It’s mid-February and there is some greenery in the seed station. In the next few weeks I’ll really be kicking up sowing seeds.

Update on the lisianthus

Remember in this post I talked about my lisianthus dreams? Well, I did not talk about lisianthus’ terrible reputation for seed starting success.

You can guess where this is going, correct?

My 370 seeds turned into 205 seedlings three weeks ago. They start out the size of a pin-head and are so susceptible to drying out.

Now I’m at 182. Honestly, that’s a 50% germination rate and it’s not that bad for lisianthus. The ones that lived are looking sturdy and I shouldn’t lose any more. At this point, I have no idea what colors I’ll end with; Champagne was the absolute worst in germination- about 20%.

Ranunculus Dreams

2023 did not spell ranunculus success. I ordered my corms too late in the year and they never got the chance to grow up. Sadness.

The good news is I overwintered those corms and bought another 450 and they are all snuggled in dirt in the basement because they like to sprout in cool temps and darkness.

They’re so cute, like baby octopi. 🐙

Snapdragons

In the Lisianthus Dreams post I showed a picture of the 200 baby snaps I fall planted, those are doing pretty good, I think. I did cover them when temps here went into the teens for a couple weeks.

Some look like little green popsicles but supposedly that will be ok. Fingers crossed.

I just started 2 trays of Costa Snapdragons that will will go outside early, under cover. From now until at least the end of June, I’ll be sowing snapdragons every two weeks.

Begonias and Impatiens

The last couple years, I grew begonias and impatiens for my daughter-in-law. This year I planted extra and I’m hoping to be able to sell seedlings at the farmers markets this spring. I am considering selling some of the cutting flowers as well. Plants like Clarkia, Celway Celosias, maybe even some Sunflowers.

Begonias and impatiens are sloooow starters and I’m using some seeds from 2020 so I don’t have any action on those yet. I’ll keep you updated!

My ideas for the business grow as fast as I keep growing the gardens! I have to remind myself my time is finite! Can you relate?

Hugs, Pam