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Waiting for the Growing Season
I have on today’s agenda to talk about the joys of kitchen gardening and organic growing with members of the media. That is now hardship for me since it is something I really enjoy. I’ve learned to “grow my own” mostly with my mother (pictured transplanting lettuce seedlings) and gardening school of course helped a bit.. Still, I share a kitchen garden with my mother (it is situated between our gardens) and it is with her that we browse the vegetable section of Graines Baumaux’s catalogue while our mouths are watering , and imagine what type of wonderful broccoli or tasty Asian veggies that we are going to try that…
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Hellebores
One of the first things that brighten up the new season is the Hellebores. Some years, they even brighten up the winter. A few years ago I managed to plant one in January and two years ago one actually flowered on January 25th. That’s not going to happen this year. Before the snow came I did see that some of the Helleborus nigers had a few buds, but then the snow came in spades and now I’m just hoping that they will survive for a few months. I’ve bought most of my Hellebores as plants, but I’ve also managed to raise one plant from seed. They are a bit…
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What I Also Wanted to Get
Ordering plants from Jürgen Peters yesterday I was also severely tempted to get a nice posse of Auriculas. However, I showed some restraint and I decided to wait another year or so until I could think of a nice place for these showy small plants. A few years ago I explored the student/budget way of getting a nice collection of Auriculas. I bought a packet of seed and raised those plants but they were a bit of a disappointment. Out of the packet that was supposed to give a fairly diverse collection of Auriculas, all of the plants looked more or less like the ones I snapped below. Primula Auricula-hybrids:…
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I’m Hoping to Grow
From left to right, top row: Antirrhinum ‘Opus Plum Blossom’ (PoD), Thunbergia alata ‘African Sunset’ (PoD), Thunbergia alata ‘Blushing Susie’ (T&M), Thunbergia alata ‘African Sunset’ (T&M), Antirrhinum ‘Cinnamon Bronze’ (PoD). Middle, left to right: Maurandya ‘Bridal Bouquet’ (PW), Aquilegia ‘Green Apples’ (PW), Cobaea scandens var. alba (PoD), Digitalis lanata ‘Cafe Creme’ (PoD). Bottom row, from left to right: Aquilegia ‘Black Barlow’ (PW), Meconopsis wallichii (PW), Meconopsis betonicifolia ‘Alba’ (PW), Cosmos ‘Collarette White’ (PoD) and Asarina procumbens (PW). Pictures form the supplier’s pages. I was thinking of renewing my aquilegias a bit, I love them and they are easy to raise, but unfortunately they are quite short lived. I’m thinking of getting at…
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Seed Catalogues 2011
I’m trying to keep my seed sowing within a reasonable range this year. I’ve made an inventory of old seeds that should still be viable, and I’m only ordering a sensible (in my mind) amount this year. I’m also trying to weed out (pun intended) the frugal and in the long run not so smart purchases, i.e. I’m going to buy plants or bulbs of certain plants that would be difficult and slow to raise from seed anyway. To keep things within limits this year, I’m only getting seeds from commercial sources as seed exchanges and seed lists from garden societies have the ability to make anyone go over the…
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