even going to think about starting these until early April and transplanting them mid-May. (Again, there’s no real rush. I live in 5 a/b. I have a decently long growing season.)
Tomatillos also grow really fast. They are just as bad as the tomatoes, if not worse. I’m not starting them until April. Eggplants, the last of the nightshades I grew, took a while to get going. I put them in the same category with the peppers. If I were growing eggplants this year, I’d start them in early to Mid-March, depending on variety.
Another plant that grows extremely fast is Napa (or Chinese) cabbage. Do not start this one until you have thawed ground and a bed to put it in. When the seed seller says it hits maturity in 60 days, they are not lying.
Some plants I’m not planning on starting at all–I’m just going to wait until the weather is right and sow them in situ. I’ve found that a winter squash sown in plans in May will grow just as fast as a winter squash sown inside in April and them put outside to start hardening off in May. And, if you sow it directly, there’s no need to harden off starts! Other plants that this works well for are peas, beans, nasturtiums, and moonflowers. Essentially, anything with a large seed should work well for this.
Some plants that did not germinate and grow as fast as I’d like are beets, chard, and rutabagas, so I’m going to start these this week, as I like to be able to put out sizable starts. I’m hoping the ground will be thawed by mid-April. I also had no luck with my sweet peas last year, so even though, as peas, they will likely grow quickly, I am starting them early just in case. And as they are a cold-tolerant plant, I should be able to put them out pretty early.
So far, all of my alliums have germinated–the shallots broke the surfaces the quickest, with the leeks and Alisa Craig bringing up the rear. Also, while I was waiting a good week or so for my root trainers (they got caught up in the massive snowstorm in the East last week), my sweet peas sprouted. The High Scent and Perfume Delight had the best germination–100%. Two days ago, I potted them up into the root trainers and two seeds have already broken the surface as well. The lisianthus, as expected, has not yet made a showing.
This past weekend I also planted my ranunculus–three Tomer varieties from Longfield Gardens. I soaked them for four hours and them planted them into Bootstrap Farmer’s 5″x5″ grow trays, set in the usual 10″x20″ bottom watering trays. I had no luck with my ranunculus last year, so here’s hoping these sprout! I also attempted to plant the snowdrops that I didn’t get around to planting last fall, but the ground is still frozen solid–solid as a rock 😦 Maybe in March.
Next up: snapdragons and some of my slowest-growing hot peppers.
And, finally, a seed starting update. You didn’t think it was all live plants, did you?
(This one will be long. Luckily this blog layout goes to a cut on the main page after a few lines.)
Where did I leave off? Oh yes, March 27th. So, since then, this is what I’ve planted:
Seed starting, 3/30/21:
Tomato, Thornburn’s Terracotta
Baker Creek
Tomato, White Tomesol
Baker Creek
Tomato, Dad’s Sunset
Baker Creek
Tomato, Barry’s Crazy Cherry
Baker Creek
Pepper, Biquinho Yellow (hot)
Baker Creek
Sweet Pea, My Navy
Botanical Interests
Sweet Pea, Little Sweetheart
Botanical Interests
Sweet Pea, Royal Blend
Botanical Interests
Dahlia, Café au Lait
Skyfall Flowers
Dahlia, Giant Hybrid Mix
Johnny’s Seeds
I bought a bunch of orange tomatoes to try, and received a free packet of white tomato seeds as well. Also, technically, the Dahlia was a tuber that I pre-sprouted, not a seed. ANd, another round of sweet peas. They are currently my bane.
Seed starting, 4/2/21:
Purple echinacea (stratified)
Sustainable Sprout
Peppermint (stratified)
Sustainable Sprout
Valerian (stratified)
Tradewinds Fruits
Giant Columbine (stratified)
MI Gardener
Lavender, Provence Blue (stratified)
Sustainable Sprout
Calendula, Pacific Beauty Mix
Baker Creek
Aster, Giant Perfection Mix
Baker Creek
Bachelor’s Button, Blue Boy
Botanical Interests
Calendula, Pink Surprise
Baker Creek
ECHINACEA, Green Twister
Swallowtail Seeds
ECHINACEA, Primadonna Deep Rose
Swallowtail Seeds
ECHINACEA, White Swan
Swallowtail Seeds
Morning Glory, Purple
Wild harvested
Zinnia, California Giant
Botanical Interests
Zinnia, Queeny Lime Orange
Botanical Interests
Zinnia, Senora
R H Shumway’s
Pepper, Aurora (hot, decorative)
Seed Savers Exchange
Leek, King Richard
Johnny’s Seeds
Dianthus, Sweet William
Pinetree Seeds
One day, I will get those Echinacea seeds to sprout! Perennials are the next frontier, apparently.
Seed starting, 4/3/21:
Sweet Pea, My Navy
Botanical Interests
Sweet Pea, Royal Blend
Botanical Interests
Sweet Pea, Little Sweetheart
Botanical Interests
Salanovas
Johnny’s Seeds
Basil, Lettuce Leaf
Baker Creek
several nasturtiums
misc
Sugar Snap peas
Johnny’s Seeds
Bulgarian Giant Leeks
Baker Creek
I had just gotten a new order of Sweet Peas in, as my last batch did not take. And it seemed prudent to get some more nasturtiums, leeks, and lettuces started.
Seed starting, 4/4/21:
Pusa Carrots
Baker Creek
Sugar Snax Carrots
Johnny’s Seeds
Dragon Carrots
Baker Creek
Breakfast Radishes
Botanical Interests
Yellow Turnips
Baker Creek
Mulberry Tree
Baker Creek
Working on getting some carrots planted, and filling the Greenstalk.
Seed starting, 4/5-4/6/21:
Dahlia, Dwarf Cactus
RH Shumway
Sugar Snap Peas
Johnny’s
German Chamomile
Botanical interests
Pink Hollyhocks
Baker Creek
Giant Dahlia
Johnny’s
Cylindra Beets
Johnny’s
Botlhardy Beets
Pinetree Seeds
Ruby Swiss Chard
Botanical interests
Lollipop Mix Gaillardia
Baker Creek
Hollyhock, Nigra
Trade Wind Fruit
Pansy, Got the Blues
Botanical Interests
Poppy, Amazing Grey
Botanical Interests
Poppy, Spring Melody Blend California
Botanical Interests
Poppy, Falling In Love
Baker Creek
Poppy, Hungarian Blue Breadseed
Baker Creek
Rudbeckia, Autumn Colors
Pinetree Seeds
Snapdragon, Madame Butterfly Mix
Johnny’s Seeds
Viola, King Henry
Botanical Interests
Dianthus, Sweet William
Pinetree Seeds
Delphinium, Magic Fountains Sky Blue/White
Swallowtail Seeds
Here I was, attempting to get more cold-hardy plants started from seed outdoors. As of yet, none of the flowers have sprouted, so back inside to the heat mat they go.
Seed starting, 4/8/21:
White Malva
Pinetree Seeds
African Daisy
Baker Creek
Bachelor’s Button, Classic Romantic
Botanical Interests
Bergamont, Wild
Botanical Interests
A small batch of seeds started–Botanical Interests is having a free-shipping deal during all of April, and I couldn’t resist.
Also on 4/8/21, I starting trying my hand at taking cuttings from the bushes in our yard: purple lilac, honeysuckle, and our large quickfire hydrangea. Still waiting to see how these turn out. So far, the honeysuckle cuttings look good while the rest seem just eh.
“Seed” starting, 4/11/21:
A big chunk of my dahlias arrived yesterday, and I spent a few hours pruning and splitting them. I also potted up ‘Melody Pink’ and ‘Great Silence’ in the hopes that I can start taking cuttings off of them. Nothing like a plant that is easy to propagate 🙂 Makes me feel a little bit better about how much they all cost.
Seed starting today, 4/12/21:
Sweet Pea, My Navy
Botanical Interests
Sweet pea, Royal Blend
Botanical Interests
Sweet Pea, Bouquet Blend
Botanical Interests
Sweet Pea, Knee-Hi Blend
Botanical Interests
Sweet Pea, Perfume Delight
Botanical Interests
One last attempt at growing sweet peas, again thanks to Botanical Interests.
From now on, I’ll likely just be focusing on live plants and potting up my current seedlings. And the, you know, actual gardening, since I should finally be able to get out and start working in the beds next week.
My Swallowtail Seeds order arrived, finally–over 30 days after I ordered it, true, but the website did warn of 5 week delays. So I was finally able to get my Echinaceas planted. My Pinetree Garden Seeds order also arrived, slightly quicker than the Swallowtail Seeds order, and another small order I put in at Johnny’s arrived, all in the same week. So it was a pretty busy week of sowing.
My “Moon Garden” plants are, for the most part, started. I’ll be using the Fleurel dahlia as my centerpiece, with the White Swan echinacea, Snow White malva, Abyssinian Gladiolus (Acidanthera Murielae), and white African daisy in graduated rows leading up to it, and any ranunculus and gladiolus bulbs form my mixes that end up being white, all framed by a moonflower vine. I’ve also got night-blooming jasmine on order, but that’s not set to arrive until late May, so I need to remember to leave some space in the Moon Garden for it as well. All in all, not a bad start for an all- white garden.
“Abyssinian Gladiolus”
African Daisy
Snow White malva
Moonflower
White Swan Echinacea
Fleurel dahlia
Sowing 3/20/21:
Madame Butterfly Mix
Johnny’s Seeds
Dahlia, Unwins Mix
Baker Creek
Dahlia, Redskin Mix
Pinetree Seeds
Calendula, Pink Surprise
Baker Creek
Calendula, Zeolights
Botanical Interests
Lupine, generic
Joseph
Sowing 3/24/21:
Amazing Gray Poppy
Botanical Interests
Black Nasturtium
RH Shumway’s
Peach Melba Nasturtium
Botanical Interests
Malva, Snow White
Pinetree Seeds
Rainbow Loveliness Cottage Pinks
Botanical Interests
Hollyhock, Indian Spring
Baker Creek
Sowing 3/26/21:
Dahlia, Fleurel
Dutch Bulbs
ECHINACEA, GREEN TWISTER
Swallowtail Seeds
ECHINACEA, WHITE SWAN
Swallowtail Seeds
SALVIA, ROSE QUEEN
Swallowtail Seeds
SCABIOSA, FAMA DEEP BLUE
Swallowtail Seeds
Moonflower
Seed Savers Exchange
Madame Butterfly Bronze w/ White
Johnny’s Seeds
Sowing 3/27/21:
Basil, Lettuce Leaf
Baker Creek
Chamomile, German
Botanical Interests
Cosmos, Sea Shells
Baker Creek
Swiss Chard, Ruby Red/Rhubarb
Botanical Interests
Beet, Cylindra
Johnny’s Seeds
Beet, Bolthardy
Pinetree Garden Seeds
Salanova® Green Sweet Crisp
Johnny’s Seeds
Salanova® Home Garden Mix
Johnny’s Seeds
Delphinium, Sky Blue/White
Swallowtail Seeds
Hollyhock, Nigra
Trade Wind Fruit
Genovese Basil
Botanical Interests
The reason I start so many seeds is because 1) seeds are cheap, and I’ve already paid for them; and 2) I like to have variety. I’m not sure if I’ll end up planting all of these seedlings in my garden, but I want to have the option to do so. And despite overspending on seeds this year, it’s still cheaper than buying these plants already started from my local garden center (assuming my local garden center even carried all of these varieties, which is unlikely). But, mostly I just need something gardening-related to do right now while I’m housebound and healing.
So far, everything from the 3/20/21 sowing has germinated, and the Amazing Gray poppy from 3/24 has also germinated (poppies seem to germinate very quickly). I reordered the Madame Butterfly Bronze with White because it turns out that I hadn’t ordered the correct variety earlier–I had ordered a Madame Butterfly mix instead. So I will have a ton of snapdragon seedlings to choose from in about two months.
A note on dahlia bulbs: not all dahlia sellers are equal, apparently. The Fleurel bulb I ordered from DutchBulbs.com (again, very early into my dahlia purchasing) was way overpriced, and the bulb I received was clearly dehydrated, with the outer skin peeling off of most of the bulb. I planted it up in a pot anyway, but as of yet, it doesn’t show any signs of life. To be on the safe side, I ordered another Fleurel from Longfield Gardens, which was cheaper and actually includes three bulbs per order rather than just the one Dutchbulbs.com offers. (Also, the customer service at Longfield Gardens is amazing! Quick to respond and very flexible in rearranging my orders.) Once I get all of the bulbs I ordered and have them planted, I’ll write up a comparison of the five companies from whom I ordered dahlia bulbs.
Well, another weekend, another round of planting. Plus it looks like I didn’t put last week’s big planting up. So, a lot to cover today.
Planting 3/13/21 (2 each variety of Bootstrap Farmer’s 2″ pots/trays; Pro Mix w/ Mycorrhizae instead of the Black Gold seedling mix):
Pepper, Alma Paprika (hot)
Seed Savers Exchange
Pepper, Aurora (hot, decorative)
Seed Savers Exchange
Tomatillo, Grande Rio Verde
Botanical Interests
Tomatillo, Purple
Baker Creek
Tomato, Barry’s Crazy Cherry
Baker Creek
Tomato, Carbon
Baker Creek
Tomato, Paul Robeson
Baker Creek
Tomato, Sun Gold Pole Cherry
Botanical Interests
Tomato, Sun Gold Pole Cherry
Hirt’s Gardens
Moonflower
Seed Savers Exchange
Nasturitum, Tip Top Alaskan
Baker Creek
Sunflower, Valentine
Seed Savers Exchange
Eggplant, Listada de Gandia
Botanical Interests
Snap Pea, Magnolia Blossom
Baker Creek
Daisy, African
Baker Creek
So far, all of these have germinated at this point, though the peppers from Seed Savers have only one seedling each, and they only finally poked out their heads yesterday. Oddly, my both of my sets of Moonflower seedlings geminated on the same day, despite being sown two days apart. (I didn’t soak the first set of seeds, and nicked the second set.) And the tomatillo seedling are long and skinny, moreso than most of the rest of the seedlings. Maybe that’s just they way they look? (They look like really sickly tomato seedlings.) And–miracle of miracles!–all of my nasturtium varieties have now germinated, including the Peach Melba which got recycled into my snap pea potting soil. My Sweet Peas are all at least 6″ tall and my snap peas are not far behind. Currently, the peas are sitting on on the deck, getting acclimated.
Today’s sowing 3/20/21 included just one plant: the Madame Butterfly Bronze snapdragons I ordered from Johnny’s, as I just received them yesterday. Such tiny seeds for such a large plant! These are my absolute favorite of all of the snapdragons I’ve seen displayed on videos and seed catalogues: tall, frilly blooms of coppery-peach edged with white.
Finally, the leeks and onions are still not planted. My friend ended up rescheduling to this weekend, which is probably for the best, because we ended up having 3″ of snow! But they are happily sitting in my cool, dark back hall and should be fine.
Hopefully, by April I should be more mobile and able to perambulate my backyard and get a better idea of where I am going to plant all of the things I’ve ordered over the last two months. It’s getting pretty crowded, as I also picked up another dahlia and a 25-mixed bag of caladium bulbs to replace my mom’s tired old hostas around the deck. And a 25-pack of strawberries….
I started planting my first seeds two weeks ago, and have been planting more batches every few days as the seed packs indicate. So far it’s going pretty well; about 90% of seeds have germinated and are up and going. I can say this with confidence as I have all of my seeds and this year’s sowings organized in Excel spreadsheets and know exactly how many seeds were planted and when. (I literally had nothing to while the earth was covered in 2′ of snow and waited for my knee to heal this past month.) So I’m possibly better organized with my garden than I’ve ever been with anything, but I know I’ll be grateful for it all when it comes time to plant next year.
Here’s what I’ve planted so far:
Medium: Black Gold seedling mix. All seedlings are planted in 6-pack deep trays or Bootstrap Farmer’s 2″ seed pots. All trays are in 10×20 trays on heating pads with large humidity domes.
2/28/21:
Autumn Colors Rudbeckia
Pinetree Seeds
Dwarf Cactus Dahlia
RH Shumway
Redskin Mix Dahlia
Pinetree Seeds
Lobelia (Crystal Palace)
Botanical Interests
Sugar Stars Phlox
Baker Creek
Rainbow Loveliness
Botanical Interests
Pink Carnations
MI Gardener
Arena Red Lisianthus
Hirt’s Seeds
Listada de Gandia Eggplant
Botanical Interests
Lettuce Leaf Basil
Baker Creek
Holy Basil
Tradewinds Fruit
Pennyroyal
Hirt’s Seeds
Of this batch, the Sugar Stars Phlox and the the Lisianthus did not germinate at all. I recycled the phlox and will prob attempt to resow them at some point later this spring. I’m still waiting on the Lisanthus as I know they take forever to germinate.
(Note: when I say I “recycled” a given variety, I’m just recycling the soil, not the actual seed. Yes, I know sometimes the seeds will pop up later on in random places; it’s all good.)
3/1/21:
Peach Melba Nasturtium
Botanical Interests
Single Blend Trailing Nasturtium
Botanical Interests
Lollipop Mix Gaillardia
Baker Creek
Bull’s Blood Beet
Pinetree Seeds
Of this batch, one lone Trailing Nasturtium germinated and absolutely no other nasturtiums did. I loved growing (and eating) my nasturtiums last year, but I used an Alaska Mix from Ferry Morse (of all companies) and I had to restock. I had no problems with that seed mix, though I noticed that nasturtiums take forever to grow,\ so I knew I needed to start them early. Really sad that these did not germinate. I have the lone trailing nasturtium sitting in my kitchen windowsill and recycled the soil of the rest. The Gaillardia germinated well but I am finding that, once germinated, they are growing really slowly. Or perhaps I’m just impatient. (I ended up eating the beet seedlings; technically they were from a microgreens mix anyway. I’ll plant more outside later.)
3/4/21:
Sugar Snap Pea
Johnny’s Seeds
Salanova® Green Sweet Crisp
Johnny’s Seeds
Salanova® Home Garden Mix
Johnny’s Seeds
Wildfire Mix Lettuce
Johnny’s Seeds
Fenugreek (plant)
Johnny’s Seeds
So, I broke down one night after watching way too many “You Can’t Eat The Grass” videos about how much they looooved Johnny’s Salanova lettuces and bought some to try out. (It was slow going as most of the time I tried to buy something from their website, they were closed to home gardeners as they were just trying to get caught up with actual farmer’s orders.) If you’ve never bought from Johnny’s, prepare to deal with some serious sticker shock. Each pack of the Salanova lettuces was around $6 for 25 seeds (which for lettuce seed is outrageous!) However, the Salanovas, at least, are highly researched and trademarked, and apparently last 3x as long in the fridge, taste better than most lettuces, are highly prized by market farmers, etc. I was very careful with my Salanova seeds and only planted two of each kind–they had better have 100% germination at that cost. And so far, they have. The Wildfire mix was on sale; it germinated well but tasted bitter, so they got recycled. The Fenugreek also germinated well and grew extremely quickly as a microgreen, but I also found their taste to be bitter; I saved one so I could grow it as an herb and recycled the rest.
The Snap Peas are off and running and are already 6″ high. I had a ton of trouble with my peas last year–it was so disappointing, as I love snap peas and they are one of the few things I can grow that don’t trigger any of my food intolerances. But now I’m not sure what to do with snap peas that are actually growing the way they should. At the moment, I’ve pinched them off the way you would a Sweet Pea vine; maybe they’ll bush up the way a Sweet Pea does? Who knows? The tops were tasty, though. (If I’ve learned nothing at all from Charles Dowding, I’ve at least learned that you can grow snap peas just for their shoots.)
3/7/21:
Hyssop, Apache Sunset
Botanical Interests
Pansy, Got the Blues
Botanical Interests
Viola, Johnny-Jump-Up
Botanical Interests
Viola, King Henry
Botanical Interests
Pepper, Biquinho Yellow (hot)
Baker Creek
Pepper, Fish (hot)
Baker Creek
Pepper, Pasilla Bajio Chile Chilaca (hot)
Botanical Interests
Leek, King Richard
Botanical Interests
The pansies, violas, and hyssop have all germinated well and look good. Even my leek seeds have sprouted (I’m trying to get some succession sowing–I have leek starts, and now this batch from seeds.) Also, surprisingly, the Pasilla Bajio pepper popped up already. My (limited) experience with hot peppers is that they take forever to germinate. When I grew Sugar Rush Peach peppers last year, I had healthy seedlings pop up in recycled soil a good two months after I had originally sown them, though my first Sugar Rush peppers only took three weeks or so to germinate, I think. So I’m not worried about the other hot peppers, but I’m a tad worried about the Pasilla Bajio as it’s not going to be warm enough to plant them outside here until at least mid-May. But who knows? Gardening is always a guessing game, imho. I’ve never grown any of these from seed before.
3/8/21:
Sweet Pea, Little Sweetheart
Botanical Interests
Sweet Pea, My Navy
Botanical Interests
Sweet Pea, Royal Blend
Botanical Interests
Note: Sweet Peas (the flowering vine) are grown for their flowers only, as all parts of that plant are toxic if ingested. Just FYI.
So, inspired in part by “The Impatient Gardener” videos, and a bunch of other market flower grower videos, I’ve decided to try my hand at growing Sweet Peas. They look very curly and pretty, and apparently many of them smell heavenly. So why not? I gave the seeds an overnight soak, and so far the “Royal Blend” seeds have all sprouted, with the “My Navy” seeds not far behind. (While it’ll be cool to finally grow any pea successfully, it’s just one more crop that needs a trellis, unfortunately. Sigh.)
3/11/21:
Wormwood
Seed Savers Exchange
African Daisy
Baker Creek
White Marigold
Baker Creek
Moonflower
Seed Savers Exchange
Black Velvet Nasturtium
R H Shumway’s
Dwarf Jewel Mix Nasturtium
Baker Creek
Tip Top Salmon Nasturtium
Baker Creek
These seeds obviously haven’t had a chance to come up yet. I’ve sown a new batch of nasturtiums from different companies in the hopes that these varieties have better germination rates. I have enough seeds to keep resowing them all year if need be. Though I did forget to soak this batch, so that may not help things. Also, moonflower seeds, as I learned after the fact, also need to be soaked or nicked somehow before they are planted, so this batch of moonflowers may not come up at all. But then again, moonflowers are a morning glory, and morning glories want to grow, so who knows?
The wormwood is part of my ongoing plan to create a perennial witchy Victorian-style herb garden, with a wide variety of both culinary and “magical” herbs. Apparently wormwood, like morning glories, want to grow, and will get huge and take over the garden the way a mint or basil would if given a chance. (This seems to be the case with many herbs I’ve seen, actually.) So my herb garden may have to end up being a container garden, like for a Victorian’s solarium, rather than an in-ground English cottage hedge-witch type of garden. Ah, well.
This weekend’s plan is to get the rest of my peppers and all the rest of my nightshades planted. The tomatoes will probably go out to the garden sooner than the peppers; I’ve no idea how the tomatillos will grow, as I’ve never grown tomatillos. I have enough seeds in my collection to keep growing for at least five years, so either way, I’ll get something to grow.
Gerd's Garden 