So excited when I went to the greenhouse today. You see, back in January i seed started milkweed in the greenhouse. they have been sitting there doing nothing all this time, sleeping I suppose. Not today, one came up and it's tiny little leaves are unfolded and growing. Hoping the others come up soon. Still nothing on the rose seeds. I've read some conflicting instructions so I have planted rose seeds in all the methods I've read about. One set, I put in the fridge for 3 months first then planted. The next set I planted right to the soil and the last set, I soaked them overnight and then planted. So far only a cutting has grown. We have about 28 rose bushes. So last season I took 4 cuttings. 3 cuttings from hybrids and 1 cutting from a knockout rose. the hybrid cuttings died. the knockout cutting, however, took root easily and I've actually had it inside all winter.. now it's in the greenhouse and it's getting larger. After frost is gone, I'll set it out with the others so it can grow like it should. Then I'll take some more cuttings. The hybrids are tall and thinner then the knockouts which give a large bushy monster. So once the hybrids die off, they will get replaced with knockouts.
Had a cold snap brought out the rhododendron and the peach tree. Both are full of blooms and it's just beautiful. Love when the peach tree is loaded in pink.
Gladiolus are poking their heads up from the soil and the bearded Iris? my goodness! We removed half of the stand out front, put them on the side of the house( 17 roots I gave away) and the new transplants are taller then the old stand in the front. So amazed at how things work in the plant world.
The peonies we took from the momma plant and put on the other side of the house, last year grew but didn't do lots more then that. So this year, they are the same height as the mother plant and it's looking like we just might get blooms this time around.
But I must say, the lilacs are my biggest achieve. We planted 2 lilac cuttings about 10 years ago. The lavender one, eh, gave a few blooms but not many. The White one, not one bloom...ever! several years ago someone slipped in our yard and took cuttings from both of them in the spring. I figured that's what has caused the lack of blooms. It was the wrong time to cut anything off. The white one especially is about 10 feet tall and I've been working for years to get it to bloom. We have tried everything! Our last resort was a mix of compost and triple 10... it worked! both plants have blooms forming. Not all over but it's a start. So come fall, we will do the same mix again before it sleeps for winter. Maybe next spring both bushes will be so full, traffic has to sit at the stop sign to admire them!
My name is Snow and I'm the admin of the Franklin Seed Exchange on fb. It's a closed group but those who made it in are growing and learning so much including myself! What a great site to have come across. I'm excited to learn more about not only pretty flowers but those plants we can grow to eat later on. The greenhouse is growing fast and seeds are popping up everywhere and the garden beds are set and ready. Potatoes and onions are already in and I'm just waiting for frost to pass to get everything else out there! Have spent years tinkering in this or that and when I retired and started planting, finally found my love hobby to match up with spinning wool. Love to make things and gardening is so much pleasure. I put a tiny seed into soil and baby it into a beautiful bloom or food for my families table, is a complete satisfaction for me.
Learning more is always key cause it's impossible to hold it all in your head! More is better and I'm anxious to get busy on doing more around my own land. Now I wish I had more to plant in.
With planting in motion in my little greenhouse, the cycle has begun! this is exciting!
