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Seed Sales


2010
04.23

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Posted in Herb Companion, Herbs in the garden, Home Garden | 2 Comments »

Late Spring Seed Spree for 2010

Early peas will be replaced by green beens.

After peas are harvested, snap bean will follow

Most seed companies have reduced prices to tempt you into buying more seeds about this time every year. It is a good time to see where you can fill the empty spaces in your garden and try some succession planting to keep your garden growing until late fall. These are a few of the seed companies that caught my eye.


Renee’s Garden Seeds says, “Planting season is here, and we’re offering a Spring Fling Discount of 15% off your next order.
Enter DSC410 in the “coupon code” box on the checkout page. Good on or before May 2, 2010. Shop for seed to grow cool season crops.


Small enough to eat grilled or stuffed for appetizers or on a veggie tray

Compacts pants are a good choice for containers.

Gurney Seed and Nursery Co is having a clearance sale. They have a Special Offer: Save $20.00 When You Buy Product Totaling $40.00 or More. Limit One Offer Per Customer. I bought a couple of thornless blackberry vines. I’ve always had good luck ordering asparagus and fruit trees from Gurney’s.

Johnny’s Selected Seed, “Take 20% off selected varieties (below) while they last.save 20 percent on potatoes Use offer code 10-1070 when checking out to get your discount.” They are offering Yukon Gold, Dark Red Norland, Red Gold and Superior. All good home garden choices. Also take advantage of the bumper seed crop with reduced prices on select seed varieties.

Seeds of Change will give you 10% off everything when you become a fan on Facebook. Use offer code: FACEBOOK at checkout.


 Even Home Depot has Buy-One-Get-One seed packets right now.

Squash are heavy producers. Plant only a few of each kind.

Most all the spring crops are in the ground. If yours are not, you still have time for salads and spring greens. Now is a good time to look over your remaining seed and plan for the space that will be available as you harvest spring crops.

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Garden Bloggers Bloom Day April 2010


2010
04.15

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Everyone who gardens in zone 6, has something growing or in bloom by now. My favorite small native trees, the redbuds and dogwoods are putting on quite a show.

Yellow Darwin tulips

tall white tulips have lasted longer than the reds and yellows.

Most of my tulips are in their last days. But these yellow Darwin tulips are stong and tall and have outlasted all the other tulips in the front garden. On the patio are some tall white tulips that are  holding their shape and lasting days.

taken overhead some white tulips are tall and beautifully shaped

taken overhead white tulips are tall and beautifully shaped

There are more of these Bakeri tulips this year than I planted last year.

Late bloomers came on strong after most of the tulips were gone.

There are a few species tulips that were late bloomers. Showy lilac-pink flowers with deep yellow centers  – I think they are late so they could have the bed to themselves.

The tag says “Speedwell.”

Also known as Veronica ‘Waterperry Blue’, this little groundcover likes it here in southeast Missouri and takes care of it’s self. It came in two little starter containers about two summers ago. It grows to 2″ tall and is adorned with a soft, light blue flower in masses. This is but one of many veronicas that can be used as ground cover. It will spread and flourish in your flower bed or work perfectly between stepping stones or in a rock garden.

There are dozens of Veronica varieties

Veronicas are deciduous, meaning they’ll drop their leaves in the fall. The daffodils came up right through the Speedwell and next the poppies will have no trouble poping up through the creeping veronica or Speedwell. I know a lot about this Speedwell because I remember where I got it and the tag is stll in the plant. The Speedwell is from STEPABLES.®.  Frances Hopkins the founder and CEO says STEPABLES® are earth-friendly, easy-to-maintain perennials that take foot traffic. Happy anniversary to STEPABLES,®.  2010 is Stepables 10th year in business. Consider these plants for a lawn alternative or to fill between stepping stone paths.

Just about 5" tall

These tiny Iris are look like a miniature version of the familiar ones.

This time last year I showed you my tiny lonely, native Iris cristata ‘Tennessee White’ (Tennessee White Woods Iris) They are a perfect white iris, just about 5” tall. This year we have couple of dozen iris growing beside an old tree stump.

Fruit trees escaped late freezes. Pink peach blossom and white apple blossoms.

trial peach tree is in a container and overwintered well.
These apple trees are two and three years old. We may have fruit for the first time this year.

This amazing tulip is exactly half yellow and half red.

I’ve never seen a tulip like this and I didn’t see any like this last year, which was their first spring.

Long lasting, standing up in a day of some rough winds

A tulip that could have been missed in a sea of red and yellow tulips.

frost damaged but still creating a bright spot in the landscape.

Autumn Cheer’s lovely medium pink blooms add a splash of spirit to any landscape. Encore’s Autumn Cheer is a small azalea with single pink blooms. I have several Azaleas, but this little one is a standout.

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New! Chinese Chives Are the devil in disguise


2010
04.06

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Posted in Home Garden | 3 Comments »

Really, these are garlic chives.

Here is what Renee has to say about Chinese chives:
“One of my favorite fresh herbs, Chinese chives, combines the flavor of garlic and the sweet oniony taste of chives in a perfect marriage. The 10 to 12 inch long, strappy flat leaves are scrumptious whenever you want a hint of garlic flavor without the fuss! Use fresh as they lose their savor when cooked. I snip them into ½ inch pieces to sprinkle over fresh salads or on top of most steamed vegetables or a plate of juicy sliced tomatoes. They are wonderful in potato or pasta salads, with scrambled eggs, or even deep fried to finish a rice dish. When your plants begin to bloom with pretty white flowers – break up and sprinkle the individual florets over salads for an ornamental and edible flower garnish.”

And I agree. They are everything Renee says. But there is more:

This is my story: After a lecture on herbs, the speaker said she had free samples of garlic chives for everyone. She had enough clumps to give to each of the 30 young and foolish beginning herb gardeners. She dug up these 30 fist fulls of garlic chives and wrapped them in plain newspaper to keep from getting our cars messy, she said. As I look back on this herbal exchange, I now believe the newspaper was meant to cover up the garlic chives. Sort of like the infamous plain brown wrapper. That way neighbors could not see what we were bringing into the neighborhoods. There would be no screaming or shouting or alerting the homeowners association plant police. And it also provided a cover up so no one would know she was herb trafficking in garlic chives.

To say that garlic chives are invasive, is an underestimate and should be punishable by law when people do not offer full dislosur. The plain truth is Chinese Chives are out to take over the world, one herb garden at a time.

In fact, this is how I started out on the herb speaker’s bureau. I volunteer to speak to herb gardener wannabes. After the lecture, I pass out free samples of Chinese Chives to all the attendees and their friends and families too.

Renee’s Garden

http://twitter.com/reneesgarden

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Tigger, the melon


2010
04.06

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This is Tigger, the melon. I mention it now because I am getting a lot of comments on Facebook about it.

I’ve never grown this midget melon before, but the seeds were free. So I am sharing with five other gardeners. I can do this because there are more seed than the 25 seeds the package promised.

Each melon is a single serving

Here is what I know.  I’ve seen the seed advertised in Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company and Territorial Seed Company.

The plants are heavy producers of baseball sized, white fleshed fruit. What caught my attention is these fragrant fruits are only about a pound when mature. That’s about all the cantaloupe-type fruit I want. Watermelons, pumpkins and cantaloupe rarely make an appearance in my garden because the sprawling plants take up a lot of garden space.

Because they are so small, I may try to grow them on a trellis. The seed packet says 80 days, Tigger will ripen about the same time the garden explodes with tomatoes.

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Daffodils and Tulips


2010
02.26

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Spring 2009 was fabulous. Can Spring 2010 be as fine?

Q   What is the difference between daffodils and narcissus? They are the same. Narcissus is the Latin or botanical name for all daffodils. Daffodil is the common name for the genus Narcissus.

Old House Gardens has heirloom bulbs and will consume hours of your time reading and learning about these rare beauties.

is one of my favorite bulb buying sites because daffodils and tulips just need to be planted in massColor Blends.

This is a practice post.

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Better Than Rocks


2010
02.18

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Posted in Home Garden | 1 Comment »

As gardener frustrated by poorly drained and weighty rock-filled containers, I discovered the best back-saving container garden product on the market. If your potted plants are turning yellow from the bottom or wilting even though they are getting enough water the cause may be insufficient drainage and aeration.

Better Than Rocks produces healthier plants, lighter containers, drains excess water away from plants and keeps the soil in the planter. BTR is inexpensive, recycled and reusable. If it is not in your garden center yet, order it online. www.betterthanrocks.com

This product, like good tools, are a one time purchase. The Better than Rocks product I bought three years ago is the same product I will use this spring. What I like about this product is that you buy it one time then use it and reuse it forever.

Line the bottom of containers with Better Than Rocks. Smaller pots require one layer for good water drainage and to keep your potting soil from washing away. Big, deep pots can handle several layers of Better Than Rocks to lighten up the container and reduce the amount of pricey potting soil. Better Than Rocks can stay in the pot as long as you like. If you empty the containers at the end of the season, hose off the recycled plastic material and BTR is ready to reuse.

Sarah B. Atkins, who discovered the material, has used and reused the same Better Than Rocks product in various containers for ten years. What could be better than a garden product so good that you never have to buy it again?

Better Than Rocks How It Works

Better Than Rocks Where to Buy

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