Gardening in My Rubber Boots

Apr 7

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If My Chickens Had a Web Cam – Wordless Wednesday

Henny Penny, Buttercup (the rooster) and Hazel.

Apr 4

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Germinating Nasturtium Seeds for GROW Project

My failed attempt at germinating the seeds

As I mentioned in an earlier post (you can click here to read it), I’m participating in the Seed GROW Project and growing Nasturtium “Spitfire” along with other garden bloggers across the country.

Today I’m going to share what I’m doing to get the Nasturtium “Spitfire” seeds from Renee’s Garden to germinate. So far I haven’t been super successful with indoor germination. I typically germinate directly in the garden so starting seeds indoors is new for me.

I started my first seeds on March 13 with my tomatoes. I followed the directions on the back of the seed pack and in addition placed on our heat mat with heat lamp over head. As you can see in the picture on the right – nothing germinated. Because I was curious, I dug up the seeds to see if they even attempted to germinate and they didn’t. I wonder what I did wrong…

Recently I’ve read some tips on twitter that I’m trying with my new batch:

I’ve scored some of the seeds with a knife
I’m soaking the seeds between two damp paper towels to soften (similar to what we do with pea seeds)
Some seeds I scored and set between damp paper towels

My "Red" Chicken Coop Garden

Later today, I’m going to pot some of the “softened” seeds inside and plant some in the chick coop pots I just got. I’ll mix it up a little to see what plants do best. Eventually I’ll figure out what works best for me. I’m really looking forward to see what others did to get their seeds to germinate.

You can read all the posts here on the Seed GROW Project site. Like all the other participants, I’ll be posting my progress every first Sunday of the month.

“I’m growing Nasturtium “Spitfire” for the GROW project. Thanks, to Renee’s Garden for the seeds.”

Apr 2

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Heaven = Wine Country & Gardens

This past weekend we visited the San Francisco area for the San Francisco Flower & Garden Show and to visit Sonoma. The first series of pictures were taken at the show. If you missed it this year then you should really check it out next year. It’s full of garden ideas, inspiration, shopping, seminars and shopping. Oh wait, I already said shopping…

Lately, I’ve been feeling like I need to add more art & sculptures to my garden. I’m missing the small details. That’s why most of my pictures are of items that inspired me and should help me pick affordable art to add to my garden. The second set of pictures were taken at Cornerstone right outside of Sonoma. It’s a beautiful shopping area full of art and display gardens. It’s a must see when visiting Sonoma.

The last set of pictures are of wine tasting at Ravenswood and Chateau St. Jean wineries. We also walked up & down Lombard Street in San Francisco. Just because it was there.

: Japanese Quince bonsai

: Copper owl watching guard

: Copper Armadillo BBQ

: Beautiful wood bench

: Aeoniums

: Celtic Lily water feature

: Stone fragments used for walkway

: Tropical garden

: Artistic balls on show lawn

: Ancient looking Olive tree

: Elephant’s Foot Palm (funny)

: Agave

: Little faces in the Habitat Dance with a Red-Headed Snake garden

: Stone Basins

: Fish reflection

: Koi

: New Orleans Pond with alligators and succulents

: The Living Room (living walls)

: THE chair at Cornerstone

: Metal fencing

: Water feature

: Succulents

: Cement paver made to look like wood

: Water Basin

: Giant Pot

: Mermaid

: Stone filled with succulents

: Our future bathtub

: Driftwood coffee table

: Metal gate filled with flowing water

: Succulents planted with stone pillars

: Garden Sculptures

: Alley leading to large round stone

: Garden art

: Garden from galvanized tunnel

: Alley of trees

: Compost fence

: Woven wood fence

: Agave, Rosemary & a large stone

: Travis

: Cornerstone garden sculptures

: Barn in Cornerstone’s gardens

: Work of art

: Pas de vins poules mouillees

: Chateau St. Jean Garden

: Drinking a bottle of Pino at Chateau St. Jean

: Chateau St. Jean Palm tree

: Bocce Ball at Chateau St. Jean

: Travis & I looking down Lombard Street

: Lombard Street

While we were in town we also visited with a lot of great folks I met online through Twitter.

Mar 31

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Ordering from Annie’s Annuals & Perennials

I realized today that I hadn’t posted about my WONDERFUL experience with Annie’s Annuals & Perennials. In late January they had a one-day special so I decided to see if they had any plants I couldn’t live without (I found quite a few). Not only do they have a unique/vast selection but they also have a “Wish List” so you can get an e-mail when out of stock plants become available.

If you don’t have their catalog or haven’t ordered from Annie’s Annuals & Perennials, you are missing out. I don’t think I can explain it better than the bio on their site:

“Specializing in rare and unusual annual & perennial plants, including cottage garden heirlooms & hard to find California native wildflowers.”

My Annie’s Annuals & Perennials order:

Asphodelus albus “White Asphodel” (sun)
Claytonia sibirica “Candyflower” (shade)
Delphinium elatum ‘Double Innocence’ (sun)
Dianthus arenarius (sun/part shade)
Digitalis ferruginea ‘Yellow Herald’ (sun/bright shade)
Fragaria vesca ‘Golden Alexandria’ (sun/part shade)
Geranium pyrenaicum ‘Bill Wallis’ (sun/part shade)
Gladiolus tristis (sun/part shade)
Scabiosa caucasica ‘Perfecta Alba’ (sun)

They even let me request a delayed shipping date so the ground would be ready for planting. I got my order last week and was pleasantly surprised by the packaging and the condition of the plants. The soil/roots for each plant was wrapped in moist paper, plastic and then set in a plastic pot. The pots were then placed in a cardboard spacer in the shipping box.

I would order from Annie’s again in a heartbeat. In my opinion, the quality of plants I received is worth paying for shipping every time. Thanks Annie’s!

Mar 24

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