Sunday, April 29, 2007

Green Thumb Sunday


Snowbird
After wintering in the balmy climes of the community greenhouse, our geranium is refreshed and ready for summer.

Visit more gardens. . .


Not a Hosta

I mentioned in an earlier post that I purchased some hosta seeds on Ebay. This is what they yielded. . .




In all fairness, I'm not entirely sure the seeds themselves produced this particular specimen. It's likely that the seeds yielded squat, and what you're looking at here is a greenhouse-variety weed. The Mister, who was the motivation behind the hosta experiment, is not quite ready to give up on this plant (we have 5 total). In fact, he's threatening to transplant them to our garden. Not so much because he believes this is a hosta. More so because we've dedicated time, patience and precious greenhouse space to it. I maintain that it's a weed, we should move on and take what we can from the experiment: that growing hosta from seed is a losing proposition and that as seed sources go, Ebay may not be the place. Anyway, anyone want to weigh in on the debate? Is this a plant worth keeping?

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Green Thumb Tuesday



Weeping Cherry Tree in full bloom, my first contribution to
Green Thumb Sunday.

Green Thumb Sunday: Blogroll



Join these bloggers as they post what's growing in their gardens at least once monthly. . .

Monday, April 09, 2007

The Greenhouse

These last seven months or so in the community greenhouse have proven very productive. A lack of sufficient containers and space in general have been my only constraints. And despite some questionable hosta seeds, most of our experiments appear to be succeeding.


I came by my seed in various ways. Some I saved from my own plants. Some I pinched from neighbors' plants. Others I purchased including a rather dubious foray onto Ebay where I became the proud owner of those "hosta" seeds. I also wintered over some coleus plants in addition to vinca, lantana, geranium and heather.



Quickly space became a premium. Especially when it came time to transplant those seedlings into larger pots. Pots that despite my best intentions swiftly became insufficient. And as those seedlings moved into even roomier digs, I found myself inexplicably sowing new seeds with no sense of where I'd go next with my newest crop.

Somehow we made it work. Thankfully I had neighbors who didn't seem to mind me spilling over into their territory. And there were some unclaimed spaces that quietly, over time we took over as well.

And it has really paid off. The false indigo and hollyhocks are zipping along. The brussel sprouts we started in January seem to have transitioned nicely into the veggie patch out back. We had less than spectacular results from the partridge pea and beard tongue seeds I saved, but all in all it's been a productive winter.