As shown in a previous post, I winter sowed some of the seeds in a milk jug on March 5 and some in a seed flat on March 6.
By March 30, the nasturtiums sowed in the seed flat had sprouted and their seed leaves were just starting to unfurl. Aren't they the cutest things ever? The ones sown in the milk jug had not yet come up. I think it's probably a bit warmer in the seed flats than in the milk jugs.
Only a few days later, on April 3, five of the six nasties sowed in the flat had their full, unfurled seed leaves. (I don't know what's up with the sixth seed, but I'm sure it will sprout soon.) I love nasties because their seed leaves are so similar to their true leaves, unlike most plants whose seed leaves look like rabbit ears.
On April 3, the first of the nasturtiums sown in the milk jug had popped up, too. The rest can't be far behind.I plan to grow some of the nasties up a chain link fence and others in my veggie garden.
Speaking of Seeds...
Back in January, I started two snail mail seed swaps, and both recently returned to me. After picking out a few seeds for myself (you guys sent some interesting stuff to pick from!), I packed up the remainder and donated it to Growing Hope. Their director was excited to use the seeds for the Growing Gardens program. Thanks to all for participating, and hope you all found something you liked. Special thanks go to Frances, who had a lot of extra seeds to share.Sweetbay asked what seeds I took for myself, and in case anyone else is wondering, I got quite a haul:
- Bean, white half-runner
- Blue shrimp plant ‘Pride of Gibraltar’
- Collard greens
- Columbine
- Coreopsis ‘Sunfire’
- Cosmos 'Cosmic Orange'
- Dill
- Golden Alexander
- Grass ‘Little Bluestem’
- Hollyhock, yellow
- Lion’s tail
- Mustard greens
- Poppy ‘Black Peony’
- Poppy 'Shirley'
- Radish ‘Sparkler’
- Rudbeckia ‘Cherry Brandy’
- Sage, scarlet
- Salvia ‘Victoria Blue’
- Sea holly
- Squash ‘Uchiki Kuri’
- Sunflower
- Sunflower 'Cinnamon Sun Red'
- Sunflower 'Giant Headed'
- Tomato ‘Black Russian’
- Tomato ‘Moneymaker’
- Tomato ‘Red Short Vine’
- Tomato ‘San Marzano’
- Toothache plant
Now you'll please excuse while I go nom nom nom eat my Lindt Easter rabbit which I've successfully saved for about 6 weeks now!
Oh you have chocolate, no fair! I'm on a no carb diet, so no chocolate this Easter :o(
ReplyDeleteYour seedlings are looking fab,
Happy Easter,
RO xxx
Monika I love the NEW background to your blog! A wonderful breath of green for Spring!!
ReplyDeleteHappy Easter!
eat lots of chocolate!! :)
That's a LOT of seeds! I have started mine from the seed swap. Can't wait to see how they do in the garden. Happy Easter!
ReplyDeleteWhat did you pick from the stash that came back?
ReplyDeleteI'm a little behind. I only have one batch out of the fridge so far.
Showing a lot of promise!
ReplyDeleteHi Monica...I am swimming in chocolate. The grandchildren stayed for two days and I have eaten far too many easter eggs. I am hoping it will cure my obsession with said scruminess.....
ReplyDeleteI have lots of seeds up including nasturtiums....they are so easy, and so bright and colourful around the garden....
Happy Easter to you.....
Happy Easter Monica! Hope that you enjoyed your bunny or have you saved some for tomorrow? :) The seed exchange must have been great fun.
ReplyDeleteP.S. I like your new look- most green.
ReplyDeleteThanks for doing such an educational post on starting the seeds, Monica. I too love that the first set of leaves look like the true leaves on the Nasturtium.
ReplyDeleteAlso glad to see you've given the blog a new look with this template.
That is one nice seed haul :-)
ReplyDeleteOh yes. Nasturtiums. After seeing how many of you winter sowed your nasties, I'm regretting not trying it. Do you think I still have time? I don't do many annuals with wintersowing, for some reason.
You must be super woman to be able to save a chocolate bunny that long. I am not a chocoholic but I doubt if I could save a chocolate rabbit that long. Ha... Great seeds you got back. My winter sown seeds haven't sprouted. I wonder why?? Too dry? Too late planted?? Didn't hold my head right? Oh well I will try again some time. Happy Easter on you.
ReplyDeleteHappy Easter! Congratulations on saving that rabbit...
ReplyDeleteOoh, I bet they will look very pretty growing up your chain link fence. What seed swap site do you participate in?
ReplyDeleteYou seem to have hit the ground running this spring!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great head start you have on your garden. Have you ever tried to bring the seed boxes into your garage or warmer parts of the yard to "encourage" faster growth?
ReplyDeleteYou're off to a good start, Monica. I saw the cutest idea a couple years ago in a magazine. They grew nasturtiums over a dog house. I've been planning to try that.
ReplyDeleteMarnie
Your seedlings are looking great, Monica! So far, the only one that has sprouted from my winter sowing is a sunflower. I'm hoping the rest are warming up and will sprout soon.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you posted the seeds you picked out; I wish I had thought to write down what I chose. I found my squash seed after I sent off the seed swap packet; if you would still like some, let me know. It's a combination of various summer squashes, including zucchini. I'm curious who included the Victoria Blue salvia--I've never tried to collect seeds from those before; I could sure save myself some money if I started doing that.
Love your new background!
I thought at first you had a bug in your plants...until i read further... :)
ReplyDeleteI love growing nasturtiums too...I grow some for me and some for the cabbage white caterpillars...I know, I know it seems crazy, but I like the butterflies in my garden :)
Gosh me! You have a heck of a lot os sowing to do this year, Monica...you did do well in your seed swap, and what a good idea too :)
Happy Easter :)
Wow! I should say quite a haul! What a great bunch of seeds. Since you ended your post by mentioning the dreaded word, chocolate, I need to go rummage around the kitchen for my private stash. ;-)
ReplyDeleteI can't believe how many seeds you got! That is fabulous! Many of my little seedlings are just piddling along. The nasties seem to be the quickest growers though.
ReplyDeleteWow Monica, that's quite a seed haul!
ReplyDeleteThe nasty leaves are very cute - can't wait for mine to sprout!
Enjoy that Easter bunny! Some people who shall remain nameless couldn't wait for Easter to eat their Lindt bunnies! ;) Yum!
Monica. your seedlings are indeed cute! I think your idea of a chain link fence is a good one. Those nasties can really vine.
ReplyDeleteA great use of the extra seeds and I will be sure to inclide plenty next year if you want to do the same. That is if you will consent to organizing the seed swap again!
Hope the Victoria blue salvia grows well for you. I have several planted and most are up.
Wow, that's a whole lot of seeds there. My zinnia are starting to sprout so I'll have to break out my lights soon.
ReplyDeleteNext year even more seeds! So glad they are going to a good program. What a fun swap it was! I ran out of chocolate sometime a week ago, so today i had Sweet Cece vanilla, mint and chocolate ice cream with chocolate covered espresso beans...that's how I am still up commenting and catching up!
ReplyDeleteMany thanks to YOU, Monica for hosting the seed swap and doing such a fine job of labeling, etc., also thanks for the shout out. Seeds are meant to be shared, plants too. We call them nashies rather than nasties around these parts. I never thought to winter sow them, waiting until the last frost to direct sow. We bought Spitfire, glad to see it is a good germinator. :-)
ReplyDeleteFrances
Nasturtiums are my favorite edible flower, a 'must have'! Nice haul, Monica :) Isn't this weather amazing!
ReplyDeleteI never thought to put little peat pots inside the milk jug. I'll have to give that a try next year. I'd be intimidated by the number of new plants you're going to be growing. You are the queen of seeds. (Not that I'm implying that you're seedy.)
ReplyDeleteMonica, Have you seen any signs of your Virginia Bluebells growing, yet? Kathleen (Kasey's Korner) thinks hers have begun showing themselves! I hope yours are growing, too!!! :-)
ReplyDeleteHehehe, I got a Lindt rabbit too!
ReplyDeleteYou got some great seeds there!
I've potted up some of the seeds you sent me - the bunny tails have done well, but the heirloom tomatoes aren't quite as successful - yet!
I'm getting ready to sow everything else outside soon ... impatience is setting in!
The seed exchange looks like a success! It was very wise to donate to rest of the seeds, as there was no way you could use all of them. What a haul! Have a good weekend!
ReplyDeleteLove nasturtiums and Lindt bunnies.
ReplyDeleteCute little nasturtium bloom;-) Monica, you don't need to look at my project at 'writing to deadline';-) Just a paragraph, or even a list, is fine! Make it simple for yourself! Would love to have you join in;-) (I read your note on garden girl's post!). Jan
ReplyDeleteWow, you do have quite a list of seeds, Monica - we usually buy started tomatoes at local nurseries but I do throw a few flower seeds around.
ReplyDeleteNo one else will remember this ancient history, but your title made me remember the sixties soft-folk group New Christie Minstrels. On one of their albums they riffed on 'Tiptoe Through the Tulips' with the lyrics morphing and becoming more aggressive through 'tiptoe through the nasturtiums'...and finally "stomp through the Nasties".
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
(never got so much as a dang Jelly Bean this year!)
That's a lot of seeds. I remember the Grow Hope project. It's so nice that you donated your seeds there. My mother also calls nasturtiums "Nasties." She said it was because she hated them. Now, how could she hate such a pretty flower?~~Dee
ReplyDeleteYour seedlings are doing great! I still have no germination from my wintersown nasturtiums, but when I get my indoor stuff going that will change (I hope!) I'm glad you had so many cool seeds to choose from, I am already collecting seeds to swap next year!
ReplyDeleteFirst, I must congratulate you for the huge amount of will power you have shown by not eating your chocolate bunny until Easter. Wow! I can't tell you how many I went through while waiting for the Big Bunny to come to our house!
ReplyDeleteSecond, I love that you call Nasturtiums Nasties. I don't think I will ever be able to call them by their proper name again!
Thanks for listing your seed picks--I was dying to know. I am going to have to try winter sowing. It looks interesting.
Congratulations on the germination! I am waiting for my nasties to germinate! Great blog!
ReplyDeleteI hope that rabbit was very yummy:) I don't know how I missed this post but I'm sorry:( Glad the nasturtiums all came up. They'll look great climbing on a fence.
ReplyDeleteMonica I'm back again to see what's up..and looking at the sprouts oh Happy day! I also did a few seeds and they have finally sprouted through the earth.Herbs is what I did..soon to transplant into bigger pots.Monika you need to have a few seed giveaways!!
ReplyDeleteClimbing nasturtiums are one of my top favourite plants. The leaves are wonderful. (Especially in the rain.) Their flowers are dramatic and the seeds reassuringly characterful in their colour, shape and texture. And if you live where they will happily self-seed - they make friends with you for life!
ReplyDeleteLucy