The Garden

PHOBoS · Posted: Fri Apr 15, 2022 1:13 pm Post subject:

More seeds arrived. Apparently they were already send out a couple weeks ago but never arrived so
they were resend earlier this week. It doesn't matter much as the temperatures are only starting to get
high enough for sowing outside.

I found the website these were ordered from when I was looking for passiflora Incarnata seeds.
Those were actually not even listed (did get them from somewhere else though) but they did have Mandrake seeds
and because those and all the other seeds were rather cheap I looked around to see what else was available.

Here's what I got:
- Anagallis arvensis/"Scarlet pimpernel"
- Antirrhinum majus 'Torbay Rock'/"Snapdragon"
- Calceolaria mollissima/"Lady's purse"
- Corydalis sempervirens/"Rock Harlequin"
- Cosmos 'Orange lights'/"Cosmea"
- Digitalis lutea/"Foxglove" (should be a perrenial but information online is a bit unclear about it)
- Fuchsia procumbens/"Creeping Fuchsia" (native to new zealand and not the easiest to grow but has some interesting little flowers)
- Heliophila longifolia/"False Blue Flax"
- Mandragora officinarum/"Mandrake"
- Mesembryanthemum criniflorum/"Livingstone daisy"
- Nepeta cataria/"Catnip"
- Primula veris/"Cowslip" (There is a garden I pass by often that has a lot of these and was wondering what they were, glad I found them)
- Rivea corymbosa"Hawaiian Baby Woodrose"
- Viola 'The Blues'/"Violet" (seems to be a mix of white/blue/purple/pink)

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PHOBoS · Posted: Sun Apr 17, 2022 4:20 pm Post subject:

I also couldn't resist buying another plant for some instant gratification. But I mean, just look at the gradient on those petals dwarf

I didn't resize the photos, apart from the first one, so click to see some more detail.

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PHOBoS · Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2022 12:11 pm Post subject:

some photos from last week that I hadn't uploaded yet, I do need to take some new ones.

I was emptying out the 2 largest planters so I could put in some fresh soil. One of the planters had a climbing nighthsade in it which upon removal
turned out to be a cluster of 5 plants. Makes sense as they must have sprouted from a single berry that fell in there and those contain multiple seeds.
I replanted 4 of them in a seperate pot for now and 1 of them with the other climbing nightshade but it wilted and I am not sure if it will get back up.

I also found another of what I think is dahlia and this time I took a photo so you can see the tuberous roots. The maple was also in there and I decided
that it can stay for now but I did move it all the way to the outer corner so it doesn't get in the way of any other plants. I doubt it can get very large in
that container anyway and the idea of turning it into a bonsai did cross my mind.

Some of the Atropa belladonna 'Lutea' (harvested from a berry of a previous grown plant) and Henbane seeds sprouted but no luck yet with any of the
other seeds. I guess it's still gets too cold at night at the moment. Actually, I did just notice that one of the Passiflora incarnata seeds has sprouted and
I had succes with 2 of the Datura stramonium 'Tatula' seeds but one got knocked over by a pigeon (I guess) and didn't survive.

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PHOBoS · Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2022 12:12 pm Post subject:

The shelled peanuts have caught the attention of a larger bird but although it is a Corvid it is not a magpie,. not that I mind.

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AlanP · Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2022 9:43 pm Post subject:

Corvids are supposed to be very intelligent Smile

Do you get Australian magpies over there? They aren't corvids, but they are very smart.

PHOBoS · Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2022 7:15 am Post subject:

well I am not in australia so no,.
are they really not corvids ? let me look that up,..

PHOBoS · Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2022 9:14 am Post subject:

more photos,..

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PHOBoS · Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2022 9:37 am Post subject:

And then there is this stuff that hitched a ride and is now growing in several planters.
I am pretty sure it is Cymbalaria muralis/'Kenilworth ivy' and it works well as ground cover but also nice as a trailing vine.

I accidentally knocked over and damaged some pots so I planted some of this Kenilworth ivy in one of them and let it trail out
the gap. Once it starts growing it can become pretty dense and completely cover it up. I've also sprinkled some of the Heliophila
longifolia seeds in there.

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PHOBoS · Posted: Thu May 05, 2022 12:55 pm Post subject:

it's so pretty flower

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PHOBoS · Posted: Thu May 05, 2022 1:19 pm Post subject:

I added some pink to my balcony aswell.

Nothing out of the ordinary, actually very oridinary as one is a petunia (oh no, not again!) and the other a geranium.
The pink of the geranium is very bright, almost fluorescent, especially in full sunlight which really stands out between all the green.

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AlanP · Posted: Fri May 06, 2022 1:42 pm Post subject:

It's always sunny on Phobosland Smile

PHOBoS · Posted: Fri May 06, 2022 2:11 pm Post subject:

I can't complain about the current weather, though nights are still a bit cold especially for seeds to germinate.
Should get a little bit higher next week but the daytime temperatures are also going up which I am not a big fan of.

Here are some photos from earlier this week, I like the first one, it did change a bit shortly after taking the photos.

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PHOBoS · Posted: Fri May 06, 2022 2:42 pm Post subject:

I've repotted the henbane and it is now actually back in the pot I took it out of earlier this year.
It looks glorious! I've never had henbane get this big and it's branching. It's in a more shady spot now
(at least the lower part) which is probably better as it did wilt a bit in the afternoon sun.

Lamiastrum is coming along nicely and the ferns have started to spiral out.

a sunflower popped up in a very nice spot, well,.. I did move it a couple of centimeters.
it's basically in one of the corners on my balcony where it should get plenty of sun and doesn't get
in the way of other plants. It also has plenty of root space in that container (the large black one).

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morning glory and datura seedlings in the lower right corner

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PHOBoS · Posted: Fri May 06, 2022 3:56 pm Post subject:

I took a trip to the garden center today looking for something blue, something yellow, maybe something red.
Didn't see anything blue to my liking but did find a nice Calibrachoa mix of yellow, red and purple (colors are a bit off in the photos)
and another one with pink/yellow flowers. Apparently they are nightshades as are petunias Twisted Evil

Also got two Hostas which can get quite large. I thought the 'Blue Cadet' might be a small one with a height of 35cm but they
can still spread out to about 90cm. The 'Dress Blues' can get larger. I will keep them in small pots though, so we'll see how that works out.

And I got a fuchsia.

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Blue Hell · Posted: Fri May 06, 2022 4:39 pm Post subject:

It is starting to look like your balcony again!

Cool

PHOBoS · Posted: Wed May 11, 2022 3:22 pm Post subject:

Digitalis is shooting up and I discovered another shoot hiding underneath the leaves, so there might be a second flowerstalk on its way.
Snapdragon started flowering (color is actually a bit darker than in the photo) as has the climbing nightshade with its small purple/yellow flowers.

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aphids seem to appreciate the flowers aswell

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also loved by aphids

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PHOBoS · Posted: Wed May 11, 2022 3:33 pm Post subject:

some more photos Cool

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AlanP · Posted: Thu May 12, 2022 12:08 am Post subject:

Yeowch, get some spray to get stuck into those aphids -- doesn't take long for them to kill plants.

PHOBoS · Posted: Thu May 12, 2022 7:11 am Post subject:

Outside plants never really seem to be bothered much by it, unless they are still very small.
The aphids will attract ladybugs and parasitic wasps which in turn attract other insects and birds,
so usually that takes care of it over time. It did attract some ants last years which sometimes got
inside but that was also temporary.

The problem with a lot of sprays is that they don't discriminate and kill other insects aswell
and the really nasty stuff does more damage to the environment than some aphids might do
to my plants. I do have some of it in case it would be needed but I don't remember when the
last time was I used it. I do occasionally spray them off with plain water though.

What I might have to watch out for now is slugs as they love hostas and they can decimate
plants in a very short time. Luckely I don't seem to get those much on my balcony.

PHOBoS · Posted: Fri May 13, 2022 1:36 pm Post subject:

Years ago I used to have morning glories covering my balcony railing (I'll see if I have a photo of it somewhere)
but in recent years it seems like there is always something going wrong, often the weather messing things up.

Things I learned about morning glories:
- they like it warm (>20C) or they won't germinate so don't sow too early
- they don't like to be transplanted
- presoaking seeds can speeds things up but don't soak them too long

This year I waited untill may and for the temperature to rise (both day and night) which, according to some weather
forecasts, seemed to be happening this week. So I soaked a mix of morning glory seeds (heavenly blue, flying saucers,
milky way, some pink variety) overnight for about 10 hours and planted those last weekend. It has indeed been warmer
this week and it seems to have worked. There are actually more than needed so I'll let them grow untill they are a bit
larger and then remove some.

Also two of the Argyreia nervosa (Hawaiian Baby Woodrose) seeds germinated which I'd planted weeks ago and kept warm
in my incubator. I wasn't really expecting anything to happen anymore but I am glad I put them outside anyway.

Datura stramonium seeds are also starting to germinate. Had a bit of a mishap with the bag of seeds spilling probably hundreds
so that's going to be fun,..

and I've transplanted the Atropa belladonna seedlings to a larger container.

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PHOBoS · Posted: Fri May 13, 2022 2:05 pm Post subject:

Some more seeds have germinated. These were harvested from plants that grew out of a 'butterfly seed mix' in 2017.
I don't really know what it is but it has some tiny white flowers and bees like it. You can see it on this photo from 2017:

I've kept the seeds in the fridge and wasn't really expecting much of them but they germinated after only a couple of days
of planting them Razz

. They're actually growing in the same pot and spot as the plants the seeds came from.
There could be some sunflowers hiding amongst them and it looks like there are some daturas in there aswell.

also, another photo of the henbane Cool

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AlanP · Posted: Fri May 13, 2022 6:34 pm Post subject:

If you want to attract butterflies, grow a swan plant -- the caterpillars for Monarch butterflies live on them.

PHOBoS · Posted: Sat May 14, 2022 6:49 am Post subject:

I don't think I've seen monarch butterflies around here, actually let me look up if those are native,...

nope doesn't seem to be but they have been spotted. What you do see a lot around here is what is
apparently called a "peacock butterfly" in english. Don't really see butterflies on my balcony though,
might be too high up and they seem to be attracted to large plants or at least big patches of flowers.
Buddleja is very popular but they get a bit too large for my balcony.

I did get closer to identifying the plant (the one with the white flowers) and it did not come from the
butterfly seed mix, but the bee seed mix. It appears to be Fagopyrum aka buckwheat, possibly
Fagopyrum esculentum.

PHOBoS · Posted: Wed May 25, 2022 3:45 pm Post subject:

Foxglove, Tiger lillies and Lungwort.
I think the compost might actually be having some effect.

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the flowers are apparently a great place to raise a family of aphids. can't blame em, the view must be great from there.

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