I took an extra day off work this weekend and I’ve got a long list of chores, both garden and non-garden, to finish before Monday.

Seed starting is in full swing.  I’ve transplanted about 36 blue pimpernels (Anagallis monellii).  These are destined for patio pots, garden fill-in, and plant sales.

Note:  Image is on Annie’s Annuals website–they are an amazing nursery with lots of awesome and interesting plants.  They sell individual plants of annuals, but many of them can be grown on their own, which is what I do!

I also have about 50 Dianthus “Super Parfait Raspberry” seedlings that I’ve potted on.  I’ve grown these for patio pots, garden fill-in, and plant sales.

Note:  Image is on HPS website.  The seeds I got from this firm have given me almost 100% germination.

I also transplanted about 8 Eccremocarpus scaber seedlings.  I’m going to grow these in window boxes and up some trellises, with one in the greenhouse to keep permanently.

The photo is from Dobie’s website, a seed house in the UK.

Today, I transplanted about 50 monkeyflowers (Mimulus Magic Blotch Hybrids).  I’ve always loved this plant family, so couldn’t resist this fun cultivar.  Some of them are tiny, but they appear to be strong growers, so I’m hopeful most of them will grow to bloom in patio pots, the garden, and for plant sales (if they grow fast enough).

The photo is from HPS, who sell these pelleted seeds.  There were 250 pellets in the packet, so I’m giving a bunch of seeds away!

I also potted about 50 Salvia Lighthouse Purple seedlings today.  As with the other plants I listed, these will fill gaps in the garden, patio pots, and hopefully, help fundraising efforts at plant sales.

The photo is from Pinetree’s website, where I bought these seeds.  They look to be vigorous seedlings!  

There were about 14 seedlings from Chiltern’s Hardy Geranium mix.  I started these indoors under lights and they germinated and grew very quickly.  I’m hoping there were one or two Geranium psilostemon seeds in there.  These seedlings are destined for the Parking Strip garden.

The photo on Chiltern’s website.

After transplanting into soil that was amended with organic plant food and watered with fish poo water from Leon, I noticed the pots were forming fungus all over the top of the soil.  To combat this, I sprinkled perlite all over the tops of every cell.  I’m hoping this will do the trick.

Previously, I transplanted the Osteospermum, Delphiniums, Chard, Alyssum and Bachelor’s buttons.  I moved them to the cold frame, and tiny slugs decimated many of them, but the Osteospermum “Akila White with Purple Eye” transplants were okay still, so I moved them back to the greenhouse and helped one tiny slug to migrate elsewhere when I saw it crossing the top of one of the pots with an enlarged stomach full of Osteospermum!

Photo from Pinetree, where I ordered these seeds.

I planted sweet pea seeds from brother Tim this week, too, and today planted all the seeds I had been stratifying in the refrigerator, including three packets of Meconopsis betonicifolia and a packet of Digitalis obscura, which I hope to germinate in the greenhouse.  These will get planted out in the parking strip garden this fall if any of them sprout and grow big enough.

Indoors, I planted more seeds, including Salvia viridis “Pink Sundae”, Lettuce “Flashy Trout Back”, cucumber “Diva”, Agastache foeniculum, Petunia “Dreams Mix”, Marigold “Bambino” and Oregano “Kirigami”.

Tomorrow, I’ll plant more seeds in the greenhouse and the veggie beds.  Stay tuned for an update.  I’ll work on getting some good flower photos in the greenhouse and garden, too.