Tag: ornamental pepper

After the hail storm

We’ve had a spate of mild weather lately, until last night when a hail storm struck, damaging tender young plants. Some vinca seedlings I had sitting out suffered the most damage, but most other plants will recover. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of debris strewn about the yard caused by the hail storm, so a cleanup will be on the gardening agenda this weekend.

4/15/2011 This ain't no Diana Blueberry dianthus...is it?I have express my dismay upon discovering that the Diana Blueberry dianthus blooms weren’t even blue, lavender, or some shade reminiscent of blue. All the dianthus sitting in the blue bed are opening pink, or picoteed pink. I’m beginning to suspect that these Blueberry dianthus are the Super Parfait Red Peppermints that I thought perished last year, but those were supposed to be RED!

I am concerned with one of the variegated felicia specimens planted next to the fence. It appears to be dying; the honey says its probably due to lack of sun, but I can’t imagine that might be what’s ailing it. Another fence hugger, our Frostproof Gardenia, has been curling up and dropping nearly most of its leaves, and there’s been no sign yet of any new foliage. I’m sad to say that it is probably due for replacement or relocation.

There are few garden shows to see this weekend. Calloway’s is hosting their Rose Festival and sponsoring several garden tours this month and next–Southlake being the first of the series. NHG has their daylily sale, and Argyle Acres opens their Iris gardens to the public.

Speaking of roses, we’ve determined the yellowing on the nether parts of our Midnight Blue is attributable to too much watering. We’ve cut down on the moisture and it is retaining its blooms longer. The neighboring purple salvia greggii echo the colors of our Midnight Blue. And now the gauras planted next to the house are getting in the act, starting to put forth blooms. I need to plant the ornamental peppers in this purple bed to get them going.

I adopted out some herbs and pepper plants yesterday; and now I’m in the mood to plant more–even though I have zero room for them. I suppose I should try to coax more Lime Basil plants from seed–my first two attempts at early hardening seems to have killed the youngsters. I’d also like one regular basil plant, which I will perhaps keep potted. I’m also seriously considering onions and garlic, plus fostering some more hostas.

I will also need to start more vinca, since I find that I’m not producing enough.

Some interesting gardening reading that I’ve found recently:

And who knew that Coppell had its own nature park?

Late winter garden update

3/8/2011 Asahi Zuru Leafing OutThe biggest challenge in the outdoor space is the henbit and broadleaf weed invasion that has dominated all of our yards. Because of unseasonably warm weather in February, the weeds grew in and spread like wildfire. We’ve sprayed the lawns twice, after taking stock of the situation, because the infestation is extreme. Hopefully the weedkiller we’ve applied will make the difference so we can finally get to applying the preventive.

3/8/2011 A Bundle of Tiger LiliesSome observations I’ve made of the outdoor space: Prairie Sky hosta is displaying a crown of leaf buds, Emerald Snow loropetalums are blooming, daylilies have all leafed, yarrows are spreading. I’ve done some additional pruning and mulching on salvias. I’ve transplanted the Japanese maple into its new home, an 18″x18″ redwood cedar box. Yesterday, I planted 2 scabiosas that I obtained from Home Depot and added a Sinaloa sage to the blue bed. I brought indoors the other Sinaloa sage due to some serious dieback after going without water for several days. I am uncertain at this time but I believe that one of the foxtail ferns is attempting to make a comeback. However I don’t know how it will fare given the cooler temperatures we’ve been seeing lately. This morning I had the honey plant a bag of Tiger lilies purchased from Home Depot in the front yard shade bed. Given their vigorous nature, I feel comfortable in knowing that these Tiger lilies will endure in this space.

In addition to my Home Depot purchases, I have a lavender and a bag of Crimson Pirate daylilies that have yet to be planted.

3/8/2011 Mushrooms in my Hosta?Indoor space: all the hostas have now begun to sprout. They must like sitting in the bathtub, getting warm and cozy. I transplanted all the seedlings in the first cell pack into their own pots, with only a few basil and one pepper plant lost in the transition. I’m debating on whether to put them outside; but currently cool temperatures prohibit that.

Did I mention the vinca have sprouted within a few days? I should bring them into the light soon, I imagine. Also it appears that the golden fleece are making a showing…though the sprouts are extremely tiny. At this point, I highly doubt that they are daisies, but I’m hoping.

I bought a Jiffy tray full of coir pellets this weekend. Ever since the 2nd tray of seedlings has been exposed to air, some of the seedlings have perished (ice plants) while other seeds have failed to sprout (phlox/blue knoll chrysanthemum). Because I’ve had some luck with the coir pellets, I think I will use them from now on. They seem easier to transplant than the Burpee XL Growing system. In addition to the seedling tray, I also bought a packet of convulvulus.

Need to plant those cool season annuals now!

Seed starting 2011 part 1 and blues speculation

12/31/10 Iona Clear Blue Pansy on display at Arboretum Trial gardenIt snowed today, first snow of 2011. Good thing I broke out the grow lights from the shed earlier this week. I am reusing the Burpee grow system, minus their grow pellets. The man bought me two bags of seed starting soil, which I packed in half of the plastic cells. This morning I got to sow some seeds:  6x Red Rubin Basil, 6x Thai Basil, 6x Jupiter Bell Pepper, 6x Calico Ornamental Pepper, 6x Purple Flash Ornamental Pepper, 2x unnamed Thai Chili, and 4x Pansy seeds which I “borrowed” from the Arboretum trial gardens…I believe the cultivar was Iona Heavenly Blue.

I also planted a rosemary cutting which had a single root after about a week sitting in water. I have another sprig of rosemary and a red dianthus chinensis sitting it water, waiting to see them root. I need to remember to take some cuttings of the verbena and the felicia daisy.

While my attention is on the blue flowers, I must express my affection for the felicia daisy which has bloomed sporadically up to this month. This Cape Town Blue daisy has displayed amazing tolerance for the heat and cold, enduring the summer in a planter, and now mulched int the blue bed. I have tried to capture seeds from it to no avail; so perhaps taking some cuttings may work.

I also have hopes to see the Diana Blueberry dianthus blooms, though I know it won’t come even close to a true blue. Even so, a pale lavender will be a rare sight to see on a dianthus. Speaking of dianthus, these are the only seedlings that I’m aware of that have made it to the garden. The Red Peppermint dianthus seedlings unfortunately perished–to the best of my knowledge–due to heat well before they made it into the ground. I believe the dianthuses in the purple garden were all store-bought this year, and there are some purple, picotees and parfaits that have endured.

As I am browsing my camera pics, I am reminded of the beauty of the annual phlox, however fleeting it was. It seems that growing them from seeds may be too challenging for the home gardener, since I have yet to find any outlets offering them. I believe the 4 specimens that I picked up at Covington’s this last year were of the Phoenix Sky variety, a lovely pale purple star surrounded by white-cream. I’ll keep hunting, though reading suggest that these phloxes are cool-weather annuals.

The angelonia have succumbed finally to the winter cold; the purple variety which seemed a bit sturdier has browned like the whites. It’s amazing how these angelonia have grown so tall and wide from modest specimens. They definitely need more room if we plan on using them again next year.

Summer blooms, high heat

August. Hottest month of the summer. It’s only natural that plants who haven’t had time to harden off succumb to the high temperatures and dry conditions. Among the lost: 1 white plumbago, 1 thai basil, at least 1 ornamental pepper plants, rosemary, spanish lavender, at least 3 salvia greggii, 1 catmint, 1 coneflower, several instances of dianthus, 1 or 2 phlox, 1 ageratum, 2 dahlberg daisies, 1 or 2 white cosmos. The salvia greggii failed due to what appears to be a broken sprinkler head and an overzealous weed whacker.