plant swap

was on the weekend. I took thirty-some plants, those pictured earlier: yellow salvias, echinacea, black-eyed susans, stonecrops, baby hellebores, the citronella cuttings, plus three young hollies and this one hickory sapling that grew out of a pot stored in my small greenhouse- must have been planted by a squirrel earlier in the season.

I brought home in return just over twenty plants. Most got hastily stuck in the greenhouse as I didn't have time to dig right away- this ostrich fern got planted immediately (it turned out to be one decent-sized plant and three much smaller ones)

making my little patch a bit fuller!

the rest had to wait. Some are still waiting. I did plant the two lyreleaf sage I got already

but most I am holding off on simply because a lot of these plants are new to me- I know which like sun and which prefer shade, but color and height and spread? I need to learn a bit about them. There's coreopsis rosea, Liatris spicata, a small herb called self-heal, Solidago rugosa 'fireworks', Little brown-eyed susan, one nasturtium and one (very small) New England aster. (I've tried to grow these asters myself from seed before, got small plants that disappeared soon after planting).

a plant called late thormwort (in the back here)- at least that's what the label says but maybe I'm misreading someone's handwriting. The internet suggests this is probably late thoroughwort, or boneset.

three or four obedient plants- which were bare root and badly wilted, but I stuck them in an empty pot of soil and watered well, they already perked up enough to poke through the wire shelf above

and two pots of 'Catherine Woodbury' daylilies, which I planted yesterday.

remembered plants

Some pics from last year, that reflect this year. I lost one of my pink geraniums (it died) but the two looked so similar, I shrugged it off.

Never grew nasturtiums this year, so I look at this photo with nostalgia.

Right now my bay laurel (which comes indoors on the coldest nights) and basil (fading fast) look just like this. But what strikes me about this picture is the madagascar palm houseplant behind them on the other side of the window. Look how lovely the foliage! It's all dropped. The plant looks like a cactus stick now. It just barely started growing leaves back a week ago, but they're very small. I don't know if it's temperature not right for that plant in my house, or lack of direct sun.

I'm sad about my rosemary, too. It looked pretty good last year (this pic). Now thinner, needles anemic and yellowish. My first thought was: not enough sun, but I also suspect an insect pest might have gotten to it.

Sigh. Another plant I miss is the pretty, diminutive alyssum. I didn't grow any from seed this year- hoping a few might come up of their own accord in the front bed. Nope. Not a single one- or if they did, got choked out by the mock strawberry and sedums. This purple one was from the year before:

hummingbird

I see it regularly now- a ruby throat female (or immature male?) If I catch the right moment, can watch it move from flower to flower among the cardinal climber vine. It also feeds on the nasturtiums. I actually got a few photos the other day- though they are not crisp focus because at a distance and through the window.

Here cropped, with the hummingbird at center:

So small!

before the heat

My golden snap peas grew taller and flopped over. I stuck bamboo poles on one side to hold them up. Pulled a handful of beets for eating today- and they're beautiful. Helped my kid plant out his herbs, and I planted one of the beds with the benne and amaranth 'calaloo'. Nasturtiums went into planter boxes on the deck railings, and peppers into larger pots to sit on the deck. I carefully disentangled the cardinal climbers from each other and set them in place alongside the new trellis- will put them in the ground tonight. I've had to do most of this in the early evening, when the day cools off, it's getting too hot otherwise. 

Still in pots to be planted out (or moved up to grow more): asters, hollyhock mallow (zebrina), tithonia, a half dozen stunted marigolds I'm not sure if it's worth the bother to find spots for them.

geraniums and nasturtiums

I'm gradually putting my newer geraniums out into sun each day. Here next to a pot of the nasturtiums. Some are recovering okay.

I like these two that have very different-colored foliage. 

This move failed on me last year, but now seems they took- cuttings of my citronella I replanted in same pot- new leaves on all 

and on the deck

Lowest temp was just above 60° last night, so my tomatoes spent their first overnight in the coldframe.

Some of them are starting to look better- and even flower already

My older set of marigolds are flowering 

and one nasturtium, although its leaves are small and few

I cut down the tops of citrus geranium, and replanted in its same pot

Have decided that, even though I like folding paper pots for seedlings (mainly because it's two forms of recycling- reusing brown paper packing and brown paper bags as pots, then tearing them up to compost in the bin after the plants are grown out), I am going to ease up on that and hoard more small nursery pots (or even buy a ton of them) instead. Because the plants just do better in more spacious, plastic pots. The smaller herbs seem to do okay in folded paper pots- but I'm guessing because they dry out quicker and crowd the roots more, a lot of my plants don't. Like the tithonias. In nursery pots:

In paper pots- sad:

more paper pots

for my second group of Marigolds

Nasturtiums-

and the sweet alyssum

the largest one looks has a bud forming!

I've also potted up my tomatoes finally- this is half of them-

and pricked the sweet peas out of their seedling tray. This year different- I made a tripod of poles in a pot and planted three, four  sweet peas around each. For on the deck.

marigold and nasturtium

It's about time to pot up these marigold seedlings-

but there are more nasturtiums coming up in the tray from below!

There's at least four, maybe five-

So I'll wait longer and then have to tease them apart very carefully.

more seedling notes

Snap peas are ready to go in ground! Tomorrow, when it's overcast.

True leaves are just beginning to show on the leaf beet chard (also, not pictured, on the tomatoes and leeks)

First true leaves on the alyssum. So tiny. This is the largest one (next to my pinkie finger)

all the others are much smaller- so not moving them into larger pots yet. I'm afraid I'd damage them with handling!

Not moving up the simpson lettuce seedlings yet, either. They're my favorites, so when I found a few had sprouted late in the tray and are still fragile, I held off to let them grow up more.

Happily, my second tray of marigolds grew more- though not nearly as many as I sowed in there. I found out why. Marigold seed tends to only be viable for two years. So probably mine are just getting old. I will save anew this year.

Did you see something out of place in that tray? I had given up on the nasturtiums and impulsively sowed marigold seed right atop them. And one grew! It's looking a bit off color, probably from being set out in temps slightly too cold for it, but I will baby it now.

more seedling stuff

Some are just starting to get their first true leaves- arugula

lettuces 

 Tatsoi 

Collards

I did a kind of test with my blue collards. I had the saved seed marked- from the pods that had looked good and mature and those that seemed musty or scant. Sowed them on opposite sides of the tray. On the "good" side, every single seed germinated. On the not-so-good side, only one. So I tossed the rest of the not-great packet.

Also tossed the packet of romaine lettuce, saved off my own plants in 2010. None grew this year. So now I know when I save lettuce seed, it keeps for ten years! 

I also sowed dill from two packets each- original bought seed, and my own saved seed, with either end of the trays marked. They all sprouted at same rate. This seed isn't more than a year or two old, I just wanted to see if my saved seed was as viable. Had first accident with seedlings last night- knocked over tray of cilantro. Rescued most of them.

Started more trays on top of the fridge. 2nd sowing! Leaf beet chard, marigolds, golden snap peas, sugar snap peas, webb's wonder lettuce, simpson 'slo-bolt' lettuce, new tokyo bekana, nasturtiums, sweet peas and five kinds of tomatoes- beefsteak, sweet cherry, black cherry, cherokee purple, and saved seed from one large tomato plant a few years back (didn't mark what variety).

Instead of the fermenting method, I had done this simpler thing: rinse the seeds as best able, then just fold into a paper towel and let dry, store in cold. Had read about it a few times. I don't think I can stomach dealing with mold to cleanse tomato seed, so I tried this and now will see if they grow.

Realized belatedly after I was done with all the satisfying work of filling and tamping and misting the trays, that I probably used up trays and seed-starter mix I didn't have to- I could have waited a few weeks and just planted the peas straight into the ground! I got carried away with the sowing task. Well, they have an early start now. I needed two trays for my sweet peas. Kept them separate from the soaking- all the seeds that sank went in the first tray. The floaters in the second. So I'll see if it's true that only the seeds that sink are good. 

All my seedling trays are in use now. Will have to wait until some of the earlier plants are ready for paper pots, to free some up again.