#28
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Weather forecasters are predicting 5-degree F high temperatures with -15F wind chills for this weekend, but I don't care!!!

This weekend I'll be setting up my plant shelves and grow lights and planting the seeds of 2-3 dozen 'Paintbox Mix' Geraniums (Pelargonium). I'll have my hands in and be inhaling the fresh smell of new potting soil (OK, Jiffy pellets). In a week, I'll have dozens of new 'babies' to tend to, and I won't care what it's doing outside, because inside it will be Spring!

Am I crazy/desperate, or just enthusiastic? Is anyone else starting seeds this early? If so, what are you planting? If not, then what are you doing to keep from going crazy with the horrid weather we've been having so far this winter?
The great thing about gardening is that you always get a chance to start over!
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#29
  What seeds are you starting? IntrepidMeredith Weather forecasters ...
I go through my seed catalogs and plan my new garden. I also try to fing new plants that will grow in sandy, very shady acid soil from the oak forest we now live in...
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#30
  Re: What seeds are you starting? margaret46366 I go through my seed...
Hi, Are there any catalogs that you would say are better than others? Do you usually order seeds or plants from catalogs?
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#31
  Re: What seeds are you starting? marty Hi, Are there any ca...
I always get the Jung's catalog (jungseeds.com) They have a retail outlet 30 miles away, so I use the catalog mostly to get a leg up on what they'll have available each year. I can start my garden planning and budgeting as early as possible, and have something to do to take my mind off these really icky Arctic cold snaps! I have ordered a few things through the catalog that weren't available through the store however (4' grow lights and some Dahlia tubers), and they all came through fine.

This year I've ordered from the Thompson & Morgan catalog. Lots of great plants in there, and *tons* of seeds! It also had a great '$10 off any order, no minimum' coupon with it, and that's always nice! I just put that order in a few days ago, however, so those goodies have not yet arrived. Sad

And for a catalog that is just plain beautiful, try Wayside Gardens. I drool over their selections, although they're a bit pricier than I can afford right now. I keep hoping to win the lottery someday, but I spend all my lottery money on new plants! :grin:
The great thing about gardening is that you always get a chance to start over!
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#32
  Re: What seeds are you starting? IntrepidMeredith I always get the Jun...
After only 4 days about 20% of my geranium seeds have already sprouted. Yippee!!!!
The great thing about gardening is that you always get a chance to start over!
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#33
  What seeds are you starting? IntrepidMeredith Weather forecasters ...
plants started gtreen peppers, asst hot peppers, a flat of each. G.quinquefolia (stiff gentian), Scripus atrovirens (Dark Green Rush) 4 flats each these are local native plants. I usully start appox 100 flats of natives.This week I will be planting Purple coneflower and wild parsnip. I will also be starting geranium cuttings [Email][/Email]
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#34
  Re: What seeds are you starting? raybdr plants started gtree...
Well, I finally got my geraniums transplanted. The poor things were about 3-4" tall with roots shooting every which way out of their Jiffy pellets. They all seem much happier in their new 4" pots, and some of the leaves have amazing variegation - and that great geranium smell!

Also managed to plant some seeds for climbing snapdragons, dusty miller, marine heliotrope, and salvia 'Blue Victoria'. I need to mix some sand with my potting mix, and then I'll be trying my hand at sowing some rosemary. I'm hoping that about 4 seeds per pot will do it. I've heard that rosemary seeds can be pretty hard to get started. We'll see!

The sandhill cranes came back two days ago, and about 90% of our snow has melted, although the lake is still covered with ice. The forecast for the next week is about 15-degrees F above normal and with intermittent rain showers, rather than new snow. I think it might really be Spring! Now I just need the soil to thaw...
The great thing about gardening is that you always get a chance to start over!
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#35
  Re: What seeds are you starting? IntrepidMeredith Well, I finally got ...
Well, I planted 20 rosemary seeds and actually got 8 seedlings popping up. Given how hard it's supposed to be to start rosemary, I guess a 40% germination rate is pretty good (or at least I'm satisfied)! A too busy schedule caused me to miss starting seeds at 6-8 weeks BPO (before planting out). I may try starting my tomatoes anyway. My favorite variety, 'Juliet Hybrid', can only be found as seed, I don't want to miss out on them this year, and if they start bearing a little later in the season, it just means I won't get so sick of soooo many tomatoes so early in the summer!.

This weekend I'm looking at (outdoors) peas, and perhaps alyssum, hollyhocks and centaurea. Indoor plantings will be thyme, thunbergia (OK, it's late), nasturtiums, tomatoes, green peppers and cucumbers.

THe plants I started from seed last year all seem to be coming back up, the forsythia is blooming, and we're *finally!* getting some much needed rain. Hooray!
The great thing about gardening is that you always get a chance to start over!
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#36
  Re: What seeds are you starting? IntrepidMeredith Well, I planted 20 r...
dill, sun flower, lavender, lupines
I love to see seeds germinating and growing into plants.
lakshmi sridharan
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#37
  Re: What seeds are you starting? lakshmi dill, sun flower, la...
It's 2008, and we have a lot of new seeds! My son ran an experiment for his school's science fair in February/early March. He germinated seeds for 'Paintbox' geraniums, 'Creme de Cassis' hollyhocks, 'Dwarf Pink Baby' impatiens, 'Giant Fancy' pansies and 'Limbo hybrid' petunias in warm vs. cold and dark vs. light conditions. Just a few seeds germinated in the cold (48F) temps, whereas most of the seeds germinated in the warm (75F) temps. But what surprised me was that the dark/light conditions didn't seem to make any difference to seed germination, even for those plants that purportedly need light to germinate (impatiens and petunias). Go figure!

As a result of my son's experiments, however, I now have 124 plants that just got potted up last week! There's barely enough room to start this week's new seeds of 'Autumn Colors' rudbeckia, 'Blue Clips' campanula, 'Daydream' cosmos, and 'Blue Victoria' salvia. The salvia seed is from 2006. I hope it still germinates well.

Other plans in store for this year: add annuals to the bulbs and perennials in my son's small pond garden, create a rainbow garden for my daughter, expand the veggie garden, extend the foundation plantings, and maybe try out some Fairy roses under the south side of my maple tree (probably doomed to failure, but it definitely needs *something* under there!).

What's on your 'to do' list this Spring?
The great thing about gardening is that you always get a chance to start over!
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What seeds are you starting?


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