A Seed Saver's Garden

[flowerbug]

@heirloomgal did you see the tulip and daffodils pages i have on the website?

if you look close at my favorite tulip (in the more detailed picture linked from the website tulip page) you'll notice it is not pink except at a distance, but up close it is very narrow stripes of white and red together which give the pink effect. i really liked that one and tried to get it to transplant and survive and give me more to plant in other places, but the 2nd year after i moved it botrytis took out most of that patch including that one. every year i keep hoping some small part of the bulb survived and will flower again, but i think it is gone...

Tulips | Anthive

Many different kinds of tulips...

www.anthive.com

sadly i have not added much to the daffodil page but i have hundreds or thousands of daffodil pictures i need to go through and find them and put them on that page.

Daffodils | Anthive

More shy than stuck up...

www.anthive.com

 

[ducks4you]

I heard about this study last summer, that disagrees with old planting depth advice. Read this:

Dig no more: Just till 2 inches for tulip bulbs, study finds | Cornell Chronicle

A Cornell researcher has discovered a much simpler way to plant tulip bulbs: Loosen the dirt two inches deep, drop bulb and then top it with mulch. (Oct. 12, 2011)

news.cornell.edu

 

[ducks4you]

Saving MORE Seeds!!
I cooked Cherokee Purple tomatoes, am cooking More cantelope (there were 2 of them that I Had to eat), and some kind of small watermelon (which I ate for lunch today.)
I have the tomato seeds drying on a coffee filter. How long should I let them dry out?

 

[heirloomgal]

@heirloomgal did you see the tulip and daffodils pages i have on the website?

if you look close at my favorite tulip (in the more detailed picture linked from the website tulip page) you'll notice it is not pink except at a distance, but up close it is very narrow stripes of white and red together which give the pink effect. i really liked that one and tried to get it to transplant and survive and give me more to plant in other places, but the 2nd year after i moved it botrytis took out most of that patch including that one. every year i keep hoping some small part of the bulb survived and will flower again, but i think it is gone...

Tulips | Anthive

Many different kinds of tulips...

www.anthive.com

sadly i have not added much to the daffodil page but i have hundreds or thousands of daffodil pictures i need to go through and find them and put them on that page.

Daffodils | Anthive

More shy than stuck up...

www.anthive.com

Wow, those are some gorgeous tulips. So beautiful, what an incredible display, especially that wide shot. The daffodils are stunning too, the pink centred one is so unique. You must really enjoy Springtime with all those beauties. Did you amend your soil to have improved drainage?

 

[heirloomgal]

I heard about this study last summer, that disagrees with old planting depth advice. Read this:

Dig no more: Just till 2 inches for tulip bulbs, study finds | Cornell Chronicle

A Cornell researcher has discovered a much simpler way to plant tulip bulbs: Loosen the dirt two inches deep, drop bulb and then top it with mulch. (Oct. 12, 2011)

news.cornell.edu

Thank you @ducks4you !

 

[heirloomgal]

Saving MORE Seeds!!
I cooked Cherokee Purple tomatoes, am cooking More cantelope (there were 2 of them that I Had to eat), and some kind of small watermelon (which I ate for lunch today.)
I have the tomato seeds drying on a coffee filter. How long should I let them dry out?

Depends on your humidity level. You can let them dry out on the filter until crispy dry to the touch and then slip in a paper envelope. After a month or so, I slip a little ziploc over the envelope. If storing in glass I would wait longer to ensure they're totally dry.

 

[baymule]

What beautiful daffodils! They are my favorites. I have some tiny Jonquils that I dug years ago from an old farm that belonged to my ex's grandparents. The old house on the property was 4 rooms, the walls were 1 board thick, no 2x4 studs at all. Granny said she loved the Jonquils because when they bloomed, she knew spring was coming. She gave birth to her children in that old house and it got cold in there. When Granny died, I dug up and planted Jonquils on her grave.

I have some narcissus bulbs that I've dug and replanted for some 40+ years. I have some amaryllis that I brought from my old house that I had for 30+ years. I'll dig them up, plus the jonquils and take them with me. As always, I won't get them all, leaving behind some to restart the spring blooms.

@flowerbug, if you have so many daffodils that you want to get rid of, box them up and send them to me! I'll gladly pay for the postage.

 

[flowerbug]

I heard about this study last summer, that disagrees with old planting depth advice. Read this:

Dig no more: Just till 2 inches for tulip bulbs, study finds | Cornell Chronicle

A Cornell researcher has discovered a much simpler way to plant tulip bulbs: Loosen the dirt two inches deep, drop bulb and then top it with mulch. (Oct. 12, 2011)

news.cornell.edu

i did read it. basically there are several problems with the approach. we don't have that much mulch and planted that shallowly would mean most of them would get eaten even faster than they already are.

as it goes, we have several thousand less tulips than i used to have (even those inside the fence still get raided by groundhogs and chipmunks and sometimes even the rabbits get in there too) aside from the damage that disease and inhospitable climate has accomplished through the years.

 

[flowerbug]

Wow, those are some gorgeous tulips. So beautiful, what an incredible display, especially that wide shot. The daffodils are stunning too, the pink centred one is so unique. You must really enjoy Springtime with all those beauties. Did you amend your soil to have improved drainage?

i installed drain tiles and raised up the entire area to get above the flash flood stage. it was all hauled in after the fence was put up and everything else was in the way so it had to be done a wheelbarrow at a time. the soil i used was fairly sandy and not that great, i wanted to see if that would help beat botrytis, but that didn't help. having that many tulips together just meant that when the fungus got going it spread even faster and took out all that were vulnerable. then Mom decided she didn't like them either so she's been killing them off too (she doesn't like how scraggly they look when they're dying back is all i can figure out from what she says).

the crocuses, tulips and daffodils are nice to see when they come out and also the earlier spring flowers too. i'm always glad when spring comes around and we start to get some color showing up again.

 

[flowerbug]

@flowerbug, if you have so many daffodils that you want to get rid of, box them up and send them to me! I'll gladly pay for the postage.

that would imply that i have enough time to dig them up, there's no way i have time this season the way things are going. the whole idea of giving them away is that someone else comes and gets them. also i'd rather just give them away and not sell them or have to deal with packing and shipping.

my comment above about how Mom doesn't like the tulips look scraggly when they are dying back, she's also that way about daffodils too and if they're not dead-headed she gets upset about how they look. IMO she's off her rocker but that's her.