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Time for Seed Starting

February 21, 2010 by Jeanne


At last! The snows melted enough so that I could get into the garden shed and find my seed starting supplies. I cleaned the lights and checked to make sure everything worked. Shadow came outside with me while I filled the seed trays. (I fill my seed starting tray outside so I don’t make a mess with the soil.) She was digging around in the snow and emerged, ecstatic, tail whipping back and forth. She’d found her tennis ball that she lost during the first snow storm. It had been buried, but she remembered where it was!

I planted the following seeds yesterday:

  • Vegetables – cherry tomatoes, tomato “Better Boy”, pepper “California Wonder”, pepper “Rainbow mix”
  • Herbs – Genovese basil, dill
  • Annual flowers – snapdragons
  • Perennials – Spanish lavender “Purple Ribbon”, Echinacea “Bravadao”, Missouri Primrose (yellow), and mixed California poppies, English primrose “Pacific Giant Crescendo Mix”

Next weekend, I’ll start more of the butterfly gardening flowers. If my Park Seed order arrives, I’ll have petunias to start from seed, along with platycodon (“Balloon Flower”). I bought a variety of platycodon seeds called Komachi that I used to grow as a kid. Unlike other Balloon flowers, these keep the balloon shape and never fully open. I loved those plants and miss them. It’s been over 15 years since I’ve grown them!

The snow continues to melt….50 degrees yesterday. I walked Shadow along the edge of the woods and surprised the flock of Bobwhite quail again. They sure can fly fast. They startled me when they popped up and out of the brush! Lots of cardinals, sparrows, and other small birds, and the bluebirds have been hanging around the vegetable garden fence. We had a skunk visit the front porch on Friday evening, leaving his ‘calling card.’ Boy was that potent. Thankfully, by morning the scent was gone.

Spring…let’s hope the warmth continues. As for now, I have more seed starting kits to clean, seed starting equipment to ready, and more packages to arrive!

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Bangchik

    February 21, 2010 at

    I see you have basil in your seeding list. We continue having basil all over in the garden. I just pick little seedlings near the mother plant and replant somewhere else.. ~bangchik

  2. Jeanne

    February 22, 2010 at

    Ah, your climate is a lot milder than ours with all of our snow. Basil is an annual here. It grows well in the hot weather, but must be started each year. The oregano, rosemary, mint, catnip (for Mr Pierre) and possibly sage will all return in the herb bed, but the basil and dill must be added each year from seed.

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