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Post by tbird on May 9, 2015 6:55:52 GMT -5
waaaaa waaaaa waaaaa waaaaa! (that - oh you missed! - game show sound)
Welp, here is the state of the flowers:
No asters out of 24 unit flat, I wasn't too surpised on that because I didn't baby them much, but also nothing on a 24 calendula flat! Those were suppose to be hardier! I'v got one mexican sunflower sprout, and I think I got 2 echincea sprouts - but those are all super tiny, no first leaves yet (at least the echinacea is a longer-term investment, so something for next year)
Just yesterday - I got a bunch of tiny sprouts where I put the lobelia seeds (I had been water them with the rest of the container, but had kind of given up), and I have 3 flats and 2 containers with lot of allysum, but I noticed that the flats at the store are already blooming. My lobelias (if in fact it is the seeds I planted!) just hatched.
The alysum have been sprouted for a while, but how long until they actually bloom? I think the most advanced there are between 6-8 leaves total.
next year I will do better, sooner, for sure. This year - I think it's back to purchasing quite a bit to fill in where the weeds are encroaching.
Oh - I've got weeds! Those are filling in nicely!
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Post by datgirl on May 9, 2015 7:42:38 GMT -5
My flowers didn't do well either. I got one Marigold out of 12 cells. Talk about a hardy flower. No Cleome came up, 2 Four o'clocks out of 6 cells, and something dug up the Sunflower seeds out of the pot I had them started in. I threw a packet of Allysum in a pot on the deck and that hasn't come up yet but I think once warm weather comes and stays, it will start to take off. I feel your pain tbird.
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Post by brownrexx on May 9, 2015 8:01:03 GMT -5
It's funny but my mother used to throw in packets of seeds and always had flowers. I never do well with flowers. I grow beautiful tomatoes and peppers from seeds but my flowers are usually duds so for flowers I usually buy a few packs at the local greenhouse.
My birthday is in May and the local greenhouse sends me a coupon (just got it yesterday) for four free 4-packs of annuals so that is usually the extent of my flowers unless I see something else that strikes my fancy when I am there.
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Post by binnylou on May 9, 2015 9:55:23 GMT -5
I never do well with flowers. I've lost track...how did the Lisianthus do? Are they still alive and thriving?
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Post by desertwoman on May 9, 2015 10:03:14 GMT -5
What a great greenhouse, to give birthday presents! That's so sweet.
I also don't have great success with flower seeds that I try to start in cells. We have a trend here. Wonder what's up? Cold stratification?
The annuals that reseed in my flower beds do well. But they are on their own timing. Cosmos, for instance, are about 3" tall in the garden right now. At the nursery (in their cold frame) they are close to a foot and are flowering. I don't mind the smaller ones in my garden. They will bloom sometime in mid July through the fall and will fill in an area that is now blooming with tulips.
My reseeding annuals: cosmos, marigolds, larkspur, sunflowers, alyssum, echinacea, lobelia, CA poppies, snapdragons. But their blooms are all "behind" the nursery flats. Perhaps we have gotten use to the nurseries timing which may be artificial or forced. I'm not saying that is bad. But left to their own devices, the natural timing of annuals seem to be very different from what we buy.
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Post by tbird on May 9, 2015 11:52:33 GMT -5
went to the garden store this morning, traveled to this big one about an hour away rather than the home depot. The prices weren't very good, but they did have a lot of variety.
spent over $300 x_x I don't know what came over me....I just wanted pretty!
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Post by tbird on May 9, 2015 12:30:00 GMT -5
welp - i really want to get out there planting - but it's about 50 degrees, cloudy and windy and it isn't pleasant! I don't want my expensive flowers to get shocked.....they were outside at the garden store, but this is the first chilly day in a while. It is nice an cozy in the car where they all are now. low tonight is 47....not sure what is best for them.
Tuesday and wednesday are lows in the mid 40's...
what I got was 2 pricey tea roses ($30/each! Likely wouldn't have gotten them if they'd had a price tag, lol - but they are beauties!)
celosias small dahlias petunias
some stonecrops - a medium leaved greyish one and a redish large leaved one
2 hostas
speedwell sweet wood-ruff pink forget me nots georgia peach huchera some ground covers, creeping jenny and then this really weird looking one... and a big flat of pink impatients
some things for my mother for tomorrow...
seem like not too much for 300! I did get 5 big bags of pine mulch, that was about $40.
I think I need to get at least *some* of these in the ground today......I need the car cleared because we are driving tomorrow, then there are thunderstorms tomorrow, and then work kicks in on Monday....
hmmmm, what to do?
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Post by datgirl on May 9, 2015 12:46:13 GMT -5
tbird, what garden store did you go to? Just curious if you were up this way.
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Post by tbird on May 9, 2015 12:54:48 GMT -5
Lurveys in niles
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Post by desertwoman on May 9, 2015 13:03:48 GMT -5
If they were outside at the garden store, then I would keep them outside at your house, too. They are hardened off. And 47 really isn't that cold They'll be fine.
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Post by desertwoman on May 9, 2015 13:20:23 GMT -5
Another thought. If you are concerned about heavy rain or hail you could leave them in their pots in a protected area. Or plant them and put a basket or other cover over the smaller ones before the storm.
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Post by tbird on May 10, 2015 15:24:31 GMT -5
well - good thing I've been doing some of the transplanting! It is a lot of work, as usual - more than I anticipated! I did 2 sessions over 2 days, and still have a lot to do....
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Post by brownrexx on May 12, 2015 7:20:00 GMT -5
I've lost track...how did the Lisianthus do? Are they still alive and thriving? No, I gave up on them. I did get them to germinate which is supposed to be hard but after 2 teeny, tiny little leaves popped out the plants just sat there and didn't grow at all. I have never seen such tiny plants. Anyway, I have limited space under my lights and it was time to plant tomatoes and peppers so the Lisianthus got booted to the trash. If I want Lisianthus I am going to have to buy them at the local greenhouse. They have them for $2 per plant but I think that I'll just admire them growing at the library later in the summer.
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Post by binnylou on May 12, 2015 8:21:19 GMT -5
I'll just admire them growing at the library later in the summer. Some days you just have to pick your battles
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Post by lilolpeapicker on May 12, 2015 9:54:01 GMT -5
Though I haven't had as much luck with flower seeds as well as veggies, I am getting better at the flower and herb seeds. I do have to check my seedlings to see which flower ones have made it....I turn them every couple of days so I don't always see the labels...if I remembered to label them all. I can tell u though that some are not labeled. So they will have to grow and we will see.
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