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jitsmith

Diane's Seeds

jitsmith
10 years ago

Has anyone tried seeds from this company? They seem to be a small outfit in Ogden, Ut, offer open-pollinated and heirloom flower/veggie/herb seeds, seem to specialize in daylilies. Prices seemed okay, especially since so many of the packets have very large numbers of seeds.

I'll be doing major planting in two perennial gardens-to-be this Spring and want to direct sow annuals for color, and use mainly self-sowers. I'd been looking at a lot of places, but this one caught my eye. Nice selection for a small family operation, and many/most have been grown in their Ogden garden. And, they've broken out a list self-sowers, to make it easier for newbs like me.

I'm aware direct sow might not work as well as I envision, and that if it does I could spend years pulling stuff out but I'm willing to put up with all that. Plan to use a lot of groundcovers - eg, alyssum - and spot in larger flowers, weed water and pray.

Also - is there an "invasive plant from hell" thread here to help steer me away from potential big problems?

Thx
Bob

Comments (10)

  • highalttransplant
    10 years ago

    I've ordered from her before, and had a positive experience. She has a nice selection of heirloom tomatoes, is reasonably priced, and provides good service. I would not hesitate to recommend her company.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Diane's Seeds

  • xaroline
    10 years ago

    This is a good source for seeds. I have always had good results with seeds from Diane's.
    Caroline

  • jitsmith
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Excellent! Now I can worry about the perennial supplier - Bluestone. Seems one thing that drew me to them - ship in coir pots - is a problem; some plants don't appear to have enough vigor to root penetrate and break down the coir pots, according to Web reports. My first thought was maybe it was a planting problem somehow, but I doubt it, too many reports. Should have done more research first. Oh well; I'm going to try slashing the pot sides and bottoms before planting.

  • billie_ladybug
    10 years ago

    I know I usually rip peat and coir pots off and send them to the compost bin. \

  • chellers
    10 years ago

    As far as bluestone goes, I had very good luck with them. Actually I ordered some plants at my old house,had them in for one season, then moved, so dug a few up and transplanted them - and they are still thriving. I can't remember what kind of pots they came in, but I always remove the pots, peat or not. But I remember thinking that the plants all seemed puny, but then they did really well. If/when I need perennials again I will order from them again.

  • jonathanpassey
    10 years ago

    I have never ordered from Diane's but i am really happy you brought it up since its nice to know of a local(ish) seed supplier.

    Thanks!

    jon

  • austinnhanasmom
    10 years ago

    I have been happy with Diane's seeds.

    And I've ordered from Bluestone and their plants have done really well. I ordered from the spring sale catalog and the plants shipped late in a week - like a Thursday. It was VERY hot for late May/early June - I forget exactly what month they shipped but I recall that they shipped on a Thursday and sat in a UPS warehouse for the hot weekend. I was beyond miffed. Some of the plants looked about dead when they arrived. I planted them immediately - in full sun - instead of waiting for them to recoup/adapt. I then realized what a horrible mistake that was. They ALL thrived! Even after their shipping mistake (IMO) and then my early planting mistake. I no longer have room for perennials, thanks to wintersowing, unless the birds plant them, but when I need plants again, for sure I would order from them. They would have replaced any plants that did not live.

  • jitsmith
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I came across Wintersowing late, after I'd ordered, but I just put out jugs w/a dozen tender annuals, saved some to direct sow after Mother's Day, want to compare how it works here. I'll probably use WS for perennials in the future, if it works for me.

    For this year I'll just take the perennial plants out of the pots, can't be harder on them than the abuse I inflict on those plastic-potted ones.

  • austinnhanasmom
    9 years ago

    My yard requires "thrives on neglect" - full sun for most of it and minimal watering. I have drip lines but seem to have maxed the pressure allowance for low pressure drips...

    Wintersowing in gallon jugs seemed to work better for me. I forgot to water and they were the most forgiving. BUT, transplanting from keg glasses was way easier. I put keg glasses in a under the bed tote. That worked really well as long as I remembered to water.

    Wintersowing quickly filled my flower beds.

    Now, I have mostly full beds so self seeding annuals are my favorite. But the winds tend to send the annual seeds to my neighbors' yards!

    Perennials out of the pots work REALLY well too :-). I did that too! I did a lot of labor day sales.

    Eventually, I created a beautiful, survival of the fittest yard.

    WSing was just way less expensive.

  • jitsmith
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    austinnhanasmom - Your replies have been so encouraging - sounds as if you're where I want to get, and got there the way I'm hoping to. Thanks.

    I don't think drip will work for me, at least at first, soil is too sandy/pebble-y right now, I'm in the old Cherry Creek floodplain.

    Plan for WS annuals is to cut off bottom of jug and use HOS. I sowed liberally and doubt I'd have the patience or steady hand to tease out the seedlings, so it will be dibble, dibble, dibble for me, all over the place. Wish I would have had more things to sow in this year.