Freesias

They are going to bloom any day now...

Even More seeds

Today I planted some more seeds bunching onion, tomato beefsteak, bread seed poppy, Spinach, and cucumber, this is Seed tray #3

Seed update

The seeds are starting to come up. Here's a rundown:

Morning glory - 3 of 11 seeds have come up
Cerinthe - 6 of 12 seeds have come up
Oriental poppy - 26 sprouts in 11 cells
Watermelon - 2 of 5 seeds are coming up
Nasturtium - 0 of 6
Phlox - 0 of 6
Lavender - 0 of 6
Chives - 4 of 6 seeds are coming up
Thyme - 42 sprouts in 6 cells

Diascia

I bought this plant from Green Acres nursery in Roseville. I really liked the color of the bloom.

Apricot starting to bloom

This morning the first blooms on my tilton apricot opened

Thyme is already sprouting!

The new seeds I planted the other day are already showing signs of life. The common thyme is coming up, and one little morning glory is also starting to poke out of the dirt.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

New Seeds

I planted a new batch of seeds:

Thyme
Chives
Lavender
Phlox
Nasturtium
Watermelon
Oriental Poppy
Cerinthe
Morning Glory

They go on the windowsill today to start baking in the sun today

Front Yard Color

I replanted the two pots on the windowsills in the front yard... Yesterday, after we went to the farmer's market, we stopped at Target's garden center. I picked up a couple of primula malacoides (fairy primrose) for $1.29 each, and an erysimum citronia (wallflower in orange) for $4.39. The wallflower actually had two plants in the pot so I was able to split it in two for what I was doing.

First spring bulbs

OK I know my Little daffodils have been up since December... but this little Ipheion popped up today on a warm sunny day and made me think of spring.

Bulb Forcing Update

The bulbs went back into the fridge for another couple weeks after my post on them. I wiped the mold off of the one bulb before putting it in the fridge and that seems to have helped (it didn't come back). When I took them out I put them on a windowsill for a day, but it was a south-facing window, and all that direct light kind of burned the green bits. It's been off the windowsill in indirect light for a couple days now and is visibly growing.

Bugs!

Something is eating my sweetpeas... I can't see what it is, but I'm thinking I need to clear out the leaves from under the plants.

Blueberries

I have a number of blueberries in pots in my backyard, and have had blueberries in pots for years. Right now I'm putting some new Azalea soil in the pots and working it into the top inch or so of soil.

The plants I started out with are not the ones I have now, but here's the current line-up:

• Duke
• Jubilee
• Darrow
• Sharpblue
• Misty

In the past I've had, Blueray, Bluecrop, and Earliblue.

The trick with blueberries in pots is to keep them super happy. Give them a Azalea Mix Soil, and top it off with some redwood bark to keep the soil moist when it's warm out... Keep them pruned (take out any dead branches, and any that are growing toward the center of the bush, and any that are crossing each other), and well watered when it's hot out (containers soil dries out faster).

Climbing Penstemon

I bought this plant either from Annies Annuals, or from another nursery carrying Annie's Annuals plants a couple years ago. It had a hard time last year, but this winter, it has had a growth spurt and is looking like it's going to do pretty well.

This Climbing Pentstemon (Keckiella Cordifolia) is a California Native and a hummingbird attractor. It's supposed to bloom May-July. I'm thinking it might be interesting to plant it somewhere with the Cape Honeysuckle, which has been blooming in November/December, to provide a mostly-year round hummingbird feeding area...

Here's some more info on it from the Las Pilitas Nursery: http://www.laspilitas.com/nature-of-california/plants/keckiella-cordifolia

Lion's Tail Container

This container had a lion's tail plant, rockcress, and a red lantana. It also has a few struggling bulbs - some freesia, and one brodiaea.

The Lion'sTail (the light colored sticks in this image) I got two years ago, the first year it did ok, and the second year it took off like crazy into lanky, 3' tall stalks. I learned on my visit to the Fair Oaks Horticultural Center's open house last summer, that they need to be cut back hard. So, I've cut it back to about 1/3 of it's height, hopefully that will encourage it to get a little more bushy this year.

The Rockcress (The plant covering 2/3 of the container) I got from my mom a couple years ago, she had purchased it and never planted it, so she gave it to me. I thought it would look nice in a container with the lion's tail since they are both bright orange, and bloom in the summer. Last year the rockcress was barely hanging on... but it seems to have taken root and exploded this winter, I can't wait for it to bloom this year!

I also got a bright red Lantana (low plant on the left) late last year, and just placed it in it's orignal pot in the container to see how it would look and also see if it would survive. It's done pretty good, I'll think I'll plant it in the container...

Spring Flowers

While walking around the neighborhood, I spotted this tree blooming.

 

In our front yard, the daffodils around the maple tree are about to bloom, and the freesias (in the pot) won't be far behind....