Saturday, March 26, 2011

Keeping Sane on a Snowy Saturday!

Good Morning all… another day of snow..I hear thru the grapevine we have gotten a total of 17 feet this winter.  Right now we have a good 5 feet on the ground and it is coming down fast and furious.  That’s okay, I have indoor activities planned.  I have my own little spring going in the spare room upstairs. I have been starting more seeds.  You may have read my Delphiniums pre-germination post.  Click on the photo to go there…
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Dowdeswells of New Zealand, where I buy my English Delphinium seeds, somehow spotted it and asked to link to it.  I was surprised and flattered.  Of course I gave my okay.  They do sell spectacular seeds as some I started were a good 4 years old, kept in my fridge but still a good portion sprouted.  I bought fresh seeds this year as I do love the English Delphs in my garden and I want more colors. Delphiniums are not the only thing I have sprouting on my fancy dancy garden rack…
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I intend to put another light on the third shelf, I have more starts than space under the lighted shelves now.  The seeds have been popping up in droves.  This year I found seeds of flowers I cannot get in garden centers or nurseries, most of them anyways.  I wanted to attract beneficial insects as well so I focused on the plants that draw them in. Like Catchfly
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And also I searched for flower seeds for their scent…Heliotrope is a sweet old fashioned charmer..I hear it smells reminiscent of vanilla.  I have a batch of these started too. 

I have my High Scent sweet peas, there is no other that can perfume a room with just one vine.  They are a soft white with lavender edging, I plant them along the front porch rail and they are glorious to just walk past.  I wish I could find my photo of them…I will keep looking.
Other seeds I have going are Butterfly Weed, Virginia Stock (another heavily scented one), Blue Pimpernel, Zulu Prince Daisy, Pow Wow Echinacea, Butterfly Delphiniums (another fabulous blue), and some Russell Lupines.  All of these are easy to start and tough as nails once they are established. 
I did not forget the heirloom veggies..I got carried away and have 30 Brandywine tomato starts..
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I set up a fan to gently blow on the seedlings, this helps them to grow sturdier, the movement helps them secrete an enzyme that makes them tougher, more stocky instead of leggy.
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The other veggie plants I have started are basil, baby broccoli, Camp Joy cherry tomato, and some jalapeno peppers.  I am waiting for my Zavory Habanero seeds, they are not hot, but you have all the Habanero flavor, which I love! 
So now you have the low down on my indoor Spring time.  I will pot up more seeds today and get them going on the heat mats.  Add another grow light to my rack and organize it a bit better.  Bring in my seaweed spray and give all the seedlings a spritz and move on to my other project which includes this…DSC_0007-1
And these…
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That is for my next post…happy snowy Saturday!  Enjoy!

signaturePamela

2 comments:

  1. Hi Pamela, What pretty Delphiniums!Cheri

    ReplyDelete
  2. All those seedlings! Looks great. I'd never heard about using the fan to help them grow stronger stems.

    Teresa

    ReplyDelete

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