Posting More, I Hope

I read one time that Joan Didion used to answer all her mail but not necessarily promptly. She'd begin these letters with "During my absence from the country for the past several months". I don't have any such excuse, but I hardly did any posts all summer for a several reasons. First, it was hot and wet so it seemed I was constantly behind at the farm. Secondly, I was still recovering from my concussion, so I needed more rest. Lastly, after finishing cleaning everything around the beginning of November, I've been trying to catch up with the rest of my life since then. I'm basically back to normal speed now (it took until probably September from a January accident) and will hopefully post a fair amount of stuff over the rest of the winter.

2011 Seeds

Here are the seeds I ordered for 2011. All of them are from GeoSeed. I will also be growing, zinnias and statics but I still have those seeds from this year.

It is hard to believe, but I will be starting some of the lisianthus in about a week!

Achillea millefolium F2 summer pastels mix

Ageratum Blue Sensation P

Alchemilla mollis Robustica

Antirrhinum Opus Series Plumblossom

Antirrhinum Opus Series Appleblossom

Antirrhinum Opus Series Early Bronze

Aquilegia vulgaris Barlow Series Mix

Asclepias curassavica Silky series CS

Aster Serenade Blue

Aster Serenade White

Aster Serenade Red

Aster Seastar mix

Bupleurum rotundifolium Garabaldi

Buddleia davidii Butterfly hybrids mixed

Campanula glomerata Alba

Campanula glomerata Superba

Canpanula latifolia macrantha

Campanula persicifolia Telham Beauty

Campanula persicifolia White

Carnation Floristan Mix

Centaurea americana Aloha Blanca

Chrysanthemum coccineum Robinson's Giant Series

Chrysanthemum parthenium Gold Moon Improved

Chrysanthemum parthenium Virgo

Cosmos Sensation series Purity

Delphinium belladonna Oriental Blue

Delphinium consolida Exquisite Series

Delphinium consolida regalis Cloud series Blue

Delphinium consolida regalis Cloud Series Snow

Delphinium cultorum Aurora F1 Series

Delphinium cultorum Magic Fountains mix

Delphinium cultorum Magic Fountains Dark blue white bee

Dianthus barbatus Neon Series Purple

Dianthus barbatus Neon Series Rose Magic

Dianthus barbatus white

Erigeron Azure Fairy

Erigeron Pink Jewel

Eucalyptus Silver dollar tree

Godetia Grace shell pink

Godetia Grace Salmon

Godetia Grace white

Gypsophilia elegans White Elephant

Helenium autumnale Helena Series

Helianthus Pro Cut Orange

Helianthus Pro Cut Lemon

Helianthus Pro Cut Yellow Lite

Helianthus Sunbeam

Helianthus Sunrich Gold

Helianthus Sunrich Orange

Heliopsis Summer Sun

Heuchera sanguinea Firefly

Lathryus odoratus Royal Family

Leucanthemum May Queen

Lisianthus Arena Series Red

Lisianthus Arena Series Rose

Lisianthus Cinderella Series Blue

Lisianthus Cinderella Series Ivory

Lisianthus Cinderella Series Lime

Lisianthus Cinderella Series Pink

Lisianthus Cinderella Series Yellow

Lisianthus Twinkle Series Deep Blue

Lisianthus Twinkle Series Blue Blush

Lisianthus Vulcan Series Putple Picotee

Lisianthus Echo Series Champagne

Marigold Gold Coin series Double Eagle (Orange)

Millet Puple Majesty

Molucella laevis

Parsley triple curled

Perilla frutescens Green Leaved

Primula Rosanna Sesries Mix

Rudbeckia hirta Cherokee Sunset

Rudbeckia hirta Cappuccino

Rudbeckia hirta Goldilocks

Rudbeckia triloba

Dianthus barbatus scarlet

Cut Flower Talk

I'm going to give a talk / workshop on cut flowers at the Ann Arbor Center for Independent Living next Wednesday May 26th from 1-3pm. The event is free and the Center for Independent Living is at 3941 Research Park Drive. Despite the usual late May slump, I will bring whatever cut flowers I can find. Please come!

Project Grow's 2010 Heirloom Vegetable Sale

Project Grow will is holding their heirloom vegetable sale on May 15th, 16th and 22nd in front of People's Food Co-op on 4th Avenue in Ann Arbor. This is a great place to get a single plant of strange heirloom tomatoes - there are 50 different kinds. All the proceeds go to Project Grow and the expenses are pretty low because all the manpower is provided free from volunteers and the plants are all grown from seed. I know all this because I'm one of the unpaid volunteers.

The sale offers tomatoes, peppers and basils but it is an especially good place to get tomatoes. Click here for a complete listing of what will be offered, hours etc.

Wisteria 2010

I read somewhere that the biggest limitation for gardeners is time (as opoposed to money or climate I suppose). I guess this can mean hours per day or years per lifetime, and sometimes one seems more meaningful to me than another. Ed Rasmussen, the guy who runs The Fragrant Path, summed up my attitude toward all this when he said, referring to growing shrubs and trees from seed, "if not planted, they will not grow". The point being that if you plant the shrub that takes forever to flower now, in no time at all it will be flowering away every year.

A couple years ago I printed a picture of the Japanese wisteria I planted from Carroll Gardens which took several years to produce a few flowers. Last year it produced even fewer but this year is is literally covered in blooms, so many I can't begin to count them. Here are a couple pictures:

This pergola Joe and I built in front of the house contains 5 sections, and the wisteria is now most of the way through section 2.

Monday April 26th, 2010

Things still running ahead. I have tons of doronicum this year (Leopard's Bane). I always say it blooms with tulips, and it does. As I've said before, the color is like a dandelion and it is just a yellow daisy, so what really makes it special is how early it blooms.

The clove scented "snowball" that is center on the pink and white bouquets is a Korean spice viburnum. This is Viburnum carlesii I believe. There are hybrids of this flower like Judd's viburnum and 'Mohawk'. The hybrids bloom earlier and grow faster but the Korean spice has the largest flowers. They all smell great to me but some people I'm sure say the Korean spice has the strongest smell.

Friday Aptil 23, 2010

Everything is really accelerated this year. The crabapples in the easement across the street are blooming and there is also a white flower blooming in the woods down the street. I think it might
be bridal wreath spirea naturalized into shady areas but I'm not sure. You can see the spirea or whatever it is in the first picture - it is the upright white flower.

There are a few bleedin hearts, too, and of course lots of tulips and daffodils. Every year most of the tulips seem to bloom within about 10 days. I will try to keep track of which are the latest ones this year and print those here.