MrBrownThumb

Caring for Daffodils After Blooming

2013-06-06T09:26:00.000-05:00

Along with crocus bulbs, daffodils are some of the easiest garden bulbs you can plant in your garden for a showy display of blooms every spring. From my experience in the garden caring for daffodils after blooming is not unlike caring for tulips after they are done blooming, with one exception: The foliage. Daffodil foliage can be a pain to deal with--especially if you have a small garden.

When daffodils are blooming they can be spectacular. Since mine are planted close to the fence, the blooms often are picked by school children on their way to school. I don't really begrudge them, after all, who can resist their showy yellow color during those cold, rainy, and drab days of spring?

Like with tulips, the first thing you should do to ensure a flush of flowers the following year is to deadhead the stems and remove any seed pods that may have developed. Bees, primarily bumblebees, visit them regularly in the garden in the spring when there isn't much forage available to them. The result is usually handful of seed pods developing after they have been pollinated by bees. To remove the seed pods just snap off the heads when you're weeding the garden. Removing the seed pod will strengthen a daffodil's bulbs. Since the bulb is not expending energy in developing the seeds, all of its energy is being focused on the bulbs below ground and producing offsets (baby daffodil bulbs) and producing next year's flower.

The worst part of growing daffodils is the foliage after the blooms have faded. When the bulbs are in flower the strappy leaves are shorter and stand up straight. All of that changes as the leaves emerge from the ground and start growing towards the light. Soon after a decent rain you may find that the foliage is a mess like pictured above. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but if you planted daffodils along a path you may find that the leaves create a hazardous condition in the garden after rains and as the leaves start to die back.

Braiding Daffodil Foliage

When confronted with a mess of daffodil foliage in your garden, your first instinct might be to cut it back. And this would be the opposite of what you want to do if you want the bulbs to flower again the following year. If the foliage is still fresh and green, the bulbs are still photosynthesizing and feeding the bulbs below ground and preparing blooms for the following year.

One trick that gardeners employ to deal with daffodil foliage is to braid the leaves together to get them out of the way. If you're a girl, parent (or oldest of four latchkey kids) you may have some experience with braiding. It's the same with daffodil foliage as it is with hair. Section off the leaves of your daffodil clump into three parts and braid them together. Make sure to tie off the daffodil braid at the tip to keep it together.

Alternatives to Braiding Daffodil Foliage

Braiding daffodil foliage is kind of controversial. For starters, it looks funny to have braids of foliage sticking up throughout your garden bed. There is also some concern over whether or not braiding the leaves inhibits photosynthesis. But in my experience I haven't found that to be a problem, but I can understand why it isn't ideal. If you do braid your daffodil foliage wait until the leaves have died back on their own before cutting them off and composting the leaves.

If your garden is small and there isn't much room for planting, consider digging up the bulbs and placing them in pots and locating them somewhere out of the way where they will still get water, sun and fertilizer while you wait for the foliage to die. Then plant the daffodil bulbs back in the garden in the fall.

Alternately, you can plant perennials and annuals in front of your daffodil clumps that can help mask the daffodil foliage as it dies. Look around your garden, your neighbor's gardens, and public gardens of ideas. See what plants are growing and producing foliage that's tall enough right now that could hide foliage. For example, in my garden right now as the daffodil foliage is splayed out the daylilies and cranesbill geraniums foliage is tall enough that they could hide the daffodil foliage perfectly.

How do you handle unsightly daffodil foliage in your garden? Do you braid or hide the foliage, or do you prefer to do nothing and put up with a couple of weeks of floppy foliage?

Make Your Own Rooting Hormone From Willow Twigs

2013-04-29T09:30:00.000-05:00

Bonsai was my gateway drug into gardening in my late teens. I even worked in a bonsai nursery for a bit, and one of my favorite gardening tricks I picked up in those days was to make rooting hormone from willow water. Yes, you can make your own rooting hormone from willow twigs. Use your willow water rooting hormone to start seeds, propagate cuttings and water transplants in your garden.

What is willow water?

Simply put, willow water is made by steeping young, green twigs and branches of a willow tree in water to extract the rooting properties of the tree itself.

How to make rooting hormone from willow water

You can make rooting hormone from willow really easily. All you need is access to a willow tree, a pair of garden pruners, a container, a jar works fine, and hot water.

If, like me, you don't have a willow tree in your yard, look for a willow tree in parkways and parks in your neighborhood. After a storm--or windy days--there will be some fallen branches you can harvest. Cut the young, green, and flexible stems and twigs and bring them home.

Ideally the twigs, stems and branches you use should not be larger than the diameter of a pencil.

Cut these down to length so they fit within your container. Your willow tree cuttings should be at least 1 inch long.

Now pour hot water in your container, in my case a mason jar, but you can use any container--even buckets, and seal it for at least 24 hours.

You now have your first batch of your very own homemade rooting hormone for free. After a minimum of 24 hours your willow rooting solution is now ready to use. Most of the recommended uses for willow rooting hormone are for propagating cuttings, but I like to use my rooting hormone to water my seedlings too.

How rooting hormone from willow water works

Willow cuttings secrete a water-soluble hormone called auxin that encourages the growth of roots. Auxins are mostli concentrated in the tips of willow branches that are showing signs of buds and new leaf growth. Auxins induce growth in pre-existing roots and create branching of the roots, resulting in stronger plants with better root systems.

How to use willow water rooting hormone

Use your willow water as a root starter for cuttings for plant propagation, recently planted and transplanted annuals, perennials, herbs, trees and even vegetables. It works wonderfully on seedlings and seedling transplants, too. Willow water is natural, and depending on where you source it, this rooting hormone can be organic too. Unlike fertilizers, you don't need to dilute willow water rooting hormone. You can pour it directly into the soil and containers. Or you can fill a tub or tray with your homemade rooting hormone and let your plants sit in it for a few hours.

If you’re doing a lot of planting, plant propagation, and transplanting, make large batches of willow water rooting hormone by adding a handful of willow twigs to a bucket of water. We used to keep several buckets of willow tree water on hand at the bonsai nursery and used the tea to water new trees and sick plants customers would bring in to us to encourage new root growth and help the plants bounce back.

Have you ever made your own rooting hormone from willow twigs before? Or do you prefer a commercially available rooting hormone?

How to Plant an Orchid Keiki

2013-04-10T10:00:00.000-05:00

For some indoor gardeners orchids are passion. I'm orchid agnostic. Over the years I've grown a few orchids, but always give them to another gardener after they are done blooming. Currently, I own one mini Phalaenopsis orchid that holds a bit of sentimental meaning for me. It has bloomed reliably for me, and has produced two keikis. In this post on how to plant an orchid keiki I'll show you the steps I took to remove the baby orchid and pot it up.

Before I begin, I'd like to mention that if you want to grow orchids, but don't have the space, the min orchid varieties available are a great option. Mini orchids--reaching only a few inches tall--are hybrids with all of the pros of growing orchids, without the space and light constraints of their much taller counterparts.

"Keiki" is a Hawaiian word that translates to "baby." In horticulture, a keiki is how an orchid reproduces asexually. Dendrobium, Epidendrum, and Phalaenopsis orchids can reproduce in this way. In a Phalaenopsis orchid, the new plant, which is an identical clone to the mother plant, grows along the flowering stem. This can happen in other plants too. Outdoor gardeners see my post on a Daylily Proliferation in my garden.

What you'll need to plant an orchid keiki: Obviously, an orchid with a keiki or two. You'll need garden pruners, or a really sharp blade. Make sure whatever you are using to remove the keiki has been sterilized. You can sterilize your cutting tool of choice by burning the blades for a few minutes of your stove's burner to prevent passing on a plant disease. An orchid growing medium. My miniature Phalaenopsis came potted in sphagnum moss, but you can consult the review of orchid growing mediums by the American Orchid Society for tips if you are a first time orchid grower. I'm using these hydroponic pellets that I have available because I find sphagnum moss to be finicky growing medium for orchids. Lastly, you'll need a container that's about the right size for your keiki. Since my miniature orchid is rather small, I chose a container the same height as the one the original plant was potted in. As you can see, I have filled it halfway with the hydroponic pellets to make the final step easier.

Before you prune your orchid's keiki make sure your blades are sterile! If your keiki has developed a large root system, run the roots over water until they are soaked to make them more pliable and less likely to break when you are pruning and planting your orchid. Make a cut along the stem of your orchid just below where the keiki is growing.

Here you can see the keiki has been removed from the parent orchid. While making sure you don't damage the roots, clean up any of remaining dried and dead stem.

The last step is to center the keiki in the pot you're going to plant it in and fill in the remained of the growing medium you're using and make sure your orchid keiki is stable when potted. If the keiki moves around there is a good chance that you'll break some of the stems. Try not to be too rough when potting your little orchid. That's pretty much all there is to planting your orchid keiki.

Miniature Phalaenopsis Orchid Care

My mini orchid lives on the bathroom sink. The only light it receives comes from an east-facing window that gets morning sun. If I'm taking a shower I'll take the plant in with me and give is a quick drink before placing it back in it's spot. I've noticed that the leaves of my miniature orchid start to wrinkle when the plant is in dire need of watering.

If you've caught the miniature gardening bug, or are looking for small plants for a terrarium I highly recommend miniature orchids, and miniature Phalaenopsis orchids in particular. They're pretty much the toughest little orchids I have ever grown.

Do you have a favorite orchid you would recommend to indoor gardeners?

Planting Biodegradable Seed Starting Pots

2013-04-01T10:00:00.000-05:00

Starting your plants by growing from seed in biodegradable seed starting pots is one of the most earth-friendly methods of starting a garden. Homemade biodegradable seed starting pots range from: seed starting pots from newspaper, toilet paper tubes--even eggshells can be used. These are just some of the seed starting tips for beginners I've covered in the past. Then there are the commercially available biodegradable seed starting pots at your local garden center. However, not all biodegradable seed starting pots are created equal. Below I'll offer some tips on selecting commercial seed starter pots, how to water seedlings, and how to plant these pots in your garden.

Selecting Biodegradable Seed Starting Pots
The first thing you'll notice when buying biodegradable seed starters is that you have three options: There are square pots, round pots and trays of strips. The individual round pots and square pots generally come in two sizes--small and large-- while the strips I've only found in one.

If you read any available packing for the seed starting pots you'll notice that they are generally made from three things. They can be made from peat, coconut coir, "recycled materials" and dried cow manure. The pots made from cow manure aren't as easily available, but you should ask for them at your garden center if you are interested in lessening the dependence on plastic in your seed starting operation.

Peat, Paper or Coir Pots: Which are Sustainable?

Peat Seed Starters

Over the past two years I've been involved in conversations with other gardeners about the use of peat. These conversations usually boil down to someone in the industry trying to convince me, or people around me, that harvesting peat can be done in an environmentally-friendly manner. I do not subscribe to this idea. Personally, I don't want to contribute to the destruction of an ecosystem while trying to develop one in my own yard. If I'm giving peat pots I'll use them. But I don't go out of my way to buy them. You should read the peat page and educate yourself on the pros and cons of harvesting peat and make your own decision.

Coir Seed Starters

Seed starter pots made from coconut coir, a waste product, is a great substitute for pots made from peat. I like coir so much that I use it as my seed starting soil too. Recently, I've had gardeners express concern about the salt levels in this medium. I've never encountered a problem with it, and I wonder if it isn't one that has been pushed by the peat industrial complex.

Paper Seed Starters

Finally, over the past three years I've noticed these pots made from "recycled materials" are becoming more and more available in dollar stores and big box retailers that devote a small section to seeds and seed starting supplies in the spring. I've yet to call the company to ask what exactly "recycled materials" they use, but given their low price, density, and how the pots react to water-- I'm pretty confident that it the product is recycled paper.

Starting Seeds in Biodegradable Pots

The first thing I do when starting pots these pots made from natural fibers is to check if there is a drainage hole. In the case of the strips, I've noticed that the drainage hole's size can vary from strip to strip, and from one cell to another. If you look at the picture above, you'll see the irregular drainage holes in each of the pots that come in strips. These holes are rather large and a lot of your seed starting mix will fall out if you lift the pots and when you water. I like to take a small piece of napkins and just cover some of the hole to minimize the loss of my seed starting soil.

In the image above, the pot made from "recycled materials" is the only one with a precisely cut drainage hole. It's another indication that makes me think it is made from paper as the cut is too clean for it to be peat or coir.

Before filling these pots with your seed starting soil I recommend you moisten the pots with either a spray bottle, or by dunking them in warm water for a few seconds. Not too wet, but make sure they are moist. I even go so far as to moisten my seed starting mix before adding it to the moistened biodegradable pots. Pots made from natural fibers will wick away moisture in your seed starting mix and from planted seeds resulting in poor germination rates. This goes for newspaper pots and pots from toilet paper rolls, too! Keep it an eye out for pots drying out when temperatures get warm and on sunny days if you're starting seeds in your windowsill. They dry out real fast.

How to Plant Biodegradable Seed Starting Pots

After all danger of frost has passed, it's time to take your seedlings that you've grown and tended to indoors and introduce them to your garden beds or container garden. Dig a hole or trench that is wide enough and deep enough to set your biodegradable pots in. The depth is very important. If any portion of the pot is exposed above the soil line, the air circulating above ground will wick away moisture from the pot. Then the pot will wick away moisture from the surrounding soil and you'll be left with dead seedlings. This also applies to the paper tube and newspaper pots.

Herbs planted in biodegradable seed starting pots.

Pepper plant planted in biodegradable seed starting pots.

When you buy plants that have been commercially grown it is often recommended that you gently break apart the soil and roots to promote root growth, and counter the effects of the plants having become root bound. It's a good idea to break or tear apart these pots when you are planting them in ground and in containers too. The second to last photograph shows an herb I planted in a pot and you can see that the roots grew through the pot. In the last picture the roots of a pepper plant didn't grow as vigorously through the pot and would have benefited from the pot having been broken to allow them to penetrate the surrounding soil as the roots concentrated on growing around the surface of the pot.

Planting biodegradable seed starting pots in the garden, while better for the environment, require a bit of planning and thought. Don't allow them to dry out completely when you're starting seeds in them. Especially the seedling pots made from paper. They can be harder to initially water and will hold more water than the pots made from peat and coconut coir, but they are more durable.

After transplanting your seedlings into the garden ensure that the pot is completely covered in soil to prevent the air from drying out your plant and seedlings. These natural parts will break apart and decompose on their own, but it is a good idea to help the seedlings, and the decomposition process, along by breaking the pots when you're planting them in the ground.

More Seed Starting Tips
Eco-Seed Starter from Burpee
Seed Starting Bio-Dome from Plastic Bin
Seed Starting Tips for Beginner Gardeners

You can also look over the archive of my posts about starting and saving seeds from your garden for more tips, suggestions and recycling ideas for seed starters all in one easy to remember page.

Black-Eyed Susan Vines

2013-03-18T09:00:00.000-05:00

A couple of years ago I had the chance to interview George Ball Jr., owner of the Burpee Seed Company, and during the interview I mentioned to him that I was a big fan of vines. I recounted how I used to love the vine selections offered by the Martha Stewart seed line, which Burpee packaged, because it had some really nice vines. Mr. Ball mentioned that because of the vertical gardening trend Burpee would start to carry a bigger selection of vines. So far I haven’t seen seed companies step up and push vines for vertical gardeners, but if you’re looking for an easy-to-grow vine for your mailbox, fence, living wall--or maybe a privacy screen--there’s no better vine than Thunbergia alata. The ornamental garden vines in this genus are better known by their common name, Black-eyed Susan vine.

Go beyond morning glories and runner beans and grow these six beautiful Black-eyed Susan vine varieties.

Thunbergia alata 'Susie White Black Eye'

All of the black-eyed Susan vines pictured in this post were photographed at the gardens of the Ball Horticultural Company a couple of years ago during a tour. Ball's website lists this white blooming Black-eyed Susan vine variety as 'Susie White Black Eye.' Some seed companies list the white Black-eyed Susan as Thunbergia alata 'Alba' and some seed companies, like Park Seeds, list it as 'White-eyed Susie.'

This is my favorite of all the Black-eyed Susan vines. The characteristic 'black eye' of the flower is surrounded by five white petals. Ball also produced a variety named 'Susie White Clear' that doesn't have the dark center.

Thunbergia alata 'Charles Star'

I can't find a listing for 'Charles Star' on the Ball website, but that's what this Black-eyed Susan vine variety was labeled as in the display garden. I don't know if you can make it out, but the orange color of the flower's petals gets darker as it gets closer to the dark eye of the flower.

Thunbergia alata 'Sunny Lemon Star'

This Black-eyed Susan vine variety is much brighter than 'Charles Star' and the common orange Black-eyed Susan vine variety you'll find at the garden center. 'Sunny Lemon Star' seems to have narrower flower petals, and the yellow is a cheery hue.

Thunbergia alata 'Sunny Susy New Orange'

The blooms of 'Sunny Susy New Orange' look like pumpkins. Another Black-eyed Susan vine variety I can't find on the Ball website, but they list two orange varieties; 'Sunny Orange Wonder' and 'Susie Organe Black Eye.'

Thunbergia alata 'Sunny Susy Red Orange'

'Sunny Susy Red Orange' Black-eyed Susan vine is different than the other Black-eyed Susan vines because the black eye is a really deep red, where in other varieties is closer to a pure black color. The flowers of these vines are a dark peach color that accentuates the veins each petals.

Thunbergia alata 'Arizona Dark Red'

The blooms of the 'Arizona Dark Red' Black-eyed Susan vines are a deep red and orange color. The colors of this vine are evocative of the Arizona landscape.

Thunbergia alata is native to Eastern Africa, and has naturalized in other parts of the world. In warmer climates, Black-eyed Susan vines are herbaceous perennials, but in my area they are annuals and die off when winter arrives.

If you’re looking for a vine for hanging baskets, window box planters, or something to quickly climb up a structure like fence or trellis; give Black-eyed Susan vines a try. They're easy-to-grow, do well in dry gardens, sprout easily from seeds, and bloom early. The trumpet-shaped blooms are great for long-tongued pollinators like humming birds and butterflies.

How to Save Black-eyed Susan Vine Seeds

It’s easy to collect and save Black-eyed Susan vine seeds from your garden with a little planning. Do you grow Black-eyed Susan vines in your garden? I've mentioned before that I've seen Black-eyed Susan vines listed in old houseplants books. Ever grown this plant indoors?

Amaryllis 'Limona'

2013-03-13T10:00:00.000-05:00

I love green flowers, and I covet green Amaryllis blooms in particular. As you may be able to deduce by the name, Amaryllis 'Limona' is a green flowering bulb. The blooms emerge a lovely green with hint of yellow and white. As the flowers mature they develop a pinkish red blush to them.

Like so many other Amarylllis blooms, 'Limona' has a green eye (center) and the green color lightens as it reaches the ends of the petals. As the flowers get older, the yellow hue gives way to a deeper green color and the blush, which is barely visible, develops into a rust color that accentuates the veining of the blooms.

I took pictures of 'Limona' when it was still green, but I'm showing these because I think the rusty color make the flowers look more dramatic. This Amaryllis bulbs was actually pretty large. I'd say the bulb was about 12-15 inches in circumference. The bulb produced two scapes (stems) reaching 18 inches tall from the neck of the bulb, and produced eight flowers. Each of the flowers were 6.5-7 inches across.

An internet research informs me the bulb is suppose to be fragrant, but I didn't notice any scent other than the "fresh" smell of greenery. Some of the earliest photos online for this hybrid Amaryllis date back to 2006, and it seems at the time that Amaryllis enthusiasts were not too happy with the color. The bloom was introduce/distributed by a now defunct Dutch company called Lagenveld Bulb Co.

This bulb came to me for free courtesy of Longfield Gardens, as part of a series of Amaryllis bulbs they sent me to grow and review. Larger than 'Lemon Lime' (both in terms of bulb and flower size) 'Limona' is a pretty and interesting Amaryllis to grow--provided you don't mind the red blush, which I don't.

If you're looking for more pictures and Amaryllis growing tips, click the Amaryllis label here to see older posts on cultivating these easy-to-grow indoor bulbs.

Amaryllis 'Fairy Tale'

2013-03-05T10:00:00.000-06:00

Amaryllis 'Fairy Tale' is a wonderful miniature Amaryllis. Technically, they're Hippeastrum bulbs, but are commonly known as Amaryllis by people like me who don't want to use the correct name for these tender bulbs.

Unlike Amaryllis 'Lemon Lime' and some other miniatures I've grown in the past, 'Fairy Tale' is really a mini bulb. The circumference of this particular bulb was about 10 inches and has produced one scape (flower stem) that has opened, and there's another on the way. The opened scape is about 14 inches tall and produced four red and white stripped flowers with a green center.

These photos of the flower of 'Fairy Tale' are kind of misleading in that they make the flowers look kind of large. Each of these Amaryllis flowers is only about 4 1/2 inches wide.

The diminutive blooms are on par with the blooms of Amaryllis cybister 'Chico' and are just as dramatic as the blooms of larger bulbs like Amaryllis 'Charisma.' I searched some Amaryllis sites and forums for information on this bulb after it opened and it seems like there are a lot of pictures of a bulbs labeled 'Fairy Tale' that are more of peach color, and some where the red and white striping is a lot more dramatic.

This particular Amaryllis came to me from Longfield Gardens, they sent me a few bulbs for free from the collection they carry to grow and review on my blog. Have you grown 'Fairy Tale' before? I've read it was introduced in 1999 and I'm surprised there aren't more Amaryllis enthusiasts with pictures of this flower online.

Click the Amaryllis label for more information on growing, planting, and propagating Amaryllis bulbs.

Square Newspaper Seed Starting Pots

2013-01-29T10:00:00.000-06:00

When you are in the grips of seed starting season you’re looking around the house for items you can upcycle into seed starting pots. Along with yogurt cups, takeout containers, and soda bottle seed starters don’t forget to dive into the recycling bin and make your own seed starting pots from newspaper. You can roll-your-own seed starting pots from newspaper, but you can also make square newspaper seed starting pots, too.

Making your own seed starting pots from newspaper is an eco-friendly way of starting seeds for your garden. You keep newspaper out of landfills--if you aren’t recycling it--and it is cheaper than buying seed starting pots every year.

Newspaper Seed Starting Pots Supplies

Obviously, you need newspaper to make these seed starting pots. A pen or marker to help you make lines, scissors to score your guide lines, and either tape or stapler.

How to Make Your Own Square Newspaper Pots

Cut your newspaper sheets into large squares. It helps if you use a square pot or container to ensure you make the base of your square newspaper pots large enough to hold more than two seedlings. Make your guidelines by drawing lines from the corners of your template pot to the corners of your newspaper. I used a marker to help illustrate this step, but you can use pencil or nothing at all and just make the cuts.

The next step, after you have cut along your guidelines, is to fold the edges of the newspaper sheets in the sequence I have marked. Fold in the first tab, and then fold in the second and third tab. Try to get the edges of tabs two and three to overlap.

Now either staple or tape the three tabs of your newspaper seed starting pot together and repeat the folding and stapling for the bottom of the other side of the pot.

You now have a perfectly square newspaper pot you can use to plant more than one seedling, or you can use these newspaper seedling pots to pot-up smaller seedlings into a pot with more room for their roots to grow.

Newspaper Seed Starting Tips

As I mentioned above, you do not need to use a marker to make your guidelines. You can use pencil or nothing at all. Use newspaper printed with soy ink to make your seed starting pots. If you are unsure of what kind of ink is used to print the newspaper you have on hand, pull out any sheets that use color ink and leave those in the recycling bin.

If you have ever started seeds in newspaper pots before you know that after a couple of weeks they can start to fall apart pretty easy. It is best to use newspaper seed pots for seedling you will be transplanting out into the garden soon. You can make your newspaper seed starting pots a little more durable if you use a minimum of four sheets. Finally, when you are ready to plant your newspaper seed starting pots in the garden, pull out the staples or tape you used to hold them in place.

Need more seed starting tips? Check out the tab here for seed saving and seed starting tips. It lists all of the seed starting and seed saving posts and garden videos I have made on the subject. You can also use my Seed Snatcher custom search engine that is exclusively about seed buy, seed starting, and seed saving.

Do you make your own seed starting pots from newspaper?

Jade Plant Leaf Cutting Propagation

2012-12-31T09:55:00.000-06:00

Jade plant, jade tree, and money plant, are some of the common names for Crassula ovata. Jade plants are evergreen succulents with thick branches and green, oval leaves. They're one of the easiest succulents to grow, and they are also one of the easiest to propagate. Jade plants can be propagated through cuttings of stems and branches, but jade plant leaf cuttings are easy to propagate as well.

Jade plant propagation can be accomplished by rooting jade plant cuttings in water, but it isn't necessary. In fact, I find jade tree propagation to be easier in soil. Jade plant cuttings in water develop what is referred to as “water roots” that can easily break off when you transfer the cutting into a pot with house plant or cactus and succulent potting mix.

Last year, I took a bunch of jade plant leaf cuttings (simply twisted the leaves off the stem) and rooted the leaves in soil as end of the school year gifts for my nephew’s classmates. If you have grown a jade tree you know how easily the leaves fall off, and rooting the leaves--instead of branches or stems--allows you to propagate many more little jade trees for your collection or to give as gifts.

Whether the jade plant leaf you are propagating fell off or you removed it from the plant: Let the cutting sit somewhere out of direct sunlight for 3-5 days before attempting to propagate it. This will allow the cut end of the leaf to dry and start to form a callus that will keep it from rotting.

Insert the pointy end of the leaf into your preferred potting mix for house plants or cacti and succulents. Keep the jade plant leaf out of direct sunlight while you are waiting for roots to grow. If your leaf cuttings are in direct sunlight they may dry out and shrivel before the roots have a chance to form. Bright and dappled shade is the best lighting for cuttings. Mist or gently water the leaf cutting(s) once after you inserted it into pot. After that water as needed when the soil looks really dry.

You will know for sure that your jade plant has started to root when you see new leaves (or a stem) start to grow from the tip of the leaf cutting.

I find the best time to propagate jade trees is in the spring and summer. If it is too cold when you are attempting to root cuttings they can sit in the cold, wet potting mix and rot.

Jade plants made excellent house plants because they are durable, can go long periods without being watered, and when they get ideal conditions also flower. Jades also make good candidates for indoor bonsai cultivation. There are several Jade plant varieties and cultivars that you can find at garden centers and nurseries, and they’re all as easy to propagate. Besides propagating jade plants through leaf cuttings, you can root jade plant stems and branches easily.

Garden Picture Book

2012-12-12T21:15:00.000-06:00

Recently, a representative from Blurb contacted me and asked me if I would be interested in trying and reviewing the book making service. Since 2012 was the 7th anniversary of the MrBrownThumb I decided to give it a try and make a garden picture book.

Some of the pictures I used to create my book feature plants, flowers and bugs that I've posted here, and events I was part of over the years I've run this blog. Other photos I just liked, and some I chose to include in the book because they reminded me of people and good times.The cover photo is of amaryllis 'Charisma.'

Overall, the experience of using Blurb was very positive and I came away learning something new and seeing my garden photographs in a whole new light. You can also see all of the pictures in the garden video.

Below I'll post a few pictures from the book and give my full review of using Blurb.

On the right is a photograph of a nephew with his first home-grown tomato. On the left is a picture of a begonia leaf that I just liked.

On the left is a bumblebee about to pollinate some borage blooms in a medicinal garden that I frequented a lot before my mother passed away. On the right is just photo of peas that I really liked.

The yellow daylily on the left represents a gardener I only knew online who shared with me many of her perennials when I started out with this blog. On the left is a photo of part of the 'Art in Bloom' exhibit at the Milwaukee Art Museum. I went with MySkinnyGarden and Jdog to Milwaukee to meet up with Garden Kim to hear YouGrowGirl give a talk a couple of years ago. This was one of the best days I have ever had as a gardener. The car ride was fun, I got to hang out with cool people, and I got to meet Gayla in person. Her YouGrowGirl blog has been a source of inspiration over the years.

Both of these photos were taken at the Lurie Garden. I seem to visit this garden all the time, and I can’t resist going there when the salvia river is in bloom. It’s just a spectacular sight.

The photo on the left is just a small part of Chef Rick Bayless’ urban garden/farm. On the right, is a photograph from the Cook County Jail garden that I visited a couple of times. I paired them together because I like the juxtaposition of the haves and the have-nots, and the message of how gardens are great equalizers. But the Rick Bayless garden photo has special meaning, and documents meeting Garden Girl, Garden Faerie, and Katie during Spring Fling. There were a number of laughs that day and subsequently that I associate those three women with.

Blurb BookSmart

If, like me, you've never published a book: Blurb makes it really easy to do so. It’s ridiculously easy. They provide a program called BookSmart that can be downloaded from their website. You load it up, choose a book size, and a bunch of images from your computer and the software can automatically populate the book for you. Or you can select templates for the pages with different picture sizes, borders, and areas for text. To make my garden picture book, I decided to stick with the full page images and a couple of the smaller dimensions because I wanted to see what happened when the images were resized.

In about an hour you can have a book laid out. If you want some more control and options you can watch the helpful video tutorials they provide on the design process and working with BookSmart specifically. But if you can send an Email, blog, or use social media sites, you can arrange a book using BookSmart.

Photography

Since I have only ever used my photos for my blog(s) working in RGB (Red, Blue, and Green; how pictures are displayed online) is what I’m accustomed to. I've never had the need to convert images to CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black; colors used in printing) before. I've licensed pictures to print publishers several times, but I never had to deal with the conversion process and the limitations of printers. If you don’t have something like Photoshop you don’t have to concern yourself with any of this, but I wanted to learn so I played around with this stuff following their video tutorials.

Fortunately for me, prior to being offered the chance to print this book for free, I had undertaken a massive organization of seven years of photographs. This experience has taught me a lot about editing. Not just about editing photographs for print, but about editing the junk photos from my archives. The book came out to 50 pages and I was having a hard time finding 50 images I thought were “good enough” to include.

A few of the pictures I included came out a lot darker than I had anticipated. I attribute this to this being my first time prepping photographs for print, and some sloppy photography practices on my part. On the other hand, I was really impressed by a couple of the photographs I included and how they came out.

Camera

Do you need a fancy camera to publish a Blurb book? Not really. I use a Digital Rebel XT, and while some may consider it “fancy” it only captures pictures at 72ppi. Usually for printing a good quality print you need between 250-300ppi. That’s what I meant above about experimenting with the full page and smaller dimension photos. I wanted to see the difference in quality when a picture was full page, to when it was printed in a smaller dimension. Because the number of pixels each of my photos is comprised of is smaller than the standard requirements, I was expecting some really poorly printed pages. But the images came out a lot better than I expected.

Using Blurb

Printing your own books to document a person, event--or even your garden’s progress--can be a snap with Blurb. You don’t need much technological knowledge, and the books can be something only you ever see, or you can use the Blurb service to sell your book to your blog readers. For a small fee they can even convert your book into ebook format for digital readers like the iPad. Blurb’s book dimensions start at 5 x 8 inches and go up to 12 x 12 inches. I used Blurb's BookSmart to allow for customization, but you can use Bookify if you want to create a quick book using your online photos. There is also an option for the most advanced photographers and designers.

I think the total cost of my book was close to $90.00. The price may seem steep, but consider that I chose a larger format book, a hard cover, printed 50 pages, and chose premium quality paper and expedited shipping (which accounted for a large chunk of the price) because it’s easy to spend someone else’s money. But you can produce a 20 page, softcover, 10 x 8 inches book for $19.95. A Blurb book of your garden would make a nice gift for the holidays and birthdays.

Poinsettia in a Can

2012-12-03T09:30:00.000-06:00

If you're looking for holiday houseplants there are better options than poinsettias. As much as I dislike poinsettias, I couldn't resist buying this poinsettia in a can when I came across it at the dollar store the other day. Technically, it isn't a gag gift, and there is no poinsettia crammed inside of this can. At least not yet.

What this "poinsettia in a can" actually is is a grow your own poinsettia kit. Why anyone wants to grow a poinsettia from seeds is beyond me, but I guess I shouldn't be too judgmental. I shop at dollar stores, and I bought a poinsettia in a can. So who am I too look down on the poinsettia buying habits of anyone.

You get a can's full of vermiculite and about ten seed of Euphorbia pulcherrima to grow. E. pulcherrima is native to Mexico and is the common red poinsettia you see everywhere around the holidays.

Growing Poinsettia from Seed

I shouldn't be surprised by the fact that the instructions and artwork on the can make it seem like you'll have a "flowering" poinsettia growing in a short time in this can. Poinsettias can grow between 2-6 feet tall, making them too big of a plant to grow in this little can. Poinsettia seeds are dark germinators, they should be covered with a thin layer of growing medium and kept moist until they germinate. Which should take between one and two weeks. If you're sowing poinsettia seeds in December to have a "flowering" plant by Christmas, it isn't going to happen. You can get your seed grown poinsettia to "bloom" by next Christmas though.

Getting a Poinsettia to Flower

How do you get a poinsettia to bloom? Most people who buy poinsettias, and probably those trying to grow them from seeds, don't realize that the "flower" we associate with poinsettias are actually bracts. In botany, bracts are modified leaves that are associated with the reproductive parts of a plant's flower. Actual poinsettia flowers are small and pretty insignificant. The colored, most often red, parts of poinsettias that are thought of as flowers are leaves. These leaves turn the familiar red with changes in the day and night cycle. If you want a poinsettia to flower by Christmas, you'll need to start giving it 12 hours of total darkness every day in October. Keep the poinsettia at 68 to 72 degrees and either cover it with a box or set it in another room where no lights will be turned on for those 12 hours. When December rolls around you'll see the bracts start to turn the red you're looking for.

Wonder how they get poinsettias to be all compact and bushy? See the guest post The Pathogen in Your Poinsettias.

I've always thought that poinsettias where the SPAM of the gardening world. Seeing a poinsettia in a can just solidifies my belief.

Collecting Wild Blue Violet Seeds

2012-11-26T09:30:00.000-06:00

Wild violets may be considered a weed by many, but I like. Unfortunately, they don’t spread in my garden like I wish they would. I know many gardeners battle to eradicate them from their lawns in order to maintain a perfect carpet of grass. It’s unfortunate that wild violets don’t grow a prolifically in my grassy area like they do in my neighbor’s yard. So I collect wild violet seeds and sow them in parts of the garden I want them to grow.

Wild blue violets spread aggressively through underground rhizomes. Pulling up some of these underground roots and transplanting them will help spread them if they grow rather anemically in your garden as well. I know there are probably some gardeners who will look at this and wonder why I want wild blue violets in my garden. Well, for starters, wild blue violets are the state flower of Illinois. They also happen to be beautiful and make a fantastic ground cover that attracts many bees to the garden in early spring.

When violets are pollinated they lower the flower head to the soil surface, and months later the seed pods, now formed, start to rise up off the ground. Here is a picture of the basil grown of violets in the fall in my garden. You can see that there are seed pods in various stages of development.

If you look closely, you can see the forming seeds pressing against the walls of the seed pod in the picture on the left side. When the seeds in the pod are mature, the pod stands straight up and splits open, revealing three valves containing about two dozen seeds. As the pod dries, it constricts and sends the tiny seeds flying across your garden.

A rainy fall makes collecting wild violet seeds easy because the pods don’t dry too readily and disperse the seeds. If you want to be really meticulous about collecting violet seeds you can place a jewelry bag, coffee filter, piece of muslin cloth or even a tea bag, around the forming pods to capture the seeds when you see the pods start to stand straight up.

Unlike other seeds I collect, I don’t bring these seeds in to dry. Instead, I’ll direct sow the seeds in the garden where I want them to grow in the fall because direct sowing is the easiest and most cost effective way of starting seeds.

Collecting seeds from other members of the Viola genus, Johnny Jump Up, for example, is just as easy.

Coleus "Under the Sea" Hort Couture Collection

2012-11-19T08:30:00.000-06:00

I’m a big, big fan of coleus. As far as I’m concerned there is no wrong coleus to grow in the garden. Granted, there are some coleus color combinations I’m not too fond of, but to each their own. I always thought the only way coleus plants could be improved is if they were bread to produce large flowers. Then I was introduced to the “Under the Sea” collection of coleus plants at a garden show a couple of years ago and fell in love with them. This year Hort Couture sent me a box of sample plants to trial in my garden. Below are pictures of the plants from the “Under the Sea” collection that performed well in my garden, and that I’m comfortable recommending to gardeners looking for unusual garden plants.

'Bone Fish'

While not my favorite in the batch of plants, coleus ‘Bone Fish’ was a superb plant. The yellow and red color combination was pretty striking in person and it, of all the plants I trialed, reacted the best to pinching to create a fuller plant.

If you haven’t noticed yet, the leaves of the “Under the Sea” series is different than just about any coleus you may have seen before. They’re evocative of exotic salt water fish and coral--hence their names.

'Red Coral'

'Red Coral' was one of my favorites. Like ‘Bone Fish’ above, it reacted well to pruning by pinching the tips of the plant to create a fuller plant. And just look at those leaves! Have you ever seen anything so weird? It's a smaller plant and if you grow it I recommend growing it in a single pot to really accentuate the unusual leaf structure. I’d also plant them one or two per pot at the most because I think the dramatic effect is lessened when they’re in mass. I planted all of mine in a single pot and from a distance they didn't seem to interesting until you got up close and personal.

'Red Anemone'

Of all of the “Under the Sea” coleus plants 'Red Anemone' was by far my favorite. The leaves on this plant were rather large and dramatic. There was no ignoring this plant from a distance. Each individual leaf was about the size of my hand, and edged in a deep red color of carried through the stems. This was a usual and handsome plant that I wish I had tried to overwinter indoors.

'Lime Shrimp'

If you've read enough posts at this garden blog you know I love black plants. Or at least what passes for black plants in horticulture. When I was told Hort Couture was giving me plants to trial I was most excited about ‘Lime Shrimp’ because of it’s dark coloring. Let me preface the following by saying; my picture doesn't really do it justice. I probably have a better picture of it somewhere on my computer, but I can’t find it at the moment. The chartreuse and burgundy--a deep purple in some spots--color combination of the stems and leaves is superb. I paired these plants petunia ‘Black Cherry’ and loved the look. I would often go out to the container garden just to look at them together. These two plants together just made a miserable gardening year worth it.

What I didn't like about ‘Lime Shrimp’ was its growth habit. Perhaps this was as a result of me not pinching the plants as they grew, or of cultivation, but I found them to be too tall and sparse. The space between each cluster of leaves on the stem was too long. You can sort of see it in this picture, but it was more pronounced in person. Maybe in a container or garden bed planted among similarly tall plants this wouldn't have been noticeable, but as the tallest plants in a pot it was.

There were a couple more “Under the Sea” coleus in my sample box from Hort Couture, but they weren't included in this plant review because they didn't perform as well as these. You can visit the Hort Couture website to see all of the coleus plants in this collection for yourself, but I can only recommend these four as they performed exceptionally in my urban garden in a tough year, and didn't even blink at my benign neglect.

Have you grown any of the “Under the Sea” coleus collection from Hort Couture? What did you think of them?

Cool Wave Pansy 'Violet Wing'

2012-11-15T09:00:00.000-06:00

If you want to insult a man, call him a pansy. It's one of those words that can be used in mixed company and stings without the need to resort to profanity. But the only man that will take umbrage with being called a pansy is a man who hasn't grown one in a garden before. A man that gardens knows pansies are tough. Pansies are among the few annuals you can plant in your garden in the spring that will take the cold and rain and keep coming back. This year I grew 'Violet Wing' pansies that came in the plant sample box that Ball Horticulture sent out to garden communicators to trial in our gardens.

Like many men would, I tossed out informational material provided with the box of plants without reading it. I mean, who needs instructions to grow plants? They're pansies. I've grown pansies before--it isn't that hard. It wasn't until a couple of weeks ago when I was preparing this post that I realized I should have read the information packet.

Apparently, "Cool Wave" is more than just a marketing term. It actually describes the growth habit of this series of pansies. These are "spreading" pansies and are selected to be grown in container gardens to trail over the sides of your pots.

All summer long I kept wondering what I was doing wrong and why these pansies kept falling over the sides of the self-watering planter I was growing them in and touching the deck. At first I thought maybe they were so long because they didn't have enough light, but the container garden is in full sun. So that couldn't be the problem.

Since we had a horribly hot and dry summer, I thought maybe the pansies were falling over the sides of the planter because of the heat. It almost drove me mad trying to figure out what was going on with these plants. Had I read the information Ball Hort provided, I would've know they're suppose to spill over the sides of planters. They reportedly spread a good 30 inches, making them ideal for containers and as a ground cover. They're also suppose to be pretty hardy and will return in the spring in some gardening zones.

Another feature of this pansy that I really liked was the way the light-colored petals of the flower start off a creamy color and slowly this blue tint appears and spreads in the lower petals. One day you have creamy white blooms and the next time you look at them it looks like an ink pen leaked in your shirt.

I was also surprised by how well 'Violet Wing' performed in the container garden considering the drought we experienced this year. Normally, I'll plant some pansies in the spring and tear them out in the summer when they stop blooming when it gets hot. But these guys kept blooming all summer long and never stopped. They were still blooming two days before I wrote this when I finally tossed the plants in the container garden in the compost pile.

If you're looking for a "spiller" in your container garden combinations, give pansy 'Violet Wing' a shot in your garden. It is one tough pansy.

Got a favorite pansy? Do you prefer the large-flowered types of pansies, or do you prefer the smaller blooms of pansies like 'Violet Wing'?

Saving Gaillardia Flower Seeds

2012-10-23T10:12:00.000-05:00

The annual plant, Gaillardia pulchella--sometimes called Indian blanket, blanket flower, Indian blanket flower or firewheel-- is an herbaceous annual native to the central U.S. It's an extremely easy-to-grow plant in the garden, and just as easy is saving Gaillardia seeds.

Looking at the fiery flower petals of this plant it's easy to see where it gets its common names from. Like with other plants in the Asteraceae family, the seeds for this plant develop in the center of the bloom. There are actually lots of tiny flowers that make up the 'eye' of the flower.

The petals you see are just there for show and to attract pollinators--which is does by the dozens--such as bees and butterflies.

After the flowers in the center have been pollinated, the leaves fall off and you're left with these lollipop-shaped seed heads on the stems of your Gaillardia plants.

To promote more blooms, Gaillardias should be deadheaded but in most areas they will bloom from summer into fall all on their own.

Leave the seed heads on your plants until all the color has faded and the seed head has dried to a mostly white hue. When the seed heads are sufficiently ripe and dry the perfect spheres start to shrink and you'll see dark circles in the seed head. When Gaillardia seed heads look like the photo above you know the seeds are ready to collect. To save Gaillardia seed just pinch the seed head until it breaks apart and all the individual seeds come loose. Set the seeds in a cool dry location on a piece of paper to draw out any moisture from the seeds before storing them.

I find that Gaillardia seeds, which are actually a fruit known as an achene, are rather sharp, so using gloves to harvest the seeds may be a good idea. Gaillardia will also self-seed readily and saving seeds isn't necessary, but it's good to have backup seeds in your seed bank and seed libraries just in case. If you're looking for garden plants that are pretty much maintenance free and can tolerate drought, plant a few Gaillardias in your garden.

'Spellbound' Garden Mums

2012-10-18T10:30:00.000-05:00

I've never really been a fan of garden mums. I don't have anything against planting mums in the garden, but I've just never been enthusiastic about these fall color providers. I guess I'm just missing the gene that makes gardeners excited about mums this time of year. Earlier this autumn, an unexpected shipment of plants arrived. Inside were these 'Spellbound' garden mums from Raker up in Litchfield, Michigan.

Inside the boxes were two 'Spellbound' garden mums in full bloom. I'm not sure how the company got my address to send me these plants, but I appreciated being greeted by such beautiful color upon opening the boxes.

One reason I've never gotten enthusiastic about mums is that they're a fairly ubiquitous plant. They also seem to be the go-to plant of florist to express sympathy for an illness and loss. But what makes these 'Spellbound' mums special? Well, just look at them for starters. The bright pastel colors evoke the promise of spring, rather than a drab fall and death that I associate with mums.

Have you noticed that there are three colors in each pot instead of the single color you usually find with potted garden mums? There are yellow, pink, and fuchsia flowers in each pot. These plant growers combine three different varieties of mums from the same genetic family in a propagation cell. The result of a three color combination in a pot that makes each pot of 'Spellbound' garden mums unique.

Planting Fall Garden Mums in the Garden

Many gardeners treat mums as an annual and a temporary way to provide color in fall plantings. Garden mums are often tossed once winter comes in many colder climates, but they can be planted in the garden where they will continue to grow. The same neighbor mentioned in the post on saving cockscomb seeds has an impressive border of mums. They've gotten so nice and full over the years and put on a nice display of color starting in late summer that extends into fall. When the blooms start to fade on the potted garden mums she just makes a space for the plant in the garden and mulches it heavily before the first freeze.

Garden mums you find in the fall in garden centers have been grown and pampered to bloom for the fall to take advantage of impulse sales. Their root systems may not be extensive enough to survive a winter, but if someone gives you a mum, or you buy one to decorate a planter with, give it a chance to continue growing in the garden by planting them in the garden. There's no guarantee that it will survive a winter if it doesn't have enough time to establish roots, but there is no harm in trying. Gardeners in warmer zones don't have to worry about this. But those of us gardening in colder zone should ideally plant mums in the spring if you want to give them enough time to establish roots and survive a winter.

Are you crazy about garden mums? Do you think mums are 'meh'?

Saving California Poppy Seeds

2012-10-15T10:39:00.000-05:00

Eschscholzia californica, better known as California poppy, is a perennial and annual poppy native to the United States. This poppy is the official state flower of California, and different than Papaver somniferum, which is better known as Opium poppy. While California poppies are just as easy to grow as opium poppies, saving seeds from California poppies is a little bit different.

California poppies are low-growing plants and the flowers are not as large and dramatic as the flowers of opium poppies. Another difference is the seed pod for California poppies which you can see in the background of this picture. California poppy seed pods look like okra seed pods that have been put on a diet. The thin seed pods emerge from the center of the flower after it has been pollinated.

Again, these seed pods are different than the other poppies I've collected and saved seeds from. Here is a seed pod that has split open and spilled all but two of its seeds.

Here is an unripe California poppy seed pod next to some seed pods that have opened and some California poppy seeds. If you look at the pictures and video for the post on collecting and saving cleome seeds you may notice a similarity. The two plants share similar seed pod structures and even the seeds look a little alike.

In the post on saving cleome seeds I recommend pressing the seed pod between your fingers and feeling for the split or "crack" of the seed pod to know whether it is ready to harvest seeds from. I find the same method applies with California poppies. You'll know the pod is ready to collect seeds from when it splits when gentle pressure is applied.

You can also collect several of the tan-colored seed pods and place them into a bowl or paper bag. You'll hear them little cracking sounds as the pods split open and some of the seeds can be spit out a distance at this point, so keep the seeds out of reach of children and pets.

It may also be a good idea to wear gloves when handling the seed pods that haven't dried completely yet to avoid having your skin come into contact with the milky sap of these plants.

One of the fun aspects for me about learning how to save seeds is that once you've learned how to save seeds from a handful of plants, you can use previous experience to learn how to identify the seed pods and seeds of just about any plant.

How to Save Cockscomb Seeds

2012-10-08T09:52:00.000-05:00

If you’re looking for easy-to-grow annuals for your garden, you can’t do better than Celosia cristata. Commonly known as cockscomb or woolflowers the flowers of this tough annual plant resemble the comb of a rooster, hence the name. Saving cockscomb seeds is easy, and I recently learned a new trick for collecting these seeds.

Cockscombs make great cut flowers, but while growing them for bouquets you may miss out on collecting the seeds. A neighbor of mine grows these cockscombs for decorations at her church--that is if they flower thieves in the neighborhood don’t steal them first--and she’s shared seeds with several gardeners in the neighborhood over the years.

Normally I would wait for the flower to start to fade and just shake them in a paper bag to free and collect the seeds. You see, cockscombs don’t produce seeds pods like you’re accustomed to, and the seeds are produced below the crested flower.

To harvest the seeds my neighbor runs her finger nail along the hundreds of seed heads that develop below the flower and let’s them fall into the palm of her hand. This allows her to harvest the seeds before the flower fades, or before she's ready to cut the blooms for her church.

What you will get looks like this. A lot of small, shiny, black seeds mixed in with some chaff. You can separate the chaff from the seeds by placing all of this into a bowl and gently blowing the chaff to one side.

It’s easy to see when cockscomb seeds are ready to collect because the seed heads open up to reveal the shiny seeds. Another sign that the seeds are ripe for collecting is the presence of finches on the flowers. These small birds will land on the bloom and hang upside down to eat the seeds. If you see finches on your cockscomb flowers you know it’s time to collect the seeds.

Harvesting Celosia/Cockscomb Seeds

Update: I saw the neighbor harvesting seeds from her cockscomb flowers and went out and captured this video for the post on saving cockscomb seeds.

Saving Nicotiana Seeds

2012-09-21T19:53:00.000-05:00

I can’t say enough positive things about growing Nicotiana plants in the garden. They’re tough plants than can take some heat and drought, several species and hybrid cultivars have some beautiful flowers, and the sweet-scented blooms attract moths and other pollinators. Saving and collecting Nicotiana seeds is really easy.

There is enough variety in floral shape, color, and plant height in the genus to keep most gardeners interested. I believe this plant is ‘Only the Lonely’ and it is one of my favorites for its dramatic height and trumpet-shaped flowers that glow in the moonlight.

After the flowers have been pollinated they will turn brown and shrivel leaving the seed pod remaining on the stem. As you can see from the photo, the ripened seed pods are brown and open at the end when the seeds are ready to be broadcasted.

At this point you can just tap a Nicotiana seed pod and the seeds will easily spill into the palm of your hand, seed envelope or a piece of paper. A single plant can yield a few thousand of the small, brown seeds. To save and store the seeds, spread them out on a piece of paper in a cool dry location for a couple of days to allow them to dry before storing them in seed envelopes for the following year.

Collecting Nicotiana Flower Seeds

Here's a garden video showing you how to collect seeds from ornamental tobacco flowers. I love plants like Nicotiana because they give you so much bang for your seed saving buck. You'll be able to grow hundreds of these annuals in your garden after saving seeds from just one plant. Although, I should point out that if you're saving seeds from a Nicotiana hybrid cultivar there's no telling what your seedlings will look like.

Troy-Bilt Battery-Powered Garden Cultivator:Giveaway!

2012-09-17T11:41:00.000-05:00

A couple of years ago I reviewed the batter-powered garden trimmer and the TB154E garden cultivator from Troy-Bilt. Both of these garden tools have been a source of great help to me in the garden. In 2012 Troy-Bilt introduced the TBC57 cordless cultivator. A Lithium Ion battery-powered garden cultivator that’s easy to use, easy to assemble, and eliminates the need for gas and extension cords.

The TB154E is a great little cultivator, but the TBC57 is even better because it is battery-powered so you don’t need to worry about running over the extension cord when using it in the garden.

Features of the TBC57 Batter-powered garden cultivator

20 volt Lithium Ion rechargeable battery.
Light-weight deign.
Adjustable tilling width.
Easy to assemble and use.

Troy-Bilt has given me this garden cultivator for free to review (coming soon), and has provided me with one to giveaway to one lucky reader of this garden blog.

How to Enter the ‘Cultivate My Garden’ Giveaway

I'm making this easy and providing four ways to participate in the giveaway. You can enter once per method for a total of three entries.

Garden Bloggers:

Be a resident of the U.S.
Leave a comment below (20 words minimum) about the garden you’d cultivate with this tiller. Would you dig up your lawn and plant a garden? Finally get around to sprucing-up your existing garden because you won't need of a back-breaking shovel? Help a neighbor with their garden? Occupy Gardens by starting a community garden or a garden at a local school?
Make sure your Email is displayed in your Blogger profile or blog. If you do not have a Blogger profile: use Name/URL option in the comments system to link to your garden blog. Make sure your Email is listed in an easy to find location on your garden blog.

Twitter:

Be a resident of the U.S.
Copy and paste the following in a tweet:

Hey @Troy_Bilt & @mrbrownthumb , #CultivateMyGarden w/a tiller http://goo.gl/DGSk5

Make sure your Twitter account is not protected so I can see your tweet. If your account is locked, unlock it for the tweet so I can jot your name down. If you have a blog or website, list it in your Twitter profile in case you win and need to be contacted and can't be reached through Twitter.

Facebook:

Be a resident of the U.S.
Click the “Share” link below this status update on my garden blog’s Facebook page, and explain what garden you’d cultivate with Troy-Bilt’s TBC57 battery powered garden cultivator.

G+:

Be a resident of the U.S.
Share this status update with your friends and tell me what kind of garden you'd cultivate with this tiller just like in the entry for garden bloggers and Facebook users.

The winner will be selected on 9-22-12 at 11:59 p.m. CST. I will place all the entries in a hat and draw one at random. In the event that the entry selected does not have an easy way to contact him/her, I will draw another name. One entry per person per method. Troy-Bilt/Marcus Thomas, LLC will handle the shipping of the garden cultivator to the winner. Again, make it easy to be able to contact you if you win.

Good luck! And don’t forget to tell me what garden you’d cultivate.

Update: I've put all of the entries in a list and numbered them all in order that they entered. I placed the numbers through a random number picker and the winner is.... mr_subjunctive's comment at 2:23 PM. Thank to everyone who entered!!

'Black Boy' Bachelor's Button Flower

2012-08-16T10:30:00.000-05:00

About 6-7 years ago, during my Gothic gardening phase, I received a packet of seeds labeled ‘Black Boy’ Bachelor’s Button. I put the seeds away in my seed pack keeper bin with the intention to sowing it one day. I love black flowers, but there was something about this flower that nagged me without me truly understanding.

This year I decided to take the ‘Black Boy’ Bachelor’s Button seeds out of storage and sow them in the garden to make sure my seed collection remained viable. As with other so-called black flowers, the blooms of this Bachelor’s Button aren’t really black. They are a very deep maroon.

Grow enough black flowers and you’ll see that the color the blooms are is dependent on the age of the flower and the light. On bright, sunny days the purples and blues that make up the tones of black flowers really come out. On cloudy and overcast days the shades of the blooms are dark, and can look pretty black.

There are several Centaurea cyanus cultivars that you can plant in your garden. They’re pretty flowers and easy annuals to buy seeds for and grow in your garden. But don’t be fooled by the pictures of ‘Black Boy,’ ‘Black Magic’ and ‘Black Ball.’ None of them are as black as they look in the seed catalogs and seed packets.

The buds are always a good indicator of just how black the flower will be when it opens up. I’ve noticed that the darker the flower bud, the less black it will look once it is opened. As you can see, ‘Black Boy’ is no exception to this rule. While growing this bachelor’s button I tried to find out what was the difference between ‘Black Boy,’ ‘Black Magic,’ and the ‘Black Ball’ Bachelor’s Buttons and can’t find one. I did find a reference on RareSeeds.com to ‘Black Boy’ as a "rare heirloom" listed in the Buist's seed catalog in 1942.

Coincidentally, I see that Gayla Trail at YouGrowGirl was also growing this plant at the same time. She mentions that the plant isn’t black enough to overcome the "casual racism" of its name and warrant a space in her garden. I think I have to agree. I always felt weird about sowing the seeds, and now I understand why some seed companies may list it under the more acceptable names of ‘Black Magic’ and ‘Black Ball.’

How to Save Bachelor’s Button seeds

Previously: How to save Bachelor's Button seeds pictures. Like black plants? Navigate the black flowers label for more "black" annuals and perennial garden plants.

'Indigo Rose' Tomato: Another Blue Garden Tomato

2012-08-13T09:37:00.000-05:00

If you're a regular reader of this blog you may remember that last year I grew some 'OSU Blue' tomatoes in my container garden. This year I'm growing 'Indigo Rose' tomatoes. 'Indigo Rose' is another blue tomato by the same plant tomato breeders at OSU. You should read the post on 'OSU Blue' if you want to know the history of the tomato and what causes this unique blue color in the tomato fruits.

'Indigo Rose' can be considered the "sequel" to 'OSU Blue' and is the variety released by OSU researchers to commercial growers who are selling them at farmers markets. And to seed companies who sold them to regular gardeners like myself. Like with 'OSU Blue' the fruits of 'Indigo Rose' tomatoes start off green and exposure to sun turns the fruit this beautiful bluish purple color you see. The parts that do not receive enough sun to activate the pigmentation turn reddish orange just as I documented with 'OSU Blue.'

One notable difference between 'OSU Blue' and 'Indigo Rose' is the coloration in the leaves, stems, and the flower petals. The same compound that create the blue tint in the fruit darkens the leaves and stems of this tomato plant. The blooms are particularly beautiful and open to this nice, rich yellow color that looks like butter.

Provided your tomato receives enough sunlight all the way around it will continue to darken and ripen to an almost black color as shown in the video below.

'Indigo Rose' Tomato in my Garden

See how dark--almost black--the tomato is? You can even see my reflection in the fruit itself. The inside of the tomato is reddish color when ripe.

'OSU Blue' Tomato in my Garden

Here's the video for 'OSU Blue' so you can compare the blue coloring between these two tomatoes if you didn't click the link to read the previous post.

I haven't tasted 'Indigo Rose' tomatoes yet because I'm waiting for them to ripen and hopefully collect seeds from them. However, if the flavor is anything like 'OSU Blue,' I don't think the tomato is going to taste that special, but it also will not taste horrible. I think a lot of the talk about the taste of these blue tomatoes may be psychological because of the color. We expect something different, because they look different, so our brains tell is there's something different about them. Rather than our taste buds, but I'll have to confirm my suspicions once I actually taste this tomato.

If you happen to knock off or break a tomato before it completely turns a dark blue or purple color, let the green side sit in the sun for a day or two and the color will change. High Mowing Organic Seeds gave me the seeds for this tomato to grow last year, so if you're looking to buy seeds from 'Indigo Rose' check with them.

Did you catch 'Indigo Rose' fever and grow it in your garden? What did you think of the colors and taste?

Calendula 'Zeolights'

2012-08-07T13:03:00.000-05:00

I've been content with growing Calendula officinalis in my garden for years. Pot marigold, as it is most commonly known, is a great garden annual that can be grown in a container garden, or in the ground in poor soil. A couple of years ago at a seed trade a friend talked me into picking up some Calendula ‘Zeolights’ seeds. I reluctantly took the seeds and put them away. This spring I decided to give them a try and am now wondering why I didn’t grow ‘Zeolights’ in my garden before.

Calendula ‘Zeolights’ was bred by plantsman Frank Morton, and when completely unfurled the large blooms resemble Gerbera Daisies. As the buds opened they looked a bright yellow that made me question why I made space for this when the common calendula looks just as nice.

Then the blooms opened up revealing these beautiful, fiery blooms in yellow, peach and bronze petals. As the flower gets older, the petals seem to get darker, and when fully splayed are evocative of a lion’s mane. If you’re looking for an annual to add to your garden next year that provides a nice splash of color give Calendula ‘Zeolights’ a chance. The common calendula blooms well into fall for me--only dying with the first frost--and if ‘Zeolights’ is anything like it, the colors of this bloom will look great in the fall garden.

How to Collect and Save Calendula Seeds

In the archives of this garden blog there’s a post on how to save calendula seeds which has pictures you can follow. The video above has the same information, but presented in an abridged format for easier consumption.

Calendula seeds are easy to harvest and save for next year, or to use in trades. Given that this is my first year growing ‘Zeolights’ and I’ve never saved seeds from it before I can’t tell you whether it will come true from seeds, but there’s never any harm in experimenting. Like with Calendula officinalis, the petals of ‘Zeolights’ are edible--I tested them--and can be added to soups and salads.

Want to save more seeds in your garden? Check out the seed saving tab for previous posts and videos on collecting and saving seeds.

How to Collect & Save Bachelor's Button Seeds

2012-07-23T11:00:00.000-05:00

Since my interest in gardening lead to me collecting and saving seeds that I can distribute through my seed library I've been focusing more and more on old fashioned flowers. The "old lady" garden flowers I would have turned my nose up at a few years ago are now my obsession. Seeds for these flowers are easy to buy, trade, and most importantly: they're easy to save and share with new gardeners. One such flower is Bachelor's Button. Collecting and saving Bachelor's Button seeds is really easy.

Centaurea cyanus is an annual that gets about 3' tall, and blooms come in blue, white, pink, red, and purple. It is also commonly refered to as Cornflower, and Butonniere flower. When Bachelor's Button flowers fade they don't leave behind an obvious seed pod, but rather a seed head. If you don't know how to collect Bachelor's Button seeds you may think that the flower wasn't pollinated. But if you pluck the flower's seed head pictured above you'll get a few seeds for your collection.

Take the seed head in your fingers and gently break it apart by rolling it in the palm of your hand, or between your fingers, to reveal the seeds inside. Bachelor's Button seeds look like little bullets (or badminton birdies) with a tuft of hair at the blunt end. These are the seed you're looking for and want to save. Once you've collected all the seeds you need you can set them on a paper plate to dry for a couple of days and then store the seeds in a paper envelope or plastic seed baggie.

How to Collect Bachelor's Button/Cornflower Seeds Video

Bachelor's Buttons is incredibly easy to grow in gardens in a variety of soils-they're downright weedy most of the time, but not too aggressive in my garden. My biggest problem with growing this annual in my garden is that I forget what the foliage looks like in the spring and I end up weeding the plants.

Blossom-end Rot is What's Wrong with Your Tomato Plant

2012-06-27T09:00:00.000-05:00

About this time of year I started getting the same question from new gardeners. In particular, new gardeners who are growing their own tomatoes for the first time start to panic when they notice a brown spot start to develop on the bottom of their tomato fruits. "What's wrong with my tomato plant" they all ask after noticing a small,brown spot beginning to form on a tomato fruit. It's blossom-end rot.

The symptoms of blossom-end rot on tomatoes start off as a small, tan-colored spot on the blossom-end of a tomato fruit. If you’re an obsessive tomato grower that is constantly examining your fruits, you’ll noticed it first when the fruit is small, green, and still developing.

Depending on the size and shape of your tomato you may not notice it until the fruit is ripening and the problem worsens and develops into a dry, leathery lesion that is hard to miss.

Blossom-end rot isn't a disease spread by garden pests, or something that is transmitted through infected plants. It also isn’t a result of a poorly pollinated flower. Generally blossom-end rot occurs when a developing tomato fruit doesn't get the necessary amount of calcium to the end of the fruit while it starts to develop.

Preventing Blossom-end Rot

This disordered is primarily caused by uneven watering when the fruits are developing that doesn't let the tomato plant take advantage of nutrients in the soil-especially when you’re growing tomatoes in containers. Extended droughts, over watering, or drought followed by over watering can lead to blossom-end rot. Basically, your tomatoes are getting blossom-end rot because you’re not watering properly when the plant needs it most. Don’t let your tomatoes sit in soggy soil and don’t let the soil dry out to the point that the plant is wilting.

Tomatoes Affected by Blossom-end Rot

A couple of years ago while talking to Colleen from In the Garden Online I learned that the elongated, paste-type tomatoes are highly susceptible to blossom-end rot. She pointed me to the paper A Cellular Hypothesis for the Induction of Blossom-End Rot in Tomato Fruit which puts the blame on blossom-end rot in elongated tomatoes on the shape and vascular structure of the fruit. Basically if you’re growing paste tomatoes you’re going to have to live with blossom-end rot occurring.

If your tomatoes are showing signs of blossom-end rot you can just simply remove the affected fruit(s) and ensure you properly water your tomatoes from here on out to keep the rest of the crop from being affected.

Blossom-end rot also affects vegetables like peppers and eggplants, and the solution when it happens with those vegetables is the same.