variadm – Page 110 – variegatagal

Seedlings and flower beds installed

I mentioned last week that the dianthus seedlings were the first to germinate. However, what I noticed the next day were the impatiens starting to burst out of their casings. I found many of the tray cells occupied by flecks of white. So I’m happy to note that it took about 4-5 days to finally see some activity from them.

Saturday morning, the rest of the dianthus had begun to bloom, 2 carmine reds and 1 picoteed (Telstar) violet. I was also pleased to discover that at least one of the lily bulbs (Red Alert?) I had planted had burst through the soil. The Snowdrift Astilbe seems to like its new home because its leaves have begun to color in and unfurl. With the warm (70 degrees) temperatures we’ve had all week, it seems that nature has switched to full throttle. Even the crape myrtles have begun to leaf out. Of course, with the onset of heat, that means the violas begin to wilt.

Our landlord brought over 10 bags of soil amendment and 10 bags of black mulch on Saturday afternoon. We then proceeded over to Strong’s Nursery and acquired the fixtures in our front flower beds. The finally tally? Three Emerald Snow lorapetalums, 2 Firehouse Nandinas, 1 Moon Bay Nandina, 2 Encore Azaleas Autumn Embers, 1 Autumn Twist, 1 Autumn Monarch, and 3 Hakonechloa macras Aureola (or Japanese Forest Grass All Gold). The Hakonechloas were a surprise discovery…we managed to snag the last 3 at the nursery. Along with these shrubs, we installed the Astilbe Fanals and Amerika and the 2 Hosta Minutemen (which I had potted earlier in the week).

On Sunday, we ventured north to look at some new nurseries. Lewisville had one off 35N but it was closed for Easter Sunday. So we ventured west into Flower Mound, but discovered that Huggins Nursery had recently come under new management and found a very sparse selection of plants. I got a sniff of the scented geraniums, saw some salvias, and finally went home with 2 Foxtail ferns (the first I’ve seen for the season). We then journeyed back south, hit another Lowes and Home Depot before trekking over to Christina’s in North Dallas. I’m never disappointed with this nursery…they had a vast selection of plants on sale, and I ended up bringing home an 18 count flat of Coleus Wizard mix. Pictures soon!

Yard Scenes

Ft Worth Botanical Garden 2009

Pictures from last year’s trip to the Botanical and Japanese Gardens in Ft. Worth.

Germinating seeds, more plantings

After 3 days of non-stop light exposure, the first seeds to germinate are the Dianthus Super Parfait Red Peppermint, hybridized by Goldsmith. It appears that all 3 rows of seeds that I sowed have sprouted. The impatiens show no signs of life, which I suspected, given the lack of bottom heat. I believe when the dianthus reach 3 inches in height, I will be transplanting them to individual pots. According to the hybridizer, dianthus plugs are generally ready for transplant in 6-8 weeks. It will be interesting to see how fast these dianthus grow under 24×7 light. I’m excited enough to purchase another flat and heat mats to continue growing plants from seed. My basil seeds for example need to be put into trays if I want them out in the garden asap.

I’ve fetched the callas I had stored in the pantry, and were happy to see that some of the pup-chewed bulbs were growing shoots out of their eyes (remember to plant them eyes up!). I collected the Picassos and the 1 Devil’s Wine and put them out in the azalea/lily bed. I am hoping that they will get enough sun near the front border. I reserved only one of the Picasso callas for use in a future potting.

Finally, I’ve brought the Asahi zuru indoors in hopes that the indirect light will help it regain some of its variegation. I’ve read that removing the non-variegated leaves will stop this behavior, but I am not inclined to strip the tree of all of its foliage. It is more likely that the direct morning sun that it received in the past few months has affected it. But here is a forum thread that gives me some hope of seeing variegation this year…I’m just too impatient I guess!

Azaleas, lilies, and germinating seeds

Saturday, I brought home some $1.88 azaleas that were on special at Lowes. For the price, I couldn’t resist picking up 8 of them, even though they weren’t the Encore types. I picked up two each of the Gumpo Pinks and Whites, 1 Hot Shot, 1 Macrantha Orange, 1 Crimson and a Delaware Valley White. On Sunday, I then installed them into the courtyard bed next to the fence along with the Navona, Lollypop and Red Alert lilies. I also got around to putting the Hyperion daylily as well as the Snowdrift Astilbe. I’m hoping that with the onset of summer the azaleas will receive enough shade under the myrtles to survive the Texas heat.

Prior to that, we finally got finished laying out the stone for the last front bed, next to the fence under the crape myrtle. Currently, a very small patch of the bed receives 2 hours of noon sun, but I suspect that will disappear once the myrtle leafs out. We went ahead and planted 3 hostas, Gold Standard on each corner of the bed. I also felt that after seeing the dessicated remains of Minuteman that I’d try to revive them by potting them up first. So 2 Minuteman and 2 remaining Gold Standards are sitting in pots under the full shade of Photinias, along with some salvia cuttings that I took earlier in the week.

Late Sunday night, I finally got around to testing our new seed starting venture. We had earlier in the week finished construction on a grow light in our second, unused bathroom. We invested about $85 in PVC, workshop lights and “plant” bulbs, which we used to make our DIY light plant stand. We invested about $15 in a seedling starter kit from Burpees. Then our basil, dianthus and impatiens seeds arrived from Stokes. I’m not entirely convinced that we’ll be successful growing impatiens under the light conditions, having read that these flowers absolutely require a heat mat. But we shall see. I’m also not exactly thrilled with the starter kit; the plastic warped from the hot tap water with poured in, and the plug medium was extremely messy. Those impatiens/dianthus seeds are so incredibly tiny, they need forceps to sow–I’m sure I must have lost 5-7 seeds per plug. If I don’t get roughly 200 out of the 250 seeds I supposedly planted, then I’m fairly certain this seed starting venture will be a bust. (FYI the starter kit has room for only 75 plugs.)

I forgot to mention that 1 of the dianthus that I carried with me from the patio garden and transplanted into the courtyard bed has bloomed. It was a white dianthus. I can’t wait to see the other 3 transplants to put out color…these plants are a testament to the hardiness of the species–long-lived even under harsh, transitory conditions. I have one more dianthus that I have yet to place into the landscape…and after seeing the successful bloom on the white, I’m ready to put it in. Maybe I will have some luck with the Red Peppermint seeds that I’ve started…