We had a nice morning/afternoon before it started to sprinkle, so I was able to get outside and start cleaning up around the greenhouse and potting area.

First on the agenda, I had to plant out most of the remaining seedlings that were sitting around.  There were four campanulas that needed to go out to the orchard garden.  I planted them around the apple and cherry trees. They are currently mystery plants, since they came from a pack of mixed seeds.  I am hopeful that  at least one of them is Campanula lactiflora, which I’ve always wanted to grow.  See a description here.

I still need some plants to add around the apple and cherry trees, so will do some online shopping soon to get things in the ground soon, as the best planting time is right now.

Here is a picture of the Iochroma that is planted out in the driveway bed on the orchard side.  It grew better than every this year, but alas, no flowers.

I believe this is a purple cultivar, something like this.

There were three large Abutilon “Suntense” seedlings left, as well, so I planted one in a large pot for the patio and put two of them in the bed next to the lilac closest to the dog pen.  These shrubs can get pretty big, so I had to make sure there was room for them.  I think they’ll do well there, with the southern exposure, but shade from the big Douglas fir tree during the hottest part of the day.  Also in that bed are seed-grown tree peonies, Eucomis hybrids (also from seed), and some ironweeds that I started several years ago.  It isn’t a well-thought-out garden, but has interest for sure, and is providing a nice nursery for my seedlings.

Once I got everything planted out, I switched to the greenhouse.  My first assignment is to do an autumn clean-up before I more everything back inside for the winter.  I started at the back wall–the cactus and bulb seedlings are all along there.

Some happy surprises:  My Hippeastrum mandonii seedlings, which are over two years old, both are growing well and have some decent bulbs forming on them.  See the flowers here (scroll down to mandonii).

The two Agapanthus praecox seedlings, also over two years old, are growing very strongly.  I potted them on together, as their roots were so entangled that pulling them apart seemed ill-advised.  These are handsome plants.  I won’t expect flowers for another couple of years, but they are growing very well.  Here is what I can look forward to.

Dierama seedlings of the deep purple strain are now around 18 inches tall.  I intend to plant them outside next spring in their final places, once I figure that out.   They should be beautiful if they get to blooming size.

Ferraria crispa is an oddity.  I have three bulbs of Ferraria, two of which are crispa and the other is another species.  Mine have not bloomed yet, but possibly this year, as they are winter growers and have really strong starts coming.  The flowers might look like this.

I potted on seedlings of Freesia and Babiana, along with some tiny Moraea and Gelasine seedlings.  We’ll see if any of these live to bloom.  Again, they are winter growers, so the lack of light in our northern location is tough on them.  The other seedling plants on the shelf along that wall include Habranthus robustus,

some Watsonia hybrids, maybe 7 or 8 small Cyrtanthus montanus, a couple of fuchsia cuttings and one Restrepia guttulata.

I’ll have more updates and pictures tomorrow as the clean-up continues.