Karen, Prairie Moon Nursery. Somebody else found it and posted a link. Got 3 pkts of Prairie Smoke just for ins, think I held back one pkt of that. Found some other ones to try, sowed them all except 1/2 pkt of something. Very fast shipping and reasonable prices.

Odd I also have a Baptisia called Prairie Smoke. Gotta watch those names.

No, I need to keep looking at those photos for inspiration. Always see something new and different in them. Many I'm familiar with, but there are so many I never knew about.

Hi, I'm new here, a first time winter sower; your flowers are simply gorgeous! Really an inspiration to me. I have about 20 containers and 12 flats in my backyard; started in January, and just finished (I think) today. The way I look at it, is, winter sowing can't possibly be as frustrating as the "indoor heatmat and grow lights" sowing that I've been attempting for the past 5 years! I've already gained much good advice from this forum, Thanks, everyone!! One thing: I covered everything with saran wrap and poked holes in the top of it. We had a warm spell this past week and I took the saran wrap off. Was this too soon? The only sprouts I have are the red clover, and what I think is the verbascum (forgot to label it!). We are getting alot of rain, but all the pots and containers are draining well. Should I cover everything again? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks, Shirley

Hi Pitimpinai,
I just wanted you to know that looking at your flowers gives me rapid heart beats!!!!!
Also I purchased the prarie smoke seeds I had asked about in a previous post from Prarie Moon nursery!!! I am so excited about starting them, thought I would ws some and start some in my little greenhouse.(Got 3 pkgs) I just loved yours!!!! Thanks for the beautiful pictures, especially on such a rainy, gloomy day!!!

THANK YOU!! Just discovered that mice have chewed the bark off several apple trees planted last spring...4 feet off the ground. That's how much snow we have had. The 2 y.o. blueberies are crushed and one tree peonie has been crushed by feet of melting snow. Your pictures were just what I needed!!! I never have enough color- your gardens take my breath away!!!

composting in situ..can you explain what that is and how it is done?

Folks, did you notice that Piti doesn't have any lawn to mow? There's not an inch bare for grass to grow. Have you ever submitted any of your pictures of your gardens to any gardening magazines like BH&G or Fine Gardening or GardenGate or Birds&Blooms? You really should consider it. they are worth it!

This is what I'd like mine to look like..how do you manage to plant things so they kind of run into each other but look so beautiful. Weeds wouldn't have the nerve to grow there in your garden. Absolutely breaktaking! Thanks for sharing with us. Love that pink monarda too! That Convulvulus ensign series..which is a mini morning glory, right? Can that be grown in a outdoor container? Guess it needs something to climb on? Got to have Kobold liatris. Somebody sent me Blazing Star liatris and I planted that. That Prairie Smoke..oh my, is she a beauty! Hard to grow?

When you try layering clematis..how do you go about separating the new rooted one from the original clematis? Suppose when you layer it and it takes roots, can those new roots/plant be transplanted somewhere else?

Ahhh....what sight to wake up to on these dreary days. :-)
Thanks, PV, for bringing this back.
And thanks, everyone for the kind words.

Lisa, I forgot to send you seeds........:-(

We had snow on the ground until last Wednesday. And guess what I found hidden under that snow all along?
This:
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I also have Snowsdrops in bloom too. I meant to get out there and take more photos but it's been raining and windy and cold...bummer

Prairie Smoke - Geum triflorum - is the most sought after plant, it seems. It is the most striking flower I have come across.
True to its nature, it truly is an easy plant to grow. I guess being a native to the prairie, it has to withstand all kinds of harsh and extreme swing of weather. I first time I saw them they were growing wild in the expanse of Montana.

Molly, that you see today is the result of a 22 year experiment. It has evolved over the years - through a lot of change, a lot of trial and error.

I never really have a plan, just some nebulous picture in my mind. I started out with an almost empty lot like almost everybody else, planting whatever struck my fancy, things for nostalgia first off. Then things to bridge the gaps in the garden, then fragrance, then colors, textures, height & form.

As new gardeners, I would like to suggest that you plant some shrubs as backbone/structure then fill in the gaps with perennials and annuals.

Keep in mind that mixed structures and forms looks better than a sentinel. Don't always put plant of the same height together, because they won't stand out. Vary the heights. Put something tall in front, in the middle and in the back. Look at garden pictures. Visit gardens, then visualize what you like and use it as your guide.

How did I fill every nook and cranny? I sorta plan and planted perennials with specific spacing. Then fill in the gaps with bulbs and annuals. I also scatter left over seeds everywhere for good measure. :-D

It is great that we have the internet nowadays. You got a lot of people as a springboard.

sjc48, put the saran wrap or plastic sheet back on. You don't remove the covering completely until the seedlings have grown enough. What you should do is widening the venting holes little by little to ease the seedlings to the elements and to gradually release the condensation and heat. We may still have heavy rain or snow or frost.

It is composting in place, pippi. I just bury any weeds or scraps or leaves as I go about in the garden. When I plant anything, especially bulbs, I dig a hole, stuff a hand full of dray leaves, a fist full of soil, add a bulb, cover with some soil, more leaves, more soil, another smaller bulb, more soil, more leaves, more soil and so on.

Yes, Convulvulus is a Morning glory. It does not need anything to climb on, because it is not a vine. It's barely a foot tall and grows well in containers.

I layer Clematis about a foot away from the mother plant, so it is not a problem to dig it out to replant elsewhere. It definitely can be planted somewhere else.

aliska, thanks for the link. I will have to sneak and buy some when hubby is not looking. I am trying to picture where I would put them too...

pitimpinai, I do love the pics. What is the yellow flower you just posted that was under the snow? It is so neat!

I plan to add Prairie Smoke - Geum triflorum next season. It is such a neat plant. You have gotten me interested in so many different flowers!

Karen

The little yellow flower is Eranthis hyemalis. It is only 4" tall. Love it. Reseeds quite well too. I hoe to have a swatch of it some day.

Piti, your gardens are absolutely mind blowing. I have gone through these pictures twice today and am sure I will be looking at them again and again. Thank you so much for sharing.

Shirley,
welcome to the forum.
Believe me -this is tons easier and more productive than the "mat and heat and light indoor set-up".

Re the covers of your containers - I also do like Pipi and gradually enlarge the holes to give them more air and get them used to unprotected environment.
If they are hardy to the cold tho, I just remove the top after a few days and let them go.

What have you sown?

ellen

This needs a bump into 2011.... Piti, your gardens are gorgeous. You never divulged what the feverfew varieties are. I think they are gorgeous. Feverfew is now on my radar (OCD List)... I also loved that Rudbeckia hirta but have not been able to find anything with that name. Thank you so much for sharing your garden.

BUMP

Everything is so amazing! I love it!

I checked out this post last night before I went to bed. Well I had dreams about that monarda!!

Pitimpinai, wonderful pictures, absolutely wonderful, I did have to jot down a few names of these flowers to add to my want list, cause they are just beautiful!!

I am with buturfliis mom, no one ever named the feverfew types. That first fever few is wonderful!! Though all of them are gorgeous. I have some seeds over here of some feverfew and I wasn't planning on wsing it yet, but after seeing these pictures I was ready at midnight to so a container full. LOL

Pitimpinai what is the name of the tufty purple flower? (I tried to find it in this post but I think I got lost...)

I am squeeing like crazy over here looking at all these photos! I totally forgot about beebalm. I didn't collect seeds from my last plants, but I'll have to find some in the store. It's one of my favorites!

WS Newbie here.......those are beautiful. Does anyone have pictures of their garden in March/April with WS flowers? I would like to see the progress from planting to late summer

Christy

pitimpinai,

Your garden is beautiful! It is not small! I love the combinations of each flower. Truly Inspiring!

Your right I'm going to have to have some soil hauled in.

Thank You for the beautiful pictures!

Sammy, the tufty purple that is the main focus of her second photo in her first post to the thread....liatris.

Hi Everybody!
I was kinda surprised when I received a couple emails. And voila! This thread must have started them!

Thanks for the compliments. I miss my garden too. Right now it is under 5 - 6 ft. of snow. Those of you who live nearby may come by this spring. March - April is a good time. I will dig up as many plants as I can for you. I need to thin practically every thing out. It has overgrown because I was too ill to take care of it.
I also want to clear a patch to make room for vegetables.

I may mail plants for whoever asks me nicely too... for postage. I have done that for years, but I'm kinda tired right now. I am not a spring chick anymore and I have not been at top form in recent years.

I only have a name for the 5th feverfew. The rest were just grown, reseeded & cross-pollinated in the garden.

Feverfew has a way of doing that, naughty little thing isn't it - gets around :)

Your photos were a nice diversion for all of us, but - Please take care of yourself in all the snow. 'Phil' says spring may be early. I don't know how people manage just daily life with snow to that depth.

My mother said on the second which was a rare sunny day for us - Sigh, 'the groundhog would have a shadow to see', clearly very disappointed. I pointed out we don't have groundhogs here and the one that counts did not see a shadow :)

thanks morz8! I just looked that up and found out it's also called "gayfeather" which is great because just yesterday I ordered some of those seeds!

wow! amazing photos and great info. i am curious about you bulb planting method of putting multiple sized bulbs in one hole. how often do you divide them?

i'm so excited to be winter sowing this year!

yay i am so glad to have found you again... i hope you are well. what is the fifth feverfew name? i will get it out of you!!! lol

Feverfew 'Tetra White' I bought seeds from Johnny's Selected Seeds long ago. :-)

I am so glad that this thread got bumped to bring it up now. Its a perfect mood lightener on a gray winter day and I think all newbies should be encouraged with Piti's beautiful, inspiring photos.

OMG, these are gorgeous! U totally inspired this newbie. =) I used to live in Chicago (W. Rogers Park), and was totally impressed the way people would make these tiny garden plots into the most luscious gardens!! But this completely takes the cake. Did you post pics of this years garden?

I realize that this is an old post, but still the pictures are amazing! Just looking for some ideas on plants to WS this year.

Pitimpinai, your garden is absolutely beautiful. I grew up in Chicago, near Division/Milwaukee in the West Town area - near the Blue Line! I'll definitely have to try some of the plants you've mentioned including 'Penny black' and sunflower, "baby bear" - so cute.

Happy wintersowing!

Evelyn

Wow, I was looking for Feverfew and happened upon this older post. If this doesn't enable us newbies, I don't know what will!

Wow! I came across this post again. Your pictures are stunning! I have to try growing prairie smoke again. I tried, but didn't have any luck. What's your secret?

The pictures are amazing! I didn't know feverfew is so pretty. Also never knew about prairie smoke. Will need to find some seeds.

Beautiful post. I would like some of the rudbeckia hirta burpeeii.

Your gardens will never cease to amaze us Piti! Nice to see this again after a few years.

Tiffy aka Nicole.:O)

Two of Pitimpinai's prairie smoke photos were posted today on the GardenWeb Facebook page.

Oh, what a fantastic inspirational thread! Thanks for bumping this, ogrose! I'm a newbie, but feel a bit like a late-to-the-party-ie.

Whoa, hello everyone. I was totally floored to see this thread again.

Prairie Smoke? I simply Winter Sowed the seeds. They germinated like gang busters. Just follow Trudy's instruction. One year I had so many seelings I had to take them to a plant swap because I had no more room for them in my garden. Unfortunately people did not know the plant.

My garden changes from year to year. The plants have grown more mature, others could not compete with their neighbors and died. The riotous colors have toned down rendering a calmer tone to the garden and I love it that way. These pictured were taken last spring after the spring bulbs had faded and before most summer perennials began to show:

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This year it will look different because I moved and removed many tiger lilies last summer.

Tiffy, it is so good to see you post again. I regret to these days not taking up on your offer of Hostas. As you can see, my hosta collection has grown. They look stunning in early summer. Unfortunately we lost the trees in front of our property, so they get sun burn and look bad from summer through fall.

Lovely yard you have, piti! Reminds me of the garden I left behind in CO years ago -- starting a new garden in GA this year.
Also WSing for the first time :). I never heard of penny black - they are beautiful - will have to order some seeds. Needed this inspiration tonight - thanks for sharing!

Hmm, I'm trying to figure out why I have most of the same plants as piti does, but mine don't look nearly as good? Once again, I SWEAR this is the year I will NOT neglect my garden!

Of course, I have all the same feverfew because I got my seeds from piti! Thank you once again. I absolutely love feverfew and let it come up wherever it wants - which is pretty much everywhere. I always think of you, pit, when I see it, which brings another smile to my face!

As always, gorgeous, gorgeous garden! An inspiration to all of us - newbies and oldies!

Dee

Wow! Love the photos P, as well as your reminder that it took two decades to get to this point. Interesting to see the changes over the years, reflecting a combination of nature and the gardener. Beautiful and so lush looking!

Piti your garden is absolutely to die for... I live in NYC where we have very small front and back yards. I would be over the moon if mine even was half a nice as yours - Do you have tips about where to plant certain things etc? Do you have any governing 'principles' you use to pla your garden? When the wintersown seedlings come up, do you plant with the package recommended spacing of plants? Now I've learned about Feverfew, I must find some for mine now!

Thanks PSG - Great to view these pics again!

And thank you, everyone for the kind words.

Luigiwu, when I moved into this house in 1986, I had no plan whatsoever with the garden. I only planted what I Iiked. What you see today is the result of that first love (fragrance, form, texture color, size) in combination with a desire to see a garden that is attractive yearround. Therefore, a succession of bloom and growth keeps neighbors coming by.

Don't be afraid to plant something bold in a small garden. I discovered that a plant with large, bold leaves or form among small, fuzzy ones breaks the monotony and makes a statement.

Plan for longterm rather than for one season and have fun.

Oh good, I feel better about my lack of overall plan now. Apart from my kitchen garden, I've just been planting things that I like in places they'll survive and hopefully look good. I'm just starting to look into year-round bloom. You're an inspiration to us new gardeners with empty gardens!

Pitimpinai, I remember seeing these pics. Your garden is so beautiful. What are you winter sowing this year? I'm wintersowing a few things. It was because of your pic that I grew the Laura Bush petunias from seed. I love them! They come up every year, even in my Zone 5 garden. I grew up in Chicago on the NW side - move to the 'burbs - and your pics remind me of my old neighborhood. Thanks for sharing your beautiful garden pictures.

bella rosa, Thanks again. This garden IS in the NW side. It is very much settled. All I have been doing for the past several years is cleaning up a few times a year and thinning out overgrown plants and getting rid of old, tired looking ones.

Many sun loving plants along the fence have died or are struggling because my next door neighbor on the south has extended the house upward and backward as well as built a 6-ft. solid fence on the property line effectively cutting off sunlight to that side of my garden. I have planted more shade loving plants in their place. In 2014-2015, I splurged on Double Bloodroot. I can't wait to see how many will come up this spring.

I have not done much winter sowing anymore, because I have no more room for new plants and I am traveling more and more in winter months.

pugetsoundgardener, Today Eranthis and Snowdrops are blooming in my garden. In fact, Snowdrops started to show up in late January. Soon, miniature Iris and Schilla will show as well as early Narcissus. I am positive that in your climate you can achieve year-round blooming readily. From now on, something new will come up every few days and let the blooming season begin.

*Adds Laura Bush petunia to wish list*

Looks like a nice petunia and I'm also in northern IL.

You're going to love the Laura Bush petunias. Mine come up every year. I wintersowed a bunch of them a few years ago and they come back every year. They reseed on their own.

Pitimpinai, sorry to hear of the loss of sunlight. Please post pics of your double bloodroot when they come up. I'm sure that they will be beautiful. Happy gardening!

Your garden and photos are beautiful! Thanks for sharing it!