Snowdrop Petal Markings

I was reading an article in Gardens Illustrated about snowsdrops. Gardeners in the UK seem a lot more interested in (or, maybe the appropriate term is "crazed about") snowdrops than gardeners in the US. The article talked about how to identify the various species and cultivars of snowsdrops. One of the key identifiers is the petal markings. I took a close-up of the markings on the petal of one of my snowdrops and tried to match it to one of the identified species and cultivars in the article. I don't have a record as to what type of snowdrops I purchased. Unfortunately, the markings on mine did not match any of the pictures in the magazine. I would have to think, though, that given the limited variety available in the US, that this must be the common snowdrop, Galanthus nivalis.

Hens-and-Chicks In a Wreath

I thought this was an interesting use of hens-and-chicks: in a wreath!

Combos I Like

I wish I understood more about color. I bought a "Gardener's Color Wheel" from Sydney Eddison and read a few of her pieces awhile ago. In color-wheel lingo, I think I really like the attached combination of tulip colors because the red-violet of the Triumph Tulip, Tulipa 'Attila' and the pink of the Triumph Tulipa 'Peerless Pink' are analogous colors on the wheel (that is, they are adjacent). And, white goes with everything . . . :-) The white tulip is the Triumph Tulipa 'Inzell'

Phipps Conservatory 2010 Spring Flower Show

I was in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania last weekend and had the opportunity to go to the Phipps Conservatory. The conservatory is somewhat of a t-shaped, symmetrical design and houses a number of rooms each devoted to a type of environment (Desert Room) or type of plant (Orchid Room, Fern Room, etc). Additionally, there are some outdoor garden areas. There wasn't much historical information in the Visitor's Guide, but the ultimate resource, Wikipedia, tells me that the conservatory was built in 1893 to provide the citizens of Pittsburgh with a scientific resource for viewing different types of plants from around the world. During the flower show, they mix-in spring flowering bulbs (primarily) and some blooming annuals and perennials between their permanent plant exhibit rooms. I've attached some pictures of the containers that I liked below.

The first picture below is actually a "series of containers." They had taken a number of white Phalaenopsis (moth orchids) in pots and stacked them up on a wall with what I thought was maidenhair fern (however, I know very little about ferns and the plants were not labeled). The display was very effective. The second container was an urn with two bulbs (daffodils and hyacinth) along with a few blue pansies and ivy. The third container holds white tulips, fiber optic grass, and columbine. The fourth container is red tulips and ivy in a black urn. And, the final container also had red tulips and two plants that I did know the identities of (the trailing plant looked like some type of fern). All the containers (except the wall of orchids) made use of bulbs.

Now that a lot of the big box stores, garden centers, and grocery stores sell relatively inexpensive bulbs in pots, I thought it would be relatively easy to try to recreate one of these.

.

Up Close -- Spring is Starting

Front yard under Magnolia tree -- Not much to look at

It strikes me that after a few years at this (gardening), I still don't have a good sense of scale. I like bulbs -- especially, the small, early bloomers such as Galanthus (snowdrops), and Crocus tommasinianus, and Crocus chrysanthus 'Cream Beauty.' But, looking at the area where I planted them, it doesn't appear like much from 30 feet away. Up close, the plants are awesome. I'm thinking that at a minimum you must need at least 500 of these to have any impact whatsoever. Over time, I've probably only planted about 100 and while I've read that these small bulbs will naturalize over time, I haven't really seen much of that.

Crocus tommasinianus

Crocus chrysanthus 'Cream Beauty'

Crocus tommasinianusCrocus tommasinianusGalanthus

Seed Germination Update

Exacum affine

Trachelium caeruleum

I feel as if this is my year for trying to germinate and grow flowers from extremely small seeds. I ordered Exacum affine from Chiltern Seeds and planted them up on January 27th. The seeds were small. The seeds germinated within two weeks and I now have small seedlings 6 weeks later. I've attached a picture. I also tried Trachelium caeruleum. Chiltern actually has a warning on the seed packet that says, "Caution. The seed in this packet is minute . . . " They weren't kidding. You open the packet and to the naked eye, the packet is empty. The seeds did germinate (since I couldn't see the seed, I emptied the packet into a small amount of vermiculite I had in the palm of my hand and then sowed the vermiculite). Again, it was about two weeks for the seeds to germinate. I started the Trachelium on January 31 and you can see from the picture that the seedlings are still very small and barely visible to the naked eye 5 weeks later.

Proven Winners Chicago Outdoor Living Extravaganza

I attended the PW Outdoor Living Extravaganza last weekend. Not sure what I expected going into it to be honest. I thought there would be more of a focus on outdoor lifestyle: containers and "patio-style", vertical planting, etc. They focused more on their new selections. The two selections that they are excited about for 2010 are Supertunia TM Pretty Much Picasso and Snow Princess TM Lobularia hybrid. They had a demo container with both of them and I've attached a picture. I'm not sure on whether the Pretty Much Picasso is vibrant enough for a container. The color seems somewhat washed out due to the green edging on the flower. I do like the Snow Princess.

Snowdrops!

First bloom of the season. My snowdrops appeared yesterday. We still have snow on the ground here in Chicago, but the snow started to melt last week and yesterday we had sun, and, a high of 50 degrees. We have flowers! Also, I saw my first robin of the season last Friday, March 5, but I was too slow in pulling out my camera to take his picture. He was gone by the time I had the camera ready.

Ikea Mandel Plant Pots

Good, inexpensive pots. Here is a favorite of mine. These are from Ikea. They are called Mandel pots. The Ikea web-site says that Mandel pots are made of "silicon treated red clay." I'm not familiar with what the significance is in treating clay with silcon. The web-site seems to indicate that the silicon makes the pot waterproof; but, aren't all clay pots (unless they are cracked) waterproof? I'll need to do some research on that.

The smaller one is 3 1/2 inches in diameter and sells for $2.99 at the suburban Chicago Ikea -- the price is actually $1.00 less on their web site; the larger one is 4 3/4 inches in diameter and sells for $3.99 at the suburban Chicago Ikea -- the price is also $1.00 less on their web site. Interesting pricing strategy to charge more at the retail outlet. Each saucer is sold separately. The smaller saucer costs $1.00 and the larger saucer costs $2.00 (again, retail prices). The pots do not come with drainage holes and you need to take a screwdriver and lightly tap the end of the screwdriver with a hammer to knock out the indentation at the bottom of the pot to make a hole. It is easy to do. I like the color of the pots (to me it is a muted, brown) and the shape.

Starting Seeds

March 3, 2010

Starting seeds -- or otherwise known as something to do with your time during the winter. I purchased Nigella damascena 'Miss Jekyll' seeds from Chiltern Seeds in Cumbria, England. To start the seeds I made soil blocks out of Fafard's Superfine Seed Germinating mix. To make soil blocks, you need a soil blocker and have to throughly wet the mix to enable the soil to stick together to form the blocks. I placed a few seeds in the indentation of each soil block. I didn't cover the seeds with soil. I did cover the flat with a plastic dome and placed the flat on a heating mat. The seeds were very easy to germinate and germinated in only 5 days. Since I started the seeds on January 31, the seedlings are now about 4 weeks old and have their first true leaves. I've included some pictures.