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grant_in_arizona

Seed starting 2009: what are you sowing/growing?

grant_in_arizona
15 years ago

Hi everyone,

What seeds are you starting indoors or out? It's always fun to compare notes both now, and later in the season.

I started a batch of zonal geraniums (Pelargoniums technically) on Halloween and planted them into the open ground about a month ago--they're doing really well and just about ready to start blooming (I already planted some purchased-as-plants geraniums in several pots and they've been blooming nonstop since October as well).

Currently I've got several pots of mixed aloe seed from a company in the UK, some mixed Cleistocactus seeds, variegated culinary hot peppers, adeniums, Jatropha multifida, tomatoes, Lachenalia, Cereus peruvianus (I know, I know, I can just go buy them as plants anywhere, but it's fun to start them from seed) stapelia, hybrid gazania, and a few specific species of Aloes too (globuligemma etc), plus Bauhinia galpinii (which has yet to sprout, grrr, lol--they are a plant I've seen thriving in The Living Desert zoo/garden in Palm Springs and in a few gardens around Phoenix too). I'll be starting a lot more in the coming weeks and months.

I'm a huge cactus/succulent/citrus fan, but I also always have a lot of potted plants outside year round, and pepper in annuals here and there too. I noticed self-sown flowering tobacco, tree tobacco, various desert penstemons, four o clocks, good old desert bluebells, daturas, California poppies, and a few others sprouting out back in my little garden too.

I also crammed some nasturtium seeds here-and-there two weeks ago (mid January) and see them popping up as well. They are always one of my favorites even though the black aphids always end up finding them during the end of their season, and even though the plants just melt when the blast furnace kicks on, but they do have quite a few months of effortless beauty, don't they?

What about you? What seeds are you starting indoors or out? Ordering? It's always fun to compare.

Take care and happy gardening,

Grant

Here is a link that might be useful: Pic/info on Bauhinia galpinii for anyone curious

Comments (10)

  • turtleman49
    15 years ago

    LOL..
    I've got allot of Nemaguard sown for germination it all should be ready for grafting in the fall or late summer..
    and some Bud9 and a secret rootstock
    If the secret works Arizona will have a dwarf rootstock that we can grow peaches on!

    So its just that and 4000 boojums seedlings coming up

  • User
    15 years ago

    Hi Grant :)

    I don't have anything going yet but big big plans! I've got a whole boxful of goodies waiting for my undivided attention....and sadly too many things I should have sown outside in the fall and didn't :(

    I wanted to say give that B. galpinii some heat if you haven't already, that should do the trick.

    Lynn

  • grant_in_arizona
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Turtle, that's very exciting about your rootstocks, keep us posted on the super secret one especially. That's a LOT of boojums, lol. Keep us posted on those too.

    Hiya Lynn! Fun to see your post. I suspected adding heat to those Bauhinia would be a good idea, so thanks for the reminder. I'm on it, lol. Definitely let us know what and when you start some seeds. I'm really pleased with how quickly my 'Watermelon' coleus and hybrid gazanias have sprouted. I've been growing both from seed for many, many years but I'm still always amazed at how quickly they sprout and develop.

    Keep the Seed Reports coming.
    Take care,
    Grant

    Here is a link that might be useful: Coleus 'Watermelon'

  • grant_in_arizona
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    I'm pleased to report that at least one of the Bauhinia galpinii has sprouted, so that's good news. So have a few of the lachenalia so I'm really excited.

    I'm weaning the coleus, variegated culinary hot peppers, and a few others to "regular" air by s-l-o-w-l-y opening the plastic produce bags I've got around their pots to make mini-terrariums. That way they'll get several days to a week to adjust and not go in to shock.

    I started a new-for-me plant this weekend: Cynanchum laeve, the honeyvine. We'll see how it does.

    Take care all,
    Grant

    Here is a link that might be useful: Honeyvine pic/info

  • User
    15 years ago

    Yea! Glad the bauhinia are starting up.

    Uh, still nothing to report here :)

  • turtleman49
    15 years ago

    The little boojums are getting ready to be transplanted,, maybe if I get the hours in a day I can have it done by the weekend;

  • grant_in_arizona
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Turtle, that's a lot of repotting to do! Thanks for the great pic. What size containers will they go into? They look like they've made GREAT progress already. Keep us posted on the repotting and their progress after.

    I've crammed some good ol' four o'clock seeds (Mirabilis jalapa) here and there around the garden; several are already up and growing. They're one of my favorite old time plants and so easy in this climate.

    Indoors I just started a batch of hybrid Cuphea ignea seeds. I know, I know, I can just buy similar plants in spring but it's fun to grow them from seed and this is supposed to be a more compact variety. Another plant that just flowers and flowers and doesn't need to be hooked up to life support (automatic irrigation) if sited well (not that it doesn't enjoy automatic irrigation, lol).

    Thanks again Turtle--looking good!
    Take care,
    Grant

    Here is a link that might be useful: Cigar flower (Cuphea ignea)

  • turtleman49
    15 years ago

    Cigar Flower... now that's a new one to me, I wounder if it came from Cuba....?
    The boojums are going into 4" pots for the rest of this season, then in the fall they'll go into 2 gallon or 3 gallon containers

    The next step is the citrus rootstock to re-pot and graft/budd

  • grant_in_arizona
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Good luck with that repotting! Send us some "after" pics too.

    Those cigar flowers (Cuphea ignea) are great. I first started growing them when I worked just for fun at Tera's Garden nursery (now closed--I think it's an Italian restaurant these days) a few years ago. We had them in the inferno of a parking strip in full bore sun and they did great with just minimal irrigation. Easy from seed, easy from cuttings, and fully hardy here too. Several seed places are selling various cultivars with white, pink, or screaming red flowers; many of them are dwarf too. I really like them.

    I have some obscure Euphorbia seed to start this weekend, plus a few more aloes and cacti too. I love this time of year, even though it means the windowsills are very, VERY crowded.

    I noticed some of the datura seeds I planted outside in autumn are sprouting now too. This winter was so mild that the mother plant didn't even drop her leaves; some years she gets cut to the ground to resprout from the roots.

    Take care all,
    Grant

  • grant_in_arizona
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Well the four o'clocks are all up and growing from seed planted directly outside (they're faster than the overwintering tubers which haven't quite awakened yet). I've eased just about everyone to life outside except the begonias: petunias, cuphea, honeyvine (planted at the base of a 7 foot wire obelisk, good luck), bauhinia and coleus...pretty much everything but the begonias and the aloes and cacti, but even they will go out pretty soon. It's nice to be able to clean off the windowsills, LOL.

    Then it'll be time for the next batch. Definitely the cascading type of annual "vinca", some celosia, portulaca and I guess I'll have to see what else is in my seed box.

    Take care,
    Grant

    Here is a link that might be useful: Cascading/weeping vinca

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