flowers and more

OK, let me say, it was a poor idea to use garden soil in my peat pots instead of potting soil. My cockscomb became very unhappy in the wet conditions, and then I let it dry out too much, and it got all wilted. Several of my seedlings died from drowning, and others died from drought. But some have prevailed. I planted several out in the garden and plan to plant more tomorrow. I hope that they will be okay on these cold nights Tues. and now Wed. But I feel like they're safer out there than they were in the poor conditions I was subjecting them to. Okay, only potting soil in containers. Yes, only potting soil in containers. (My blueberry bush is growing happily in garden soil in a container.)

I think I also prefer to use a special "moisture max" potting soil for my containers rather than the organic one I've been getting. I'm no purist.

My echinacea is still growing in my seed starter, and it looks very happy in there. I will be transferring it to peat pots soon, because I need to start getting it used to the outside world, and I need the space under the lights. Most of it can go. I will have 18 seedlings in all, which should fill up the area I have designated for it nicely. I was looking at pictures of it (coneflower white swan) on google images, and I think it will be such a lovely planting and perfect for that difficult spot next to the pavement. I hope it will smell nice as we walk by it on our way in out of the cars. My first perinnial flower to commit to...

Four of my chive seedlings are ready to go to their pot, so I will get them fixed up tomorrow. I'm ready to put St. John's Wort out there too. It is still very small.

I like the way all my clay pots look from the street. The herbs should be very striking when they bloom. The speariment looks crazy healthy. I'm glad it is so happy. The peppermint is coming in nicely too. It had a more difficult start than its cousin. It was put out in the heat of the summer and not watered enough. But it seems to have recovered from my initial neglect.

When we moved here, I wasn't so interested in flowers--only vegetables. I didn't know that most of my vegetables would be producing flowers! And my herbs. And I learned about how flowers would attract bees to my vegetables. I love the flowers that basically grow themselves, and those are the only ones I'm much interested in.

I tried some garden planning software tonight, a 45 day free trial. It was interesting, but I honestly prefer to make loose plans and then improvise.