Thursday, October 01, 2009

Garden roundup #1: Annuals

I need to make some notes to myself for coming years, folks. Here's the first dispatch from the garden.

Marigolds: we threw a bunch of seeds in the ground (literally) in between the rows of corn. They were thrown because I was trying to go fast before the garage bumble bees attacked me. The marigolds were a mix. As they came up, I transplanted them around the yard so they could get sun. There were some good, strong basic ones, some insanely (3 ft!) tall and raggedy orange. I don't like the tall ones, as they catch the eye and aren't so pretty.

Lobelia: I put these under/in front of the hostas, north of the front porch. I LOVE these and want to do them again. In deep blue.

Alyssum: I planted these 2 years ago. They reseeded (as they normally do). Disappointing this year.

Moss roses: stop buying these, Amy. You kill them. Dead. Don't think this year will be different. It won't.

Globe Amaranth: cute, but not necessary

Mexican Sunflower: YES!

Zinnias: Willa found a 3 year old seed packet in the deck box and I let her "plant" them while I was weeding the garden. They came up and are stunning. It was a mix packet, and we should do these again, but not at a front corner of the bed, as they're 2 feet tall.

Sunflowers: my friend Kerri gave me several feet of sunflowers. One seed escaped the mouth of the chipmunks and produced a plant with over 20 blooms. BEAUTIFUL.

Snapdragons: Four years ago, I had a hanging basket with sunflowers. The next year, a snapdragon appeared on the ground below where the basket hung. The next year, there were more plants around the house. This year there was a giant bunch of plants next to the lilac. I collected seeds to ensure we see them again. The white flowers with yellow centers are wonderful.

1 comment:

Kerri said...

What went wrong with your Alyssum? Are they just not coming back in nicely? I put some in this year, and I plan on leaving them in the ground all winter so that they'll reseed.

It's funny you mention Moss roses. My co-workers told me about a month ago how much she loved these for planters because they are drought resistant. Could you be over-watering them and causing their death that way?

Glad the sunflowers worked out for you!

Off to google "Lobelia".