Faux Fence

By SKEETER
It did not take me long to decided what to do with the empty uneven stump in the middle of my planter. After reading the suggestions from you wonderful commenter's, I rushed out the same day to the garden center! I put two pots of pretties together taking Darla to heart with her suggestion. Spike and ivy now adorn the stump with some Viola's for color. Your voice is heard in my Georgia Gardens! I also dug up some of the Vinca from the ground and added it to the round pot. The long pot has the ivy. Hopefully they will grow soon and hide the green tie downs to the pots. I sure hope the pots are accepted in this spot. The squirrels love to chase each other around the stump as if a merry-go-round.I was stuck inside the house with being too sick to go into the gardens for 2 weeks. I longed to be outside but knew it would not be best. I was not sick enough to sit still though. I took up painting. Ha, a painter I am not but I had fun creating and playing with the paints anyway. These are gourds I grew two seasons ago and am just now getting around to playing with them. They are painted, now what to do with them???
I also painted small birdhouses. I finished the last of them last night while talking on the phone with my mom. She wanted to know what I was going to do with them but I told her she had to wait until today's Blog to find out. Can you spot the one I called Halloweeny mom? So here is my grand idea for a project we took on this past weekend. (like the planter was not enough) The Saint replaced our front entry hand railings to the house last summer. I would not let him trash the old ones as I knew in time I would come up with some idea to recycle them. He cut the spindles square for me. He drilled a hole into the bottom of each one and installed a piece of Rebar. We put them into the ground and I topped each one with a birdhouse.I put them along side the Entry to the Semi-Formal Garden. A sort of faux fence. I have always thought the Entry was a bit lonely and needed something. I neglected this garden last year and have decided it is time to give it some attention. I think this is a good start.
I am in the process of taking out the planter where I once put herbs. I plan to divide lilies and extend them on down to the last post. I have ideas running in my head as to what I would like to do here.








While in Tennessee last May, as the rains were coming down, I stopped by the Humane Society's big Yard Sale. I found such bargains as these saw blades. I believe I paid a mere dollar each for them! The cats you see on some of the post were picked up at this Yard Sale also. Can we say bargain...


Look where I put the saw blades! I am dealing with a dry cough now, which is driving me nuts. But that is not keeping me down. I am enjoying creating such things as this FAUX FENCE, In the Garden...
HAPPY ST PATRICK'S DAY!
Note, I will be off the blog for a bit. Everyone enjoy this awesome spring we are having....
Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden

Let's Talk Seedlings: Greenhouse and Winter Sown Seedlings and Propagation

Impatien cuttings, Sweet Woodruff, Zinnia, basil, Great Blue Lobelia seedlings

From In the Garden

I've been busy in the garden and it only promises to get worse with all these seedlings. I mean what was I thinking?? As gardeners we can get a bit carried away with starting seeds. Oh how our gardens must be filled to overflowing with abundance such as never has been seen before. Seeds, seeds, seeds! Cuttings, cuttings, cuttings! And what do you do when you have all of these overflowing cell pack and pots? Well, post about it of course. I'll figure out the planting part later:)

Ever since I found out you could start impatiens from cuttings I've been a cutting fool with all of these new plants. I can't wait to plant them out. Impatiens are one plant I can always find a spot for. I'm not so sure about the zinnia, basil, sweet woodruff, and great blue lobelia you can also see in the above photo though. That will be another problem all together. 

I must say my seed starting endeavors have been successful. I think the secret is in the seed heat mat providing bottom heat. This heat seems to work magic on both cuttings and seeds. I recently saw a very neat  idea that I thought most thrifty. The idea came to me by way of one of my gardening magazines in which a reader substituted Christmas lights in a plastic Tupperware container for the seed heat mat. The lights gave off just enough heat to keep the seeds warm and provided a neat focal point as well. One of these days when this old standby heat mat gives out I might just try that trick.

Outdoor sowing area on the deck table.

From In the Garden

I tried winter sowing a few years ago and was not happy with the results. I surmised that perhaps I didn't use the right containers and maybe it was my fault all the seedlings did not survive past the container stage. This year I decided to use all milk cartons for my containers and the "Hunk of Seedlings" approach. The hunk of seedlings approach says to just plant a clump of seedlings without worrying about separating all of the seedlings. You can thin them later once they have settled in So far so good because most of my seeds have sprouted and are doing very well.

The winter sowing method basically says to sow seeds during the winter and when the time is right for the seed to germinate it will germinate. The method made sense to me but again, I have only just learned about this seed starting method about three years ago. I like winter sowing seeds in containers because I can have control of the seeds and seedlings. If seeds are sown in my garden in the fall or winter they tend to get lost. Some seeds need cold and warm temperatures to help with the germination so winter sowing provides this service-passively. Not only do the temperatures fluctuate quite a bit here in my area; which mimics the action of nature when seeds fall naturally from the plant in the fall, but moisture is usually always present so I don't have to water the seeds I have winter sown versus greenhouse seedlings. Some of the seeds I have sown in my milk jugs include: lychnis, common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca), butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa), Mexican milkweed (Asclepias curassivica), sweet woodruff, hollyhocks, lilium regale, prunella, dames rocket (Thanks Darla!), and perhaps a few more I cannot recall at this time. So far these seeds have germinated: butterfly weed (tuberosa), sweet woodruff (also germinated in the greenhouse flats), hollyhocks, lychnis, dames rocket, and prunella. I am most excited about them all and expect the rest will pop up soon.

Sweet Woodruff winter sown seedlings.

From In the Garden

Now that I have all these seeds germinating what should I do with them? It seemed when I tried winter sowing before that the seedlings just kind of fizzled away in the containers so this time I have decided to be a bit more proactive with my new seedlings. Even though many of these seeds are used to germinating in cool weather and may do just fine, I wanted to baby them a bit. What I have done is separated these 'hunks of seedlings' into smaller sized hunks and transplanted them to a window box planter. I prefer window box planters because you can fit so many more plants in each elongated planter and there is a lot of soil available to each small plant. I do not like cell packs for propagating plants but do use them as well. The cell packs are okay if you buy the ones that have the large cell packs (no more than 32 cells per flat) and if you take very good care of them. Generally though I find the cell pack planting style to be a temporary way to start plants because the cells and trays wear out very quickly. The window box planters last a long time, usually have  a built in water tray, and are easy to handle and store. As of right now I have two window box planters full of three types of winter sown seedlings. I placed these pots in the greenhouse with the greenhouse sown seedlings and all are doing well. I am looking forward to everything getting a bit more girth so I can move all seedlings outside into a covered plastic germinating shelf I have stored on my porch. I have never used this little 'greenhouse' before but think it will be perfect for hardening off seedlings and cuttings this year.

One problem solved as to where I should put the winter sown seedlings, check. Greenhouse seedlings and cuttings doing great with bottom heat in the greenhouse, check. Now to find a spot for all of the cuttings and seedlings....

in the garden....

One note about the containers. When I cut my first milk carton I did not cut large enough drain holes. I think it vitally important these containers drain well so I had to go back and cut some large holes. I left the handle intact so I could close the top over the milk jug; which makes a small greenhouse that will protect the seeds from harsh weather like pelting rain. Pay close attention to drainage of your winter sown containers if you are getting  a lot of rain like we are here in Tennessee. 

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