What happens after this herb has seeded? Never had parsley that lasted long enough to seed before, so I don't know.

Do I just save the seeds and dig it out or do I save the seeds and keep chopping it back?

If it's gone to seed does that mean that the plant is spent?

Hi Lara. Just trim it right back and save the seeds. It should have new sprouts before you know it.

I usually shake the last lot of seeds around my plants as I'm trimming it back. That tends to ensure a healthy growth of new seedlings.

To stop your next lot going to seed, trim it back regualrly, even if you don't want to use it at the time. Any extra, you can dry and save for times like you're experiencing now. Good luck.

Thanks dear Koala.

Will do!

Just a p.s.

My parsley is still doing well. I even moved it a couple of weeks back and it's taken just fine. It had an awfully long tap root. Maybe that's because it had gone to seed so vigourously.

I have 3 huge planters filled with cold intolerant impatiens. One also has a huge purple Persian shield (which is a tropical plant).

Two are mobile one is not. The weather yesterday said temps here are going to be 20 degrees F below normal this week at night. So I have to figure a way to protect them. I'll ask hubby to bring the two up and put in the house, but the other, I'll have to cover. I hope that works. I was hoping to get them thru Oct... which we can do some seasons.

Here is a picture I took in July, when they were small (minus the 3rd planter which I made upNorth, which is long and very bushy too). The Persian shield is in the back and not very tall yet. NOW it is almost 3 ft tall! Getting that planter in the foreground HOME was a trick in and of itself! We lowered it gently into an empty Rubbermaid tote (like the one I linked to earlier in this thread) and the fragile stems just bent upward and were protected. I'll have to remember this trick for the future! The third photo is this planter from vacation on our porch there, and it is now much larger even!

Does anyone recommend a better material for covering? Should it be thick like a tarp? Or will plastic trash bags work?

The second picture is showing a wild coneflower that grew very tall, taller than typically for us. That is hubby standing under it for scale. I guess all the rain we had this year was the reason, and also the decaying bird seed must have fertilized it. This is a type of Rudbeckia that grows along creeks and streams here, and it has a green eye instead of a black/brown one. We were stunned to see it when we returned this summer! The fence is normally at a slant, because we live on a hill... it slopes down from back to front.

Sorry I can't really give advice for your area. I'm in Sub-tropical zone (south of Tropic of Capricorn).

About the Impatiens...

Impatiens grow really well here, so maybe you could make a hot-house of some kind. They love humidity. They seem a very tropical plant for your region? I'm not sure plants like that can survive your changing temps there?

Maybe organize a green house for those types of plants. Takes up very little room if done correctly.

It would have to be a heated greenhouse here. We have very cold brutal winters. Too much $$ for us... although I used to dream of one when I was younger. I have a cold frame for early spring use, but it is low and mostly for seedlings. The impatiens won't fit at all.

I am used to the impatiens dying in late fall. This year though they are just so spectacular, I've grown attached to them.

I used to have a big barrel across the street with them, until the wood rotted out. I stopped doing them there, but one year they lasted until late November! The creek here across the street does moderate frosts some in fall, but our weather has been so extreme this season...either blistering hot, or brutally cold, it is hard to say what will happen this season.

I used to grow impatients when I lived closer to your area Lara. I do like them because they're easy to grow and they make such a pretty display but sadly it's far too cold for them here.

Today is aboput to become gardening day. Spring is such an exciting time in the garden and I have so much to do.

Yesterday I moved pansies but because they were in full bloom, some of them look a bit sick today. Most of them look healthy though so I think they'll survive the move which was needed because I want that space for petunias.

I have divided the garden across the front of the house into 3 visual areas and I'm doing the center first. My plan is pansies across the border, brightly coloured striped petunias behind those, and carnations towards the rear. Of course, I might change that..... but that's today's plan. I'll still use petunias in the 2 side areas but they will be the solid colours, rather than the striped variety. Dividing the sections are azaleas, currently in full bloom.



Sorry Lara, it seems we've got a bit off topic as far as your parsley is concerned.

I love "off-topic", Koala! Much more exciting than talking about parsley. lol

I love impatiens because all I need to do is break a bit off one plant and stick it in the ground and hey presto, another plant will grow. Some of the New Guinea hybrids are really beautiful.

Koala, your garden is going to look so lovely. Good work.

PS. Says it's 15C there right now, Koala. 30C here. wow. Big difference today!

I am sorry, I thought I was posting on the other garden thread.

I wasn't thinking clearly that day. I apologize for the hijack from the parsley topic!

Koala--- your garden sound like it will be lovely. Try to get some photos? I'd love to see them. In the states here we have some newer varieties of pansy that continue all summer, when it is hot out. So I can have them for a longer time, not just in spring or fall when it is cooler. Do you have those where you are? They get a bit leggy, but in containers, they look nice spilling over the edge.