variadm – Page 110 – variegatagal

Salvia, basil, and blue daisies

With the seedlings doing well in their covered flat, I decided to try out MiracleGro’s Seedling Starter soil and bust out the basil seeds. With summer only 6 weeks away, I thought it would be only a matter of time before we started craving the awesome fresh flavors of an herb garden. Half packets of Stokes Seeds Red Rubin and Thai Basil went into a cheap plastic tray (recycled from food takeout), along with some Ferris & Morse catmint seeds purchased at Home Depot. It didn’t take long for me to notice the seeds swell up in the tray. Because the tray isn’t self-watering like the Burpee’s kit, I will be misting it daily

Two out of the 6 red salvia cuttings took root, which I promptly transferred to a 4 inch pot with starting soil. Two failed completely (perhaps because they were cut from hardwood), while the other 2 showed no rooting. The latter I also put into a starter/garden soil mix and placed under the grow light. From Walton’s Gardens yesterday I took home a Hot Lips Salvia and proceeded to take 4 cuttings, which also went under the grow light.

Finally, from Home Depot, I brought home a rosemary in a quart pot, along with the blue daisy I’ve been craving for all week, Felicia Cape Town Blue. I’m thinking of putting it in a planter along with some dianthus and a Picasso lily bulb that I have left over.

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!