Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Seeds

By SkeeterThis year has not been a typical year in my Georgia Garden. I decided that in the years past, I was spending too much money on plants with some not returning the following year. Time to budget, so what's a gardener to do? Well, turn to seeds instead of purchased potted plants from a garden center. Excuse the blurry picture but the camera lens tends to fog over on these humid summer days!
The Grapevine Project (Click HERE to see) on the swing has done exactly what I had in mind when creating this little project. Okay, I had the idea and The Saint carried out the construction of the arbor. We do make a good team!
I did nothing more then poke some seeds into the ground beside the swing and just look!
I never have much luck with seed planting and I was thinking with their slow beginning, that these seeds were a flop as well. Once the Temperatures climbed, so did the vines as they really started taking off up the grapevine. The first picture was snapped on July 27 while the above was snapped yesterday, on August, 16. Yes, it is now growing like a weed! Zooming in, you can see the pretty red blooms she is finally showing me. This is Cardinal Climber from purchased seed.Here you see Cypress Vine from seeds passed along from Nina's garden. You may recall Nina as one of the original 7 commenter's in the beginning of "In the Garden" Blog. I visited Nina's garden last summer (Click HERE to see) and was captivated with the Hummingbirds buzzing all over her beautiful Cypress Vine. She informed me that the vine reseeds and she offered seeds for my Georgia Garden! How excited I was to receive those seeds and to plant them!One bit of warning though, they do grab a hold of anything in their sight to include unsuspecting Wind Chimes! I must check on the Cypress Vine every few days to make sure she is climbing where I prefer her to climb.
The Cardinal is starting to shine for me and hopefully the Cypress with its red blooms will be soon to show as well.
Zooming into the area below the swing, we find some pink and yellow pretties. Not sure what they are as this is an issue when planting seeds and not placing markers. I can only imagine how many seedlings I have pulled in other areas as those seeds never produced for me. Or did they?
I planted Morning Glory, 4 O'Clocks, Sweet Pea, Cypress Vine, Scarlet Runner bean, Cardinal Climber and Chinese Lantern below the swing on both side. The Cardinal Climber, Cypress Vine and Scarlet Bean are the only things I have been able to identify as things growing from seeds. I thought I had snapped a picture of the Scarlet Bean but I could not find one on file. It was a late spring bloomer for me which I enjoyed, although, it did not bloom profusely. Tina and Nina both gave me some of the above seeds as well as me purchasing some. I am wondering if the above picture is of Morning Glory? The morning glory I am familiar with are climbers and these are not but these bloom in the morning then close up by noon not to be seen again until the following morning! Looking at my empty seed packets, I also planted Moonflower but thinking it was the Jimsonweed type Datura that Tina has talked about in the past being white and large blooms. (Click HERE to see) Could this plant above in colors of yellow and pink be Moonflower?
Here you see the plant in the afternoon with blooms closed up and gone for the day. Also, you can see the Cardinal Climber grabbing onto this plant. Could this mystery plant be something else from seeds Tina or Nina passed along to me. What you think ladies, do you have this beauty in your gardens?
Zooming in to the Tipsy Pots, we see some color as well. Again, the humidity got to the camera lens. Geesh, I will be glad when the humidity is gone but on the other hand, once the humidity is gone, the flowers will be soon to follow. Sigh...
The top pot is home to Purslane. I have mixed feelings about this plant as she only blooms in the morning then closes up for the day. Like the mystery plants in the ground beside her! I prefer blooms that last all day long for my enjoyment as well as the bees, hummers and butterflies but Purslane finds its way into my garden occasionally.
This little beauties name escapes the brain at the moment but she sure is pretty calling the second pot home.
The third pot is home to Red Heart Hens & Chicks. I decided that not all the pots need to have a trailing plant. This Hen loves this spot and has been thriving all summer long. She is shaded a bit from the western sun and does not require as much water as the other two plants above. The bottom pot has a trailing green plant that touches the ground but very difficult to see as it is covered by all the vines and my Mystery Plant. (All the Tipsy Pot plants were purchased instead of grown from seed) I should be more diligent about marking where I plant SEEDS, In the Garden...

Note: A great big Thank You to Tina and Nina for passing along seeds for me to enjoy in my garden. I will show you more on Thursday...

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team,In the Garden

22 comments:

  1. I sit my camera outside for a bit before I snap photos and it gets acclimated to the humidity. Cardinal Vines pop up everywhere here. Your purple unknown looks like a fan flower,scaevola? that I had last year. You know I love starting plants from seed!!

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  2. You have some lovely bloomers growing there. Love the vines covering your swing area. I had cardinal vine or maybe it was the cypress vine years ago. Very delicate and pretty.

    Those pink and yellow flowers look like 4 o'clocks to me. I love those and their scent is a delight.

    It's too hot for me to do anything outside these days, except for bare necessities.

    Enjoy your lovely flowers grown from seeds gardens.

    FlowerLady

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  3. Wow! Your bench project is ab-sol-ute-ly amazing! All the work has really paid off on it.

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  4. You've helped me identify a plant that a friend gave me- it's the cardinal climber! We were out in her yard a couple of months ago and she pulled some out around her other pretty flowers and told me to take it home and stick it in some dirt. I planted it in a wee little pot on my porch and I just love it's petite red blooms. I'd never seen it before this year.
    Do you know if it is a perennial? I live in zone 6. This would look so lovely somewhere in my backyard, but am hesitant to plant it so late in the season for overwintering if it's an annual or needs to grow from seeds.
    Thank you so much! Love your blog and have learned a lot from it!
    Karen

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  5. Wow! Those vines have taken off for you and look great. You are lucky to get something to turn out just the way you envisioned it-that like never happens to me in the garden:) The pink and yellow flowers are 4 O'clocks. They will reseed each year and grow tubers underground. A very long lasting old fashioned perennial. I gave you the yellow seeds and maybe Nina gave you the pink ones? I've never been able to grow the pink ones here in my garden-only yellow. Love those seeds and so glad they have done well for you! The hen in chicks in the tipsy pots looks great!

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  6. I see you have had the 4 o'clocks i.d.ed for you already, Skeeter. The other purple plant in the pot looks like scaveola. I planted some 4 o'clock seed, too, and almost pulled out the seedlings because I couldn't remember what they were. Once they bloomed, I remembered, but now I've been trying to get a photo of their blooms with no luck. I thought they bloomed in the afternoon, but mine must be 10 o'clocks (AM):)

    My seeds didn't do as well this year as in past years--usually I have a lot of zinnias by this time, but we had so much rain in June that I think they got washed out. Your vines are looking good!

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  7. Good morning Skeeter, I love the red blooms of both the Cypress Vine and the Cardinal Climber. I bet the hummingbirds LOVE that!
    Will have to plant those next summer.

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  8. That swing project really looks great! I like how the vines follow the curve of the grapevine branches. Definitely a project to file under: "I must do this someday!"

    You can really save quite a bit of money through seeds!

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  9. Skeeter, I couldn't agree with you more about planting seeds. It is so rewarding to put that tiny thing in the ground and be rewarded over and over with beautiful blooms. Thus my passion for wildflowers. Great post!!

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  10. Alot of those are great reseeders Skeeter so you will be blessed with blooms for years to come. :)

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  11. What is it that' growing with the grapes? Is it morning glories? There's something very satisfying about growing from seed. I grew petunias and some other things from seed this year. You can see pictures of them here if you'd like:
    http://missyhomegarden.blogspot.com/2010/07/weeding-corner-garden.html

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  12. Good Morning everyone!

    Darla, Great idea to let the camera sit a few minutes! You are correct, I recall the name Scaevola but have no idea where the tag took ended up. Thanks for the ID…

    Flowerlady, Ah, 4 O’clocks! These don’t open in the evening but rather after dark! I also thought they were a climber and that is why I planted them there. I wanted Morning glorys and 4 O’Clocks (evening glory’s) in the same place for day round blooms. I am now guessing what I thought as a child were 4 O’Clocks was incorrect to me! Learn something new every day. Oh yeah, it is too hot for me outside now as well…

    Dawn, Thanks, we are so happy with the results but I could use more blooms :-)

    Karen, Nice to see you today! I am glad I was able to ID the Cardinal Climber for you! I picked up a packet of seeds at Wal-Mart not knowing anything about this plant. I looked on the internet and found that CC is an annual but will reseed from the blooms. If you have blooms, be on the look out for the seeds. As quickly as this vine is growing for me, I would say you may still have time to plant her in the ground. If she should perish on you, just look for the seeds in the garden center next year. Good Luck!

    Tina, Yes, you and Nina both passed along 4 O’Clock seeds. As I was telling Flowerlady, I had thought this plant was a climber! I am thinking that as a child the plant I thought to be 4 O;Clock but be something else. Is there another plant out there somewhere that blooms in the evening that is similar to the Morning Glory? Ya learn something new every day! I wonder why you cannot get the Pink to grow? Hum…

    Rose, Yep, the purple beauty is indeed Scaevola as I recognize that name but I have no idea where that tag ran off. lol… I am glad to know I have 4 O’Clocks but as you, these do not open up until after dark! They are open in the morning so I assumed them to some type of morning blooming plant! How funny. My main issue with planting seeds if that with no markers, I end up pulling the seedlings thinking they are weeds! Gee, I should learn to mark seed planting spots!

    Janet, I enjoy the hummingbirds in our gardens and that is the main reason I planted both these plants. As I was snapping pictures yesterday, 3 hummers were buzzing all around me. The butterfly bush island is next to the swing so they have plenty to nip on now…

    Dave, Thanks, this project was pretty simple and the grapevine free! We were lucky to have a tree fall that was full of the vines. I am so happy how the Climbers are winding around the grapevine as if they belong there! More interesting then a simple swing frame! I think in the future, I will add more seeds to the gardens as they are cheaper. I just need to mark where I plant them so as to not pull seedlings thinking they are weeds!

    Meadowview, My most rewarding time in the garden was planting a gourd seed, producing a gourd, turning it into a birdhouse and watching two broods of bluebirds being raised in this gourd! That is something I will never forget! It is amazing how a tiny seed can become a beautiful plant…

    Raquel, Yes, I am hoping for many blooms in seasons to come! I must refrain from plucking seedlings next spring as that is my biggest issue with planting seeds. I mistake them for weeds in the spring with my eagerness to get into the garden after a cold winter…

    Missy, Welcome to Blogland and good luck with your new blog! It is awesome planting a seed and watching it grow into something beautiful. Your profile did not tell me where you are located but the sun in your area sure does paint some beautiful sky’s…

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  13. Lovely Skeeter -and I actually like the look of the pictures with the humidity -they look like you used a different type of filter:0) But, I do know what you mean -I went to snap a picture of Lil Bundle with daddy in the pool and it was smoggy looking. Have a great day everyone, ciao!

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  14. Hey, I'll be happy to share Celosia seeds, these get quite tall. Just let me know,okay?

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  15. I'm a long-time seed starter and it does save tons of money, plus I find it fun. :) The cardinal vine looks awesome; I love that one.

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  16. I had never heard of or seen either the cardinal climber or the cypress vine but they sure look lovely and worth having. The vines have really made the great arbor come alive.

    I just LOVE planting seeds and see them grow into such great stuff. I do think the veggies excite me much more that flowers. I picked an orange sunshine squash this week and it weighed 6 pounds. Now I know the squash seed is not a real small seed but not too shabby anyway. Then you put a tiny seed like a tomato and can get mega pounds of tomatoes. I just find that so amazing!!!!

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  17. Skeeter, love the arbour with the swing. You and The Saint really are a team! Your bright red blooms really pop!
    I want to do seeds soooooooooooooo bad but am just no good at it. This year I'm just going to do like Mother Nature and sprinkle them by the handfull all over the place after I work it up and make sure it's ready to reseed as if they were dropping off of the flowers. Makes perfect sense to me that it would work but then . . . LOL

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  18. Skeeter, love the arbour with the swing. You and The Saint really are a team! Your bright red blooms really pop!
    I want to do seeds soooooooooooooo bad but am just no good at it. This year I'm just going to do like Mother Nature and sprinkle them by the handfull all over the place after I work it up and make sure it's ready to reseed as if they were dropping off of the flowers. Makes perfect sense to me that it would work but then . . . LOL

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  19. Thundering off in the distance so much make this quick...

    Anonymous, the pic was kind of interesting looking kind of like a ghost look, hee hee...

    Darla, dont you worry yourself about seeds for me. You have enough on your plate with the wedding and healing your body but thanks....

    Monica, Do you just scatter or start them inside?

    Jean, they are both new to me as well. I picked up the Cardinal packet at Wally World after looking for vines with blooms friendly for the hummers! I spotted the Cypress Vine at Ninas and just had to have that one. Wow, you had a huge Squash lady! Yum...

    Raingardener, Team work is the way to go! I never have luck with starting seeds inside the house but had such luck with these little pretties, that I will scatter more! I do think that fall is a good time to scatter as you say, more natural...

    Joey, Thanks, my brain is always working so lots of ideas in it. I so wish I could shut it off at times though, LOL...

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  20. Everything looks perfectly happy in your arbor garden, Skeeter. Like you, I get frustrated sometimes when those expensive plants, especially perennials, that I've purchased don't live up to what's promised. At least you don't feel so cheated with seeds. I hope you like that cypress vine a lot because it's going to like your garden from now on. I've got some coming up here and there in the yard that the birds must have planted for me a few years ago. I leave it where it's not bothering anything so the hummers will visit.

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  21. Walk2write, the hummers are the most welcome things in my garden so I do hope for many years with the Cypress and maybe the Cardinal Climber as well...

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