Fun with Seeds

 I’ve had some interesting bits of success with starting things from seed this year. I do not consider myself “good with seeds”. Generally, things just don’t sprout for me. But, I try something almost every year. I found some seed pods (husks? balls?) in the garage in a dish that I had saved from 2 years ago. I remember that the plant was an ornamental that I bought on a whim. It didn’t grow as tall as I was expecting, but it did get seed pods and I saved them. Trouble was, I couldn’t remember what the plant was.

I thought I would give the seeds a try – why not! I soaked the pods in a dish of water for several days. Eventually, the pod sort of broke apart and there were several individual seeds, about the size of a bean seed, inside. I planted several in a few small containers of potting mix outside on my patio. Surprise! They sprouted! But, I still couldn’t tell what the plant was. I gave a few of the seedlings to my mom-in-law, and I planted 4 of them in my yard – 2 near the Plum tree stump, and 2 in the back bed.

All the seedlings survived, and have grown bigger. I now know they are Castor Bean plants. Look, they already have seed pods!

The ones in the back area are almost 4 feet tall at this point. I’m hoping for more height as summer goes on.

At a nursery in my area, there is an enormous Wisteria vine covering an 8 sided gazebo. I was admiring it one day when I saw some bean-like seeds on the ground (lots of them). I picked up a handful and took them home. Again I soaked these seeds in a dish of water for several days. I planted a few in small containers, and 2 sprouted! I don’t know what to do with these yet since I really don’t have a spot for Wisteria.

Last year, in my annual flower pots in the front of the house, I had some Balsam. The flowers eventually went to seed, and dropped their seeds all over the front area where they got washed into the nearby beds. I didn’t think much about it. This spring, I got a flurry of Balsam seedlings right near the front stoop. Enough that I was able to spread the seedlings throughout the front beds and many are blooming!

Blue Thistles

I like this plant a lot. It’s bold; it’s unusual; it’s attractive, but not too cute! I even named my jewelry business after this plant (Blue Thistle Designs). Officially, this plant is Blue Globe Thistle, Echinops ritro (‘Taplow Blue’).

I sometimes cut some of the flowers for a bouquet with other summer bloomers such as Coneflowers and Brown Eyed Susans. The flowerheads make a very interesting dried head, especially if they are cut before the flowerhead starts to actually bloom. You can cut off the stem and then you have this bizarre, spiky ball that looks like it might be an alien!

The globes start out green and then turn steely blue. The blue color is brightest when they are actually flowering. It starts to bloom around mid July. The bees love this plant!

This was one of the first plants I bought during my first gardening season in this house. I didn’t understand very much about plant size at that time, and put it in the front of a bed. I bought 2 plants. It was very slow to get going; I don’t think it got taller than about 18” for at least two more years. But it finally settled in and started to have flowers. I realized that I erred in placing it, and dug it up. I moved one to a corner at the end of a long bed along the garage, and divided the other one and moved them to the small-ish area in front of the fireplace on the west side of my house – one on each side. The three plants have stayed put ever since.

When in flower, it is about 4 ½ to 5 feet tall. It is rather wide; a good 3 ½ feet in diameter, maybe more. The leaves do look like they’d be some sort of weed. It isn’t really a thistle (it is in the Aster family), but the leaves are a little spiny. It is more that the leaves are rough and scratchy rather than needle-like. The undersides of the leaves are a bit white-ish.

In the bed by the fireplace, it survives on rain only and does just fine. In the spot near the garage, it gets a bit of supplemental water because it is right next to some Iris and I do give them water from time to time. The flowerheads basically dry on their stalk. After the heads are dry and brittle and starting to fall apart, some of the leaves also start to get brown and ratty looking. At this point – late September, I often cut it down. Sometimes I’ll get another flush of leaves before winter sets in.

This plant self-seeds. The seedlings don’t look like the parent – seedling leaves are rounded and not spiny. I personally do not have trouble with the seedlings being too aggressive. If they start in the lawn, they eventually get mowed down. I’ll usually spend a few hours in late spring using a garden trowel to pull out seedlings that are in with other flowers where I don’t want them. This plant has a tap root, so the longer you leave it in an undesirable location, the harder it is to get it out.

Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day July 2016

I’m just starting out in the blog world. I found this Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day event and decided it would be a very fun activity to participate in. Some of the pretties blooming right now in my garden .....

Grey-Headed Coneflower (Ratibita Pinnata)

Yarrow ‘Paprika’ (Achillea millefolium)

Balloon Flower (Platycodon grandifloras)

Clematis ‘Sweet Summer Love’

Butterfly Bush ‘Nanho Purple’ (Buddleia davidii)

Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day is hosted by Carol at May Dreams Gardens.

Redbud Creates Shade

I love my Redbud tree. We planted it in August, 2004, so now it is nearly 12 years in the ground. It blooms in late April to early May. It is one of the earlier trees to bloom, and most other trees have little to no leaves at that time. The blooms are right along the bark (almost no stem), and the tree looks wispy and fragile in bloom. The leaves start to come out, and the blooms fall away, and suddenly there is a full, flush, dense tree. I am always amazed by the difference. The above bloom pic is from May, 2010.

 

Here’s what it looked like in April, 2005 (above).

Years ago, my husband lived in Roanoke, VA. When I visited, we would usually take a drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway. I loved seeing the Redbud trees in bloom, tucked away in the trees along the edge of the road.

Here it is, leafed out, in August, 2007 (above). Notice that you can barely see the branches.

Here’s 2001, May and September (above). During that summer, we expanded the bed under the Redbud and along the west neighbor’s garage (the brown garage). Note the different placement of the edging stones from May to September. The sad, scraggly, black-spot riddled Roses in front of the Redbud are 5 of my ‘Nearly Wild’ Roses. They had been living cramped, stunted lives in pots on the patio.

Here’s May, 2013 (above) – the roses have perked up a bit.

 














Here’s May, 2015 (above). The Bleeding Heart has decided that it REALLY likes the shade of the Redbud tree and has spread quite a bit. The Roses are starting to get shaded, and I decided to move the Rose that was the most in the shade out to the left where the stump of the Plum tree is (not shown). I thought that would be enough. The remaining Roses would get plenty of sun. And, last summer, they did get plenty of sun.

Here’s 2016, May and June (above). I think the bottom branches of the Redbud grew outward by 2 feet! All the Roses are now being shaded. I think I might be looking for new spots for my Roses. And maybe moving some Astilbes into this area. And so things change in my garden.

Summer Allium

This is a very cheerful flower. It is about the size of a small plum, and plum colored, held aloft on a skinny stalk, standing about 30-36” tall. It bobs up and down in the wind. The flower heads develop in June, start out green and then turn purple from the top down. It is (nearly) fully purple by about July 4th.

The leaves are very skinny, grasslike stalks that rather quickly turn into a dried out mess around the base. I usually pull out/pick up the leaves around Memorial Day, and let any tall stalks that are going to turn into flowers stay. This flower does better in full sun. The more shade, the more likely it is to fall over. I’ve started trying to remove this from some of my shady areas. After the flowers are done blooming, I usually just cut the stalks and any remaining leaves to the ground.

I have quite a few mixed in with the Iris along my garage. In the above pic you can see some that are going horizontal.

I got this plant (bulb) years ago at a plant rummage sale. When a flower bloomed, my former neighbor told me they were called “common nodding onion”. Since then, I have poked around online a bit, and am fairly sure that what I have is Allium sphaerocephalon ‘Drumstick’.

The above pic is in the back against the north wall. The grassy foliage at the base of the Alliums is mostly its foliage with a little bit of some Siberian Iris foliage mixed in.

Sometimes I’ll cut a few for a vase. They last a long time as a cut flower.

The above pic gives you a size reference. The foliage in the background is NOT the Allium foliage - it is one of my grasses.

This bulb spreads quite aggressively. Each small bulb either splits or creates pips (I don’t know exactly) in the ground – seemingly dozens per stalk. The pips are about as big as a dried split pea. A "full" bulb is 10-12mm; about the size of a marble or slightly bigger. When splitting other plants and moving them around, it is easy to move a few small pips with the soil. Next thing you know, cheerful nodding onions everywhere!