Tag Archives: seeds

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

Cuttings and Seeds Spring Edition

It’s been a busy week sowing seeds and taking cuttings, not to mention putting new plants into the ground and all around maintenance. Weather has been mild enough to promote outdoor yardwork. Hey, it’s spring!

Potted lavender needed haircuts, so the White Anouk and Lavender Lady got pruned down to the base. I kept some Anouk cuttings to see if I could get them to root.

Other cuttings include silver thyme, golden sage, variegated berggarten sage, and catnip. I sheared half the catnip bush sitting in the Rogue Bed to give the Silver Fountain gaura some room, plus propagate more plants for the catkids, who are delighting and rolling in all the pots that house them. This particular catnip has a very lemony fresh scent, one that I hope to make more child plants out of.

As for seeds, I’ve indoor sowed mirabilis jalapa, Thai long green eggplant, lemon bee balm, Korean hyssop and Sirius blue sage. I’m also giving the habaneros another go, and started some Fish Pepper as well. I hope that starting in soilless sterile mix plus 80F+ temperatures will produce better germination rates in the habanero peppers. My previous success with ornamental peppers did not prepare me for the stubborn nature of the spicy hot ones.

For outdoor sowing, I decided to chance the mild weather and broadcast flower seeds directly into the flower beds: lemon bee balm, marigolds, cosmos and zinnias. The majority of these were from my stash of Botanical Interests seed packets that I received earlier in the month.

Ye Olde Garden

Direct Sow

I’m always hesitant to broadcast seeds directly into the garden because of the risk of poor germination rates. Granted, previous experience had me neglect seeds sown directly into the beds, which need the right temperature and moisture to thrive. Daytime highs are in the upper 60s while nighttime lows in the high 40s and low 50s. It’s still too cold for some delicate summer plants to tolerate, as some of the starts are beginning to show.

I hedge my bets wherever I can, sowing indoors those seeds that I trust will germinate successfully and can handle transplant.

Seeds I’ve sown and re-sown both inside and out:

Agastache rugosa, Korean Hyssop
Salvia coccinea, Scarlet Sage
Salvia farinacea, Sirius Blue Sage
Monarda citriodora, Lemon Bee Balm
Gomphrena haagena, Strawberry Fields
Tropaeolum minus Nasturtium Black Velvet (presoaked)
Nigella damascena, Miss Jekyll Blend
Zinnia elegans, Fireball Blend
Cosmos sulphureus, Diablo
Tropaeolum majus Nasturtium Alaska Variegated, Jewel Blend (presoaked)
Tithonia Speciosa Mexican Sunflower Red Torch (2017 seed)
Mirabilis jalapa, Marbles Yellow-Red (presoaked)
Tagetes tenuifolia Lemon & Tangerine Gems Signet Marigold

The last vegetable seeds I direct sowed beginning of March were the bok choy Tiny Hedou and Purple Lady, along with bunching onions Tokyo White. They are finally beginning to emerge. Meanwhile I’m giving the Thai Long Green Eggplant another try although I haven’t had any success with the last batch.

Ye Olde Garden

2021 February Seed and Plant Purchases

There are still plenty of work to be done to clear the beds of storm debris and frost damaged plants. But the seed starting bug has already bitten me hard.

End of January, I had already started a batch of veggie soil blocks which include tomatoes, habaneros, bok choy, lettuces, spinach, bunching onions, and eggplant. I was lucky enough to source most of the seed from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, who had them in stock at the time.

I have perennial and annual flowers started in soil blocks as we end February in a flurry of garden prepping.

But of course, there are never enough seeds to start and plant.

From Annie’s Annuals (my first time ordering with this company):

DescriptionQty
Echeveria agavoides ‘Lipstick’2
Camissonia cheiranthifolia “Beach Primrose”2
Aeonium ‘Jack Catlin’2
Lupinus regalis ‘Gallery Yellow’ “Lupine”2
Lupinus regalis ‘Morello Cherry’ “Lupine”2
Scabiosa atropurpurea ‘Scarlet’2

From Botanical Interests:

DescriptionQty
Diablo Cosmos Seeds4
Double Click Blend Cosmos Seeds2
Fireball Blend Zinnia Seeds4
Lemon & Tangerine Gems Signet Marigold Seeds4
Miss Jekyll Blend Love-In-A-Mist Seeds – Conventional Heirloom2
Sensation Blend Cosmos Seeds – Conventional Heirloom2

I’m not the only one with a gardening bug. Seed companies and online plant purveyors have been hammered by the pandemic demand; most are advertising low inventories and out of stock items. My normal go-to vendors are struggling to keep up with the demand, I’m having a hard time filling out my wish list. Meanwhile, local nurseries are still recovering from the winter storm, so inventories might still be scarce as of this writing.

If I do find something I want, it’s usually through Amazon and I’m highly suspect of the quality. I’m still frustrated by the habanero pepper seeds I obtained through there; germination rates are very low, even after re-sow attempts as we are enter the 4th week since I planted them. I plan on moving them onto my growing stand with the powerful lights to see if that will spur them into germination.

More to come.

Ye Olde Garden

Will It Grow? Milkweed Pods

I spotted these seed pods on my variegated milkweed, Asclepias curassavica Monarch’s Promise aka Butterfly Kisses, in late November. This is the first year I’ve seen seed pods on my milkweed and I was highly anticipating seeds from this variety.

Pods!

My previous attempts to propagate this milkweed from cuttings have ended in failure, and I just want to avoid buying replacement plants next year. The fact that this specific plant is a survivor from a May 2019 purchase makes me want to preserve it even more.

I placed small ziplock snack bags over the pods in hopes of capturing seeds when the pods ripened and burst open.

Alas, it took only one frigid night in December to damage the top growth of the plant and render my collection efforts futile.

Chilled to the bone

Needless to say, I was disappointed to find a pod branch had simply dropped off the plant. I expected the rest of the pods would follow, so I removed them all.

Will they grow? One of the pods was already molding in the bag…

I don’t know if I can collect seeds from these green pods if I let them mature and dry out like some fruits. Google search hasn’t yielded answers on this subject. So I’ll just sit them out on a counter and see what comes of it.