My Half Acre of Paradise

Today, we’re getting a blast of Arctic air. The day started with the “warm before the storm” at about 45 degrees, and then in a few hours it dropped to around 25 and then got worse. As the snow was beginning to fall, I went out to plant daffodil and hyacinth bulbs. I’ve had them around for about a month, after finding them on half-price sale at Lowe’s. I had 80 bulbs of Daffodil ‘Golden Harvest’ and 20 bulbs of mixed hyacinths.

For all of these, I planted them in clumps, usually of five, sometimes three or seven. There’s supposed to be something magic about odd numbers in plant groups. I noticed while planting that most of our soil is pretty darn dry. It’s been a dry, somewhat warm fall up to now. We need more rain or snow!

I placed four clumps of daffodils in the backyard, under the aspens, and the rest went in several front flowerbeds. The hyacinths are in clumps along my front walkway, where they will provide great fragrance for anyone walking up to our door next spring.

A few days ago, I was walking in downtown Salt Lake City, and I saw some very cool Paperbark maples at the LDS Church Conference Center. I like small maples. Well, I actually like all maples. These ones have a papery, peeling bark that gives them some visual interest even when they’re dormant in the winter. So, anyway, there were some seed clusters on them, and I filled my coat pocket. They’re somewhat unique maple seeds, with a fuzzy surface on the round seed part.

That got me thinking that I need to list all the seeds that I have on hand now. Some of them are getting a bit old. I need to decide soon what I’m planting in the new greenhouse in a few months and if I need to buy any other seeds.

Trees:

• Paperbark maple, Acer griseum. About 30 seeds. Collected 12/2008 in Salt Lake City.
• Bigtooth maple, Acer grandidentatum. About 50 seeds. Not sure they were ripe enough — a little green when collected. Collected 9/2008 east of Nephi, Utah.
• Japanese maple, Acer palmatum ‘atropurpureum’. About 100 seeds. Collected 11/2008 at my home.
• Norway-type maple with yellow fall leaves. About 40 seeds. Collected 11/2008 at Memory Grove in SLC.
• Red-type maple with orange-red fall leaves. About 25 seeds. Collected 11/2008 at Memory Grove in SLC.
• Purple chaste tree, Vitex agnus-castus. Maybe five seeds? From 2007 seed trade. Collected in 11/2006.
• Tree lilac, Syringa reticulata ‘Mandschurica’. Unknown quanity. From 2007 trade — he marked that he got them in a 2005 trade.

Vegetables:

• Zucchini, ‘Black Beauty’. About 20 seeds. From Walmart, spring 2008. Leftovers. Grew well this summer.
• Peas, ‘Sugar Snap’. About 50 seeds. Lily Miller package purchased in 2007. Leftovers. Grew in 2007 & 2008.
• Spinach, ‘Bloomsdale, Long Standing’. Maybe 75 seeds. From Walmart, spring 2008. Opened but not planted.
• Green Bean, ‘Stringless Blue Lake, FM1K’. About 30 seeds. Leftovers. LIlly Miller package, spring 2008. Grew this summer. Worked OK, but planted late.
• Green Bean, ‘Baby Gourmet’. 75 seeds? Commercial packet from 2005, opened, but I can’t remember ever planting them. Name sounds good, though!
• Pumpkin ‘Winter Luxury’. 5 seeds. Given by a friend in spring 2008. Said to be a good pie pumpkin.
• Pumpkin ‘Amish Pie’. 6 seeds. Given by a friend in spring 2008.
• Tomato ‘Brandywine’. About 15 seeds. Given by a friend in spring 2008.

Flowers:

• Immortelle, Xeranthemum annuum. From seed trade, early 2008. Unknown quantity. Invasive, but seems pretty in photos. Purple flowers. Drought tolerant. Maybe I should ask my neighbor if I can sow them on their lot, which hasn’t been landscaped yet.
• Hardy perennial hibiscus, Hibiscus moscheutos. About 100 seeds. Large, white flowers with red center. Collected 9/2008 and 11/2008 from my plants (which came from a seed trade in 2007). I think my Hawaiian neighbor would like to grow some of these — she was pretty excited when I told her that she could grow a hibiscus here!
• Blue annual salvia, Salvia farinacea ‘Victoria’. 50 seeds from Park Seed in early 2008. Unopened. I plan to use these in 2009 for sure. May have some leftovers.
• Sunflower ‘Henri Wilde’. 10″ flowers on 6.5′ stalks. Unknown quantity from Burpee in early 2008. Unopened.
• Verbena ‘Imagination’. 50 seeds from Park Seed in early 2008. Unopened. I’m definitely using these seeds in 2009 but may be some leftovers.
• Zinnia ‘Crystal White’. 25 seeds from Park Seed in early 2008. Unopened. Also definitely using these. Probably using all of them.
• Angelonia angustifolia ‘Serena Lavender’. 10 seeds from Park Seed in early 2008. Unopened. DEFINITELY will be all used in my garden this year.
• Mother of thyme, Thymus serpyllum. Unknown quantity. From early 2007 trade, and he marked that they were from a 2005 package bought from Outside Pride.
• Penstemon smallii. About 50 seeds? From 2007 trade.
• Penstemon ‘Scarlet Bugler’. 50 seeds? From 2007 trade.
• Rocky Mountain Penstemon, Penstemon strictus. About 50 seeds. Collected from my garden in 2007?
• Penstemon eatonii. 100 seeds? From a trade 12/2008. Said to be a challenge to germinate.
• Cosmos bipinnatus ‘Sensation’ mixed colors. Unknown quantity. Unopened package from Lilly Miller from 2008. Received as a gift.
• Iceland poppies, Papaver nudicale. Maybe 500 seeds! From a neighbor in late 2007. Winter-sowed some in early 2008, and they worked well. Flowered this year.
• Blackbery lily, Belamcamda chinensis. Unknown quanity. From an early 2008 trade.
• Wine cups, poppy mallow, Callirhoe involucrata. 120 seeds, maybe? Two batches from trades - one from early 2008, one from 12/2008. Need to figure out how to germinate these — they didn’t work wintersowing last winter.
• Black-eyed Susan, perennial variety, Rudbeckia fulgida ‘Goldsturm’. About 30-40 seeds from a trade 12/2008.
• Anise Hyssop, Agastache foeniculum. 150 seeds? From a trade 12/2008.
• Blue Columbine, Aquilegia coerulea. Unknown quantity. Received as a gift, 2/2007. Tried wintersowing last winter, and didn’t work.
• Lavender ‘Hidcote’. About 20 seeds. Collected summer 2008 from my garden.
• Yellow marigold, small single-flowered type. About 50 seeds. Collected late 2007 from my neighbor’s plants.
• Lobelia erinus ‘Crystal Palace’. Unknown quantity. From a trade in early 2008. Originally from Botanical Interests. Unopened packet.
• Shirley Poppy, Flander’s Field Poppy, red. 80 seeds? Free mailed promotion from National Home Gardening Club in 2007, I think.
• Digitalis purpurea, Foxglove. 200 seeds? Collected summer 2008 from my garden.
• Sweet Alyssum, Lovularia maritima ‘Oriental Nights’. Maybe 40 seeds. Leftovers from a seed trade in early 2008. Grew well from winter sowing last winter.
• Larkspur ‘Rocket’. 50 seeds? Collected 9/2007 from my garden. Grew well last year.
• Candytuft, Iberis sempervirens. Perhaps 50 seeds. Collected from my garden in 2007. May be easier to grow from divisions, which I did successfully last spring.
• California Poppy, pink variety (descended from ‘Summer Sorbet’ and may still be true to the original but not positive). About 50 seeds. Collected summer 2007? These have been easy to sprout but must be planted in the ground quickly (not left in pots) because they want to grow a taproot.
• There are other seeds outside still on the plants that I could harvest, including:
  • Lavatera
  • Zinnia ‘Profusion White’
  • Verbena
  • Salvia coccinea ‘Lady in Red’
  • Echinacea purpurea, white and purple ones (can’t tell which is which now, though)
  • Dianthus deltoides ‘Brilliancy’
  • Salvia nemorosa ‘East Friesland’
  • Shasta daisies (can’t remember the variety)
  • Maybe some gazanias (does this hybrid produce viable seed?)

Vines:

• Morning Glory, ‘Heavenly Blue’, Ipomoea tricolor. Received as a gift in 2008. Lilly Miller package, unopened.
• Hyacinth Bean, Dolichos Lablab. 6 seeds. Leftovers from Park Seed. Grew this summer, but it wasn’t very vigorous. Probably needed fertilizer or better watering.

Ornamental Grass:

• Calamagrostis brachytricha. About 60 seeds? Received as a trade, 2007.

Whew! That took a few hours to sort through! Now I need to decide what I want to plant and what I might offer up as trades to others.

A friend on GardenWeb found an interesting website about Utah wildflowers (and weeds). It has quite a bit of information. Take a look at: www.rootcellar.us/wildflowers/index.html

Someone posted a followup on a message I placed last July on Gardenweb.com about Japanese maple seedlings. The followup asked for more advice about stratifying the seeds and getting them to sprout. This guy posted a response about his method of sprouting them, and it sounds faster than what I did in 2007. He also has some advice on a potting medium and fertilizer for the young plants:

The easiest way to germinate JM seeds that I’ve found is to soak the seeds for 24 hours then place them on moist paper towel in a sandwich plastic container with the lid on. Put the container in the fridge. Depending on the species, the period of time varies in the fridge before they start to germinate then you can simply place seeds in 50/50 perlite and peat moss mix at room temperature till they are a couple inches then place them outside (that’s what I use in Rootmaker starter tray) then 3 parts pine bark fines, one part expanded shale and 1 part peat moss for 1g or larger when they are ready to be potted up. Green JM seeds took a few weeks to germinate in the fridge. Shantung maple seeds took the least amount of time to germinate. Red JM takes 2-3 months. Trident maple takes around 2 months. This is based on Deno’s work. I much prefer this. A lot less messy and reduce space as well.

If you somehow get your hands on Micromax and Osmocote 18-6-12 (9 months) and 17-7-12 (12 months), you get better growth. It’s tough to get them because I’m not “commerical” grower. I use Dynamite 18-6-8 (9 months) from Lowes or Home Depot which seemed to do decent job.