Tag Archives: cosmos

Ye Olde Garden

Unboxing: Wildseed Farms, Johnny’s Seeds and Strictly Medicinal

Craving more Cosmos, I picked up large packets of seed at Wildseed Farms, along with some other annuals I hope will germinate well.

Lady Bird Dwarf Cosmos Blend ×1 1/4 Pound
Mexican Hat ×1 1/4 Pound
Bishop’s Flower ×1 Ounce
Cosmos Dwarf Sensation Blend ×1 1/4 Pound

And because I couldn’t get enough Cosmos and nasturtiums, I picked up more packets at Johnny’s Selected Seeds. I wanted to also grow my own dill in case the aphid apocalypse hits my veggie gardens again.

Double Click Mix Cosmos Double Click Mix Cosmos Seed x1
Double Click Cranberries Cosmos Double Click Cranberries Cosmos Seed x1
Lemon Mint Monarda (Bee Balm) Lemon Mint Monarda Seed x1
Alaska Mix Nasturtium Alaska Mix Nasturtium Seed x1
Bloody Mary Nasturtium Bloody Mary Nasturtium Seed x1
Fernleaf Herbs for Salad Mix Fernleaf Dill Seed x1
Red Snapper Smooth-Leaf Spinach Red Snapper (F1) Spinach Seed x1
Astro Arugula (Roquette) Astro Salad Arugula Seed x1

Finally, I had strong feelings about growing more types of basil, especially the holy basil kind, so I surfed over to Strictly Medicinal Seeds to whet my appetite for some hard-to-find seeds.

TULSI (Holy Basil) SEED SET (5 seed packets): Amrita, Krishna, Rama, Temperate & Vana, all organic1
Basil, Mtule (Ocimum suave), packet of 30 seeds, organic1
Basil, Mrihani (Ocimum basilicum) seeds, organic – Packet1
Wooly Lambs Ears (Stachys byzantina), packet of 50 seeds, organic1
Skullcap, Helmet (Scutellaria integrifolia), packet of 30 seeds1
Lime Balm (Melissa officinalis ssp. altissima) potted plant, organic – 11
Sage, Jerusalem (Salvia hierosolymitana), potted plant, organic1
Skullcap, Barbat (Scutellaria barbata) potted plant, organic – 11
Ye Olde Garden

A week’s worth of gardening in one post

Yikes, gone a week without posting but not without gardening. A brief summary of what transpired in the garden in the past several days:

  • Various succulents cuttings including the Lemon Coral sedum planted in the rosemary bed
  • Added dahlberg daisies to the petunia planter
  • Cuban Gold duranta planted in front yard shade bed
  • Transplanted Victoria Blue salvias to the ends of the front yard flower bed
  • Hard pruned the Hot Lips Salvias in the front yard bed down to 1/3 height
  • Installed Magic Carpet spirea in front yard bed
  • Removed catmint from herb bed, replanted in 3″ pots
  • Transplanted golden sage, tricolor sage and dwarf mini curry plant into the herb bed
  • Removed yarrow from lily bed, installed red lantana in its place
  • Installed Tasmanian Tiger euphorbia  and Nuevo Leon salvia in blue bed
  • Sowed Summer Jewel Red salvia and Cosmic Red cosmos in the tree ring
  • Transplanted rooted cuttings of variegated lemon thyme in the tree ring
  • Returned coleus and snapdragon seedlings to the greenhouse
  • Moved some seedlings and cuttings outdoors, including the zinnia starts (which aren’t doing very well)
  • Purchased another Magic Carpet spirea from Grow It nursery

Did I mention something ate my onion chives and decapitated my Genovese basil? Pictures forthcoming!

Ye Olde Garden

Seeds! 2012 Purchases

From Parks I ordered the following:

1. ZINNIA ZAHARA STARLIGHT ROSE (51991) Qty : 1
2. SWEET ALYSSUM PASTEL CARPET (0063) Qty : 4
3. ZINNIA RED SPIDER (2233) Qty : 1
4. ANGELONIA SERENA BLUE PELLETED SEED (51031) Qty : 1
5. COREOPSIS ROULETTE (51117) Qty : 1
6. SNAPDRAGON BRONZE DRAGON (51714) Qty : 1
7. ZINNIA PROFUSION SUNRISE MIX HYBRID (51986) Qty : 2

From Stokes:

  1. Cosmic Red Cosmos
  2. Wizard Mix Coleus
  3. Woodcreek White Gomphrena
  4. Woodcreek Red Gomphrena
  5. Banana Cream Sorbet Viola
  6. Sorbet Delft Blue XP Viola
  7. Sorbet Blue Blotch XP Viola
  8. Summer Jewel Red Salvia
  9. Dreams Patriot Mix Petunia
  10. Montego Sunset Snapdragon
  11. Bride Eggplant
  12. Guy Lon Chinese Broccoli

I also picked up a set of 50 Jiffy 7 pellets.

Well, I also had hoped to throw in some onions in there, but it doesn’t look like we’ll have much success digging out those tree stumps any time soon.

Ye Olde Garden

The pre-winter graveyard

It’s been a good two weeks since my last post. The climate has turned to rain to freezing temps back to chilly. Since we experienced a solid week of sub-freezing wind chills and temps, it’s natural that the annuals have succumbed to the frost. Where certain parts aren’t buried in leaves, my garden transformed into a graveyard in a matter of days. I hope to clear out the debris when the weather turns mild. Thankfully, the man started with pruning the Midnight Blue rose.

Goners: basils, vincas, marigolds, cosmos, ornamental peppers, salvia coccinea.

Dead top growth: caladiums, sweet potato ornamental vines (not sure if these Illusion potatoes will come back next year), callas, Sinaloa salvia, the purple oxalis in the blue bed, most of the asters.

Subject to change: foxtail ferns, Mexican heather.

Surprises: a few of the petunias are still green, all of the coreopsis have green foliage and appear to have grown, the larkspur seedlings appear unaffected by the freeze, one of the Autumn Embers azaleas actually had a (wilted) bloom on it, succulent planter looking pretty.

Annoyances: the yarrow continues to spread, weeds have invaded my lily bed!

Warning: images of dead plants ahead. On my Xmas wishlist: a compost bin from the city’s Park & Recreation dept.

12/9/2011 Pre-winter Graveyard (1) 12/9/2011 Pre-winter Graveyard (2) 12/9/2011 Pre-winter Graveyard (3) 12/9/2011 Pre-winter Graveyard (4) 12/9/2011 Pre-winter Graveyard (5) 12/9/2011 Pre-winter Graveyard (6) 12/9/2011 Pre-winter Graveyard (7) 12/9/2011 Pre-winter Graveyard (8) 12/9/2011 Pre-winter Graveyard (9) 12/9/2011 Pre-winter Graveyard (10) 12/9/2011 Pre-winter Graveyard (11) 12/9/2011 Pre-winter Graveyard (12) 12/9/2011 Pre-winter Graveyard (13) 12/9/2011 Pre-winter Graveyard (14) 12/9/2011 Pre-winter Graveyard (15) 12/9/2011 Pre-winter Graveyard (16)

Ye Olde Garden

Seed collecting and the indoor greenhouse

I brought indoors all of my potted tender plants Thursday night in advance of the cold front that hit us. The big potted ginger lilies didn’t join the others in converted bathroom greenhouse, since I had taken up all of the available counter space. For about next 4-5 months, these plants will be hanging out here in relative safety.

11/5/2011 Seeds and indoor garden (1) 11/5/2011 Seeds and indoor garden (2)

I really need to snip off that chili pepper bloom head. But then again, I think all the young pepper plants could use a trim to encourage more foliage. Not so with the new hostas leafing out.

11/5/2011 Thai chili pepper bloom head 11/5/2011 Thai chili pepper bloom head closeup 11/5/2011 Hosta Wide Brim emerging foliage

I took a cutting of the groundcover salvia sinaloensis, or more commonly known as bicolor or Sinaloa sage, when I trimmed them back earlier in the week. This salvia is unusual in that it hasn’t turned woody and that it spreads via runners. It competed against an aggressive yarrow and has managed to hold its own, with a little intervention. The electric blue blooms have been disappointingly sparse and sporadic in its current part-sun location. It’s better valued for its foliage though; it has distinctive purple-tipped leaves on new and fall growth.

11/5/2011 Sinaloa sage cutting

I do need to move some of the pots into the bathtub, to make room for seed starting flats. Saturday morning, I collected 3 sandwich baggies of seeds from the Cosmic Yellow Cosmos, Durango Marigold Red and Durango Marigold Bolero.

11/5/2011 Cosmos Cosmic Yellow seeds collected 11/5/2011 Durango Marigold Red seeds collected

The Durango Marigold Boleros tend to bloom on the smaller side compared to the standard marigold colors.

11/5/2011 Durango Bolero marigold among the Outback mix

Sadly, I didn’t collect any Cosmic Red cosmos seeds or Lady in Red salvia coccinea. The red cosmos was nowhere in sight, while I didn’t have much luck finding seeds of Lady in Red still on the plants.

11/5/2011 A new Lady in Red salvia coccinea from dropped seed