Started today

13 years ago

After doing more indoor seed starts and potting up little tomato plants into deeper pots got at cutting my water jugs for WS.

It's a start - got interrupted by visitors this afternoon. Managed to plant my sweet cicely seeds. They need a series of freezing and thawing to germinate the seeds - perfect for WS. Harvested the seeds last early summer. Should have been in an air tight container after what I read today on the internet so I'll see what happens. I can do probably another 2 water jugs full of these seeds. Plan to do that tomorrow.

So Peggy has done

Sweet Cicely

What have you started this year with WS?

Cheers,

Peggy

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Comments (3)

greylady_gardener
13 years ago
sweet cicely looks pretty. are you growing it for looks or to actually use and what do you use it for?

I have quite a few things out there in the snow right now
columbine-red
butterfly bush-white and purple prince
gaillardia-burgundy and goblin
allium karataviense-ivory queen
ligularia-marie crawford
clematis macropetala-Jan Lindmark
clematis-ville de lyon and rouge cardinale
lychnis flos cuculi-ragged robin
hosta-from big daddy
coneflower-pink glade
veronicastrum-album
foxglove-yellow
hollyhock-yellow and red
anise hyssop
verbascum-milkshake

lots more in the plans but I am waiting for more 2L bottles. I just plant as I get them and they kind of come in a couple or three at a time.
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Original Author
13 years ago
I've got 3 garbage bags full of water jugs to cut into WS containers - I turn them on their side so I can get more seeds. Once they are fairly well started I transplant them into more WS jugs if needed.

Sweet Cicely can be used in a few ways. First and foremost I love it as a perennial plant around my house as a beautiful border with small annuals in front. The seeds can be used for baking (mild anise flavour), the leaves can be used in cold drinks, salads and probably more. I have learned to collect the seeds and to get them to grow again they need to be kept in an air tight packaging (tin foil?). Great for WS because the seeds actually need to freeze and thaw a few times to germinate. I'm cheating on this by using my water jugs with just a fold over lid - no holes top or bottom. I'm going to leave the container out for 2 weeks and then bring it in for 1 week and then repeat the process until spring or it starts to sprout. At that point I will bring them in to grow on my grow stand. I'm planning to pot them up to let them grow much larger before end May.

One adult plant can give you a few handful of seeds. Just remember to store them in tin foil packets and squeeze all the air out. It's a beautiful plant. And it smells great.
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greylady_gardener
12 years ago
Hi Peggy, I wanted to let you know that I have sprouts of sweet ciciely!! I can't believe it. I WS them last year after you sent them to me and they never sprouted. Well I left the container and never dumped it out last year and I am so glad I did. When checking the containers while doing a clean up the other day I noticed green sprouts with big seed coverings hanging on the end of some of the first leaves that come out. I wasn't sure if they weren't seeds from the japanese ivory silk lilac that is nearby so I double checked today, what the sweet cicely seeds look like and sure enough that is what they are. Today one of them is getting a tiny true leaf. :)