Planting seeds straight into the ground

Lately, I’ve gotten several questions about the best way to start seeds in the ground, also called straight sown seeds. (Of course, I don’t DO straight lines, so that is a bit of an oxymoron at my house…..)  I don’t know that my way is the BEST, but it works well for me.  I’m open to suggestions – and welcome royalties from a patent partnership –  if you’ve found one that’s better.

Bottomless, this pot-o-basil is not what it appears.

HIT: starting your own plants from seed is inexpensive and EASY if you protect the seedlings!

First off, be sure you’re planting the seeds at the proper depth. If they’re from a packet, it should tell you how deep to put them in; as a general rule, seeds and bulbs require planting between double – and – triple their height. (Here’s my friend WILLIAM MOSS with Patti Moreno showing you how it’s done with veggies.) If you’ve planted them properly, you’ll start seeing green several days or weeks – or even months – before they are established well-enough to become actual rooted plants. During that time, the underworks are branching out to support the upperworks, making it vital you baby those fragile seedlings. I find the main protection my new seedlings need are actually from ME, though. Forgetting I’ve put seeds down, I mulch over that bare spot. Or I can’t remember what I put there because the tag is missing.  Sometimes a heavy downpour is the culprit and my seeds end up down the street.

We even have a neighborhood pooch whose owner allows him too much roaming space and he did in some cassia seeds with a well placed dump.  Yes, it is organic, but come on!

I used to stack rocks, cairn-like, stick a flag in it with the plant name, and cross my fingers as I walked away.  Either the flag, the rocks, or both ended up missing.

All you need to be a seed superstar is a plastic planting pot, scissors and a marker!

Now I hold on to all those small pots when I buy plants at the nursery and recycle them into seed starting studs.  I use a few the traditional way, but what works even better is making them into a TEXAS-STYLE SEEDLING CORRAL. I cut the bottom out, turn ‘em upside down, and write down the plant’s name and the date I planted it with a silver marker.  Then I bury it partially into the ground, up and over the “lip” that used to be the top of the pot. Then I add a bit of potting soil and push the seeds into place.  I’m always looking for activities to lure in kids to gardening and think this might be a great one for little ones to try.  (As a bonus, this method allows me to know exactly where I need to mist when it dries out, and it holds in the water for longer.  And this isn’t proven, but it seems the black color of the pot absorbs the day’s heat and gets my seedlings going faster in early spring.)

Cut the bottom 1/4 off the small plastic plant pot and turn it on its head for a plant perimeter/marker.

Ignore the label on this one….it’s actually G. aestivalis winklerii ‘Grape Sensation,’ not ‘Purple Passion.’ But I wouldn’t know WHAT or WHERE it was without its seedling corral, would I?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You might want to cut the perimeter away once the seedlings are up….

or just leave it in place so you remember those bulbs are there even when they aren’t in bloom.

WARNING: if a varmint wants those seeds, even an armed guard can’t stop ‘em!  Need proof?

Here’s who came to dinner at my house last week.  Yes, those are carefully dried/saved/planted hibiscus seeds this little guy decided to grab in the run-through at Casa Colburn-a!

Biblical plant names (and life) can be confusing, depending on your perspective

Scary to see someone you love labeled as sick, isn’t it?  The feeling of helplessness is overwhelming.  However, after 5 days in the hospital with a family member who I almost lost, I’m back out in my garden, thankful for the abundance of life around me and recognizing its incredible fragility.  What I labeled as “healthy” was not at all; it was illness incognito.  I’ll not take wellness in myself or those I love for granted again.  At least I pray I do not.

rain lily (Cooperia pedunculata, also labeled Zephyranthes drummondii)

On a walk last night, this little rain lily was peaking out from between the stacked moss rock and curb at a neighbor’s house.  It’s one of the bulbs Chris Wiesinger and I featured in our book HEIRLOOM BULBS FOR TODAY.  A stalwart Texas native, this lab-coat white bloom is at home in any garden.  While I was oblivious to changes in weather outside the hospital windows, a place of sameness no matter what the clock says, the tiny bulb sensed moisture from a rainstorm passing through town, responding with a hearty yawning bloom, slightly fragrant and completely beautiful.

althea or rose-of-sharon (Hibiscus syriaca)

Another favorite I discovered as I wandered the streets at dusk is a shrub called althea,  known to me growing up as “rose-of-sharon.”  As with many plants, that common name is not only inaccurate, it is misleading.  First of all, althea is not a rose; it’s in the same family as cotton and marshmallow.  The Latin name is Hibiscus syriacus and it’s a native of Asia.  Don’t think it has much to do with sharon either, which refers to the Plain of Sharon spoken of in Old Testament literature, an area that runs along the Mediterranean between present-day Haifa to the north and Tel Aviv to the south.

Convallaria majalis, known by Europeans and Americans as “lily of the valley” or “Soloman’s seal”

While I’m on this tangent, the true “lily of the valley” plant spoken of in the Bible – according to Jewish scholars – is the yellow, fall-blooming Sternbergia lutea - native to Israel, not the white nodding perennial found in the Appalachians and in cool areas of Europe and Asia.  Apparently King James’ translators took liberties with the Hebrew word for flower bulb, turning it into “lily” in the Anglicized translation of the Bible from the early 1600′s, which many believe was done in an effort to appease the Puritan faction within the Church of England.  Sternbergia might not have been known in England at the time, or maybe the many Christian legends associated with Convallaria majalis – the plant Europeans and Americans call “lily of the valley – prompted its association with this common name instead. (The tiny white blooms are said to be the tears of Jesus’ mother when she saw her son on the cross of Calvary. It’s also the symbol of humility in the language of flowers.)

My week has given me perspective on many things, recognizing that while labels might help distinguish or describe, they are not stagnant.  My idea of “sick” was disguised in a seemingly healthy body, a deadly infection masked in a way only my loved one heard in the pain shooting through his body. Names vary and change, depending on who you are, where you are, and when you are there.  Plants and people receive titles according to the labelers perspective.   Confusing to one may explain it all to another, or could lead everyone down the wrong path entirely.   c:

To pool or NOT to pool……is that the question?

Yep. That’s the appropriate question. But how you come to a conclusion might be more important than the question itself.

courtesy Iguana Pools

Working with my landscaping clients over the last two decades in deciding whether or not they NEED a pool, the answer is easy: no.  No one needs a pool; pools are a luxury.  (I have to admit I’m talking out of both side of my mouth on this….I hate being pool-less so much we’ll meet next week about installing one at our new house.)  Being a gardener in Texas – for part of the year – is a delight.  Then there’s summer, lasting from it-isn’t-as-cool-this-morning till it’s-finally-cool-again-this-morning.  In between, there are a few rough days, too.  (If you call Phoenix home you might say I have no idea what hot is, but I’ve tasted your HOT. “It’s a DRY heat” is a valid comment.  There’s nothing dry gardening in Houston’s heat, including my t-shirt!) So here are a few questions you should ask when determining if a pool is right for your yard.

Above ground pools are less expensive, but not as long-lasting. Photo courtesy APSP.org.

A built-in spa/water feature might be just the right size to wet your whistle while warming your buns! Photo courtesy APSP.org.

1) WILL I USE IT?  I don’t mean “will I see it?”  I mean will I get in it and swim, or is it just a way to take the edge off the heat.  Is the idea of a pool the objective? What KIND of pool do I want: one for laps or is a diving board a must-have.  Maybe a spa, a water feature, an above-ground pool or even an outdoor shower will solve the dilemma. Try a kiddie or blow-up one from the dollar store for a few days to test if it’s the right direction for your family instead of diving in head first.

2) WILL I MAINTAIN IT? Pools are hard work.  Yes, there are pool cleaners that run around like the toilet scrubbing bubbles, but the best pool cleaners wear shorts.  And have great legs.  Oh wait.  That’s another story.  The point is someONE has to not only look at the pool regularly, but check its pH or pay the consequences that look like a B-grade 50′s movie.  Maintenance can be costly; however, not doing it is even more expensive.  No longer is chlorine the only option for water purity, though. There are alternatives now when it comes to the type of swimming pool sanitation systems available, from UV to salt water (now up to 90% of newly installed pools, according to a friend of mine who’s a long-time pool builder),  ozone to natural filtration, such as beneficial microbes.  Not all systems are widely available, and remember that often the “research” has been done by someone trying to sell that particular system.

Make a splash to drown out ambient noise, like traffic or the neighbor's barking dog. Photo courtesy of The Southern Bulb Company.

Pools are limited only by your imagination and budget.

3) CAN I AFFORD IT?  Permanent pools are expensive.  Not just the initial financial expense, either.  They cost time AND money on a weekly basis. It could become your new hobby, edging out golf clubs and everything else on your free-time list. Another consideration I’d like to offer is “can I afford NOT to have it?”  If you have older kids, a pool might mean your home becomes the gathering spot. On a hot summer afternoon, I knew exactly where my daughters were and probably much more than I should have known about their friends.  That’s been a huge pay-off, in my book.

If you are considering installing a pool, ask questions not just of the pool experts, but of the TRUE experts: pool owners.  And don’t ask the guy that put in a pool two months ago.  Ask the one with the bleach stained shorts and nice legs.  He’ll answer the RIGHT question!

P. Allen’s Little Rock

Did you know Little Rock is named after a LITTLE ROCK? The BIG ROCK is just upriver, the Quapaw Indians using this landmark as a trading post prior to Europeans horning in on the action.

While in Little Rock last weekend speaking at the Arkansas Literary Festival, I had the chance to experience a beautiful city I’d only passed through, not been to, previously.  I also got to see a renowned gardener’s garden while in town: P. Allen Smith.  Now he doesn’t actually LIVE in this house much, apparently.  I leave my house for a week and all H*## breaks loose, yet P.Allen’s yard was in pretty good shape. (Do I have to use the “P” every time?) I was not invited to see the garden by the man himself despite my tweet I’d be in town, so my friend Ann and I strolled by his house to make sure he was okay since he didn’t answer back with his own tweet about how much he’d love to have me over for mint juleps on the verandah.

view into P.Allen Smith's back garden

Ann’s home is two doors down from P. Allen (wonder what his mom calls him?) and reports to me periodically what’s going on in the historic Quapaw Quarter of Little Rock where they live.  A garden tour is coming up in May, so many landscapes in the Quarter are getting spiffed up for the event, including Ann’s.

Still don’t know what the “P.” stands for, but wonder if it refers to the beautiful P-L-A-N-Ts?  c:

pooch portal at Ann's house

Pooch pool at Ann's house has steps so the previous resident of the backyard - a yellow lab with arthritis - could easily climb out after a dip.

rose arbor @P.Allen Smith's home in Little Rock

Roses are EVERYWHERE in Little Rock! This wall of climbers is behind the Central Library in downtown.

YOU CAN GROW THAT: squash isn’t just a child’s game!

When you follow the rules in gardening, it works.  When you don’t, it doesn’t.

A harvest in summer requires following the recipe in spring.

But the rules we must follow are not OURS.  They are nature’s rules.  That’s why gardening seems difficult.  We Americans tend to be proud of our rule-breaking ways! Actually, rules make things much easier and as Andy Rooney loved to ask, “EVER WONDER WHY…. ?”.  Well, in gardening, you don’t have to wonder.  The law of sowing and reaping cannot be bargained with or altered.  It offers a comforting predictability. Plant a squash seed, get a squash, unless yet another of nature’s rules intervenes, such as survival of the fittest squirrel or cutworm or squash bug. When it comes to planting any seed, it will have its own set of rules.  Too deep for one is just right or too shallow for another.  Think Goldilocks.  As trying as it may be, knowing thy seeds is much like knowing thy child (or spouse): they are all different and have specific needs that, like it or not, require meeting if they are to thrive.  Okay, back to seeds….  squash seeds, in particular. I grow primarily two types of summer squash. (I’ve put out seeds for winter squash, too, but those disappeared in a downpour the next day. Probably could look in my neighbor’s yard for them, but didn’t have a decent LOW-FODMAP recipe for them anyway, so just waved good-bye.)

4-6 seeds per mound for zucchini squash is a good start.

RULES FOR SUMMER SQUASH

1) Both my summer types – zucchini style and the yellow straight-neck – have the same basic needs list: SUN, WATER, and TIME.

2) Seeds sown in hills – with 5 or so seeds to a mound and a 1/2 inch soil and a sprinkling of pine straw mulch – is my success recipe. My daddy taught me how and his Uncle Jim taught him.

3) Germination to ripened harvest is a couple of months, but the time from production to harvest seems only a few minutes.  It’s a booger keeping up once they start popping. I find it easiest to have a couple of sowing dates (mid-March and mid-April here in Texas) so they don’t all ripen simultaneously. Squash fatigue sets in pretty quickly at my house.  If I miss early seeding because of a late-cool snap, I purchase plants from my local nursery instead of using open-pollinated seeds stored from last year’s crop, a reputable seed company or CSA.

4) Keep squash plants picked to keep them producing.  The flowers are also tasty, which alleviates some squash over-load.  Top a salad with a yellow squash bloom for a lovely edible garnish.  Folks here along the Gulf Coast eat them fried, too.  (I might try that this summer since my daughter found a gluten-free breadcrumb mix for me.  Thinking about using corn flakes as batter…anyone experimented with that?)

Slice squash thin for freezing or dehydrating.

5) Squashes are impatient. Pick while young so they aren’t tough. And since they rot quickly after harvesting, what I don’t eat or share, I slice thin, put on a cookie sheet in the freezer then into containers and back into the freezer.  Since slices freeze individually on the cookie sheet, they easily pour out individually.

Introducing children to gardening is one of my passions. Passing on to them that there are natural rules and consequences we cannot change makes for a more fruitful – and less frustrating – life, for both parent AND child.  So get a packet of squash seeds and grab a kid (your own, preferably).  A bit of spring sweat will turn sweet come summer.  In fact, it will be a summer neither of you will soon forget. c:

HIT:Gardening with kids teaches EVERYONE patience!

Container Gardening = Endless POTS-abilities

It can be overwhelming to start a project, can’t it.  There are just WAY too many possibilities.  But section it out, come up with a theme, and most of the choices are made for you.  If you haven’t started landscaping because you don’t know where to begin, how about putting it into perspective?  Bite off a small portion by beginning with a pot.  Not just any predictable pot, mind you.  Go with a theme, either based on the style of your environment or make an environment with your theme.  Clear as mud?

Fern urn or fern gully....your choice if you like shady characters!

In a couple of weeks, I’ll head to Little Rock to speak at the annual Arkansas Literary Festival.  I’ve been paired with one of the city’s own landscaping legends – author and owner of Botanica Gardens Chris Olsen – to show folks the easy way to DIG A LITTLE DEEPER into gardening.  Chris and I will put together some of our favorite plant combos for a little hands-on show-how for gardens anyone can make just about anywhere.  Whether it’s whimsy or wow you want,  a few simple tools and secret ingredients are all you need to create a barrel – or BUCKET – of fun.

TRADE SECRETS FOR POTTING IT UP!

HIT:sprinkle a few "watering crystals" into your potting soil to HALF the number of times you have to water your pots!

Soil: Scooping up a few handfuls of plain ‘ol dirt from your landscape just won’t cut it.  Why? Mainly because it lacks the ability to drain well, retain moisture and give off nutrients to your new plants.  A good potting soil will keep you steady on the tightrope between too much water and not enough. Don’t forget to feed it appropriately, too.  You wouldn’t give your baby dog food….although my nephew thought dog treats were cookies for some time!

Duel purpose, this container also holds rainwater runoff to irrigate the nearby veggie garden.

Container: Although it might hold plants just fine, your “pot” – in whatever form it comes – will probably need a few tweeks to make it a proper container for healthy plants.  Make sure there are holes of some sort for excess water to drain, or a “false bottom” allowing drainage to go somewhere else besides the root area.  Very few plants like wet feet. Or you can do what I do…put a smaller pot  within a larger, ornamental pot.

Instead of soil, I top the cinder blocks and brick pieces in this ornamental container with a FREE plastic pot from the nursery, insuring good drainage and easy change-ups!

And speaking of larger, teeny tiny pots = LOTS of trips with a watering can, so use the largest container possible to enable enough soil and water to be maintained around the roots of your plants.

Now that you have pot parameters, have some fun. Here are a few ideas you can borrow to explore the POTS-abilities for your landscape…….and I bet you’ll have a hard time containing yourself!

• JUST EAT IT! – no disrespect to Michael Jackson or Weird Al for his parody of Michael’s song, but this is an edible pot you just can’t BEAT; fill with lots of lettuce, garlic, onions and peppers for a salsa pot, or Italian herbs and tomatoes for a pizza pot
• MARGARITAVILLE  - combine some of your favorite adult beverage ingredients
• LEMONADE STAND – citrus won’t grow in your clime? put it in a moveable pot for a moveable feast (bring this inside for harsh winter protection)

• 

  This FAIRYLAND CASTLE pot I found at Blue Moon Gardens in Edom, TX.

• FAIRYLAND  -  a great one for little girls, or little girls at heart
• JURASSIC POT – plants that are as old as dinosaurs
• FERN GULLY – shady lovers
• CLIMBING TO NEW HEIGHTS – rebar, wire coat hangers, just about anything that can be bent to your will gives vines a chance to grow
• FOR THE BIRDS – berries and seeds and nesting, oh my!
• WINGED WONDERS – hummingbird and/or butterfly plants bring beauty to your balcony or patio
• LIGHT IT UP – pair flower bulbs with light bulbs for a night-time knock-out
• EVERYTHING’S COMING UP ROSES – roses come in all shapes and sizes and most don’t mind be contained, so spill ‘em and stake ‘em and everything in between
• SEASONAL WISDOM – change out a couple of props, or do a make-over for each month’s special day
• CUT IT OUT – enjoy having cut flowers in your kitchen all the time? grow your own!
  

  Cut flowers from my yard in a vase my daughter made. LOVE monochromatic pairings!

• PRETTY IN PINK – monochromatic is NOT monotony (one of my favorite themes)
• UP AGAINST THE WALL – got a boring vertical space with no room below to garden? put a climber in a pot and give it something to hold on to then watch it go!
• LIVING IN A GOLDFISH BOWL- fish for compliments with watery delights in an old goldfish bowl or make it into a terrarium
• REBOOT – repurpose your favorite worn-out boots
• MINT TO DO THAT – plant your favorite add-on for iced tea within arm’s reach of your kitchen sink
• SWEET DREAMS – gather a few night-blooming plants for a dreamy combo

Now that I’ve stirred the pot, bet you come up with something even better.  Love to see what POTS-abilities you discover!

Easy to grow from seed: LET US have LETTUCE!

Some of the new kids on the block...or at least in MY block!

Some of my lettuce is beginning to bolt.  Just when it starts getting too hot in the kitchen and I prefer a cool salad over a warm meal, my salad fixins’ peter out on me.  While I LIKE flowers, when a stalk shoots up on lettuce to produce flowers – thus producing seeds – I know my fresh-from-the-garden lettuce days are numbered.

'Vulcan' lettuce from seed, new to my garden this year.

A few things about growing lettuce…..

1) Most salad greens – like lettuce and spinach – prefer cool weather.  That means the Gulf Coast version of winter makes perfect growing conditions, while summer (and spring and fall) are too hot for them.  They bolt, another word for “going to seed” as my grandmother called it.  When they start this route in order to propagate (make babies), the leaves soon turn bitter. I do have a couple of varieties that last a little longer: ‘Red Sails’ and an oakleaf type whose seeds came to me from a neighbor.  She calls it “Israel lettuce” and says seeds traveled to Texas in an unnamed pocket after a visit to the Holy Land. Jury’s still out on several new ones – a tennis ball heirloom I bought from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, ‘Vulcan’ that Sakata Seeds sent me and an organic blend given to me by Territorial Seed Company – to see how they do in the heat.*

2) They key is to NOT dig a hole for the tiny seeds; instead, dot them around on moist, scratched dirt and top with a sprinkling of potting soil.  Keep them damp, but don’t pour water. The deluge will dislodge the seeds and they’ll end up sprouting somewhere else, like at your neighbor’s house.

3) I start putting out seeds around Labor Day and plant a few more in a couple of weeks.  By Halloween, I’ve got enough salad to feed my subdivision.  I have enough to feed my family long before that.

4) Some folks swear they’ve found a good summer greens substitute with Malabar spinach.  I’ve grown this vine and while it is pretty, its taste is a bit strong to me.

5) Lettuce makes a great bed edging if you are more into aesthetics than edibles.

6) Salad greens work GREAT in pots if you are yardless, or if you have trouble bending to garden.

7) Different types of greens have different nutrient levels. Texas A&M put together a chart to show you what’s what.

HIT:lettuce is easy to grow from seed!

So…..would you like some seeds?  Leave a comment to tell me and I’ll mail some out when mine go to seed.  We’ll have a salad together.  Wanna try the Vulcan? Don’t know if it will last the summer, but put enough of my Asian dressing on it and I think even my garden clogs might taste pretty good!

Live long and prosper.

(*While I do not receive compensation, I was paid in SEED MONEY…..got free seeds from Territorial and Sakata companies.)

YOU CAN GROW THAT! POTATOES

Don't let taters-gone-native go to waste!

I can be lazy.

While that statement sounds very much like I AM lazy, the distinction is an important one.  For most of my life, it’s been difficult for me to even sit still, much less completely veg out.  Those days are over. Has my personality morphed, choleric gone phlegmatic?  Probably not.  When it comes to continuous, never-ending chores – such as house or yard work – my conscience has simply relaxed at the expense of years.  It seems my friend Brenda Beust Smith, the self-proclaimed LAZY GARDENER, must have arrived at the prescribed age of ease-allowance before I did, robbing me of the title.

Combine my newfound laissez-faire chore blinders, an obnoxious obsession for recycling (stemming more from being cheap AND creative than any environmental crusade), and a desire to buck time-tested gardening rules and what do you get?

The sum is often disaster. Last week’s discovery, however, will be dinner tomorrow night: plenty of yummy new potatoes.

Suppertime spuds? DIG IT!

HIT: sprouted potatoes beg to be planted!

Seed potatoes should be bought and then planted early in spring, according to the rules here in my part of Texas. My version?  Smelled something funny in the pantry after returning from vacation in October, my nose leading me to a bag of organic new potatoes pushed behind a cereal box. They weren’t so new anymore.  Already sprouted, I tucked them – untreated and uncut – into my garden after yanking my frost-bitten tomatoes out.  So here it is, 1st week of March, and my potatoes are faster food than a crowded drive-through at dinner-time.  Just pop them into a few cups of boiling water in my pressure cooker, top with a bit of olive oil, sea salt and rosemary sprigs and serve.  Sounds even lazier than a trip under the golden arches, huh?  Just sit and wait for the timer to go off!

A Different Sort of Entry

My Uncle Bob and Aunt Sammie house. He moved yesterday to his REAL home.

This week’s blog will be a bit different because it has been a very different sort of week for me.  You’ll find the details on my home page.

Are YOU a Garden Design Renaissance Man/Woman?

After a few weeks of HOW-TO’s in landscape design on this blog, ran across this example of possibly the most sane way to do landscaping…..hire OTHERS to do it for you! During the Renaissance Era, often a hired-gun designer came through town and wealthy land-owners paid him to spruce up their place in the latest style – this one a French formal kitchen or potager garden. (Wonder why we never hear of any women designers in the Renaissance? Guess they were too busy posing ample bodies for portraits.)

There are so many cool things to notice in this painting that tell us this was probably a real garden in a real village:

• the arbor structure, most likely for grapes used in making a local wine;
• raised beds allowing for good drainage and room to add plenty of composted manure, readily available and great for improving soil;
• pots with small trees – possibly citrus – that can be moved inside during freezing temps;
• a barrier to keep the sheep (or in my case, DEER) out;
• shade trees limbed up to allow for better air circulation and sun to the garden;
• similarly bordered and laid out in a geometric pattern, giving it the traditional French formality;
• nice open paths so wheelbarrows can get through easily and so the shallow veggie root systems don’t get trampled.

My favorite part is in the lower left-hand corner, the guy digging out sod to increase the beds with a woman telling him how to do it.  Hmmm.  Maybe we are getting to see the REAL landscape designer at work here. Now THAT’S a how-to I LIKE!

"Preparing the Flower Beds" (1625), by Flemish artist Brueghel the Younger