amaryllis sprouts

Well the amaryllis seeds I placed in water have sprouted. The next step is to wait until I see a little bit of green and then I will put the seedlings into dirt. I generally use seed starter mix. It dries out fast so I have to water is more than normal.

Basil drying the easy way

I planted quite a few basil plants this year. I had never done it before, and when I plant something new I usually plant more than I need because I have no idea if they will survive. Long story short I have more basil than I know what to do with. I started looking on the Internet and found a site http://www.wikihow.com/Dry-Herbs-in-the-Microwave. Well I tried it yesterday and it worked I now have dried basil in the cupboard. It only takes 2 minutes and some paper towels. Isn't gardening great.

Cosmos

I can't believe it one of the plants I started from seed bloomed. It is a Cosmos. I tried last year and nothing. It got 6 inches high and then died. This year I tried again and would you believe it bloomed. I have another that is about to bloom, and it looks red, or dark pink I'll find out in the next few days. Seeing that flower this morning made me so happy. It just brightened my whole day.

Coleus in the yard

This year I started quite a few coleus from seeds. I had no idea that the plants would be as numerous as they were. Anyway I replanted them in larger pots and then proceeded to put in the front of my yard. I am planning on bringing several in over the winter I just have to decide which ones.

Yellow bell or Forsythia

I have this bush in my yard and for years I was told it was called the Yellow Bell Bush. I kept looking for information on the bush but could never find anything. I finally asked around and found that the name Yellow Bell Bush is a southern term for the bush. It is actually called a Forsythia. My grandmother has been calling it that for years I just never really noticed that the bushes looked and flowered at the same time. Well maybe now that i know the name I can propagate another one when the time is right.

birds in the garden

I saw this red bellied woodpecker on my feeder the other day. I have seen the female ( the female has grey on her head) but the male is the one a I see the most. The female must be on the nest hatching the baby birds.

Chinese Lantern plant

Back in February I started some Chinese lantern seeds. I thought the plants were pretty and unusual. They were only suppose to get 22-26 inches tall so I figured I could keep it in a container without much of a problem. The are a perennial so I did not expect them to grow very fast and I certainly did not expect to see a bloom this year. Imagine my surprise when I looked at my China lantern today and saw a small white flower. I was so overjoyed. I don't know if it will make anything but I don't care. I am just happy to see the delicate little flower.

Wonder egg plants are growing and growing

My wonder egg plants are all starting to bloom. They are going to look so wonderful when they all bloom with those pretty little purple flowers and then when the little yellow and white eggs show up. I look at them every day to see if I can see a little white egg starting yet. I could bring them inside over the winter but I doubt that I will. I will have so many plants inside this year I really don't think I will have the room, also the pot will be so heavy I would need help moving it. The inside of my house is also dim and I really do not have a good place to put it where it will get the sunlight that it needs. It does not really matter, I can start all over again next year. I have so much fun watching my plants grow.

A Hibiscus on vacation

My family went on vacation to the beach several days ago and I was amazed at the beauty of a flower I saw. It was a Hibiscus. Some varieties of hibiscus are annual and others are perennial. Personally I prefer a perennial, but that is because you only have to plant it once. It does not really matter the main thing is that it is a pretty flower and that you can enjoy its beauty.

Amaryllis seed starting

The best way to start an amaryllis seed from my experience is to place the seeds in a bowl of water. It may take a while but the seeds that are viable will sprout. I do not put the seeds in any type of seed starting mix until the seeds have a leaf that you can clearly see is a leaf. It will be green and it will look like a small blade of grass to begin with.

Grandmothers Amaryllis

My Grandmother several years ago received two Amaryllis bulbs as a gift. She claims she can not grow anything so she planted the bulbs beside her house and basically forgot about them. To make a long story short she now has 5 amaryllis bulbs that are blooming. This is the first year she has had that many blooms. I told her that she may not have realized it at the time but planting them beside the house was the best thing she could have done because the house gives them shelter and protection in a way that planting them somewhere else would not. I asked her if I could pollinate the flowers and he get the seeds. She told me"Knock Yourself Out".

amaryllis seeds

Well after I counted the seeds that came from my amaryllis seed pods this year I ended up with over 150 seeds from the most recent plant this time. I guess I must know how to pollinate the flower to have gotten that many viable seeds. The way you can tell if a seed is viable is you can feel a small seed in the tissue like paper that came from the pod. With this amount of seeds I am going to have to do this year just as I have done the past several years. And that is start sprouting them about a dozen at the time.

I use what is called the California method when sprouting my seeds. The California method is that you place the seeds in water and wait for them to sprout. I check them every day and when they have a small green leaf I place it in a shallow pan (with drain holes) that contains seed starting mix. The seed starting mix does not hold water very well so I water it every day and wait until the water comes out the bottom.

Amaryllis pods

Well it has taken a while but my amaryllis seed pods have popped. It takes a while and it is something that can not be rushed. You have to let the seed pod dry out naturally. This amaryllis bloomed almost two months ago. My guess is that I will get around 75 to 85 seeds (hopefully more). I already have over 300 already from other plants from this year. The amaryllis that these seeds came from is the same amaryllis that all my current 3 year bulbs have come off of, so it is special to me. I am hopeful that the bulbs I started two years ago will bloom in the next two years. It takes around 5 years for a amaryllis bulb that has been grown from a seed to reach bloom size.

Gourds in the garden

Earlier this year (about three weeks ago), I planted large gourds, small gourds and some luffa sponges in my backyard. I planted 6 seeds of each. All of the small gourds came up, two of the large gourds and only one of the luffa sponges came up. They are suppose to climb, that is why I did not plant many, and also why I planted them eight feet apart. I hope they do well and produce something. The large ones are suppose to be birdhouse gourds, I'll just have to wait and see what I get or end up with.

A Lilac bush from my Grandmother

Several weeks ago my grandmother asked me to come over to her house. She has a lilac bush and it had quite a few plants under it. She wanted to know if they were smaller or younger lilac bushes. They were she then dug a few up and transplanted them to another part of the yard. A part that had (or should I say has) a steady flow of water near it do the ground never dries out completely. Well the lilacs took root and then she asked me if I wanted one. When it comes to plants I will not walk away from a challenge. I dug up two of the little plants and put them in a container. One of the plants I think I must have broken too many of the roots because it did not survive, but the other one did.
Every plant I have ever transplanted the first few days the plant looks like it is dieing, but after the third to fifth day it usually perks up and if it does not I usually give it another few days (total about seven to ten days)and then I give up on it there is usually no hope for the poor plant.
My grandmother likes the smell of the lilac and it does have pretty blooms. I have been told that they are hard to get to grow around here but her bush seems to be doing well. I don't know how this lilac will do but I am looking forward to finding out.

Marigolds my new favorite flower

There are a lot of things that I can grow and many things that I can't. I have tried time and time again to grow the herb rosemary. I think I will give up. I planted some bachelor buttons this year as well as quite a few others the one flower I have planted that did surprisingly well was Marigolds. I got them free when I ordered some of my seeds this year. I did not like them that much in the past because of the smell that they have but I think that is about to change. I discovered to mu horror yesterday that a rabbit had gotten into my flower bed and basically mowed down every flower that I had. They did not touch the carrots at all, but then I had marigolds planted all around my carrots. Some of the flowers were about to bloom. I was so excited because I had no idea what color they would be. To make matters worse the critters got to some of my pepper plants. I didn't think rabbits would eat peppers, but then they must have been hungry. I haven't looked at my garden this morning. I'm almost positive they haven't eaten every flower I have (I'm sure they left the few marigolds alone) but then there is no telling.

House plant or outdoor plant ?

There are several plants that can go either way. They can be a house plant or a outdoor plants. Honestly some plants can be both. The one plant I have been lucky with is a coleus plant that I have been told can be both. Growing up my, grandmother sometimes kept a coleus in her home. So the plant evokes a special memory for me and my mother now that my grandmother is no longer with us.

For anyone who is not familiar with what a coleus plant is it is a leafy plant. The leaves are colorful (some are very colorful) and they are just leaves. When it matures it does have small purple flowers at the top of it so that it can seed out. I usually pinch them off so that the plant will live longer and sometimes bush out.

As of yet I have only started them indoors and then moved them outside and lost them when the weather cooled. This year I am planning to do something different. I am planing to bring in several of the coleus I started from seeds in for this winter. I have been successful in getting an amaryllis seed to sprout and live through the winter I am hopeful that I will be able to be successful with a coleus also.

zucchini bloom

Well I awoke this morning to a beautiful bloom from my zucchini plant. I must say the blooms never last long I am so glad that I got to see it. The squash bloom looks the same. Before I started gardening I did not realize that plants like that have male and female flowers. Of course the female flower is the one that develops the fruit so if you look at it and realize that it is easy to know which is the female flower and which is the male flower.

Butterfly bushes can get very large

I got a picture of a full grown butterfly bush and was amazed at just how large it can get. My little six inch high plant has a long way to go.

Butterfly Bush

This is a butterfly bush I started from a seed in January of this year. The seeds were like dust, and the packet said that there were 100 seeds in the pack. If the packet was correct of the 100 seeds I got around 10 plants. That does not sound good (only 10 %), but it was the first time I'd tried it and as I said the seeds were very small.

The butterfly bush is suppose to reach 6 feet tall every year and you have to cut it back to the ground or at least several feet from the ground at the end of the growing season. I have no idea what the plant color will be I am just happy that I have grown one to begin with.

Morning Glories in the yard

Several weeks ago I planted some seeds in the ground. To be completely honest with you I forgot about them. They were Morning Glories and they were a mixture so I had no idea what colors they would be. Imagine my surprise when I noticed a beautiful flower on bloom in the trellis I planted them around. I actually have three on the trellis and one in the middle. I never realized just how pretty they are. With the cool weather we have been having lately they stay open for longer than they normally do. What a wonderful addition to my yard.

Zucchini + Squash = ?

I planted several zucchini and squash this year of the seven I have planted I only have two squash and the problem I have has is the squash female bloom opens and I have no male bloom with pollen in it to pollinate it with. I have been using a zucchini male bloom to pollinate it. They are from the same family so I know that they can be crossed. I just wonder what the things will taste like when I finally get to eat them. I'll keep you posted with pictures and with words.

An egg in the yard

I was looking at my yard yesterday and I saw something I did not expect A small bud where a wonder egg will be. I started several of them from seeds early this year and I ended us with around 36 plants. I tried to sell them but was unable to, so I figured I'd plant them in the yard. They are just ornamental but I thought it will make my yard look good for a Spring/Summer. I may every bring several in the house over the winter and keep it I have not decided yet. As of now I have about a dozen in the yard and more than half have buds on them. I am looking forward to seeing them bloom. They should make my yard look wonderful, or at least I hope so.

Grey Beard

Sometimes you can find something you never expect to find. Several years ago as my husband and I were walking in the yard we could have sworn we could smell the strong smell of honeysuckle. The only problem was there weren't that many in the yard. As we searched the yard we found where the wonderfully sweet smell was coming from. We had never seen the flowering bush or stick looking tree before. After some research and some calls to the local Agriculture experts of our area we discovered that the plant (shrub or bush) was called Grey Beard. You never know what you will find in your yard especially if the neighbors cut down several trees and let the sun shine in a part of your yard that has not seen the sun in a long time.

Starting Oregano

I started some oregano seeds several days ago because it is my hope that I will be able to make some Italian seasoning out of fresh herbs. I looked at several Italian seasonings and found that there are many combinations when it comes to what the different manufactures put in it. The two herbs that are in all of the Italian seasonings I have seen are Oregano and Thyme. Which means I needed to grow some Oregano since I already have some thyme growing.

I started the seeds by putting them in a small seed starting tray. I used seed starting mix. The seed starting mix dries out very easily and fast so I keep the bottom tray filled with water and mist the top where the seedlings are. Once the seedlings get a little bit of size to them I stop placing water in the bottom and just mist from the top. I mist several days because as I said the seed starting mix does dry out fast.

The water and mist I use is a very weak solution of plant fertilizer. I use 1/4 tablespoon of miracle grow plant fertilizer in gallon of water. I use this solution every day when I water or mist my plants.

As You can see from the picture using this method I have some Oregano sprouts. Of course it will take several weeks before the plants are large enough to harvest. I am hopeful that they will survive. I have never grown oregano before and I have no idea what will happen next. Rest assured I will share my experiences, and who knows perhaps we will learn something along the way.

Ammaryllis seed pods

The first Amaryllis I got did not bloom last year. The only thing I can come up with is that it did not get enough light. I know it was not dead because the leaves grew out of it ad they were a wonderful green color. I dug the Amaryllis up last year and placed it in a 6 inch pot and waited. I know that bulbs need a dormant period of time so I did not water it. I just let it sis in the pot in the dark (or should I say the semi-dark). Well several weeks ago it started to grow and of course I started watering the plant and I was rewarded with a beautiful bloom and when the blooms opened I was rewarded with what I now know is a Minerva Amaryllis. I took my small paint brush and pollinated the flower in the hopes that the flower would give me some seed pods. From the looks of the pods I think I will be getting some seeds this year. I just don't know how many, of if they will be viable.