This year I'm starting with basically a blank space. I have finally gotten my husband to understand that flower gardens are just as important as our vegetable garden. It took spending $60 on a Oh My! rose tree to convince him. If it were up to him we'd have nothing but roses and cotton. I keep trying to explain that while the cotton was beautiful, against my white house it is too much. So hence my search for seeds and the need for many, lol.

This year I'm winter sowing much more than I would normally. I've started lavender, allium, tomatoes, broccoli, begonias, catmint, blue mist bushes, passion flower vine, petunias, coneflower, salvia, Veronica, cleome, herbs, calendula kablouna, grape hyacinth and quite a few more. The bulk of what I receive from this swap will be sown as well. I have so much space to plant I won't be surprised if all of it gets planted and I still need more. Out of 8 gardens I only have 2 planned out. I'm way behind but still collecting jugs. I can't just direct sow perrenials until he finishes building my beds. And that won't be done until march.

So what is everyone else planting?

I'm behind this year and don't have any kind of list yet. I've sown a few tropicals so far and I found some old seeds from a plant I loved and forgot to save the tubers from a few years ago. I started to offer them as a prize and decided they were too old, but I sowed them anyway. They all must have germinated and now I will have to cull all but one or two. I hate when I do that.

I have a lot of winter sowing planned, don't know what I will get finished but am trying some new to me salvia and agastache this year. We are doing a pumpkin patch and saved a few seeds from my fall decorations.
Impatiens, petunias, four o'clocks, zinnia, cosmos, morning glory, milkweed, rudbeckia, cleome, and so much more that I got in the trades.

I love cleome. I have the rose queen. Last year I planted it on my corner. When the sun is going down and back lights them, they are gorgeous. I wanted the lavender to border them and then some zahara type zinnias I collected from a friend in lilacs, soft pink and a deep red. I just can't wait to see how that turns out.

well today i planted
5 Different Dianthus
5 different canna's

yesterday I had some seeds from a small tree i have next to my house it has tiny white flowers & smell so good well I found little seeds on it this fall so i picked then had them in my frig just brought them out & planted them will let you know if they grow Just wish I Knew the name of this little tree . I keep it trimmed so it can not grow tall.

also planted my few seeds of my
Colewort, Flowering Kale, Giant Kale, Giant Gypsophila not sure it is going to germinate but going to try next year I will collect more seeds love my plant .
& here is my helper 1 month old tomorrow

I do cannas too and impatiens. Just brought the dirt up from the basement to start some winter sow jugs, we will be housebound for a bit with the upcoming snow storm.

Susie is that a silkie?

Yes it sure is a silkie & He is so so spoild, has be right tight to me :)
right now he's Laying next to the cat & me he just getting his feathers in

Awww, I think the chick and the cat laying together requires a photo! (pretty please )

Will try to get one tomorrow when they nap

Thank You!

Susie do you only have one?

Susie - Your little helper is adorable!

Gm yes just one & it is hard to type on my laptop for he is right tight to me
`there was 2 little ones on christmas day when they came up to the house & I should have brought them both in but thought i would wait till the next day when i could go into town for a new bulb for my heat light for them .
when i went out the next morning before i went to town I found one had passed during the night so i brought this one in .

he gets along with the cat not so much with my old dog this is unusual for them to hatch eggs in winter well its time for me to get busy
back later going to plant more seeds.

well today I Planted corydalis's 4 types or colors , columbine 's songbird, canadian ?? , Columbine blue ?? , & a few packs of seeds that had no name on them Just to see what they are
SHARING THE CAT NIP


LIKES TO NIBBLE ON THE TOES &EARS


NAP TIME

Ah Susie, they are adorable.

TY he is fun & Funny at times

I started my winter sowing 56 containers so far! Mostly columbines, a new agastache variety, sea thrift and penstemon for the front pink/white flower hill and some more peaches n dreams hollyhocks! Actually also creme de cassie hollyhocks and black hollyhocks too! lol I love hollyhocks! I don't have much space left to work with so many others will be given away to friends or family.


I have a few that I'm doing that I haven't had luck with or never tried yet. So cross your fingers for bells of Ireland, pasque flower, blue bottle gentian and prairie smoke geum!!! ( I managed to snag one of those geums at a flea-market and I hope it comes back as I can't get them to grow from seed!)



My little helper is my puppy who comes running at the sounds of me punching holes in containers with the drill (she's afraid of cars somewhat still but this she finds intriguing!). She also likes to shove her nose in the rubber-maid as I scoop potting soil out of it and into containers! LOL She's cute but also a distraction!







~michael

P.S. I'm jealous! Your chicky looks so cute! I wish I could have chickens

I love seeing all the pet pictures, so I guess I'll share one too! My helpers' latest contribution was knocking over my bags of drying Calendula seed heads. As a consequence, I will now have some Calendula Mix from my garden.

I'll share a pic of my boys too!

This was Remy, my favorite {shhhhh, don't tell cody and diesel} soon after we brought them home.






This is diesel, he's the baby of the bunch.




This is Remy all grown up
.


The human babies are my nephews children who love to hang out with the boys.

Lisa -- I see that beautiful flower bed in the second picture of Remy. Your boys must be very well behaved to not go digging around in your flowers.