Friday, March 1, 2019

My Seed Obsession

I have been ordering seeds like mad this season, in an attempt to create my dream garden without paying a fortune at the garden center.

I have had so much success with germination rates on seeds that are a few years old, so I'm no longer afraid to buy more than what I need for a season and keep them for the following years. I store them in the downstairs fridge, which has worked out extremely well. 


Still, I may or may not have gone a little overboard this year. You be the judge. 
In addition to all the veggies and herbs I always start, I have added lots of flowers to the mix for 2019. 


Here's what's coming my way - click on the links below the images to go directly to the info/ordering page:

Rose Campion
The first is Rose Campion from You Grow Girl - she was having a seed sale and I browsed through her selections and decided to give this one a try. 

The next few came from Park Seed....they were having a sale where all seeds shipped free so that was my inspiration to hop on over there and take a peek. Here's what I ordered:

Double Click Snow Puff Cosmos
Vista Purple Salvia
Big Blue Salvia
New Dimension Rose Salvia
Fireball Marigold
Moonflower Vine
I have never had much luck with Moonflower Vine, hopefully this will be the year! 

The rest of the seeds I ordered from Swallowtail Garden Seeds - I was searching for a specific Nicotiana, and their site popped up. I got a little carried away when I saw all the amazing selections they had!

Here's what I ordered from Swallowtail:

Love In A Mist Persian Jewels Indigo
Nicotiana Perfume Deep Purple
Nicotiana Perfume Red
Nicotiana Perfume White
Petunia Capri Blue
Petunia Capri White
Poppy American Legion Shirley
Larkspur Giant Imperial Blue Spire
Stock Midget Mix
Lupine The Governor
Cosmos Versailles Red
Cosmos Purity
Cosmos Gloria
Cosmos Xanthos
I have ordered some of these exact plants in the past from Annie's Annuals, but why order plants for significantly more money if I can start them myself?

Nicotiana Alata Grandiflora
For example, the Nicotiana Alata Grandiflora pictured above sells for $6.95 per plant plus shipping....but the seeds sell for $2.99 for 1/4 gram or about 1800 seeds!!  Of course I don't need 1800 seeds, but holy smokes what a markup! 

I adore Nicotiana, it's amazingly fragrant in the evenings, and this year I'm planning on growing some in pots up on the deck near my swing to enjoy the scent. 

I ordered the Perfume White, Red, and Purple Nicotiana, which each come as 50 pelleted seeds per pack for $2.49. 

I'm not sure how all my seeds will do, but I've had such luck in the past I figured why not give it a try! 

Wish me luck!

Meanwhile, I'm enjoying the lovely scent of Hyacinth in my kitchen right now - I just took these bulbs out of the downstairs fridge last weekend and they are already blooming! 


The scent is amazing! I have two more small pots of bulbs from last spring in the downstairs fridge....I'll bring them up one pot at a time once this is done blooming, to tide me over until spring!

I ordered another grow light, and some organic plant food this week also - it's time to start feeding the pansies and snapdragons. 

Liquid Kelp on Amazon
It brings me such joy to go downstairs to the utility room each morning and evening and check on my 'babies' - I spritz them with warm water and check each cell for the first signs of green. Growing from seed is incredibly gratifying, not to mention budget friendly!

The only thing that's not doing well is the Cleome - but I did a little research and found out the seeds need to be refrigerated in damp seed starting soil for two weeks before bringing them out to a warm, bright location. I put the whole cowpot into a big ziploc bag and put it in the downstairs fridge - I'll try again in two weeks and see what happens. 


Meanwhile, my seeds from Swallowtail arrived yesterday - woo hoo, guess what I'm doing this weekend!! I'll do my research and see what needs to be started next. 

The only problem is that my downstairs family room is still a construction zone since the flood, so I need to find another spot to put the folding table with the grow light

A gardener's first world problems - I'll take them!!

36 comments:

  1. There is nothing friendlier at the kitchen sink than a hyacinth in bloom! But good gracious you are ambitious in the seed department! I guess you know these pictures are making me want each one of them. But our seed starting days are over so we'll let our neighborhood nurseryman help us out, in his much more limited varieties when late April comes. I hope the moon vine does well, I love them! But then I love, and want, 98% of the ones you've shown here. Now if you could only bottle some of the energy you have, I would be your best customer!

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    1. I think my energy in spring comes from the fact that I'm garden-obsessed, Dewena! I will still have to get a few things from the nursery - like Impatiens - but at least I won't be spending a fortune there!

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  2. Is there any sweeter or more Spring Heralding smell than the hyacinth? I love them too.... and.. holy cow, woman, lots of seeds! BUT.. there's no such thing as going overboard with flowers and garden "stuff". Beautiful selection you have there - the deep blue of the larkspur? Amazing.. and I never heard of Persian jewels.. love them! And I thought I was done seed shopping!....maybe not...

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    1. I love to try new flowers, Karen Ann - the Love In A Mist is supposed to reseed readily, which would be nice for future gardens....and I adore deep blue flowers so I was totally drawn to that Larkspur!

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  3. Oh my word, your garden is going to be absolutely amazing.

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    1. Let's hope so, Marty!! Of course I'll still be fighting with the weeds and the tansy and the critters that eat my flowers....but that's the life of a country gardener!

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  4. Seeds! That is a magic word to me. I have been paging through seed catalogs, making lengthy lists, then having to edit those lists because of my limited space. Still, I do plan on growing a lot, and will add grapes to my deck garden this year. I love reading about your garden, and am in awe of your seed starting success.

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    1. I tried grapes the first year I was in the house - I thought I could plant them in the corner of the veggie garden and train them around the top of the fencing. The stupid vine died, sadly. Good luck with yours!!

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  5. I love your blog. I'm so happy I found it. I've been playing catch up from your very first post. I love your house. I to live on two and a half acres in the country. I just love it have been here almost two yrs.
    I look forward to every new post.

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    1. Wow, Judy, I'm so glad you found my blog too!!! I've been in my house nearly 4 years - it will be 4 years on March 26th since I closed on it. I still absolutely adore it!!

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  6. It's so fun to see these beautiful flowers when the snow is falling. I'm dreaming of Spring!

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    1. It was fun to work on the seeds in my utility room yesterday during the snow storm, Mari! I head down there every morning and every evening to check for growth and mist the seedlings. They are like my little green babies!

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  7. Debbie, I cannot wait to see all of your beautiful flowers! You make me wish I had the patience for gardening, but my brown thumb has discouraged me too many times. I killed a cactus last summer and it still haunts me...I mean WHO kills a cactus in Texas??!! I know that hyacinth smells amazing! Hope you have a great weekend! Love and hugs!

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    1. My daughter killed a cactus in her room, too, Benita, so you're not alone! Now she's in the process of buying a house with a veggie garden....it will be interesting to see how that goes!!

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  8. I am so ready to have warm days to dig in the dirt! I have lots of little seedlings going in the basement, and more that will be planted outside in milk jugs soon. Your garden is going to be awesome with all those flowers!! My bulbs are blooming now, some on time and a few too soon, snow coming next week will mean a scramble on Sunday to get them all covered up.

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    1. I've never planted anything out in milk jugs, Carole - I'm curious about that, will have to look it up.....and start saving my milk jugs!

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  9. You do so well with your seeds! I never have much luck. I've got to plant Cosmos. I said that last year. And I didn't end up doing it for some reason.
    Brenda

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    1. Cosmos are super easy to grow from seed, Brenda - they are such a happy flower, don't you think?

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  10. Debbie, I see you're going to still buy your impatiens from the nursery. Do they not grow well from seed? I was getting a little inspiration from your blog and had decided to start my impatiens from seed, but wonder if that's not a good idea?

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    1. I've never tried growing impatiens from seed, Sue, so I can't really say. They do seem to pop up here and there from last year, even in the cracks on the patio, so I'm thinking they must be fairly easy to start. The only reason I don't start them from seed is because I plant sooooo many of them - I always go through at least a flat. If I had a greenhouse I would absolutely start them from seed, but since I'm limited on space I chose to go with the flowers I need less of. Does that make sense? :)

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  11. Your garden is going to be stunning . I can't wait to see all the beauty.

    Cindy

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    1. Me too, Cindy!! It's truly a learning process for me, I try new things each year to see what works. When I had my house off the mountain in the valley our zone was different, and our growing season different. Same when I lived in the city and when I lived in Long Island. On the mountain top our season is short, and our soil is clay and absolutely full of rocks so it's quite the challenge!

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  12. I love following along with your seed experimentation. I had moonflower seeds from a friend which, I kid you not, were more than 15 yrs old, and they grew in my garden from seed! The vines grew over my trellis and into my magnolia, they were aggressive! On the other hand, I had poppy seed from my sister's plants which didn't do so well. I succeeded by dividing and transplanting, though. It will be so fun to watch your garden grow, Debbie. Good work, and beautiful choices!

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    1. It's trial and error, Rita! I have tried Moonflower so many times with no luck, but those were packets I picked up here and there....this time I've ordered them from seed specialty companies online, so I'm praying they are more viable!

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  13. Oh, I do wish you luck! Hope you get big beautiful blooms from all those seeds. I've got to get a few seeds started. You've sure made me want to get started.

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    1. I started too late last year, Henny, I guess life got in the way....this year I swore I would start earlier so I had bigger, stronger plants to put out in spring. Hoping this means more production on the veggies!

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  14. This is the way to go if you can keep up to it all! I love rose campion and tried to bring one with me but it did not make it through two moves. Nancy

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    1. That's a shame, Nancy - I don't think I've ever had it, I will have to do some research on it to find out height, placement (sun vs shade) etc. But it sure looks pretty!

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  15. You make me wish I didn't have a brown thumb!!

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    1. Your planters always look so beautiful in summer, Kim, so clearly you don't quite have a brown thumb!!!

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  16. I love the concept of starting your own plantings. I tried this for a couple of years and really enjoyed it, but it does take space and diligence and no nosy kitties that want to eat the tender baby leaves like a smorgasbord, haha! I'm looking forward to see your garden!

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    1. You are so right, Debra - it takes some dedication, and fortunately I don't have any nosy kitties that want to eat my seedlings! When I put them out on the deck to harden off sometimes the critters want to bother them....but so far I've been pretty fortunate!

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  17. I LOVE growing from seed, so many choices and it feels like pure magic!

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    1. It really does! When you see that little seedling first pop out of the soil it's truly magic!

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