It is magnolia and camellia season in Victoria right now. Lots of tree blossoms at this time of year. I'm digging holes in the new garden for transplant of palms and hardy bananas from the old garden. I've left mature dracaenas and palms that will attract a buyer from eastern Canada. Planted planted an olive tree and acacias in the new garden. Spring here is long. Daffs started in Feb and are still around. Tulips have started in March and they will extend to May. Magnolias start in March but most are done during April if they are not evergreen. The evergreen magnolias usually start in April but flower on and off until late October. I've planted an "Edith Bogue". Gardeners on the southwest coast are gardening, planting their new trees. We have amazing gardens but huge weeds like broom. Victoria has Japanese Angelica trees that are 4ft in height for $500. It's amazing what folks plant here. But some prices are sky high.

Here's a nice camellia in Victoria. Some are just amazing trees.

Cheers

Here is a link that might be useful: Pink Camellia Tree

Hi Claire, I tried to email you but your addy didn't work so I thought I'd post my answer to your question here, hope that's ok.

If I remember right, the first few sets of leaves are round and very tiny. The second set of leaves should be a bit bigger. It takes them quite a while to start looking like petunias.

On March 11th I planted some pink petunias and they are still very very tiny. (I just went and looked at mine ... *S*)

Maybe an inch and a half tall so far and the first leaves were very tiny and very round. Second set of leaves are a bit bigger and a bit more pointy. Petunias take a long time to grow so try and be patient, but sounds like they are petunias and not weeds. Yours are only a week or so old, mine are almost a month old and still very tiny, remember also not to give them full strength fertilizer either as u will burn the roots.

Good luck, I hope this helps ya. Marcia might know, I know she saves her own petunia seeds too. I buy mine as I have never been able to find seeds on my plants LOL

Debbie

Thanks Debbie. My tomato plants are doing ok, about 2 inches tall and healthy looking.We woke up with new snow this morning so guess it's not spring yet. heehee
Claire

What? What? What do i know? :) Claire, did you start petunias from saved seed, is that it? I did some purple waves and they came back magenta - quite pretty, actually - but not very wave-ish. They just sort of hung around. :) I also started some white petunias from saved seed and they came back white.

The petunias i've started this year (bought seed, not saved) are still quite small too. A few are finally more than an inch high, thank goodness! They'd better smarten up because i planned on taking lots of cuttings from them! The impatiens are coming along nicely. I transplanted them into 4" pots on the weekend. Some seeds have done well but there's no germination in others, and i might restart some things this coming weekend.

Outside, spring is coming! The flower beds around the house have all bared off and new growth is starting and bulbs are poking up through the leaf mulch! The roses seem to be fine - Blanche is still covered in snow, so i don't know about her yet. This is such an exciting time of year!

My daffodils from the cancer society have just died off. They were really pretty - usually i buy them and they do nothing, so it was a suprise. One of the petunia cuttings from last year has started to bloom, and my canna is too! Darn thing - i wonder if i'll have to cut it all back again before i put it outside or if i should just let it go out as is?

Debbie, i'll have to take pictures of a petunia seed pod this year so that you'll know what to look for! LOL

Hi
Hubs brought up two more bags of amarayllis last night for me,,, and one pot has two flower stalks in it and another 1 flower stalk growing, the other pots in the bag are doing nothing, so hopefully they will all stagger their blooming time, so I don't get over run with amaryllis. I still have two bags down there.
Some of my geraniums I saved from last year didn't make it, but a few did, plus I'm trying to root cuttings in a vase too. Did a few more cuttings of petunias too and will see if the older cuttings have gotten roots on them yet and transplant them if they have. If all of them root I'm going to have to set up the lights in the basement. LOL I also started some tomato seeds. I still have marigolds to start, which I usually start in April. I am really trying to cut back this year so I can enjoy the garden more and not be running around so much taking care of potted plants. But I always say that. *S*

We had a few nice days but the weather turned cold and we got more snow. It is suppose to be going up to 17C this coming week, that will be great if it happens! The snow will really melt fast then. I'm really get sick of not being able to get out into the garden and am getting a little stir crazy.

Marcia, yes Claire started petunias from seeds and wanted to know if the leaves were round when they first come up.
I have also found that the daffs I have bought from the Cancer Society some years don't do anything either, but this year they all bloomed and looked really nice.
I would keep cutting the petunias back, just a bit after the flower is finished so it stays bushy, don't know about the canna. Does that need a dormant period after blooming? Gale, might be able to help u with that one. I have never grown them before.
And yes, could u please take a picture of a petunia seed pod. I even had son look for them last year and he couldn't find any either. They must be there, but we just don't know what they look like. LOL

Take care
Debbie :-)

Hi Debbie, how are your petunia plants doing? Mine are still very tiny but they are growing. If they don't get to a decent size, i will just buy the plants.

Hi
I hope all of you have been having the beautiful weather that we have been having here! I have had a few days out working in the front gardens. I have pruned back some of my roses, Japanese lilac tree, cleaned up the dead foliage on some of the front beds, but still have more to do. I didn't work on it today because we got rain, but it sure is nice to be outside in the yard again! All the snow is gone as we had quite a few days in the 60's.

I was scooping out some hornwort from the pond that I thought should of been dead, but it was green so I put it back in the pond. *LOL* There were trapdoor snails on it too so I threw them back into the pond also. Hopefully I won't have to buy any this year. *S* I was surprised to see the hornwort was still green in spots so it will be interesting to see if survives.

I have a few hundred scillias blooming their little heads off and looking very cheerful so that is nice.

I have taken down the xmas lights and decorations on the patio and cleaned up that area.

3 of my amaryllis plants are blooming and I have a few more with flower buds just starting to pop up on them too. I think I should of let them sleep a bit longer though, but it's nice to have big red blooms in the house.

I have transplanted 2 big pots full of petunia cuttings and have 2 more pots of cuttings to transplant yet. Still haven't done the geranium cuttings as they don't have enough roots.

claire, sorry it took me so long to reply to your question. My petunias are doing very well, I have transplanted them into their own pots and they always take off growing fast after I do that. Have u been fertilizing yours and are yours in individual pots yet?

Here are some of the scillias that are blooming in my front gardens.
{{!gwi}}

Take care
Debbie :-)

I need help on Cannas, can't seem to grow them right. I live in Alberta and want to know the best way to plant them. Pot or Ground. I just put them in pots today cause they were sprouting but I really dont want a dozen pots all over the yard. If I grow them in the ground do I have to dig them out in Fall?

Well we have gotten more snow the last two nights. Most of it has melted but it is a lot colder than it has been so I haven't been able to get back out to the yard to do anymore cleaning up. It was quite the shock waking up and seeing all that snow back again. *sigh*

I found two more bags of amaryllis in the fruit cellar waaaay at the back and am desperately running out of space on the main floor for anymore plants.

Have also transplanted some of my tomatoes to get them growing faster as they are only a couple of inches tall. OOps, I should of started them sooner, also started my marigolds too, late of course. *L*

milllenia, Welcome!
I have never grown cannas myself, but I know that people up here do. I see them growing in garden beds, but I don't know if they are in a pot buried in the ground or just growing in the ground. I do know that they will not winter over outside as they are a tropical plant. Up where I live people start them indoors in pots, like u are doing, and then plant them outside after all danger of frost is over. Marcia grows them so she will be a lot more help than I am.
Take care
Debbie :-)

hi debbie, yes i did transplant my wave petunias and i think they're doing better now although still very small. I haven't fertilized yet because i don't know if i should fertilize bedding plants.

claire, yes they need to be fertilized. I don't use full strength when the plants are tiny but enough so they get a bit of fertilizer every time I water.

Debbie