The word “daisy” is nearly synonymous with “flower.” If anyone wants to sketch a quick flower, it often looks like a daisy. “Daisy” is a category for shape in my flower identification guide. The common Shasta daisy is like the white shirt of bouquets – it sets off the rest of the flowers, but gets […]
Tracking How Long It Takes Your Seeds to Germinate
One of the best things a gardener can do when planting is to note exact dates that seeds are planted. Whether this be in pots or directly outdoors, it will make it much easier to make decisions about how the garden is doing. Once there is more familiarity with how long it takes certain seeds […]
Jump Start Your Dahlia Bulbs in the Greenhouse or Any Warm Spot
It is common enough that the last freeze in southern Idaho happens as late as the first of June. So when it comes to getting something like tender (sensitive to frost) dahlias planted, it is a challenge. It’s one thing to plant your tomatoes a couple of weeks early, then have to run out and […]
Deciding to Thin or Transplant Pepper Seedlings
My pepper seedlings needed somewhat different handling than the petunias I thinned and transplanted in the article last week. The peppers were larger and there were not as many per original pot. A few of the cells didn’t have a single sprout, but that was the exception. I had wanted to make sure that I got […]
Deciding to Thin or Transplant Petunia Seedlings
I try to prepare myself. I try to use methods of planting that will yield conservative numbers of unnecessary seedlings. I try. But when the seeds are so little (petunia seeds) that they are hard to see even with reading glasses, picking up and planting just a couple per cell pot is challenging. The little […]