Planting guide

Preparing for planting out! Sorting all germinated seeds by high and type:

LOW:
1. 70 seeds: various Petunia Wave Collections ( sowed 3/8, germinated: 4/5 )
10. 50 seeds: Coreopsis Tinctoria, Mahogany Mid?? ( one of these germinated on 4/3/08) ---- aAt 10 inches tall, it's just the right size for containers or the front of the border!
10. 25 seeds: Coreopsis pubescense, Sunshine Superman
10. 50 seeds: Coreopsis, Early Sunrise
10. 25 seeds: Coreopsis, Sunfire
10. 100 seeds: Coreopsis, tinctoria
27. portulaca , aka Moss Rose , 死不了, (home collected seed in 2007) ( sowed 4/5, germinated 4/15 )
40. 100 seeds Bellis Tasso, Strawberries & Cream, English Daisy ( sowed 4/14 , germinated 5/3) , atop neat 5-inch plants.
58. Candytuft Apple Blossom ( sowed 4/27 , germinated 5/5 ) , 12 inches, A
64. Zinnia, thumbelina ( sowed 5/1, germinated 5/12 ), with kids, 6", border, A
48. 50 seeds Celosia, China Town ( sowed 4/24 ), r14 to 16 inches high and 8 inches wide, sun-lover, A
33. 100 seeds Celosia, Fresh Look, Orange (sowed 4/5, germinated 4/15)


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MEDIUM:

15. 50 seeds: Cosmos, Cosmic Orange ( sowed 3/15, germinated 4/5 ) --- 12-22 inches
15. 25 seeds: Cosmos, Double Click ( sowed 3/15, germinated 4/5 )
16. 10 seeds: Coleus, Chocolate Mint ( sowed 3/29/08, germinated 4/27 )
24. 40 seeds Coleus, Carefree mix (sowed 4/5, germinated 4/24 )
20. 100 seeds Trachymene Coerulea (Disdiscus) ( sowed 4/5/08, germinated 5/3 ) , sun and partial shade, 20-inch plants
56. 50 seeds Comsmos, Happy Ring ( sowed 4/27, germinated 5/3 )
52. 50 seeds Achillea Millefolum, Summer Berries, Yarrow ( sowed 4/27 , germinated 5/5 ) , 2 feet high and 1½ feet wide, P
60. Mirabilis Jalapa ( sowed 4/27, germinated 5/12 ), Four o'Clock, bushy plants 3 feet high and wide, plant near Roses
65. Bachelor Button ( sowed 5/12, germinated 20 ) , about 24 inches high and wide, A


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TALL:

7. 25 seeds: Lupine, Tutti Frutti ( <== 小叶子已经出来啦　3/22 )
8. 15 seeds: Dahlia, Fireworks ( germinated 4/24 )
14. 50 seeds: Aster, Opus ( sowed 3/8, germinated 4/13 ) --- 30 inches tall
19. 100 seeds Aster, Seastart Mix ( sowed 4/5/08 , germinated 4/13/08)
18. 25 seeds: Ornamental kale, Sunset ( sowed 3/29/08, germinated 4/3/08 ) --- Sunset reaches 2 feet tall and about 8 inches wide
49. 50 seeds Amaranthus, Autumn Touch ( sowed 4/24 , germinated 5/1 ) - giant 2-foot plumes
17. 50 seeds: Agastache Rupestins ( sowed 3/29/08, germinated 5/8 ) , 2 1/2 to 3 feet tall, P
31. 100 seeds Buddleia Davidii, Butterfly Bush (sowed 4/5, germinated 5/8 ) , Left unpruned, they will reach 14-feet tall, cut them back to about 10 inches each spring before the new growth begins A
67. Sunflower Velvet Qn ( sowed 5/12, germinated 20 )
68. Sunflower ( sowed 5/12, germinated 20 )
21. 25 seeds Digitalis, Camelot Lavendar Hybrid (Foxglove) (sowed 4/5, germinated 5/3 ) , reaches 42 to 48 inches tall and about 24 to 30 inches wide. Situate it in partial shade and rich, moist soil. P
30. 100 seeds Snapdragon hybrid, rocket Red (sowed 4/5), 2 1/2- to 3-foot plants , in full sun to light shade, A

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TRAILING

11. 25 seeds: Carnation, Clove Drops ( germinated 4/3/08 ) -- trailing plant
43. 100 seeds Lobelia erinus, Cascade Mix - small seeds( sowed 4/14, germinated 4/26 )
22. 10 Bacopa Snowtopia, Pelleted seed (sowed 4/5, germinated 5/3 ) , sun or shade
66. Trailing Soapwort(Saponaria Ocymoides) ( 3 bags, sowed 5/12 , germinated 20 ) , rock garden and border edging, 8" high

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MISC

9. 15 seeds: Runner Bean, Hestia ( sowed 3/8, germinated 4/13 - only a few beans worked ) - Plant 3 seeds per 10- to 12-inch pot for a very full look.

12. 50 seeds: Nasturtium, Park's Fragrant ( sowed 3/8, germinated 4/13 ) -- vines
13. ??? ( sowed 3/8, germinated 4/24 )
39. 100 seeds herb Pennyroyal (sowed 4/12, germinated 4/24 ) -- Just 4 to 16 inches tall, it spreads rapidly for a great barrier to fleas, mice, and other pests! plan in container
42. 100 seeds Sagina subulata Pearlwort - small seeds ( sowed 4/14, germinated 4/24 ) -- Mossy foliage grows just 1 inch tall, for lovely color between flagstones or spilling over rocks.
59. Squash Mars ( sowed 4/27, germinated 5/12 )

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POTS:

50. 20 seeds Coleus Giant, Exhibition Palisandra ( sowed 4/24, germinated 5/12 )
32. 20 seeds Coleus, Giant Exhibition, Aureole (sowed 4/5, germinated 5/12 )
62. Fansy J. Joker ( sowed 4/27, germinated 5/12 )
26. 20 seeds Laurentia, Avant-garde Blue Hybrid ( sowed 4/5, germinated 5/17 ), sunny or partly shade, 18-24 inches

Why not everyone is a gardener

I read Bumblebee's Why not everyone is a gardener. Very interesting article. While I agree some of her views, I have some of my owns:

It's just one of the hobby people choose, such as writing blog, photography, reading etc. One might think that spending 30 mins to write/read a blog, or 1 or 2 hours post processing those images you took using RAW format, is wasting time; while your opponent might think spending your weekends in the yard is not worthy at all.

Sometimes I have to agree what Quentin is saying: if you like to do it, you do it.

Except sometimes when I do it, I would like to drag him to do it together also, expecially those planting works. :-)

Quentin DOESN'T like gardening. He prefers sitting on his couch and read his novel books. That's his hobby, and I respect that. He ususally stays inside the house in the first few hours - watch kids do homework, taking turn practice piano, sometimes make lunch. Then he would come out in the last mins and help me out in the yard. Well, except those heavy lifting works, he would help me from start to finish. He for sure has no intesting on those small tasks such as weeding, watering etc.

Why he doesn't like it? Because he doesn't like it. :-)

Mind you, gardening requires lots of work. I ususally spend weekends in the yard doing labor works in Spring time, at least April/May to tidy up the yard, put down compost, mulch, edging etc, while others might go out for sight seeing etc. For what? I figured'ed that I only need to do this 2 months out of 12 months a year. It's well worth it to get my garden ready for summer blooming. And I get such joys from working in the garden.

I like to do it, while some others don't. It's people's choice.

Rain, rain

Heavy rain since 5pm today, and it's still going strong as I'm writing this blog. It's good for all my Dahlia bulbs and others. Weather forecast says it'll rain tomorrow too. Let them have a good drink of water!

I went out to the back after dinner during the rain - just want to peak at those jars to see if anything newly sprounted since yesterday. :-)

What's blooming this week

After lunch, I then realized I should have taken some pictures this morning when the rain had just stopped. Oh well, better late then nothing. I bring my camera out and take a short walk in the yard while the kids are getting ready to go to grandma's house. And here are what's blooming in the yard this week:

Cherry:


Another cherry:


White bleeding heart: Dicentra(荷包牡丹).别名：铃儿草、铃心草、鱼儿牡丹、免儿牡丹


Red bleeding heart:


Alyssum:

A few more jars

Planted all jars that parent collected for me in the morning. Think next year I'm going to start ws sooner.


51. 20 seeds Coleus Giant, Exhibition Tartan ( sowed 4/27 )

52. 50 seeds Achillea Millefolum, Summer Berries, Yarrow ( sowed 4/27 )

53. 40 seeds Coleus, Black Dragon ( sowed 4/27 )

54. 25 seeds Digitalis, Cameiot Cream, Hybrid ( sowed 4/27 )

55. Cucumber, Pearl Hybrid ( sowed 4/27 )

56. 50 seeds Comsmos, Happy Ring ( sowed 4/27 )

57. Herb Thyme Orange ( sowed 4/27 )

58. Candytuft Apple Blossom ( sowed 4/27 )

59. Squash Mars ( sowed 4/27 )

60. Mirabilis Jalapa ( sowed 4/27 )

61. Campanula Cant Bells Mx ( sowed 4/27 )

62. Fansy J. Joker ( sowed 4/27 )

Dahlia corner is all set

When kids are at Chinese school, I finished up edging of the Dahlia flower bed, then started putting down mulch. When daddy and kids got home, they joined me and the bed was done by 5:30pm officially! Let's sit tight and wait for the new sprout coming up!



One thing I noticed today in the yard is lots of weeds! Need to have Daddy put down something to the ground!, and gruds too! yikes! I had to kill 3 of them during eding the bed. sorry....

4 more jars

replanted #2, #3 to bigger jars, and planted 4 new jars after dinner:

47. 25 seeds Crepe Myrtle, Little Chief Pink ( sowed 4/24 )

48. 50 seeds Celosia, China Town ( sowed 4/24 )

49. 50 seeds Amaranthus, Autumn Touch ( sowed 4/24 )

50. 20 seeds Coleus Giant, Exhibition Palisandra ( sowed 4/24 )

2 more jars - Impatient and Begonia

planted 2 more jars after dinner:

45. 30 seeds Impatients Hybrid, Mosaic Mix ( sowed 4/21 )

46. 50 seeds Begonia Hybrid, Show Angels, Formula Mix - dust like ( sowed 4/21 )

Dahlia corner - bulbs are in

After lunch, we worked on the new flower bed. Quentin helped dump in piles of compost. and I mixed them in using the tiler, and planted all Dahlia bulbs that bought from van Bourgondien and Home Depot. I would say there are more than 20 bulbs in there! I can't wait to see them sprout.

A new flower bed

After Jyalu's swimming class, we got home and play around in the backyard for a while. Then head to Mcdonald's to meet Faye and her babies. Around 2ish, went home and started working on the new flower bed.

Daddy is a super helper today. He did all the tilter work. Soil has been lossen. Tomorrow plan to add compost in, mix, then plan all those Dahlia ( 大丽花 ）bulbs in!

And while daddy is working on the soil, mommy worked on other flower bed edging and widen the bed about 2 inches at the same time!

Also ordered 2 yards of 100% organizc compost, costed $102 including delivery, and had been delivered to my driveway on the same day. That nursery guy said we can order 50/50 ( 50 compost: 50 loam) next year. Given we had 2 years of 100% compost put into the soil. Will see.

yes, a new flower bed in this corner. Plan for a Dahlia corner!


Little tool, BIG helper!
Soil had been lossen:
Edging:
See, widen about 2 inches at the same time:
Asian pear is about to bloom:
Pear:
Lily is coming up:
Hosta too:

5 more jars

After dinner, looked at time was only 7pm. Still got light outside. So went out to backyard and planted 5 more jars:

40. 100 seeds Bellis Tasso, Strawberries & Cream, English Daisy ( sowed 4/14 )

41. 100 seeds lemon Grass ( sowed 4/14 )

42. 100 seeds Sagina subulata Pearlwort - small seeds ( sowed 4/14 )

43. 100 seeds Lobelia erinus, Cascade Mix - small seeds( sowed 4/14 )

44. 100 seeds Lobelia, Fountain Blue - small seeds ( sowed 4/14 )

More seeds

planted more seeds today ( see the master list ):

36. 6 seeds Stephanotis Floribunda, madagascar jasmine (sowed 4/12)

37. 10 seeds Angel's Trumpet, Ballerina yellow, Datura metel (sowed 4/12)

38. 10 seeds Lilium, White lancer (sowed 4/12)

39. 100 seeds herb Pennyroyal (sowed 4/12)

also plant some Caladium, Canna, Elephant ears, Bargonia, Lily bulbs down to containers today.

4/5 update