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  #91  
Old April 2nd, 2011, 11:23 PM
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And I'm just starting my seeds Goldfields!

I actually have quite an adverse reaction to geraniums. So much so that when I plant them I have to use thick rubber gloves up to my elbows and a mask.

And strangely, a friend who is Chinese tells me they are very bad feng shui in your house but good (red =prosperity and white = serenity) in the garden. Apparently, so much depends upon where they are planted in the garden and in which direction they are facing.
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  #92  
Old April 3rd, 2011, 03:02 AM
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Ooh, what seeds? I am totally hooked on growing plants from seeds. LOL. It just feels satisfying seeing lots of colour from what were just seeds in seed raising mix, plus you can get a lot more variety than in the same old, same old seedlings they sell at nurseries. My current lot of seedlings are not doing well outside in my mini hothouses, but then I'm guilty of having let them dry out. Bad, bad me. I'll do some more when I find time.
I suppose geraniums are a bit overpowering scent wise even if you haven't an allergy to them. I don't think I could bring them into the house. But there speaks a true gardener, i.e. yourself, who has an allergy and still grows them.
I have red geraniums but no white ones, I'll have to rectify that.
Must away, daylight saving ended yesterday and we'll have less time outside before dark tonight. Have to get used to it.
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  #93  
Old April 3rd, 2011, 05:16 PM
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My guerilla garden in Toronto was pretty much all done by seed, either hand-sewn or in the case of the daisies self-sewn. I'll have to see of I can find some pix of it. All flowers and herbs...although last year I had a rogue strawberry plant appear out of thin air. I received some donations from Canadian Tire last fall and was able to plant some fruit trees. We'll see if they will survive. It's a guerilla garden so the "soil" is hideous

This year (new house, new garden) I've started a few heirloom varieties of tomatoes and carrots, a few different types basil and mint. Sage and Oregano. Bee balm. Lemon Verbena. Michaelmas daisies. Lots and lots of different types of morning glories (I have a oooogly fence and house to cover up!). A few types of sunflowers. Lavender. Centaura. Having a brain-freeze here ~ some of the seeds I collected in the nabe or brought from TO and put them in last fall. The "usual suspects" and apparently a few surprizes let's say!

Believe me I am not a gardener. That would be an insult to gardeners everywhere. I'm a SeederPlanterRareweederOccasionalWaterererTerrificDirtDigger
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  #94  
Old April 3rd, 2011, 08:17 PM
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SPROWT , I like that. It's about all I am too. I tend to disregard instructions like width between plants for instance, or height, so often put things in the wrong place. Then I'm easily put off weeding by spiders too. I'm right into heirloom tomatoes, though this summer I started them then just gave up on the idea of planting them. Too many hassles with locusts, fairy grass etc.. Next year I'll grow some for sure though. Which ones have you got going? My favorite without a doubt is Cherokee Purple, though it doesn't produce a lot sad to say. Your garden should be lovely and I can have year round sunflowers if you post pics of yours. I have self sown sunflowers coming up in an inconvenient spot, but I love them so much I'm going to leave them there. They look healthier than the ones I start off myself.
I think my biggest addictions are roses and irises, the latter because a very kind friend gives me them, but I buy roses because they are such good value in a garden. DH used to grumble when I came home from shopping with a new one, now he just laughs and asks did I get one.
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  #95  
Old April 4th, 2011, 08:46 AM
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3 more roses. Some are very deserving of extra shots I feel.

Peter Frankenfeld.
Charles Rennie McIntosh.
Grace
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  #96  
Old April 4th, 2011, 09:01 AM
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They are jaw-dropping Goldfields. I've never tried roses although I have one in my garden now. It's very leggy (as in 8 feet of leg). I cut it right back as it sits in front of my gas meter (see other thread about meter man and jammies ) so we'll see what it does this summer. I'll certainly be looking here for advice!

I adore sunflowers. They are the one flower that never fails to make me smile.

The tomato varieties I am trying this year are Aunt Ruby's German Green, Cherokee Purple, Black Cherry and Banana Leggs. The carrot seeds, Rainbow blend, I'll plant directly. I'm going to go with vertical gardening for both, along with some herbs, as I have so little room.
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  #97  
Old April 4th, 2011, 10:08 AM
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I'm hoping no-one asks me if they have a nice perfume. LOL. I rarely smell them, partly because of hay fever that lingers, also the fear of getting an insect up my nose.
I have a friend here who has probably 50 roses in big pots, roses she will never put in the ground, and they produce some splendid blooms. If you want to save garden space the odd potted one might be nice. Hope that rose you pruned doesn't just shoot back up to 8 feet again.
Golly, I wish you were in this country, or I could get seeds through your customs, I could give you some really different tomatoes. Striped, green when ripe, a beautiful pink one called Monomahk's Hat - it can produce a perfect heart shaped tomato. Frische, which is the best red I've tasted, or Tom's Yellow Wonder. Having said that, you have a nice colour combo going on already. I think I'm silly sticking just with flowers. I had a great vegie garden one year and grew some ripper carrots. I love homegrown broccoli too.
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  #98  
Old April 4th, 2011, 12:24 PM
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Potted roses?! Hmmmm not a bad thought...I may need to relocate "Leggy" as the meter man needs a visual line no greater than 5" off the ground and I would really like to have a rose climbing on the front of my house. The front "yard" is paved and unfenced.

Is it too late/ too early to do this or should I wait for the fall?
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  #99  
Old April 4th, 2011, 06:37 PM
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I do put my roses in during Autumn/Fall, but that's into the ground. I buy potted roses whenever a nice one is available. Roses season here is from late May to the end of August though, when they're available from the big nurseries, I don't know what that would equate to in Canada, especially when you have that super cold winter. I hate to admit it but I have 46 roses still in pots, but when I gave all of them a drink of Seasol I counted how many out in the garden had suffered die back and gone to rose Heaven, and half my potted roses do have a space out there. I'll need to start planting soon.
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  #100  
Old April 12th, 2011, 04:23 AM
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Does anyone have green grass yet, or flowers?

First flower here is Lavendula multifida canariensis, Canary Island Lavender.
A David Austin,rose, Gertrude Jekyll.
Lavender Pinocchio, during its brown phase. LOL.
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  #101  
Old April 12th, 2011, 04:26 AM
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Sending another photo of the Canary Island Lavender, to show how different the foliage is.
Then a photo of the rose Buff Beauty, and finally a little perennial I picked up recently Gentiana triflora 'Royal Blue'.
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  #102  
Old April 12th, 2011, 04:37 AM
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Hmmm. Forgot the photo's but where I could have edited that post before and included the photo's, now I can't. I also can't get the smilies to work. Is anyone else having trouble?
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  #103  
Old April 13th, 2011, 11:19 AM
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I hope Shirley reads this. Now that we are having lower temperatures I have Black Spot right through the roses, some extremely bad, yet other roses are totally clear of it. Not a worry for me because they'll defoliate and either do another Autumn flush, or they will go dormant - depends how cold it gets.

This first rose, Kronenberg, is showing just the start of it. but Fisherman's Friend and the lovely pink Zepherine Drouhin are fine. I won't show you how badly effected my Icebergs are.
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  #104  
Old April 13th, 2011, 11:32 AM
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Cosmos.
Combo of petunias and some later flowering Gypsophila.
One of my favorite shocking pinks, Best Friend. Such a stand out in the garden.
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  #105  
Old April 13th, 2011, 02:23 PM
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Your roses continue to astound me, GF! Man, they're gorgeous!
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  #106  
Old April 13th, 2011, 10:21 PM
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I have to agree, Hazel. My sister got me started, she'd visit and bring along big bunches of her lovely roses, and the blooms were HUGE. I thought I'd never be able to grow such things. But, every time I visited my vet I would drive past a house that had splendid Standard roses out the front; every time I went shopping I could see a friend's lovely roses from even a paddock away, so finally I thought I'd have to try, they must like this area. I am just so happy I committed myself to the chore, they are a constant delight. They astound me too though. LOL.
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  #107  
Old April 20th, 2011, 11:20 AM
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Though it looks a bit like one, the first rose is not a David Austin, and it's name is Paul Bocuse. A modern shrub rose.

Second is a DA, namely Tamora, and the third is Apricot Nectar, a floribunda.
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  #108  
Old April 20th, 2011, 12:34 PM
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Love the color on that last one! And the way it fades toward the edges.
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  #109  
Old April 20th, 2011, 09:08 PM
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Rather intense in the centre, isn't it? It will pale out fairly fast seeing it's sunny here.
I'll have a planting day(seeds) after I finish with the big pot of minestrone soup I am cooking. Time for poppies to go in.
First though, here is Crocus rose, looking beautiful whatever stage it's in. A lovely tough rose that repeats and repeats.
Next are some Seduction buds, and finally Kronenberg, I love the yellow reverse on the petals of this one. It's a big rose, average 6" diameter, 41+ petals. I just realised I should add a link for anyone who is interested in roses but doesn't have it, because it will let you know what zones the roses do well in.

http://www.helpmefind.com/rose/plants.php
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  #110  
Old April 20th, 2011, 09:25 PM
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So you plant in fall, GF? I've had fairly good luck direct sowing native wildflower seed in autumn, but our winters are cold enough to keep the seed dormant till spring.

The Seduction buds are beautiful!!!
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  #111  
Old April 20th, 2011, 09:58 PM
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Only certain things can be planted now, Hazel. Poppies, Aquilegia, Nigella, Wallflowers, Candytufts, Canterbury Bells,, Gypsophila, Alyssum, Virginian Stocks, Pansies/Viola, Evening Scented Stocks(Mathiola), Cerinthe Purple .....I'm only mentioning the ones I have planted, or have germinated already. One of my most unusual is Stapelia variegata, or Carrion flower/ starfish flower. No pleasant odour there, it attracts flies. (Eeewww!) A novelty therefore, maybe I'll only grow it once just to have a look at it. Oh, I use mini hothouses for the seedlings, have to keep them frost free. I never direct sow, it's a failure here, I'm sure the ants take the seeds.
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  #112  
Old April 20th, 2011, 10:24 PM
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Oh dang.. the snow covered all my flowers and the tulips just bloomed..Ugh
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  #113  
Old April 20th, 2011, 11:05 PM
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That's no good, Shaykeija. Have you had that happen other years? Just wondering will it harm them?
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  #114  
Old April 20th, 2011, 11:09 PM
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Nope just like me, tough as nails
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  #115  
Old April 21st, 2011, 02:32 AM
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This (Bourbon 1868) rose, Zepherin Drouhin, is a good one to have. Nice colour, thornless, and it has a magnificent perfume.
Next is a sweet little Bonica bud, followed by a very fragrant HT, The Children's Rose.
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  #116  
Old April 21st, 2011, 08:32 AM
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How long into winter will your roses be blooming, GF?
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  #117  
Old April 21st, 2011, 09:51 AM
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All the snow covered flowers look OK.
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  #118  
Old April 21st, 2011, 10:07 AM
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That's good, Shay. You'll have to post some photo's once the snow thaws.

Hazel, I'm not sure there will be a single rose in Winter . I just looked at June/July/August for the past two years and there were only one or two rose photo's. In July I start to get some bulbs flowering, and the Wattles, more bulbs in August but that's when my lambs start arriving so I have more fun photographing them than flowers. Just maybe I could get a late Autumn flush of roses in May, I'm hoping anyway.
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  #119  
Old April 24th, 2011, 01:21 AM
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The Pilgrim just keeps on going.
Yellow Charles Austin, and finally the deliciously crumpled petals of Temora.
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  #120  
Old May 14th, 2011, 11:17 AM
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Getting close to Winter now and there is not much in the garden now. A geranium that appeals to me despite how plain it is. An Apricot Nectar bud, and the same rose just more advanced.
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