Linda,

Yep, just plant it all!

They're especially good for those seeds that should be direct sown, but aren't because of poor weather or soil conditions. Plus, they're very economical...I paid a dollar for 100 of the small lunch bags. I found that using the whole bag was a bit of over-kill, I was using way more seedling mix than necessary, so a couple of cuts and a bit of tape made up 2 planting pockets per bag. A little over half a cent per pocket.

The seedlings seem to love them. I'll try to get some more recent pix tomorrow....they're quite a bit bigger now.

Another stormy day due here. Monthly rainfall is now over 12". I'll never be able to plant. It's like Groundhog Day, every day is the same. You can almost sit on my porch and watch the grass grow.

Karen

We're in for rain, rain, rain...........*sigh*........I think I'll get out there and throw down some peat moss at the base of the yard. That area is practicaly a swamp.

we've got a swamp here too. I was trying to get out and dig up some plants - to give away... but it started pouring ... luckily, my dog Buddy is a barometer, and was heading for the door before the pouring began....

uggg, here it comes again. ... it's half blue sky, half raining sideways.

I did get out to look over the containers... i have a few chia's and a bunch of duds still. I did find 1 tomato seedling, up about 1/4" -- but i think that was out of 8 seeds... so i'm not doing well there.

It's just this crummy, cloudy, rainy weather Terese. If we ever get decent sunshine, those seeds will pop. They're forecasting dry sunny days here on Fri and Sat, but I'll believe it when I see it with my own eyes. (of course, I'll be working Friday). So far in April, 18 rainy days, 2 cloudy, 2 sunny.

There was a blurb on the local news about local farmers. They're unable to plant because they have standing water in their fields, can't put tractors in there yet. Ditto soybeans and other midwest crops. Local produce will be late this year.

Karen

It looks like they've changed our forcast(yet again ) and we're supposed to get a mix of sun and rain for the next few days. Hopefully with the sun more sprouts will pop up and get going, this is the busy season at work so so far I've missed all the nice weather......figures. If the tomatos don't sprout I guess I'll just buy a few....you know, I can't even remember the last time I did that!

Holy Cow, Karen-- you've had it way worse than we've had. We're just at about 7" right now. But, most of the big storms have tracked just south of Indy, so I guess you're getting all of that.

Chelle--thanks for the tip! I'm definitely going to try this next year. I love that the paper bags are biodegradable. It will work so well for things that don't like to be transplanted! This is a WAY better choice than peat pots (which I hate) or coir pots (which are expensive).

Tornado warnings again for tonight....sigh....... I'd also love to have just one dry day. Our grass is waving in the (brisk) breeze it's so long. Hard to get a break to get it cut! But, the in-ground plants seem to be loving it. I've had to keep my cover open over my cold frame so the baby plants don't drown!

Hang in there everyone....sooner or later we'll get warm, sunny weather, right?

This is our rainiest (is that a word?) April ever. And we're on track to maybe break the all time record, set during the flood of 1937.
http://news.cincinnati.com/art...

Some local pictures. Some of these were of flash floods withing a couple miles of my house.
http://news.cincinnati.com/app...

Of course, other places are getting it worse, like in Missouri where their levee failed. Several states have declared states of emergency and called in the National Guard.

Karen

Snow forecasted for tomorrow night. YUCK! It just won't warm up. My lonely little jug of Kiss Me Over The Garden Gate has no sprouts yet.

Finally a warm sunny day here yesterday and I spent the afternoon working in the yard. Mostly I culled out millions of volunteers. Rudbeckia anyone?


I transplanted a badly placed coneflower too, and finally transplanted two jugs of wintersown stuff into garden beds. You can see how huge the calendula had gotten. There were 7 seedlings- only trying a few till I see how badly they volunteer. Calendula are in the jug just behind the tray of coleus on the left. (Coleus were propagated from cuttings inside, just out for a field trip in the sun.


I also transplanted a jug of perennial geranium (wlassovianum)

Karen

I was able to open up some of my WS jugs yesterday. My calendula, Chinese Houses, foxglove, zinnia, shungiku and corn cockles are all big healthy seedlings. They could go into the ground at this point, but we're expecting some pretty cool evenings this week.

I had to seek out the corn cockles after Joanne posted a picture of them last season! Can't wait to see them bloom.

It looks like I have several jugs that didn't sprout at all, though. Wonder if some of my seeds were old, or if they got drowned out with the snow/ice melting......

Still, I'm happy with everything that is sprouting. I surely do like this method, and it really saves me space under my lights by starting annuals this way.

Whoa! Rudbeckia!! Don't know about your zone, but calendula aren't too much of an invader here. Seedlings are easy to spot and move or remove. Not at all like the gooseneck loostrife that I'm going to treat with poison ivy killer this year...Take that, gl!!

We all have some failures, Linda. What didn't come up for you?

Linda, unless you've had more warmth than we have, those unsprouted jugs might just need more heat to germinate. We've had a few scattered warm days but not many.

Bev, many plants that reseed mildly and politely for other gardeners are a terrible problem for me. I'm trying just a few calendula this year (I think I had 6 seedlings) and a few euphorbia marginata (so far I think 4 sprouts in the jug).Just enough to try. Another new-to-me is cardinal climber (ipomoea X multifida). Time will tell.

Can anyone recommend sterile plants? I'm not kidding. I need to find some pretty sterile plants, or start planting plastic flowers!

Karen

Karen,
I plant the cardinal climber every year now. I love it. It'll even grow and bloom on a north-facing deck, in a pot, under tall shade trees.


I had one in a smallish pot that I stuck in the ground, pot and all, and it tried mightily to cover my empty-as-yet new arbor.


To me, the leaves are as neat as the blooms.

*********

No Lavendula sprouts yet...did I start these too early, do you think? Is there a good possibility that they've rotted and need to be resown?

That's really pretty, Chelle!

Karen

I think you'll really like them. I just popped in for something to drink after potting up 15 of those. I bet that'll be plenty.

Today is morning glory and related seeds day for me. I also did up a dozen of the Celestial mix MGs. I don't do terribly well with morning glories, whether started early, or direct sown....but they're so pretty I keep on trying! I think this year I'm going to try feeding them more.

When I'm done with those I think I'll plant out some of the perennial poppies from my wintersown jugs. I have a lavender that I'm afraid won't transplant well if I let it go much longer. Hopefully it won't frost tonight, though it probably wouldn't hurt them.

No, Chelle, frost won't hurt the poppies.

Karen

My one little wintersown seedling grew to 5 feet and has formed flower buds. I hope it gets thru tonight (frost forecasted) because the next it is supposed to be quite warm with nice night temps. I really would like to see what the blooms look like

What is that Joanne?

Karen

My fingers can't keep up with my thoughts. It's Kiss Me Over The Garden Gate. and it is supposed to be great temps for the next few weeks after tonight's frost.