Bi-polar weather - Spring 2013

Early last week it was humid and in the 80s.  The last 2 nights (May 24/25) it's dipped into the 20s, freezing the bird bath each night.

There is another dip forecasted for tonight.  Good grief.  Then, this coming week, we're to hit near 90s. 

It makes for depressing gardening.  Add to that we've had not even an inch of rain this month.  The growing season is NOT the one we'd all been hoping for this year.

Thankfully I've not planted out my annual seedlings.  I bring them into the sunroom every night.

As for the planted veg in front of the privacy fence, it's row covers and crossed fingers for them.  (I don't have the wherewithall to deal with  working way back in the 'real' vegetable beds this year, so I'm settling for some peppers, tomatoes, kale and beans close up to the house where I can reach the plants with a hose and can net them (hopefully) against the deer.)

I lost so many perennials to drought this past winter and now this year doesn't bode well either.  Between this weather setback and my current health, I don't think I'll be very active outside this season.  Why, I've even hired someone to mow my lawns.  So sad....

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Early exit

My last post showed my (FINALLY!) getting some annuals (some storebought seed, some saved) sown under lights in the basement.

That was April 29.

Today is May 7 and there are sprouts in every cell.  The alyssum was up in 2 days, then the zins.  The last to sprout were the 2-year-old mixed coleus seeds that popped up this morning.

Since this Spring continues to be mild, I decided to close down the basement, set up the 2nd tabletop hoopster and move all the seedlings outside.

Since I don't want them to sunburn, I set up a panel of curtain sheers to give them some protections.

Voila!   The heat tray only went for 9 days this year.  And boy, did it do the trick.

So there we go.  Only 7 'Propagation' posts this season and it's already at FINALE.

I like this.  Simple is better.

I didn't miss doing Winter Sowing at all this year.  It was fun for a few years, but now - I'll stick to inside stuff.

Seeya.

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Sowing 2013 flower seeds - finally!

It was HIGH TIME I got on the stick sowing flower seeds if I were to have any color in the gardens this year.

I usually sow them under lights (or WS) around April 1st.  But health issues interfered and I'd come to the conclusion I'd have to settle for the limited selections available at stores.

But I rallied this week, and had a go at it.  First I gathered up all the totally dried cuttings from last year's plants I wanted to propagate.  (I cut seed heads in Fall, then just pile them up to freeze/dry in the breezeway over winter.)

First I crunched up the dried seed heads, then shuffled them through this nice old sieve (I don't use it for cooking - it's aluminum).  A few good 'shake shake shakes' and I've got my seeds.

Last year I saved larkspur, agastaches, coral nymph salvia and some mixed short salvias.

These joined the seed packs waiting in the basement.  In the end I sowed:

3 sizes of zins (Cut & Come again), Lilliput and (my new fave) Thumbelina

2' tall red sunflower (should be showy if the deer don't eat them)

Chinese forget-me-nots (I really need to buy some brunnera)

alyssum

sweet William

mixed coleus

marigold (saved seed)

mixed salvia

white agastache

coral nymph salvia

I saw that the larkspur has done a good job of re-seeding itself this year so I didn't need to.  I also decided to forgo sowing more blue fortune agastache.

So there, 192 cells (each with multiple seeds) on the home-made heat tray under the lights.

Now we wait and see.  Maybe I'll get lucky.  Maybe not.  At least I have to try...

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