Home Grown Annuals 2009; The Night Garden

Have you ever planted a "night garden" of flowers that bloom after dark? There are many reasons to do this: the blooms smell great, look nice, and attract cool pollinators like this White-Lined Sphinx moth. My night blooming varieties were purchased as a "Night Blooming Seed Collection" from Select Seeds , plus I added another white flower or two.

After all, it wasn't just about veggies last year...I planted lots of flowers as well. This is borage.... ....and this fuzzy "claw" belongs to....

...woodland tobacco (Nicotania sylvestris).

Here's my other tobacco, jasmine tobacco (Nicotania alata)....guess it likes this pot! It will bloom as a much shorter specimen, too.

This cosmos 'Psyche White' was very popular with the bees, fortunately I planted it in several spots around the yard.

It blooms beautifully all summer...

....as did this adorable night phlox 'Midnight Candy'. These teeny little flowers smelled wonderful....

.....and all the night garden cast members were favorites with the local insect population. This flower is pretty even while closed, IMO.........and while it's opening....
....but most gorgeous when fully opened! This is Datura wrightii that I grew from seed sent to me by a dear friend in Texas, and it has the most heavenly scent!

Doesn't this bloom seem to "strike a pose"?

Like Madonna said, "...there's nothing to it-Vogue!"
Last but not least, this is 'Miss Jeckyll' love-in-a-mist. While she isn't big in the fragrance department, she does bring something to the table...
....efficient and generous seed-setting!

Now that's a quality I've come to appreciate more and more :)

Breaking News at Millertime!

We interrupt the review of 2009 garden adventures for this breaking news: Spring is making a stand at Millertime in a big way! After nearly 2 weeks of highs in the 40's and 50's with lows above freezing, I have germination in my wintersow trays! Perennial lupine 'Sunrise' for one-how exciting! I had left the lids intact with no holes, and had the trays on the porch. Time to put holes in the lid and set the trays out to get exposure to rain now that I have germination! (Conventional wintersowing wisdom has the tray lids with holes and trays out in weather from the start, I have done it both ways with decent results.)To put holes in the thin plastic lids, I selected a drill bit designed to cut holes specifically...

....and it worked out rather well! I didn't get any tears or jagged holes unless I got impatient and pushed too hard.

I did have to pick up these little cutouts, no big deal.........there! Out amongst my "pot graveyard" for now. We have quite a cold snap settling in today though.......and I hope some of these seedlings don't freeze out! Along with the lupine, my broccoli 'Packman' has germinated....

....alyssum 'Benthamii'....

...and cabbage 'Caraflex'. If the lows in the teens and 20's over the next few days don't kill them outright, maybe the temps will stay higher after that. (Yea, it is way too early to believe our freezes are over, but I can dream :)

Elsewhere around the yard there are lots of leaves that need raked, but it's a tad early to remove all the cover from the flowerbeds....

....but some piles accumulate from raking the yard only. I also got some planting done...

...perennial Dame's Rocket from my mom (she is in zone 5 where temps got them growing well already)....

...also this blue, brushy-looking sedum. (I'm not sure of the name).

Winds died down in the evening enough for the first fire of the season...

...but only in my fire pit. (Way too dry to burn anywhere else.) Hooray spring!

Home Grown Annuals 2009

Annual flowers are really fun to have around, and in the past I'd always purchased them as plants in the spring. However, the current economy leaves no room in my "descretionary funds" for such activity and has turned me into a seed starting convert. Not only is it less expensive to grow from seed, but you can snag many cool varieties that aren't even carried by most retailers as plants for a totally customized "oh-my-gosh-what-IS-that-plant?!" effect in your yard (if "wow" is your thing :) This zinnia 'Benary's Giant Purple' is an easy, prolific bloomer....
....perennials are easy from seed, too! This is a fringed Dianthus hyb. 'Rainbow Loveliness" that I started indoors...

...very fringe-y.....

...even cute un-opened, IMO.

My windowboxes were a combo of veggies, herbs and annuals. This one is tomato 'High Carotene', purple basil, italian oregano, evening scented stocks, and jasmine tobacco.

This one is the "mirror image" of the other, kind of a "symmetry obsession" I have with these planters (happens every year, what can I say :)

This plant often comes up in weedy places and roadsides up here, wild cucumber .... ....at the end of the season the seed pods look as though something has dug into them (unless you happen to notice how the bottom is curled back). Upon closer inspection....

....aha! Never ceases to amaze me how well-equipped plants are to handle their own propagation-"launch bays open...eject progeney!" (Or something like that :) This jewelweed was very happy last season and got quite tall...

...like seven feet!

This tobacco near the door was in too much shade to bloom, but it grew quite well. It seemed to respond especially happily when I dumped my cold coffee into the soil (cream and sugar to boot). I'd read that many plants like coffee, so "cigarettes and coffee" seemed appropriate to me. (Nicotania=tobacco=cigarettes....that's Miss "Super Dork" to you! :)

The direct-sown morning glories were completely un-enthused with the cool summer weather...

....much as other bloggers find them to be rather invasive self-sowers, I'd like to have a bunch of volunteers. The window boxes grew well and got interesting as the season wore on...

.....and the stocks bloomed non-stop! They smelled terrific, but the fragrance didn't waft in through my window fan as much as I'd hoped.

The previously mentioned cypress vine was a hit this year, apparently with this cool worm as well.

My moss rose that were direct-sown just didn't have enough time, and a frost killed it off before these buds could open. This year, I'm bringing the planter indoors to sow it under lights for a running start.

Too bad, it would have been pretty (not to mention a germination champ-this was old seed!)

The zinnia 'Benary's Giant Lime' never got to be a pom-pom shape, but it was pretty nonetheless...
...this cute celosia was the most amazing success story. The was seed purchased in 2000, and all I did to "help" was soak it overnight before planting early under lights.
Seeds are incredible.

Spring Fever Seed Giveaway-WINNER!

We have a winner!!

The official winner of the Spring Fever Seed Giveaway is:

"maxfate"

Congratulations!!

Free Seeds!!!




Thanks to my friends at Nature's Crossroads , I bring you a contest to celebrate spring! The contest ends March 15th, and the winner may choose either a Seed Collection, a Garden Kit, or four seed packets of your choice. Please enter your information in the widget below...good luck!