[BlueBerry]

I'm loving this thread! Can't wait for the season to be in full swing. I'm starting March 1st. Kale and Arugula seeds in the ground. They can take!


Ordering some seedlings soon. And if all goes well, I will get some heirloom tomatoes seeds from Neighbor 2 doors over. She has the best tomatoes in Rockaway.



 

[onefinookas]

i would like a couple of warm days to clean out the garden and roto till, spread compost, and rebuild the trellis and bamboo stands before getting this years crops in the ground.  Definitely getting psyched, it makes me forget the flatness

[jammy]

snaggle, i did moonflowers a few years back, i just direct sowed them. i think if you didn't have success and it was last summer, i wouldn't put too much stock in that. the rain in june was utterly disasterous. even my zinnias, which should be able to bloom on the freaking moon, were lame.
as i recall, the moonflowers didn't get going til late summer, which last year meant never.

this year i'm going to try to get some perennial poppies going. regular annual california poppies bloomed easily and all summer but these peony poppies look amazing! i'm not sure if they are actually true perennials or if you need to let the seed pods open and resow.

[jammy]

can't find any definitive answer--anyone have insight?

[snaggletooth]

i don't know - very pretty, though.
 
i read something yesterday about starting seedlings indoors and thought it was a good idea: put a small fan on a timer and have it turn on for 20 minutes or so every hour for 12 hours to get the seedlings to grow stronger

[BlueBerry]

Jammy I think last year was just a really unusual year, lots of rain and lots of cold late into the season. My zucchinis did terrible as well as a few other things.
 
I had a pretty incredible success with this,  I did it late into the season and it lasted until the late fall. I'm so stoked on this and look forward to doing it again, earlier this time.


2" deep by 14" tray  with bonsai soil. It has to be watered at-least once a day twice on sunny hot days but man, it's just beautiful.

[jammy]

check out march issue of martha stewart living to see "hypertufa" planters. they are freaking amazing---homemade, lightweight, porous, faux-stone/concrete planters that you make with cement, perlite, and peat moss. they have one in a faux bois pattern that i am dying to make!

this doesn't look as cool as the mag article, but will give you an idea.
http://marthastewartliving.com/article/hypertufa-pots

[ankleslapper]

jammy let's have a hypertufa-making party.  I'd want to do mine heavier (more cement) so they don't blow around.  looks cool.  looking forward to planting again this year and hopefully yielding better results - esp the tomatoes! (and whatever else we decide to get creative with)