Two weekends ago I was able to pot on some of the Chiltern’s perennial seedlings. I ended up with about a dozen pots of what I believe are Silene californica seedlings. These are strong, fast-growers. If they survive the winter in the greenhouse, I’ll plant them out in the spring, and hopefully they will end up looking like THIS.
I also potted on a bunch of Digitalis “Species and Hybrids Mixed”. I think I ended up with 40 seedlings planted in 8 pots. My hope is that I’ll end up with a nice mix of hybrids and species in these seedlings, but even if they all end up being the common foxglove, I’ll be happy.
The Digitalis seedlings are in the front on the left and in the middle on the right. Behind them on the left are the silene seedlings. Also on the far left are the seedling Acacia dealbata plants started this year. In the back of the middle tray, you can see other Acacia seedlings–Acacia redolens “prostrata.” They have adult leaves that are flat pads, rather than the delicate leaflets they held as juvenile plants. In the middle left is a Sinningia tubiflora cutting that I struck on a lark–I was pruning the mother plant and just stuck this in. It has rooted and is spreading. In the front on the right are more seedlings from Chiltern’s perennial seeds.More autumn seedlings–I dropped a handful of Hippeastrum seeds from my hardiest red/white-flowered hybrid into a pot with regular potting mix. It appears that virtually every seed will germinate. These take a few years to get to blooming age. While I certainly don’t need a bunch more Hippeastrums, I can’t help but imagine how wonderful it would be to have a dozen pots of these sturdy bulbs blooming all together on their own shelf in the greenhouse. They could be hybrids, as well, since other Hippeastrums were blooming in the greenhouse this year, too, but likely they will look like the below.Big, gorgeous blooms on this Hippeastrum hybrid. I believe it was purchased online, maybe ten+ years ago, and it has self-sown around the greenhouse. I probably have seven bulbs of this already.
I’m anxious to come up with a system for getting my Hippeastrum’s to bloom consistently. I have about half of them outside this year for the spring/summer and part of autumn, and the rest are in the greenhouse. I’ll mark them and see which ones bloom better.
In the center are the Hakea drupacea seedlings that I started early this year. They are over a foot tall and are getting more adult foliage. They seem pretty happy. I will leave them in these pots through the winter in the greenhouse and then pot them into gallons to see how big they might get next year.
Another seedling–this it a Sinningia seedling from seeds planted early this spring in my office at TeamChild. I ended up with three seedlings that look similar to Sinningia speciosa. This is the only one with a flower bud, however. I can’t wait to see what it looks like. Ever since I was a little kid, I wanted to grow Sinningia speciosa, or Gloxinia, and I even ordered a very expensive bulb once when I was a teenager, but it never grew! If these end up having big, velvety flowers, I will be thrilled! Regardless, though, they are proving to be simple to grow and happy in a north-facing window.My office seems to suit the Gesneriad clan. I had taken a few leaf cuttings of an African violet at home. Luckily, they rooted, as I neglected the mother plant and she transitioned to another realm. I moved the cuttings to one pot and then moved them to my office window at work. They sulked in the crowded pot. I finally got around to dividing them up and potting them in nice plastic pots and good soil. Immediately, they grew a few new leaves and are throwing flower spikes. The blooms open a chartreuse-cream and then fade to a creamy white. While I’m not a big African violet fan, I love this variety. I received the original plant mistakenly in an online order when I ordered something from Hirt’s gardens–an outdoor perennial plant, and they sent me an African violet! The plant looked a mess, but I gave it a chance and it rewarded me with hundreds of flowers and a very forgiving nature.I didn’t think I like pampas grass that much, but this particular one (actually, there were two of them) near Seattle Center, impressed me with graceful form and wonderful, subtle color. Our neighbors have a honeysuckle that usually looks pretty sad. It is planted in the corner of a fence and doesn’t get consistent irrigation. Since we’ve been having rainfall for the last month or so, the vines are perking up and blooming again. The flowers are amazing. These are not as fragrant as a similar vine across the street, but I imagine hummingbirds love them.
