some seed tips...
 

Want alot of plants without alot of $$?

Here is a seed trick. (Zone 5)

Some seeds are very easy to start the fall before. All you do
is sow them in the fall for spring emergence.

Allium giganteum --- will do this easily-- and at $10 a bulb, you can grow your own for pennies for 50 of them!

Black eyed susans-- sow now

Daisies-- sow now

Lychnis coronaria -- rose campion-- very easy sow now

What I do is sprinkle these seeds in my containers as the flowers fade (I have toonies and gazanias just going past now)
I put them in a sheltered spot--I pile leaves all around the containers and try to keep them in a winter sunny spot.

The seeds then germinate over the winter and in spring I have babies in those containers which I move into small cells and nurture along and then plant in the garden when they are old enough.

This season I am adding siberian iris to this routine.

I have had nicotiana self seed this way, as well as petunias sometimes. (things I did NOT plan at all).

This is pretty easy. I discovered this at our summer home which is very cold in winter...almost zone 4. Each year I sprinkle seeds in my planters, and when I return in early July, there they are! Last season I did two varieties of new annual black eyed susans, and they all germinated! (those planters have SOIL MOIST in them, which I do all season because I can't water them all). Soil Moist is a great gardening aid. ( you use a few crystals in a planter and you don't have to tend things like before)
My $12 jar is 4 yrs old now, and still more than 1/2 full--- it goes a LONG LONG way!

These volunteers seem to come more easily from container soil with some very little care, than the basic garden soil that would be there.

Ebay still has many seed providers there...at very low prices.
So do the catalogs-- Thompson Morgan, Burpee etc.

You want the seeds out there in Zone 5 when the cold is reliable. This week it is turning out to be the best for us.

But up North I leave seeds in the containers in early Sept. And they germinate amazingly!

Don't be afraid of seeds... they will work for you!

If that's your fist siberian iris, you are going to love it! Mine is almost 4' high. My sil gave me a 3 leaf start a few years ago and it is now a 1' x1' clump.


The blooms open in the am and close late afternoon, to look almost like grapes hanging in clusters. Even the foliage is cool - the secondary leaves come off at a sharp angle, very striking.

It's a great, no-problem plant that looks really exotic.

I do the same with my seeds, btw. I walk around about this time crumbling the dried pods into the beds. The neighborhood kids call me *that old flower lady* cuz they always see me out in the flowers.

Hey, any hints for keeping dahlia tubers good over winter? I planted 3 the beginning of summer and just dug up 50.

....and for daffodils too please! I dug up about 100 bulbs today and so far they're all sitting in a cardboard box.

I can remember when I was younger, my mother used to put all her bulbs and tubers in a net bag that she bought the onions in. Unfortunately onions don't come in those bags any more, so looking for other suggestions please. :(

I used to do this with amarrillis' seed...we actually had a club called the Seeds Sower Exchange. We would get together twice a month and exchange all our flower seeds.

Saved us big bucks...I also just bought a landscape program so I can 'see' what my beds will look like before I plant.

How to store bulbs and tubers
 

You can store any bulb or tuber in heavy paper grocery bags. Make sure when you bring these in that you 1st shake of as much dirt as possible. Next lay them out on newspaper until they are all dry!! Pop them into bags and store in basement or garage where there is a little heat. Nothing below 40. If they freeze they are dead. I used to take my geraniums out of ground or pots and do this. Later I just brought whole pots in and stored them the same way. Begonias too. Dont water them and near spring you will see white growth (because of darkness). Bring them back outside when frost is over and wala, same pots of flowers at no cost!! Be sure to dig up cana lilies and calla lilies also. If they freeze they will also die. Happy planting

Well I tried but I lost them all anyway. Too cold in garage (no heat at all) too warm in the basement - where I kept them. They all molded.

But get this, I must have missed a few when I dug them up, and they are sprouting. So there will be a dahlia or two despite me.

:D