Back to going through my downloaded photos of 2016, and discussing the next 10 or so.

 

Peanuts!

At the East Windsor Farmers’ Market last summer, one of the farmers had a batch of peanut plants – and I was surprised to learn they grow in the ground. Who knew?!

As noted on Aunt Ruby’s Peanuts website, “Many people are surprised to learn that peanuts do not grow on trees like pecans or walnuts. Peanuts are legumes, not nuts. The peanut plant is unusual because it flowers above ground but the peanut grows below ground. Planted in the early spring, the peanut grows best in calcium rich sandy soil.”

Well, I’ve been thinking, if they grow in the ground, flower on top, and are easy to handle – these could be a very interesting container gardening candidate which I will research more on and get back to you when I get around to trying them out. They sure do make an interesting conversation piece.

Moon Flower Seeds

The next photos were all about seeds, which I was collecting from a Moon Flower plant growing in a container garden on my deck and climbing up the railings of my entrance steps.

I’ve always been fascinated by the content of seeds – from my early childhood. It was a common thing for me to grab a seed pod found in the wild to inspect the insides. Well, here I am in my fifties, doing it again.

I decided to slice one seed pod open to investigate. You can see the seeds in the cavities. This one was not mature yet.

They look a bit like corn kernels. This was taking place at the end of the season, but I went back to photos earlier in the year to show the seeds from which these plants were started from.

As you can see, they are much smaller, brown (ripened) for sowing, and harder, versus the ones I was investigating which were white, bigger, and soft.

I purchased a packet of the Moon Flower seeds from the Seed Library of Hudson Valley Seed Library. They sell seeds every year at the CT Flower and Garden Show (which, coincidentally, kicks off today in Hartford, CT.).

The reason I was attracted to their seeds in particular is because of the art work on their seed packs. Each seed type has an artist’s interpretation of the flowers or plants, and many of the works are absolutely beautiful, colorful and whimsical.

In addition to their colorful seed packets, the seeds are well packaged with instructions. To date, every type of seed I’ve obtained from their packets grow well with no problems. I’ve become of fan.

I kept waiting for the seed pods, which formed on the plant late in the planting season, to ripen, dry up and turn brown, but a fall frost hit them before it got to that point. In fact, the photo above of the seed pod is one which was damp from a frost and unusable. I will have to find the photos of the Moon flower blooms because they were fantastic. I really enjoyed looking at them last year. It reminds me I should check my seed stock to see if I have any remaining from that original envelope and sow some next month in my grow room to get them started.

Coleus Cuttings

Ah, I remember this day – taking in one of my container gardens, again in the fall season to disassemble it and collect the valuable and reusable parts.

The Coleus was dug out and I starting taking cuttings so I could root them to over winter in my low temp grow room. It was successful. I have a few babies still hanging in there. I remember showing the tools I used in my Overwintering Session held every October, and how I clean them, etc.

You can see in the above photos – there was also a Rhubarb plant (Victoria) which did really well, and I hope it will return in the pot this year. I kept the plant and pot in my garage this winter.

The ‘Black Magic’ elephants ear was just amazing with their rich and lush colors. This plant was also dug up from the pot and I cleaned off the tubers to store in peat in my unheated basement over the winter. I will be checking on them in a month.

Rooting hormone was placed on the cuttings stem end tips, but you may also just stick the Coleus cuttings in a jar of water, and the roots will appear on the ends, as an alternative method.

Or if you happen to get a clump of roots still attached to the plant as you separate it and work at the cuttings, you may just re-pot it this way to keep growing.

Also in this container garden was a hot pepper black (Black Pearl) which I absolutely love using in mixed container gardens because of the dark toned foliage, and the peppers turn from green to purple to red by the end of the season. They are super hot though – difficult to eat but are lovely to look at. The plant may be saved as a houseplant or kept in a low temp grow room and may make it. I didn’t bother saving that one last year.

Well, that was the next lot in my downloaded photos. When I take the time to look back on photos, I amaze myself at the amount of activity I did last year, and it will only grow from here. The gardening chores (well, fun – not chores) never end when you are fascinated by plant life and all the beauty it brings to your spaces, indoors and out!

New Venue, Workshops, and Plants

This year, as noted in prior posts, I have a new venue to show my plants, offer workshops, and answer customer questions in South Windsor. Additionally, my May Container Garden workshops will be a new style – House plants! I’m excited to be offering plants which benefit the air inside and add stylish decor outside – and that is the fun of the plant world – always learning, experimenting, and enjoying new plants.

The workshop information is continuously being updated on my site, www.WORKSHOPSCT.com so be sure to check it out and pre-register early. And you may learn about my new venue on the site as well. I will be there starting March 11th.

In the meantime, enjoy this spectacular warm up we are getting today – I am SURE it will make you feel like spring is almost here.

Cathy Testa
860-977-9473
containercathy@gmail.com