QC Garden - Quad Cities Gardening » Gardening

$85 Worth of Reasons to Save Seeds

boo — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 20:03:12 +0000

Once again I have caught myself ordering more seeds, but even more sickening is these were seeds that I once grew. When I first started growing plants under the grow lights I grew tons of annuals. Sometimes I had 15 flats of 75 plugs going. I love annuals, but as time goes by the garden fills up with perennials that need more space. All of a sudden my space is limited but I miss all the annuals..annuals that were staples when it came to seed saving.

I’ve scoured my seed box and sent SOS messages on seed exchanges but as the time comes near to start seeds I’ve decided to once again purchase the seeds I should have saved.

BASIL, PURPLE RUFFLES
BORAGE
BUNNYTAILS GRASS
STEVIA
WORMWOOD
TOMATOES, AUNT RUBY’S GERMAN GREEN
CYPRESS VINE MIX
TITHONIA, TORCH
ORNAMENTAL MILLET, PURPLE MAJESTY
CLEOME are just a few that I have recently purchased.

This fall I will save the seed!!

Rain, Weeds & More Weeds

boo — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 18:13:00 +0000

Don’t get me wrong, I love the rain! Any time I don’t have to drag the hose around is wonderful. As much as my plants love the moisture so do the weeds and it doesn’t seem to matter how much I mulch or squeeze the plants together, weeds pop up everywhere.

After I collected the hundredth weed or so to toss in my weed bucket I wondered what it would be like to downsize? Maybe an apartment with a killer window box? It’s something we talk about a lot since eventually we would like to move. Do we really want more land? The plant collector shrieks, YES! Acres! But as I’m on my hands and knees, cursing bind weed, I’m not so sure. It might be nice to have a life on the weekend that doesn’t involve mulch, compost or manure.

Shhh! The Garden Sleeps

boo — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 17:31:00 +0000

If that’s at all possible with Beagles running all over it. Yes, it’s 7 degrees right now & the beds are blanketed with snow. I’ve been a bad blogger going months without a post. I had things to say but never took the time to say them, then forgot..Oh, no excuse is good but I am still here, gardening & blogging when I have time.

I had a good gardening season and have started trading & buying seeds for the next. I can’t wait to start seeds.

A Garden Cat

boo — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 14:42:00 +0000

Since we’ve been at this house we’ve had garden cat. These cats are wild. Probably dumped by their owners or abused until they run off. They are quiet observers and often go without a name. The current garden cat has been with us 7 years. I guess I call him Sweetie sometimes but its been more of a generic greeting I say to everyone, not a name. The cat won’t let anyone within a foot of it, and often ducks for cover like it expects us to throw something. It doesn’t trust us, but he follows me around the garden. He probably wonders who I am talking to since I talk to everything in the garden; plants, bees, might as well add a cat to the list.

Unfortunately, through the years our garden cat will disappear and we’ll know that it probably victim to one of the busy streets or who knows. Then another cat will appear. We’ve never had more than one at a time and I always think its funny that one is prepared to fill the position so quickly. I know what you’re thinking, there are tons of strays everywhere! We’ve had strays come & go and its not the same as these quiet souls that visit the garden. They aren’t hunting, taking a poo in my flower beds or begging for food. Does it sound stupid that I feel like its a soul that is suppose to be close to me, but takes many forms in different cats? Yep, as I write it, it sounds silly, but that’s the way it feels.

In other news, another bed is finished. Looks kind of puney but it should start to fill in nicely next year. Yes, that’s a stump I threw in there. I want to do something artsy with it. My MIL asked me if I expected it to grow. Towards the left (tied to a post) is my mini ginkgo that has been sickly since planting it this spring. He did much better in the house. I’m hoping the new location will be more to his liking.

Will To Live

boo — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 16:44:00 +0000

This daylily I got from Wild. I don’t know the name but I think it was one of their bonus plants. Anyway it was kind of a small division when it first came but I planted in the back part of my yard hoping that it would make it. Well, something got a hold of it and dug it up. I found a piece of it many days later when I was mowing. No leaf on it but a root the size of the tip of my pinky. I was going to toss it but decided to plant it. I walked around my flower bed and removed a small rock so I could have a bit of ground to plant it in. Yeah, my garden is that stuffed. Then I stuck a little cage around it so I could keep tabs on it. Well, that summer two little leaves emerged but no blooms of course. 2nd & 3rd year, still no blooms but the leaves were growing well. This year I have blooms!!

I think this plants will to survive is amazing. I wish the hybrid coneflowers were just as good. Personally I think they are bred with issues and are very suicidal.

Hostas Love The Rain

boo — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 17:53:00 +0000

The last two summers I’ve been dragging the hose around to water all my shade plants so all the recent rain has been great in that aspect. Of course we haven’t had to deal with all the horrible flooding. Hostas seem to flourish with all the rain.

I have added a couple more to my garden.

Hosta ‘Green Eyes’
Hosta ‘Imp’
Hosta ‘Chartreuse Wiggles’
Hosta ‘Limey Lisa’
Hosta ‘Marilyn Monroe’
Hosta ‘Rock Island Line’
Hosta ‘Little Sunspot’

Dry Creek Bed

boo — Sat, 31 May 2008 01:40:00 +0000

Here is a picture of the dry creek bed that wraps around the patio. Why this is called a dry creek bed and not a rock garden? I dunno.. it was the plan I worked with but at any rate it’s starting to fill in. Since we’ve gotten so much rain though it also started to fill in with a lot of little weeds. I think I should have laid some fabric down before laying the rocks because its a real pain in the butt to weed among rocks. I still have space among the rocks so I’ll have to find some new treasures to include.

Holiday Weekend Rush

boo — Tue, 27 May 2008 00:16:00 +0000

I had a big to-do list but didn’t get as much done as I would have liked because of the weather. I’m not about to gripe about rain though. The dogs pen is really coming together or maybe apart is a better phrasing. The only thing we have left to do is lay the turf. Right now it is a large compacted mud pit.

The other area is stuffed full of all the plants I had to move from the plant eating girls.

Things are really popping with color.

Ornamental Grasses

boo — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 13:47:00 +0000

My shipment of ornamental grasses arrived packaged very well and looked great, but then Haley managed to run off with one. It was badly chewed, all dirt shaken from its roots but I planted it anyway. She’s such a little monster.

The List of Ornamental Grasses

Acorus gramineus Variegatus
Calamagrostis acutiflora Avalanche
Calamagrostis acutiflora Overdam
Carex elata Bowles Golden
Carex morrowii Ice Dance
Carex oshimensis Evergold
Deschampsia cespitosa
Miscanthus sinensis Bluetenwunder
Miscanthus sinensis Gracillimus
Miscanthus sinensis Kaskade
Miscanthus sinensis Little Kitten
Miscanthus sinensis Little Zebra
Miscanthus sinensis Malepartus
Miscanthus sinensis Morning Light
Miscanthus sinensis Mysterious Maiden
Miscanthus sinensis Nippon
Miscanthus sinensis Puenktchen Little Dot
Miscanthus sinensis Purpurascens Autumn Red
Miscanthus sinensis Rigoletto
Miscanthus sinensis Sarabande
Miscanthus sinensis Silberfeder
Miscanthus sinensis Strictus
Miscanthus sinensis Super Stripe
Miscanthus sinensis Variegatus
Miscanthus sinensis Zebrinus
Panicum virgatum Shenandoah
Phlox paniculata David

Of course the Phlox isn’t a grass but we lost our phlox a few years ago and that particular one has an amazing aroma, so I bought a replacement.

It looks like a pricey purchase but I actually bought these last fall during their year end sale when all the grasses were so discounted it came out to only a couple bucks per grass. I opted for the spring delivery because at the time I was too busy with other stuff. I feel like a stinker because of that option I got their spring inventory at the fall price. Very happy with the roots on these wonderful plants.

My garden is now full of ornamental grasses!!

On another note: Yesterday I finished spray painting the layout for the new walk way. For days Cliff has been saying, “This is BS. Blah, Blah It won’t look good.” After he could visually see what has been in my head he admitted that it looked pretty cool. At this point I’m really surprised he still doubts that I know what I’m doing. tee hee hee I guess I can’t fool him, but it is turning out rather well.

Related Links

University of Illinois Extension – Ornamental Grasses – Understanding Ornamental Grasses, How to Plant, Care and Maintenance, and Types of Ornamental Grasses.

Some Bloomers

boo — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 19:32:00 +0000

It’s overcast and 53 degrees right now, which is probably as good as it’s going to get today. I started moving rocks around to the new beds but I got sidetracked by a few bloomers. So instead of working on the new beds, I took some pictures. I don’t know if we’ll see a frost so better shoot the flowers before they are mush, since the lows have been in the 30’s.

Large tulips that we bought from Brecks 9 years ago.

A miniature thrift that is in my miniature conifer garden.

Here is one of my favorite bleeding hearts with yellow foliage.