Won't be long and things will be popping!

One lonely orange tulip here. Note to me: get more next fall. Placement needs care because of deer.

Orange? Sounds nice. I didn't think deer ate tulips? I know, when they're hungy they'll eat about anything. Wait, maybe that's daffodils...

Arlene: Its Daffs the deer dont like.
I was jonzin for tulips so I planted a few dozen bulbs plus a friend sent some really special ones. Sure enough the special bulbs were eaten to the ground as soon as they were 4 inches up.
I wont plant tulips again. Its just too depressing when I wait 9 months and they are snuffed out.

Yes, that would be depressing.

I never really liked tulips because I thought they didn't blossom very long. Over the years I have had a few but my mother is disassembling her garden and gave me and my daughter most of her bulbs. I gotta tell you, those tulips blossomed for almost a full month. They're just now finishing up. And mine have always returned, year after year, and multiplied.

My back yard butts up to wooded acreage but I have never seen a deer. Pretty sure they're around because we planted a large area of crimson clover and it was kept pretty well cropped all winter but they never bothered my flowers. Now, the armadillos, that's another story.

That looks really nice. Really nice!

I am doing my happy dance.
After gardening here for 7 years and never having any luck with Larkspur, ( no more than one plant at a season) I had dreamed of happy blue spiresamongst the lilies in a certain garden. Year after year hopes were dashed.
2014 VOILA I have 6 teeny sprouted ones. I will try to transplant them in a few weeks.They are growing too near the path between stepping stones.

STAY TUNED.

Might be best to move them now if you must, Jo Ann. I don't think they transplant well unless they're very small.

Glad you posted that tip Chelle. I will do it then.

Dig deep and try to keep all of the growing dirt intact. I think their taproots might go down way farther than the top part is tall. Kind of like a tree seedling does, you know?

Its amazing what you see when you are looking.
I found a few more seedlings.
The plant that was too close to the stone probably wouldnt have made it.
I wasnt half an inch into the soil when I hit buried rest of the stepping stone. Its safely moved further back into the mid season iris.
The rest of the seedlings are OK and not as close to the path as I thought.

ge1836 said:Its amazing what you see when you are looking.
I found a few more seedlings.
The plant that was too close to the stone probably wouldnt have made it.
I wasnt half an inch into the soil when I hit buried rest of the stepping stone. Its safely moved further back into the mid season iris.
The rest of the seedlings are OK and not as close to the path as I thought.

I'm happy it went well!

Most of my larkspur are very willy-nilly in the garden...I'd just rather not move the ones that self-sow. The ones I start in containers get moved into paper pots at the first sign of germination...then they can get a couple of weeks of extra growth before I plant them out. That's worked well so far.

I have a few zinnias started inside and they are lanky already and its 3 weeks til outdoor planting. I might start as you do chelle about 3 weeks before putting outside.

That larkspur is hard to find in the intense cobalt blue. I hate to see it disappear. Since I have so many plants this year I will collect seeds and do an early start inside. I would like to move larkspur to other gardens.

larkspur come up like weeds here
I would be glad to send some seeds after this years crop . I have read fresh seeds are best .
As for transplanting I have discovered the transplants are on average 40-50% shorter than the naturally sown plants.

Wow, that is truly beautiful.

Beautiful

The Jacob's Ladder is getting ready to flower but the ornamental grasses and mums are just starting to emerge, so I added a few cool season annuals to help fill out this bed. There's a chilly wind-driven rain blowing, so I'm glad that these are close to a house window.


The tulips and daffodils were already in this spot when I made the raised bed, but they're finding their way to the surface anyway.



Added a little bit of color on the other side as well, but I'm still really looking forward to seeing the columbine bloom. If I remember it right, I think these are all blue.

Gardengus I would love seeds, I'm struggling with larkspur too, I think I got some started but would like to mix with your blue one especially because it reseeds so easily.
Do you know about the piggy seed swap on cubits? I've done it for the past two Novembers and it's such a joy to share favorites with other gardeners around the world, plus I now have more sbeautiful flowers and delicious herbs and veggies than I could ever afford to buy individually.

I have done the piggy swap in the past , just had to give it up too many plants to take care of already and I feel real bad not giving seeds a chance.
Send me a tree-mail and I will reply when I collect seeds,for your address.

for your larkspur, Jo Ann!

I had them last year but not a single volunteer this year.
When I lived in Md I was overrun with volunteers. And Chelle's right, they are fussy transplanters.