Song of Chuck-Will's-Widow announces planting season arrival

Chuck-Will's-Widow

Whip-poor-will

Every night I can hear the song of the chuck-will's-widow singing.  For the longest time I thought it was a whip-poor-will, who got its name from the sound it makes.  I decided to share them both with you so you could hear the difference.  Who knows, one day your little grandchild might want to know this and you'll be just the person to know.  We know that our grand kids think we know EVERYTHING.  It's nice to be special.  Reminds me of getting those handfuls of daisies and dandelions from the kids and putting them in a vase with water on the kitchen counter so we could enjoy them for a few hours.  It was one of the lessons of sharing, giving and the joy of plants all wrapped up into a single, lovely package!
Best Planting Dates
A dear friend provided me with a great link to the old Almanac again.  Do you remember that thing?  I used to actually buy that every year for years and years and read it from cover to cover.  Just change the location to your own locale and it will show you the best dates for planting each type of seed.  It also includes very handy grow guides for each plant type with simple clicks.  This was really, really nice!  The plant categories include: vegetables, fruits, herbs, flowers, shrubs, and houseplants.
Vegetable Gardening Online.com has a very cool little tool.  It lets you plan your garden online using a drag and drop option.  You can drag the little veggies and plants into a grid whatever size you plan for your garden.  It even lets you plan your companion planting before you put them into the ground.  Because it makes noise, it's a fun little toy for adult and kids!  This could be used as a good learning tool as well.  I had a ton of fun playing.

When I watered the plants today, I was a little surprised at how big the beans are getting.  Just wait until Saturday, when I post the photos!  I also noticed that the sun is getting a LOT hotter as the beans in one section of the lanai were laying down on their sides they were so dried out.  This means that I'm going to need to make some big changes.  I didn't even look at the lavender because I ended up working until 7:00 tonight.  So, I'll need to peek at them during a break.  This is one reason it's REALLY GREAT to work from home.  I am able to water the plants on my break. The bad thing is that I work really late some days and I usually just grab a sandwich and eat at my desk for lunch.  I probably need to check on the hanging baskets in the front of the house because it's just hot, hot, hot full sun all day and they'll be burnt to a crisp.  They are fine for the winter since they are ivy, but during the summer I usually bring them into the lanai for a bit of shelter from the hot sun.  

Azalea President Arcilla - Feb 23, 2012

Immature Azalea seed pods

The azaleas have gone to seed.  I'm ready for them.  I looked it so I know what to do and I've gotten my supplies together.  I'm also going to try an experiment with it at the same time.  Let's talk a little about azaleas first.  Azaleas are slow growers from the rhododendron family that prefer acidic soil.  This is why they get a special fertilizer made just for them and their friends.  There are over 10,000 kinds of azaleas so it's important to label your  seeds to the kind of azalea you have.  I always try to save the store tags when I buy my plants.  I wonder if I'm distantly related to Minnie Pearl?  Originally cultivated by monks, this ancient plant is the national flower of Nepal and do well in zones 5 to 9.  They can still be grown in the outlying zones if you protect them from the extreme heat and cold by keep them in containers and bring them inside when necessary to protect them.  Use your common sense as always.  Hot, full sun will bleach out the vivid colors and can even burn the leaves if you are in a very hot  zone.  In those hot zones, you might want to consider dappled sunlight beneath a red oak tree.  There's no sense putting it beneath a bottle brush tree where they'd be competing with each other for a passerby's attention.  So back to the seed thing.   You know it's been on my mind if you've been reading my posts.  Everything I've read tells me the seeds are kept in pods.  The pods not so easy to find.  I took a couple photos to show you what they look like at both the immature and mature stages. 

Mature Azalea seed pod

The mature pod comes out easily while the immature pod must be pinched out.  I collected all of the the mature pods and some of the immature seed pods for an experiment to see if they would mature off of the plant.   The mature seed pods will be kept in a clear, plastic container and the immature pods in an envelope so the air can circulate and they won't become fuzzy and rotten (like Josh's bean seeds).         
Below you can see the final results of my labors.

Completed Azalea Seed Project

Collected Azalea Seeds

Let's talk a little bit about orchids.  I am one of those crazy orchid ladies.  I have these orchids all over the lanai (screened in patio).  I ordered a bunch of little teeny baby ones last year and they came wrapped in newspaper.  

Budding Phalenopsis & problem orchid

Cymbidium with buds - $25 special

Cattleyas

2 Vandas & Cattleya (center)

 I also have a $25 special from the grocery store that's over 4 feet tall - my Cymbidium.   The crazy Phalenopsis that I got with the wrinkled leaves that was so unhealthy and just won't die but keeps on blooming from the same 2 stems is nuttier than a fruitcake - compliments of Lowes.  I keep looking for these stems to die off and new stems to grow but that just never happens.  My problem orchid is a problem because I lost the label a long time ago and I can't remember what it is and my grandsons and cat pulled it out of the planting medium more than once or twice and I just finally pulled it out of everyone's reach.  
I wanted to close today's post with something new and exciting.  A few days ago I posted your plant zone but it was for your cold zone.  I have now found another zonal map for heat zones.  This is brand new and cool and tells you how many days your area has over 86 degrees Fahrenheit.  Zone 1 has less than 1 while Zone 12 has more than 210 days over 86 degrees.  In addition, the link will bring you to not only the map, but American Gardener. 

http://www.ahs.org/publications/heat_zone_map.htm

Planting Seeds, exploring the yard & deer problem
It was a beautiful day for working outside and I feel every bit of in in every aching bone and muscle I have.  The mysterious sprouts that I couldn't remember when I spotted them on Thursday, I remembered today. How?  It just hit me that I put the Chinese Lilies in that particular pot.  This is what I have to look forward to in the coming months:

Chinese Lily

Josh's beans shocked me when I saw them this morning.  The success was absolutely amazing!  I'm not sure what to do with all these terrific looking seedlings.  I don't have the heart to just dump them.  I planted 9 of the seedlings today (2 of the ones that made it past Josh's fuzzy stuff and 7 redos).  

Bean Seedlings planted February 25, 2012

I also did some direct sowing today - basil, parsley, and chives.  Some people read the seed packet, measure between rows and how deep they plant and do a wonderful job.  I am not that kind of gardener.  I still manage to get my plants to grow in my garden for me.  ;)  As I think about this, I compare it to the cook who uses a cookbook and a cook who cooks from memory or taste.  So let's take a look at how I planted those seeds today since we KNOW I did not even look at the back of those seed packets. 

First, I used the hand rake to get rid of all of the old roots and stuff out as well as any new weeds that may have started to grow inside.   Then, I sprinkled some Osmocote on top.  Osmocote is my all around fertilizer used for almost everything except palm trees, fruit, and acidic soil loving flowers.  How much?  Oh about that much.  Look  at the photo.  Like I'm cooking, about that much is often my measurement given when asked. Until I'm finished using my current supply of this fertilizer, I'll continue using it.  When it's gone, I'll be looking for one that's a bit more earth friendly.  Use the hand rake to mix the fertilizer into the soil.  

I took about 1/2 the seeds and sprinkled them into my hand first.  Then I scattered them across the top of the soil.  I used my open palm the disperse the seeds and get them covered by soil at the same time.  This was done very gently.  Finally, I watered the freshly planted seeds with a watering can that gave a very gentle water. 

Do you remember when we talked yesterday about the dead trees?  Well, my limon tree (cross between lemon and lime tree) was dead.  I swear it was.  Nothing but dead branches were sticking out of that pot and I was just too lazy to go out and take care of it.  Today, I went to take care of things and looky, looky what I found! The fragrance was out of this world beautiful!!

You may have noticed by now that everything is so far is in containers.  This is because I have a deer problem.  We live in a preserve area that is a gated community that keeps the deer inside and protected, but this also means they are heavily overpopulated.  They eat everything in sight.  Any tender growth, bulbs, even my hanging flower baskets weren't safe from these monstrous appetites.  While the animals are beautiful to behold, they are the bane of my garden.  I'm investigating new plants that deer do not like due to their heavy fragrance or thorny stems for planting outside the screened lanai to move beyond my containers since I'm so cramped for space. 

Seed Collection & Hardiness Zones
Today was one of those days when you learn something you wish you hadn't.  I may be paying with time, a whole year's worth.  I wanted to collect the seeds from my white Bird of Paradise.  So, yesterday I took out the ladders and climbed up, cut all the Birds out of the plant.  I carefully cut one of the Birds apart looking for the seeds.  All that happened was I was that I made a sappy mess and no seeds could be found anywhere.  Soooo, today I looked it up again today, printed everything out on Birds of Paradise finding, harvesting, and planting the seeds.  Well.....one of the first things I noticed was that it said to leave the flowers alone on the plant until they begin to die off and the seed pod is tan and noticeable.  Uh oh, too late, I cut them off the plant.  I'll try leaving them sit on the table and see if the seed pods mature and I get seeds just in case.  Mistake made and lesson learned.  For any of you interested in this subject, here is a great link on the topic: How to Find Seeds for Bird of Paradise  Hopefully, my next experiment with collecting seeds is more fruitful.

Harvested Birds of Paradise

Destroyed Birds of Paradise

I chatted with my daughter and she told me that she was checking and rechecking her planting zone because one place said one zone and another gave her a different zone.  This got me to thinking, because I know every planting season I do the same thing.  I check my planting zone too.  I know my zone, but still I check it.  I don't know why but I  forget if I'm 9a or 9b and before it used to be zone 5 or 6.  I get brain dead or something.  Either way this conversation with her got me to thinking that we are not alone and many of us go through the same ritual.  Checking that zone map is the signal for us that we are ready to start our gardens.  To help you get the hint that planting season is nearly here for some and  already here for others, I'm giving you your zones.  If you click on the map it will take you directly to the official USDA plant hardiness website. ☺

Our surprise sprouts

Dill seeds planted  February 11

Planting Seeds & Spring 
Is it a sign of getting old when you don't remember what you had planted in a pot the year before or does this mean you have too many plants?  As I was doing my "daily rounds" I found some new sprouts showing up to the garden party.  It looks like the dill is about ready to be moved into its permanent home.  

Close encounter of bean sprouting

 The beans, ohhhh the beans.  Those took two tries.  I had a bit of help from 3 year old Josh.  Everything went just great, even down to the poking the little beans into the dirt.  We put 2 little beans into each little compartment.  We found some old peat pots that made it so much easier for a toddler to understand to keep the beans into their squares.  The trouble came with the watering.  He drowned the poor little beans and then they got all furry and rotten.  Of the 12 seeds we planted, only 2 made it out alive.  So, last weekend, Josh and I started again. But, I was not paying attention and I handed him the bean seed envelope from last year without doing a viability test.  He did a wonderful job this time!  When I realized my mistake, I took out this year's bean seeds and poked in 2 more seeds into each compartment.  In less than a week, we have stunning results!

Bean Seeds planted 2/25/2012

Along that walk of mine, I also inspected the trees because we planted 2 new trees last year and I was a bit worried about them.  The Crepe Myrtle looked for the most part dead.  It really needs close inspection to realize this is not the case.  Look closely now.

The Bougainvillea was looking dead as can be until the past week or so and then little by little, flowers began to appear.  The reason I'm bringing both of these up is that sometimes we're a little quick on the draw with our plants and don't give them enough time to show us they are still alive.  These were trees and they usually do things a bit faster.  Last year, I was pulling out what I thought were plants that died from a frost and lo and behold, I found 3 that had a teeny bit of green buds on them.  I transplanted them to a new sunny location that was in a more protected area and I babied the heck out of them and those little sweethearts came back.

Still recovering section of Bougainvillea

Recovered section of Bougainvillea

Sowing Seeds Indoors
Yes, it's time to think about starting those seeds indoors. You could be thinking of giving your gorgeous flowers a head start or your veggies or herbs a jump start so that you can either take  advantage of a double planting season or maybe harvest sooner or even have a short planting season if you are in the great, white tundra.  Some people have the mistaken idea that they need to go out and buy all kinds of stuff for this . . . peat pots, topsoil, fertilizers, yada yada.  I've had pretty good luck doing this on the cheap and I've found some pretty cool inexpensive ideas as well.  Egg shells, egg cartons, plastic fruit containers, and milk cartons all make excellent plant containers for the new seeds.  The egg shells are my favorites because you can put those directly into the soil and crumble them up as you transplant them.  Another option that is really nice 
and you can move directly into the garden, is the little pots made of newspaper.  I found an excellent tutorial online that gives step by step instructions for even the very blackest thumbed gardeners.  (Newspaper seedling pot instructions)


Let's talk for a minute about those seeds while we're at it.  You might have some seeds left over from last year.  Don't throw them out.  Test them out to see if they're any good first.  You may be surprised!  

1. Put about 5 or 6 seeds between 2 paper towels and spray them with a water bottle with water until wet but not sopping.
2. Fold or roll up the paper towel and put in a plastic baggie and label with date.
3. Place in a warm place and check after a few days.
4. The back of the seed packet tells how long it should take for germination.  If it is taking a lot longer than this for you to see the seeds sprout, they are likely not viable any longer.
5. If 2 of the 6 germinate, then you will need to sow 3 times as many seeds as you want plants to grow.  

These germination charts should help you to know what to expect from your seeds:

Germination Time for Common Seed-Grown Annuals

Common Name	Germination Time
Ageratum	5 to 14 days
Alyssum	7 to 14 days
Baby Blue Eyes	7 to 14 days
Baby's Breath	10 to 15 days
Bachelor's Button	7 to 14 days
Bells of Ireland	25 to 35 days
Black Eyed Susan Vine	10 to 15 days
Calendula	7 to 14 days
Celosia	3 to 6 days
China Aster	8 to 14 days
Cleome	10 to 14 days
Coleus	10 to 15 days
Cosmos	5 to 10 days
Geranium	10 to 14 days
Globe Amaranth	10 to 21 days
Impatiens	10 days
Larkspur	15 to 20 days
Love-in-a-Mist	10 to 15 days
Love-Lies-Bleeding	10 to 15 days
Marigold	5 to 7 days
Mealy-Cup Sage	14 to 21 days
Mexican Sunflower	7 to 14 days
Morning Glory	5 to 10 days
Nasturtium	9 to 14 days
Nicotiana	14 to 21 days
Petunia	10 to 14 days
Poppy	8 to 10 days
Purple Hyacinth Bean Vine	7 to 14 days
Scarlet Runner Bean Vine	7 to 14 days
Snapdragon	7 to 14 days
Sunflower	5 to 12 days
Sweet Pea	14 to 21 days
Verbena	14 to 21 days
Viola	10 to 20 days
Zinnia	7 to 10 days

Germination Times for Common Seed-Grown Herbs and Vegetables

Crop	Germination Time
Basil	7 to 10 days
Bean	7 to 14 days
Beet	10 to 14 days
Broccoli	7 to 10 days
Brussels Sprout	7 to 10 days
Cabbage	10 to 14 days
Cantaloupe	5 to 7 days
Carrot	10 to 14 days
Catnip	7 to 14 days
Cauliflower	5 to 7 days
Chervil	14 to 28 days
Corn	5 to 7 days
Cucumber	7 to 14 days
Dill	10 to 21 days
Eggplant	7 to 10 days
Fennel	10 to 21 days
German Chamomile	10 to 15 days
Lettuce	4 to 6 days
Mint	12 to 15 days
Parsley	21 to 28 days
Pea	7 to 10 days
Pepper	7 to 10 days
Pumpkin	7 to 10 days
Radish	3 to 5 days
Spinach	7 to 21 days
Squash, Winter	7 to 10 days
Tomato	7 to 14 days
Watermelon	5 to 7 days

Flower cart from Provence in France