backyard – variegatagal

Will It Live: Fern Edition

I’ve been fretting about the ferns in the shade bed. Since nearly everything but the ferns and hostas have emerged, I’m getting a little anxious to see if they made it through the freeze.

The ferns in question are of three varieties: two specimens of Japanese painted fern, Anisocampium niponicum, and two specimens of Silver Brake ferns, Pteris argyraea (?), and a clover fern, Marsilea macropoda,

The marsilea overwintered in the garage, but perished when I moved it inside in March. But I had already anticipated getting another specimen from Painted Flower Farm.

Clover fern in the garage bottom styrofoam container

The Silver Brake ferns were marked for zone 9 hardiness according to the Lowes plant tag, so they could have been misidentified/mislabeled. Instead of Pteris quadriaurita argyraea, these may actually be Pteris cretica, at least based on the image lookups I’ve performed. Regardless, I didn’t expect them to resurrect. But I potted up the rootballs anyway to make room for an assortment of new plants.

Ejected the silver brakes from the shade bed

The Japanese painted ferns were giving me the itch to go buy new ones. But I waited them out.

Direct Sow

I’m always hesitant to broadcast seeds directly into the garden because of the risk of poor germination rates. Granted, previous experience had me neglect seeds sown directly into the beds, which need the right temperature and moisture to thrive. Daytime highs are in the upper 60s while nighttime lows in the high 40s and low 50s. It’s still too cold for some delicate summer plants to tolerate, as some of the starts are beginning to show.

I hedge my bets wherever I can, sowing indoors those seeds that I trust will germinate successfully and can handle transplant.

Seeds I’ve sown and re-sown both inside and out:

Agastache rugosa, Korean Hyssop

Salvia coccinea, Scarlet Sage

Salvia farinacea, Sirius Blue Sage

Monarda citriodora, Lemon Bee Balm

Gomphrena haagena, Strawberry Fields

Tropaeolum minus Nasturtium Black Velvet (presoaked)

Nigella damascena, Miss Jekyll Blend

Zinnia elegans, Fireball Blend

Cosmos sulphureus, Diablo

Tropaeolum majus Nasturtium Alaska Variegated, Jewel Blend (presoaked)

Tithonia Speciosa Mexican Sunflower Red Torch (2017 seed)

Mirabilis jalapa, Marbles Yellow-Red (presoaked)

Tagetes tenuifolia Lemon & Tangerine Gems Signet Marigold

The last vegetable seeds I direct sowed beginning of March were the bok choy Tiny Hedou and Purple Lady, along with bunching onions Tokyo White. They are finally beginning to emerge. Meanwhile I’m giving the Thai Long Green Eggplant another try although I haven’t had any success with the last batch.

More March Plant Purchases

Undeterred by my recent shipping disaster, I went ahead and ordered more plants online.

From one of my favorite online shops, Colonial Creek Farm:

Description	Qty
Kitten Around Catmint	1
John Whittlesey Salvia	1
Mirage Rose Bi-Color Salvia	1
African Blue Basil	2

It’s never too late to get bulbs. I’ve been needing to replace the calla lilies that turned into mush after the freeze. I ordered lilies through Brent & Beckys. It may be too late to enjoy the gladiolus, but I’m hoping I can get them into the ground by end of April.

Description	Qty
Zantedeschia Picasso – Calla Lily	6
Lilium Lollipop – Asiatic	5
Lilium Muscadet – Oriental Lily	5
Gladiolus Zizanie – Sword Lily	10

I received a heads up on a new nursery in Denton, so I headed over Denton Plant Factory right away and got a trunkful of plants. Four Seasons Nursery was only a short drive away so I hopped over to get some ornamental basil, strawberries and golden sage.

Will It Live? Veggie Edition

Finally got around to cleaning out the stock tank beds of dead plants and withering leaves/stems. It looks like some veggies are extending their stay.

Brussel sprouts, red russian kale, kohlrabi, some Parris cos and red lettuce are being joined by some broccoli specimens. The wasabi radish turned out inedible, soft and mushy after sitting out on the counter. I’m not sure if the remaining specimen is salvageable, but I will leave it in-bed for now.

I lopped decaying tops and removed decaying leaves/debris to give the new offshoots some space and light.

In addition, I installed seedlings in the vacant square foot spaces, mostly lettuce starts and 9 chinese broccoli seedlings. I had to throw out my spinach and bok choy seedlings due to heavy infestations of aphids.

Instead, I direct sowed all my bok choy seeds into the stock tanks, along with some Tokyo White bunching onion seeds. Let’s see how these do.

Next time, I may have to buy a bag of ladybugs and a fine mesh cloth to clean up my beds, as suggested by my instructor from StartOrganic class.

Another useful tidbit I learned from garden class: certified organic means no applications of fertilizer/compost within 90 days of harvest.

March Buds, Blooms and Beds

March is the start of the busy gardening season. So posts come and go sporadically as I try to prep the garden, sow seeds, transplant starts and putter around back and forth trying to get as much yardwork done as possible.

But it’s also a chance to look, reflect and gaze upon the daily pulse of spring as it progresses slowly throughout the month.

Here are some new plants that I installed this week: verbena and delphinium.