Garden

[Dazlin]

So pretty either way, but I prefer being outside too...thats why I moved to Florida.  But we have our unbearable heat season...nothings perfect. 

[gardenman]

My first batch of seedlings is doing very well. Of the 53 geranium seeds planted, I got 38 plants. So that's good. I'd prefer all 53, but 38 geraniums for less than $10 isn't bad. I replanted the empty cells with dahlberg daisy seeds yesterday to fill out the flats. The lobelia seeds did insanely well considering their age (2007). The geraniums and lobelias are loving the new plant lights. I'm getting very good growth from them. One catnip seed germinated and has grown enough that I was able to give my catnip addict Lizzie a leaf yesterday. That turned out to be a mistake as she followed me the rest of the day begging for more. Here's a photo of one of the trays of geraniums.

They're doing very well so far. They're about one month old now. (Give or take a bit.) Weather permitting, they'll go to my cold frame in late March, early April, then into the garden come May.

I'm very impressed by the new plant lights. I was afraid they might be too intense, but the lobelia have grown right up and are touching them now with no burning or harmful effects, so my worries about light placement seemed to have been for naught.

[Lilysmom1]

@gardenman , I have been thinking about you and your seed planting.  It is time for me to start.  I do far less than you but I must get at it.

Yours are looking great!  It is exciting to see how well they are doing!  March is just around the corner, days getting longer.  Love it!  S

[gardenman]

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@Lilysmom1 wrote:

@gardenman , I have been thinking about you and your seed planting.  It is time for me to start.  I do far less than you but I must get at it.

Yours are looking great!  It is exciting to see how well they are doing!  March is just around the corner, days getting longer.  Love it!  S

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Around here, once you hit mid-March you really get spring fever. The risk of snow decreases a ton. Temps hit the fifties and sixties regularly. My fountain goes out to replace the heated birdbath. The daffodils flower. The lawn gets its first mowing in March. March is a big-time transition month. You can start the month shoveling a foot of snow then end the month mowing the lawn in a t-shirt. In April things are in full gear. In a good year, from mid-April on frosts largely disappear. (Officially mid-May is the last frost date, but you can often cheat two or three weeks.) Plants are coming alive all around the garden. May is the end of the heating season around here which is always a relief.

I love having seedlings in the house. It's proof that spring is coming. The dipladenia I brought in over the winter is doing amazingly well. It's got about six flowers out now and is about four feet from the new lights, but has perked up since I lit them up. I guess it's getting a boost from them even with them being that far away. 

I was going to buy some more seed starting mix at Walmart this morning but they had none. Which is weird. I'll have to order some now. I'll probably start the impatiens seeds this weekend. I've got 250-ish of them to start. Each seed will get a cell in a six-pack and since each tray holds 12 six-packs I'll have four more trays of seedlings. That'll be 288 cells. Depending on how the seed count goes any unused cells will get more dahlberg daisy seeds. Later in March some marigold seeds will get started.  Any impatiens seeds that didn't germinate will get replanted with marigolds. By May the marigolds, impatiens, lobelias, and geraniums should all be in flower and ready to make an instant impact in the garden. I'll add in a plant or two from a local garden center, but the vast majority of what I need, I'll have. Here's hoping it's a good year in the garden.

[Flatbush]

@gardenman 

Love seeing all those beautiful geranium leaves, and all from seeds. 

You really have the knack and hope you will send pics when all are in the ground. I see a busy spring for you, planting all the other seedlings as well.

[Lilysmom1]

@gardenman  Your home will be your Spring inspiration.  What a great way to welcome the new season!  S

[gardenman]

And the impatiens seeds are now planted. Three trays of 72 seeds and one tray of 46 seeds for a grand total of 262 seeds planted. Now I've got to rest my eyes and back for a bit. That's the majority of the early planting done now. The lobelias, geraniums, dahlberg daisies are all planted. I'll start some marigolds a bit later and some red salvia if I can find the seeds, but they're pretty hard to find locally and I didn't think to include any in my seed orders. I've got room for a couple of more trays before my plant stand is full and that'll be the marigolds and anything else that catches my eye. Spring is coming fast now though, so I've got to get ready.