variegatagal – Page 101 – gardening in zone 8a tx

The front yard embedded in winter ice

Two serious wintry blasts defined February; uncommon in Texas and burying much of the landscape in ice and snow.

It’s good to know that the gardenia is hanging on, still in good shape despite its tender tropical nature. The azaleas look somewhat bare this time of year, though the low-growing cultivars look fuller than the taller shrubs.

The Emerald Snow loropetalums are clothed in dark, very dark leaves. What damage they may have endured remains to be seen.

The nandina cultivars seem rather unaffected by the harsh weather; though the broadleaf types tend to show a little more leaf burn with their winter color.

The Hot Lips salvia definitely took a beating; I’m unsure at this point if it will recover. Where other salvia strains are putting up a good fight, this particular hybrid is sensitive to the ice and snow and all of its top growth appears dead. I made the mistake of leaving out my cuttings during the storm; I am hoping they will bounce back after bringing them indoors.

The foxtail ferns which had remained bright green up until this point finally displayed some winter burn. The spiky spears changed to yellow and brown…I am wondering if I will need to prune them back for spring.

Buried in leaves, most of the kale and violas appear to have been unharmed. I can’t say the same for the gaura plantings in the front bed. I’m even worried about the kangaroo paw returning in the spring. As for the hakonechloa, I reckon I will be moving them soon under the direct shade of the crape myrtle bed. After struggling most of last year, t his type of grass probably looks best in the cool spring months under full shade.

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Seed starting 2011 part 3

My Swallowtail Garden seeds arrived this week. With so many choices of seeds to start, I was hard-pressed to find space under the grow lights. I procured the scrap piece of plywood sitting in the laundry room and used it as a base for the Burpee growing system, which I then rotated 180 degrees to free up some real estate.

The phlox have been bursting out of their seed cases this weekend, and I detected some whiskering roots from the Blue Knoll Chrysanthemums. Because I doubled up on the seeds, I decided to separate the mums into 2 rows of 6, for a total of 12 starts. The dianthus, as I expected, grew surprisingly fast since I sowed them last Tuesday. They appear to be the most vigorous growers in the 2nd half of the grow system.

Since I received the columbine seeds, I decided to test the coir pellets for growing perennials. I placed 8 pellets this morning in a spare takeout dinner tray and expanded them with water. With any luck, I will have 4 each of the Origami Blue and Origami Red columbines.

I also discovered today that the first Purple pastel salvia that I sowed had reared its head out of the 3″ pot I planted it in. I half-expected it to start later, but it’s been exactly 7 days since I first planted it. It’s parent plant is now occupying the sink next to the grow lights, and is slowly regaining its foliage. I now have high hopes for the white salvia greggii seeds I planted in 2 more pots. I spent the entire day Sunday collecting seeds from the white specimen against the neighboring wall. It flowered so vigorously up until January–I am looking forward to fostering more. One thing I noticed about the white salvia seeds I collected: some are nearly black while others are tan in color. I am unsure what the difference may be, but I am hoping I didn’t plant chaff.

For the last row in the grow system, I chose to plant 6 seeds of the delosperma I purchased from Swallowtail Gardens. I’m looking forward to growing my first succulent groundcover.

Activity in the other takeout trays is brisk: the alyssum are popping like crazy, the impatiens are finally making a showing. The only seeds which haven’t emerged are the garlic chives in 2 pots. I don’t remember them being so slow, but I’m hoping they will make up for it later.

Lastly, the ornamental peppers are beginning to show some evidence of color. All of the pepper varieties are displaying remarkable growth, while the basil seedlings appear to have slowed down somewhat. But the first set of seedlings are displaying 2nd and 3rd sets of leaves, so it’s been exciting to watch them prosper.

The weather was unseasonably warm this past weekend, reaching 70-75 degrees during the afternoons. However, we have an icy week forecasted as early as Tuesday morning, so we’ll be back down to frigid temperatures. I’m hoping this will be the last freeze of the year.

Seed my Valentine

The Burpee order arrived yesterday bringing a packet each of the Lady in Red Salvia and Dianthus Valentine. I proceeded to put out 6 Valentine seeds into the growing system. I believe I will sow the Lady in Red Salvia in 3″ pots, given the vigor of these “Texas” or Scarlet sages. Now, all that are left to arrive are the columbines, petunias and ice plant seeds from Swallowtail Gardens.

I thinned some pepper and Thai basil seedlings that I discovered that had doubled up, including the ones I intentionally increased, namely the Thai chili peppers. I am testing the hardiness of two by putting them outside the growing system into a 3″ pot. Technically, I should leave the seedling cells uncovered now, since most of them are putting out their 2nd set of leaves

Meanwhile, I was investigating the dinner trays and thinning some of the impatiens seeds. The impatiens flat needs a vent hole in the dome. Last year’s seeding venture has taught me to expect some sprouting within 7-10 days, if conditions are right. Unlike the fast-growing annuals: one of the alyssum trays is already showing 2 sprouters the 3rd day after sowing. If I had to guess, I would think the white alyssum were the first, being more vigorous than colored alyssum.

However, the biggest surprise was to find a pansy seedling. It’s been 15 days since sowing and I had seen nary a root until this morning. One of the cells hid a sprout, which I discovered while trying to home a chili seedling. So there is hope yet.

More sowing to come!

More seed sowing

I checked the mailbox earlier today in discovered I received my Park’s package. Yay, more seeds! I took a quick trip to the Lewisville Home Depot in search of some seedling flat trays, but all I walked out with were 2 packages of Burpee growing pellets and 20 feet of garden fencing. Thankfully, my honey picked up a spray bottle for me earlier in the day, so I can mist the alyssum and impatiens trays.

Also, I had earlier shaken some seeds out of the purple pastel salvia greggii sitting potted up in the garden and placed 2 of them into a 3″ pot. I still had plenty of aluminum cake pans to tap, and so proceeded to get some more 3″ pots into them, including the 2 rooted asters I brought indoors. I’m minded to browse the white salvia in the salvia row for some more seeds. I realize that salvia greggii may not always come true from seed, but I think this will be a good experiment to see how well they germinate.

So, to sum up, I sowed 12 21st Century Blue Star Phlox and 1 row of 6 Blue Knoll Chrysanthemum seeds in the Burpee grow system. Both packages had an expiration date, and the Blue Knoll was marked as “low germination” so I’m crossing my fingers to see what the results will be.

I will hold off another week before I sow the marigolds and the vincas, since my focus for now is on cool season annuals such as phlox, alyssum, and impatiens. Meanwhile, I eagerly await the rest of my seed orders…from Burpee and Swallowtail Gardens. My live plant orders from Delaware however have been delayed due to inclement weather.

I ♥ violas

Aside from the ornamental kale, dianthus and the lone felicia, the only cool weather color in my gardens are supplied by violas. The blooms come and go in waves, and today, the red and white violas shine the brightest in an otherwise dreary flower bed.

I’ve determined that the white violas may not be Penny series after all. They came labeled as Rocky Pure White; however, the closest determination I’ve made on the vivid red violas is Arkwright Ruby or Penny Red Blotch. However, none of the pictures I’ve seen compare to the bright red and gold-rimming of my garden specimens. I have to assume however, that coming from Strong’s Nursery, that it is likely a Penny series viola.

The only Sorbets displaying color are in the gardenia bed; as usual, the Orange Duets perform the best, constantly in flower. I had occasion to find a Coconut Swirl here and there, but it seems the Sorbets (Black Duets, Blue Heavens and the Swirls) are taking a brief respite.