Tangled Branches: Cultivated

happenings in and around my zone 6b gardens in northern Virginia and in central Virginia

Tuesday, March 04, 2008

One Liners

Been kinda busy lately - no joke. I've even been in the garden instead of in front of a computer screen! Things happen, whether I have time to blog about them or not, so here is the briefest of summaries of things I've noticed or done recently.

Creeping Phlox was blooming Saturday in somebody's front yard in Richmond.

Red maples are blooming along I-64 west of Richmond.

Purple Finches are still at the bird feeder at Tangled Branches South.

A song sparrow was hanging around with the juncos and cardinals under the feeder at TBS on Friday and Sunday.

It was so warm yesterday I drove with the sun roof open.

Winter aconites are blooming at Tangled Branches North, but I haven't taken a picture.

Crocus chrysanthus 'Cream Beauty' has been blooming since at least February 21, but I haven't blogged about it.

The floating hellebores' petals are still in good shape after almost 2 weeks, but the stamens are withered.

Seed starting is starting in earnest, and that deserves a longer post.

I planted coriander seed outdoors yesterday.

I just finished planting my narcissus bulbs yesterday, but don't tell anybody that.

Labels: birds, in bloom, seeds, weather

Saturday, October 06, 2007

Season of Mists and Mellow Fruitfulness

Despite the fog, just about the only mists around here are from my sweat and tears as I haul water to thirsty plants. Thankfully, we have cool cloudiness so far today, but tomorrow and the next several days are predicted to be hot. No rain. But you already knew this if you've been reading any garden blogs from the central to eastern US.
Well, I've got something here that I bet nobody else has. Is this the world's cutest potato or what?

I dug up the last of the potatoes yesterday and this was among them.

We're not doing too badly in the mellow fruitfulness department, considering the drought, although these aren't what immediately comes to mind when you think of fruit.

Euonymus americanus
Passiflora incarnata
Viburnum prunifolium

Quercus coccinea
Ilex verticillata
Chasmanthium latifolium

And now I'm off to work on the potager, where more fruitfulness awaits...

Updated October 8 with captions on the "fruitfulness" pictures.

Labels: fruits, seasons, seeds

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Nature Quiz

Do you know what plant made these seeds? I don't, but this morning I find they're scattered all over the surface of the now solidly frozen slush/snow/whatever. I confess that I haven't tried very hard to identify them - just thought I'd toss out the question. Maybe they're instantly recognizable by somebody reading this? Or I could just plant some and see what comes up. They're about 1/2 to 3/4 inch long, by the way.

The Great Backyard Bird Count starts tomorrow. I always get a charge out of watching the map fill in, but I'm easily entertained. :-)

Labels: birds, seeds

Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Chiltern Seeds

I received my order from Chiltern Seeds this week. Everything I ordered was in the envelope, and I'm grateful for that after reading that the US Customs Service is very busy protecting us from dangerous tomato seeds. I didn't order any tomato seeds, BTW. I'm expecting some lovely plants in a few months from these seeds, but I'm getting my kicks right now reading the Chiltern catalog. Not quite as funny as Plant Delights, but more clever I think, and educational too - sprinkled here and there are explanations of the plants' Latin names.

Here's a random sample:

Cyclamen coum (=of Cos, the Greek Island better known for its lettuce, but don't go looking for this Cyclamen there - although found over an enormous area around the eastern Mediterranean, it's apparently not actually found there)...
Erigeron compositus (=compound) 'Rocky'. A gardener's life would be far easier if only there were more plants like this one. Sown in March, it will flower profusely from the end of July onwards until late autumn. Thereafter - it's a long-lived perennial - it starts flowering in early spring to carry on as before. And the flower? With credentials like that, does it really matter?...
Mirabilis viscosa. From South America comes this interesting plant with strong stems with hairy, fleshy, pointed, heart-shaped leaves and bearing racemes of funnel-shaped, purple, pink, red or white flowers. These have a little party trick for your amusement: when the seeds are ripe, the calyx turns brown, enlarges, and is suspended over them like a small umbrella.

See? Fun. And not a single photograph, except for the front and back covers. They have a separate vegetable catalog, which is illustrated, but with humorous drawings, including one that I can only assume is Sybil Fawlty screeching at Basil.

Labels: seeds

Thursday, January 18, 2007

So Much to Sow

Well, I decided to get down to the business of ordering seeds, and then thought it might be a good idea to see what I already had on hand. So I spent an hour (!) going through all the packets I could find stashed in various places, and recording them in a spreadsheet. I did the spreadsheet so I could sort and find things again, but when I sorted by genus and species I learned what my favorite plant is. Basil. Specifically, Cinnamon Basil. I have remnants of 4 packets of Cinnamon Basil, out of a total of 12 remnant packets of Basil seed. The only one of the 12 that I didn't like, wouldn't grow again, and tossed in the trash was 'Siam Queen'. I didn't like the compact plant habit and I didn't like the flavor. I do like Thai basil, but just not that one. My other personal favorite plants apparently are Morning Glories (6 packets), Tomatoes (5 packets) and Cosmos (5 packets). The Morning Glory statistic is misleading though, because 3 of them are minute quantities of seed I bought on eBay a couple of years ago. And one of the other ones is unopened. 'Grandpa Ott's' looks just like the 'Star of Yelta' that comes up every year by itself, so why plant more? The oldest seed (on which I could find a date) was from 1999, and that was a packet of, um, Cinnamon Basil.

Has anybody reading this (in the US) ever ordered online from Chiltern in England? I was looking for a new source for 'Giants of California' Petunias, and I noticed that they have it. A bit pricey, but it's a plant I really like and neither Burpee nor Select Seeds has it this year. I also found it at Crosman's Seeds, which I have not heard of before and their web site doesn't inspire confidence.

I'm thinking of trying some winter sowing this year. I'd never heard of this technique until reading about it at Cincinnati Cape Cod last year, but it sounds like an economical way to start a lot of plants. Next step in the seed spreadsheet is to mark which ones might be suitable for winter sowing.

Labels: seeds

Subscribe :::

Recent Photos :::

Recent Birds :::

My Other Blogs :::

Archives :::

Garden Blogroll :::