adventures in babysitting

If making mistakes leads to greater understanding and advancement on the path to excelling at a subject, I'll be ready to teach a master class soon.  I've already talked about my winter-sowing debacle...soil too wet, top container holes too numerous, bottom drainage holes too few, and containers not secured from wind.

Undaunted, I decided to start a new set of seeds once the weather got warm enough.  Inside, of course, because we're working on new options for the front field, and it's not ready for planting yet.  I felt fairly prepared.  I had big, shallow plastic tubs...a soil-less mixture of peat moss and vermiculite...and clear labels.

I'd even gone through the trouble of cold-stratifying my perennial seeds - moving them from freezer to refrigerator to freezer - to help break their exterior shell. 

In no time at all, I had tiny rows of seedlings. 

Then I realized - GASP.  We were heading into a week of rain, and I'd have no real light to aid my plants.  Without some kind of light, they'd become spindly and die.  Emergency run to Menard's for shop lights.

Since I'd planted so many tubs, we had grow lights, rows of tubs, and big tangles of extension cords everywhere.  The lights dried out the soil, and then I realized the reason why people start their seeds in those thin plastic containers that sit in long plastic trays:  my plastic tubs didn't have drainage holes, and that you aren't supposed to top-water.  You pour your water into the plastic trays and the plants absorb as much as they need.  But it was too late to remedy that, so it was constant spritzing with the water bottle to keep the soil moist.

I was so pleased with the progress and germination rate...and then I saw roots hitting the container bottoms.  I realized with a Simpsons-level D'oh! that another reason why people use those black plastic containers is that they're about 5 - 6 inches tall, allowing room for root growth.  With Todd shaking his head and wondering at my sanity ("We can just buy full-grown plants when the garden is ready!"), I set about re-potting over 1,000 seedlings into deeper containers. 

The transplanted seedlings have to be watched carefully, because they're out in the sun now.  Late-afternoon sun is too hot for them, so they all have to be dragged into the shade.

Of course, they cannot take the torrential rains that we've been having.  Just the other day, we had hail!

Last night we had another flash storm, so, since there's no room inside for so many tubs, I dragged them all to a protected spot under the pine trees and covered them with a tarp.  The next morning, I discovered that rain had pooled on top of the tarp, pressing the delicate stems flat into the soil.

ARGH!!!!

They seem to be incredibly resilient, though.  I've got them back in the sun, and I suspect - hope - that they'll straighten up today. 

Of course, I have another ten tubs to transplant.  I am devoting an hour a day to it, trying not to feel discouraged, and hoping that I can salvage this mess and get everything into the garden by the 2nd week of June. 

Other experiments have been a little discouraging.  "I'm going to re-pot this volunteer sunflower from my front garden!"

Whomp whomp.

"Maybe I can ripen seed heads away from the parent plant, since it's been so wet that some of them are rotting, or I just miss them completely!  I can't seem to find much information online, but it makes sense.  I'll label them, dry them, and collect the seeds at my leisure."

(Two hours later, I'm informed on a garden forum that it just doesn't work this way, and that seeds should ripen on plant.)

I definitely feel like I'm stumbling blind through this, despite all the reading I've done.  I have to console myself with the thought of next year's garden, when I will presumably make fewer mistakes.  I'm trying to take some encouragement from the more established garden, too.

Irises are blooming!

They look so pretty.

One peony bloom so far, whose stem broke in last night's storm...but that just means a new bouquet.  ;)

The catmint has filled in, so I finally get the purple-on-purple color scheme that I like so much.

The same with my lupines and false indigo.

New columbines are opening up!  I bought any clearance columbine at Lowe's last year, even without knowing the color.  They're so resilient, and they re-seed so well, that one single columbine will have enough seed to color an entire garden!  My two newest colors:  pure white and pale yellow.  I love it!

Bleeding hearts are still going strong...and it's nearly June!

Yarrow, delphiniums, balloon flowers, foxgloves, daisies...all ready to open up soon.  We've got beautiful sun in between all the storms...

(back pond and field)

And I've got great company in the garden, of course.

And sometimes, in the house.  :)

Have a great week!

Crowded House

While Todd finally unpacks his office and sets up shelving inside...

...I've been spending every spare minute working outside.  I've been struggling with some of the results of my first-year decisions in the garden:  cramming too many plants in a too-small space.  I naturally like a dense, messy garden, but in some cases, we have a really crowded house!

Between the Solomon's seal and the columbines, this little fern could barely breathe.

This coreopsis plant is completely overshadowed by looming peonies and salvia and therefore is not growing as well as it should be. 

Some things were growing nearly on top of each other!

Look at how healthy this lupine is.

I bought another plant at the same time but put it in a different location, where it doesn't have enough room to thrive.  Huge difference!

I've moved a lot of things around this year to make better garden partners.  It's not just spacing, but color.  I'm pretty pleased with how things are turning out, for the most part.  I tend to rely on 2 main colors for my contrasts - lime green and silvery green - for my favorite flower colors (white, purple/blue, and pink).

This sedum (bottom of picture) is commonly known as graveyard moss, although it's not a moss.  It is such a robust, quick-growing plant that years ago, it became a popular choice for planting on freshly-dug graves.  I love using it with other limes, like this euphorbia, and with silver, like this artemisia.

It looks great against color, like this Sweet William, and darker green, like this lemon thyme.

I planted a trusty lime euphorbia next to catmint, which has lovely purple spikes in summer.

I also like the sharp lime of creeping jenny, which I've tucked into my mint bed.  It's a great contrast against the darker green.  Once I finish propagating it, I'll continue to spread it around the garden.

Lime green looks really good against dark colors, like this penstemon.

This is another much-loved color - dramatic purple leaves.  I have multiples of this plant, and I also have this color in several coral bells plants (see below).  The deep purple looks great against both lime green and silver, which is why I love the artemisia that I planted last year.  Most varieties of artemisia are known as "bullies" because it grows so vigorously, but so far, I love it.  Its feathery foliage and silvery color make it a clear choice over another popular silver plant, dusty miller, that I never warmed up to. 

I also use greens and silvers to 'cool down' hot colors, like red.  I don't tend to like red in the garden, but I love these dainty alpine columbines.  I moved them all around in the garden until they were concentrated in 'cooler' areas with hostas and the artemisia.

I also moved several of them out to the new shade bed I'm building under our pine trees.  They make a nice pop of color there, although they won't be really robust until next year.

Yarrow 'moonshine' also has a lovely silvery tint.  You can see it best in this picture from earlier this  month.

They're all fantastic contrast colors and work well together.  And it gives a nice backdrop for my beloved pinks, purples, and whites. 

I think purple is so dramatic in the garden.  It just works so well with green.

Of course, black goes with everything!  :)

Now that most things are moved around (another huge relocation will happen this fall!), I can sit back and wait for the next stage of blooms.

Have a great week!

my propagation station

Everything was going well.  Sun, blue skies...

Garden looking perky...

...and then...frost.

I knew the frost was coming and would severely damage both flower buds and tender leaves of plants, so I tried to cover everything with sheets...

I had too much, though, and the weight of the sheets - even with the assist of stakes in some places, was damaging thin stems.  I had to pick and cover the most vulnerable, cross my fingers, and hope for the best.

ARGH!!!

So many frost-burned leaves (salvia, wild geranium, my mints, black-eyed susans, some hostas, some coral bells).

Worse, the arching flowers of my coral bells, JUST getting ready to bloom...flattened.

Some foxgloves and peonies look the same way - even the ones that were covered with pillow cases!  I staked them and am hoping for the best.  I keep reminding myself - "What's great about living in a place with 4 seasons is that as soon as you get thoroughly sick of one season, another one starts."  I am definitely sick of cold weather and have been stomping around in my thick coat, marking off the days until we reach the 70s again (Thursday). 

I've taken advantage of this SLOW start to the growing season to propagate in a different way.  I'm experimenting with stem cuttings, which is exactly what it sounds like.  Cut a stem, just below a leafed-out area.  Remove the leaves.  Trim off excess leaves above.  Dip tip in rooting hormone and place it into a container with your favorite soil-less combination (mine is vermiculite and peat moss).  Keep moist and wait.  First, I've got some no-brainers.  Sedum is the easiest thing to root and so I took full advantage of the sedum mixes from last year's clearance sales.

This is close to 50 clippings, from 10 different types of sedum. They should all root in 2 - 3 weeks - and then they can be gently removed and placed into their own little pots.  By August, they should be large enough to put into the garden, where they'll become their own nice-sized plant by next year.

I did some research and tried to do the same thing with some of my perennials. I've got 105 cuttings in here (the two empty holes are for terra cotta pots, which, when filled with water, will slow-release it and therefore keep the soil mix moist without me having to hassle with it).

I'm attempting to root hydrangeas, spirea, creeping jenny, ferns, coreopsis, creeping and lemon thyme, salvia, euphorbia, catmint, false indigo, deutzia, culver's root, and wild geranium.  It took about an hour to prepare the cuttings.  I splurged last year and spent $40 on a 'Limelight' hydrangea...how amazing would it be if I was able to get SIX new plants this year for free?  According to what I read, this doesn't need light.  Just cover it to maintain humidity and occasionally check the water levels in the pots to make sure that it doesn't go dry.  These will take longer to root - maybe 6 weeks - and I certainly don't expect everything to root.  Actually, I will be shocked if even 25% roots.  But whatever roots is a new free plant with no real effort from me.  It will be interesting to see what happens!

Beautiful birds migrating through right now.  I'm in love with the Baltimore orioles!  They eat fruit, so I am constantly replacing the cut-up oranges in the feeders.

Above is an immature oriole, not quite as brightly colored but getting there!  Below you can see the rose-breasted grosbeaks with the orioles, another new arrival here.

Of course, we get a lot of the usual visitors, like these red-headed woodpeckers...

...and the pileated.

Red-wing blackbirds are nesting in our cattails now, and get extremely nervous if I venture down to the pond's edge.

Unfortunately, I have to go down there a lot, because I added a bed of white cosmos for some instant gratification color this summer, and seedlings are coming up, despite the cold weather.

Tabitha is taking advantage of the the chilly sunlight, too.

Claudia doesn't seem to care WHAT the temperature is.

I hope I can get to that zen place someday.  Have a great week!