Mid June 2010

Ismene festalis 'Zwanenburg'

I'm taking 'advantage' of the rain and getting some indoor work done. You know I'd rather be out in the garden, there's so much to do, especially this year!!!

What has survived, what I thought was a much too long winter, is growing well, some a little too well. It was a mad dash to get everything I could into the ground last fall, it didn't matter where it went, as long as it was in the ground. Some plants even stayed in their pots and got sunk in. It was worth the effort though. There are only a couple of plants that I've seen no sign from, allium karataviense for one. Botanus has it and I will replace it.

Allium 'Purple Sensation'

Alliums are a favorite and I'm forever adding to the collection. I thought I had given these all away prior to the move, I'm glad I didn't. What color! Especially with the blue water barrel as a background.

Iris pallida 'Aureo-variegata'

I picked this up at Parkland Nurseries Garden Centre If you don't have one in your garden yet, GET ONE! It has the most intoxicating scent I have ever smelled in an iris yet. Grape Kool-Aid comes to mind whenever I catch a whiff of it. It requires part shade, so I'm thinking I'll place it the garden by the front door. Morning sun but I'll still be able to enjoy that wonderful scent.

A good many of the iris are blooming or starting to bloom right now. It's very exciting for me as I'll be able to determine what I still have and what is lost. The iris pictured below is one I received from a good friend in Calgary and I'm grateful that it is still in the garden. One of these years I'm going to try a little hybridizing and see what I come up with. For now I'm quite content with trying to whip the gardens into seed producing shape.

This has been one of my favorites for years now, I'm very glad it was not lost in the move. I received it years ago from a woman in the US, back when the border was open for trades. She described it as an ugly brown iris. I love it!

Updates and such

Gosh darn machines! We had a drive failure on our main computer over the holidays. I thought I had everything backed up, and I did, on that drive.

Oh well, back to the drawing board. Managed to retrieve a good deal, but not everything. A lot of mail was lost and a good many contacts. Also all of the programs that I had used to modify the web site are gone. Which is why nothing has changed! I'm so on it!! Hopefully within the next month I can get things running like a well oiled machine again. Fingers crossed please.

I've been able to get some of the new seed listed on the site with this years pricing, however it still claims that all is 1/2 price. Not quite! New seed is regular price, last years crop is 1/2 price. Still very viable, but it's not fresh seed.

I'm very excited about this years growing season. Seeds are coming in from the Seed Exchanges, stuff you just can't find anywhere else. Very exciting!

I'm still hoping to be able to retrieve the remainder of the email, but if I don't.... there was a woman in Calgary that was interested in pastel clivias, please if you read this, contact me. If there is anyone else that I didn't respond to, or would just like to drop me a line, please do. There were so many emails I had kept just for future reference, that are now gone.

Hope everyone is settling into 2010, I just know that this is going to be a fantastic year.

Happy Gardening
Linda @ Beautiful Blooms

Starting seeds!

This is what I do.

Clean pots are a must, whether they are new or old, they must be clean. Nasty organisms that will kill your seedlings can hang out on uncleaned pots for years.

Your mix to start your seedlings is also very important. I used to mix my own and thought that was the best way to go, until I tried Pro-Mix. This just makes seed starting so much easier.


What pots to use? I use a 3 1/4" x 3 1/4" x 3 1/2" (deep) plastic pot. Or 85cm x 85cm x 90cm (deep). I prefer this size, they fit well into trays, 18 per tray, and deep enough for most seedlings to develop a good set of roots. Pictured below are a mix of what I use. The larger square ones are for seed starting, the small square ones I use for oxalis or cyclamen bulbs. The round ones are used for small bulbs (I'll blog on that another time).


I usually get a bit of an assembly line going when it comes to seed starting. I fill my Rubbermaid bin (56l) with Pro-Mix, have my pots on hand and my trays. Oh yes, can not forget my gravel topping and we'll discuss this more later in the blog.
I've gone through my Pro-Mix as I've put it in the bin, breaking up the clumps and taking out any sticks and twigs present. It's much easier to fill my pots after I've done this. I fill my pot about 3/4 full of the mix and using another pot I tamp the mix down. I keep doing this until I have a couple of trays full. I guess it depends on how much seed you have to sow. Once that is done I ready my tags and seed envelopes.


Tags are a matter of preference as well. Some use popsicle sticks, old cut up window blinds, purchased plastic tags, what ever works for you. I use these.


Marking the tag, I use a HB pencil. It stays on better than any permanent marker I've used to date. It does not fade nor does it wash off. It erases off quite well after being washed. I mark my tag with the name of the seed and the date it was sown. Why the date, some seeds take longer than others!

I write down the info on the tag and place it in the pot on one edge. Then I sow my seed on top of the tamped down mix. I place the pot with sown seed back in the tray. On to the next pot. Oh, hang on, I've just sown Seseli and I know that that seed requires light to germinate. I take my tag out again and mark the end with a colored marker. This is just to let me know that I should not cover the seed. I'm trying to be quite general and yet specific, if that makes any sense at all!! Each seed has different requirements, you learn what they are as you go along. You develop a system that works best for you.
I now have a full tray of seed sown pots, now what. This is where the gravel topping comes in. Why the gravel? I questioned that at one time as well. The gravel stops the seed from floating when watered in, it stops mold and other ucky growths from growing on top of your seeds and pots. It makes watering your pots so much easier as it acts as a buffer / filter for the water to seep down and not disturb the placement of your seeds. It just works!
I purchased 80lb bags of #2 granite grit (for chickens) from a feed store for quite some time at $8 per bag, and then I went to my local gravel yard. I filled up a 100 litre bin with 7 mm gravel for $3-5. A matter of preference again. I still buy the granite grit and use it as a topper when sowing my cyclamen seeds, I'm sure the 7 mm gravel would work just as well, just a preference. I'm sure when I run out of the granite grit I'll go to using the gravel, as I haven't found a source for the grit in Red Deer yet. No big deal.

The top of each seed sown pot gets a layer of gravel. Usually about 1/4" per pot. Now keep in mind what your seeds requirements are. Seseli as I mentioned before will not get covered. I treat Aquilegia seed a bit differently as well. For that I ready my pot, put down my layer of gravel and then sprinkle the seed on top of the gravel. Generally, it is mix, seed, gravel though.
If you're going to be starting a great deal of seed, you've found that you've developed an addiction to seed starting, get yourself some good books that you can reference, have your reference materials on hand so that you can quickly look it up and get back to your seed sowing.

What next? Water, of course. Your trays are filled with seed sown pots and they want a good drink. Again, there are different ways of doing this. I put my seed sown pots in a water tight tray and fill the bottom of that tray with water and let the pots soak it up. I keep doing this until I'm sure the pots are well watered. Or, I place the pots in mesh bottomed trays and a hose on the mist or shower setting I water the pots in well. I've placed my gravel on top of the pots of seed, I'm not worried about my seed going anywhere. My preference depends on how many trays I have to do, how much time, and how much energy I have.

And lastly, what do you with these seed sown pots? Cold frames! When I think of the years I started all my seeds in the basement, I shudder.

I love my cold frames. I had left my cold frames with the last house, just too big and cumbersome to move, or take apart, or,,, at any rate, they got left. They are just too easy to build though, any one can do it. I'll post another blog on how to build / create a cold frame. But back to starting seeds.

The trays of pots get a good drink and then are placed into the cold frame. Soon, before you know it, you'll have a frame full of wonderful seedlings.

Taking advantage of a rainy day.

I know I've been neglectful in keeping the blog updated however in my defense, I've got gardens to dig.
I'm going to go back to May for these pictures, and I realize my last blog entry was April, so we should be good.
The following pictures are of the new yard in which Beautiful Blooms will put down its roots and grow.
This first picture is taken from the side and back of the house. It is situated on a corner lot.


A view of the same side of the house, as above. Keep in mind that it is May and it was a cold spring, and there used to be a dog that lived in the house.


The front of the house under the living room window. The tufa rocks that I brought with me from the last garden.


Again, the front, facing south, digging just to get plants in the ground for now. Garden planning will come later.


Facing north, same thing, get them in the ground, will plan later.


The back yard, which blissfully is fenced. The fence is not in the best of shape, but easily overlooked when I think that for the first time I can actually garden in a protected space. Very exciting.


The back yard again. Clean up from former tenants is well under way, hopefully that poor tree will heal.


This fenced in area is on the west side of the house, it would be perfect for either a vegetable garden or maybe green houses.


A view from the top of the deck in the back yard.


In the front again under the living room picture window. The first of the cold frames to go up. Not sure if I'll leave it there or not, for now I wanted it in a location where I could keep an eye on it. I do think that I've located a better spot in the back yard.


Although the house and yard are in a state of neglect and disrepair, it has such potential. The soil is wonderful, compared to the clay of Okotoks, loads of space for huge flower beds, room for green houses, cold frames, vegetable gardens, and so on. I'm very excited about the challenges I have facing me.
Also, and this is so far just a thought that I'm sharing, there is a walk out basement suite that would be perfect for a Beautiful Blooms store, zoning and permits permitting of course. Just a thought?

New Beginnings - Again!

Did you ever think that something was going to last forever? And then something minute and almost not even noteworthy happened and it set off a chain of events so insane, so crazy, and yet so wonderful and life altering.
My last blog entry was July 2008 and I was whining about mosquitos. Today, April 2, 2009 I am in a new house in a new city with a whole new wonderful life. And all because of an email sent by an old friend. Life is a funny, funny thing!

So, here we are in Red Deer, Alberta now. Beautiful Blooms and I have ripped out our roots from Okotoks, Alberta and moved north to the gorgeous city of Red Deer. It is a very pretty, very friendly city and so far I really like it here.

New gardens are being dug and I almost hate to admit it, but I think I'm getting older. The old body isn't quite as limber as it used to be, but maybe, just maybe it's also due to moving furniture and boxes as well. Two, maybe three more trips back to Okotoks and I'll have the bulk of the garden moved. It's very good timing, this move, plants are just starting to wake up and not as resentful about being moved. They settle back in quite nicely.
Tomorrow's trip to Okotoks will be to pick up the cold frames, we were able to pick up some old storm windows at Habitat's ReStore and they will make great covers for the old cold frames.

Stay tuned, more to come.
Happy Gardening.

I hate mosquitos!

As soon as you step outside they swarm and dive in looking for blood. With all the rain we've had, a gazillion skitters, all in my back yard!

Surprise! Some more aquilegia.








Geum rivale var album, very pretty.






Iris variegata ? I love the smell of this iris, grape kool-aid, cool.


Allium obliquum - One of my favorite allium, one of many.


Polemonium pauciflorum - Silver Leaf Form - one of the prettiest of the polemonium I grow so far. A short lived perennial in the yard, easily seeds about where ever and is easy to pull out where not wanted.

One can never have too many aquilegia!


And another one.


Siberian Iris blooming for the first time, not sure where I got this one from?


Lewisia I've had this plant for a long, long time. It's nice to see that it is finally settling in from the move.


Argemone polyanthemos before blooming. This is such a cool plant, more of a short lived perennial in my garden so far, easy enough to make sure a couple seeds drop to the ground.


Alpine Poppy


And another aquilegia from the garden!