You are a man of excellence.
I award you the "Nothing is too Hard to Sow Award"
I am encouraged by your ability.
Recently I looked at a map of the Great South Bay on Long Island.
A life long resident of the Island as it is known in these parts I don't know if I have ever been there.
I imagine you on a farm by the water in you overalls with seeds in your hair.
Greetings from, Port Washington on Long Island sound.
Andrea

"I imagine you on a farm by the water in you overalls with seeds in your hair. "

That's all correct, except my 'farm' is only 2/5 of an acre, and more than half is still in lawn grass. I'm working on it though. I just made another 22' x 4' bed and a new 3' wide woodchip path the same length. That eliminated another 154 square feet of lawn.

As soon as SWMBO is ready to retire, we're selling this place, and moving east to buy a small farm, with a greenhouse. It won't be on the water, but it'll be big enough to need a tractor!

I, too, am a donn fan. Your posts are always read first. I have a vision of you also, and it incorporates the wisdom, kindness and patience that is reflected in all you post.

Each time I read your posts it brings inspiration of some sort. Today the inspiration is I must hurry off to Mom's to help her "clean up" her grape hyacinths. She would toss them, being just too tired to garden anymore. She will be secretly delighted that her daughter enthusiastically harvests, willing to do what she herself can't anymore. So today, donn, you will make at least two women happy.

Please keep us informed on how you handle the bublets. I want to learn.

I started a thread on Grape Hyacinth a few years ago, when I bought a thousand bulbs on sale. That thread seems to have disappeared. I have a 60' long foundation bed along the back of the house which is edged with them.

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The goal is to eventually divide these, and grow more from seed, so I can weave a river of them through the gardens. The inspiration is this garden at Keukenhof, in the Netherlands.

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Congradulations!!! I've never even thought of harvesting seeds from them....they make new bulblets like thier going out of style! Now I wish my crocus could naturlize as fast. Speaking on which...have you ever tried crocus from seed? Do they even make seeds? They seem to just fade away before you know it.

I don't know what Muscari I have, but they always make their leaves in the fall and stay evergreen thru winter and bloom in spring. Then they lose their leaves and make new ones again in the fall time.
They just started blooming in the last 2 days....I just luv them :D

Vera

I remember that thread - the sea of bulbs - so cool. We can't wait for you guys to buy the farm so to speak. What sort of magical projects will emerge? Your projects seem to express the spirit of seed gardening - experiment for better or worse.

Great inspiration!

donn, that edging is a beautiful idea, but doesn't it get out of control? Is it difficult to keep the edge tidy?

Congrats on the sprouts, by the way! You have more patience than I do... and surprisingly, less land, lol. By the way you sow, I always thought you had a lot more land!

:)
Dee

Dee..the Hyacinth's can't grow into the path because there's a weed fabric barrier. They are growing into the bed, however, but I just pull the stray bulbs and put them back into the edging. They aren't self-seeding much, because I collected most of the seeds.

Donn
Move further east, you and SWMBO will love it!!
Alberta

Donn, that looks fantastic!

I have tried thermopsis for year. No luck. Last year I just left "non germinators" out and ignored them except for keeping them watered. Like you I let leaf litter cover them... this year I have like 10 thermopsis. It seems that in warmer climates, this one likes to take it's time!

Bulbs are one of my favorite things to grow from seed. I just planted some trinity lily grow from seed three years ago. They will bloom this year! I wonder how long it will take your little guys to bloom?

GGG

Vera
I started some crocus seeds this year, mostly fall blooming one. they take a warm cold warm to germinate but otherwise should not be a problem. I think this is why it is difficult to collect seeds even they are not small-once crocus stops blooming it disappear...

The "moving east" thing caught me, too. From where I sit you ARE east. Do you see a farm in the middle of the ocean?

Karen

There's a hair over 90 miles between me and The End (Montauk) of the island. Lots of it is really fine farmland.

Oh, that's gorgeous. Both of them, really. :) *sigh* We've got 1/3 acre, but that has the house, garage, driveway, and it's ALL badly situated. :P So all my projects are "a little here, a little there". I'd love to have the space (that isn't my food gardens!) to think "big"(ger).

At least it seems like you'll have lots of edging material soon!

Donn, my neighbors are going to Keukenhof next week. I have instructed them to take LOTS of pictures. That is awesome!
Maggie

Ok, I'm retarded! The hyacinths look great! However, what exactly is a SWMBO? I am sorry if I appear stupid, but I don't know what that means. Please enlighten me! Donn, you are cool, even if you are cryptic! I have been following your posts for two years now!

SWMBO stands for She Who Must Be Obedient. AKA, my wife. ;>)

Hmm-
Are you sure that doesn't stand for Sweet Woman- My Beautiful Oasis??
Or surely It must mean "She who must be obeyed"....
Heh heh...

any pics Donn? you know I see these little treasures tucked in everywhere - I never thought to plant them - you know I'll be busy collecting seed from them this year!

Thank you again for the inspiration

I don't have pics of the Grape Hyacinth seedlings yet, but will soon.

Here are five 8" mum pots of Irises which went through the exact same process.

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WS last year in 1-gallon jugs, each containing a different kind of Iris seed. I got a few germinations last spring, and, as you can see by the sizes of the seedlings, more this year. I just potted these up the other day, and have new germinations since then.

Bump, bump. Donn, last I heard you were up to your eyeballs in bulbs. Hope you see this. What kind of progress have the hyacinths made since April? I'm wondering how many seasons it'll be until mine bloom.