planted my petunias yesterday

CLB you are braver than I am...i am still scared of a frost... but it looks very nice.

I thought of that after I planted but I can cover if needed. We had snow here June 3rd one year and normally get snow on the may long, but not this year it was late getting warm so hopefully the cold is over. I planted the poppies at the end closest to the house and in front of the basement window.

CLB, Did you have enough seeds? I can send more if you want :). You also gave me the courage to start planting out. The forecast doesn't show anything under 7 until our last frost date (May 19ish)......

Anyone else planting out?

Planting annuals: petunias, four O'clocks,marigolds,
sunflowers, nasturtiums, nolana, brachycome daisies,
Mexican marigold, mexican tarragon, tithonia, ruellia,
Some in planters and some direct seeding.

A new one came from last year's sowing: cisanthe

Caroline

Sounds great caroline. Four O'clock is one flower I have never tried but hear so much about. Ruellia as well, although I always thought it would take over my containers..not sure why. Would love to see some pics of your planters and all.

SCG

Caroline, did you seed the cisanthe or buy it? I'm pretty sure that;s the on i had on here last year to identify. I took seeds from it but they never came up.

I have plenty of seeds Thanks Lance and if they all grow I will be in trouble LOL

CLB, it will be beautiful if they do. I stopped by the place I got the seeds and looked at the pictures, amazing. Anyone else want any?

I need to learn how to identify weeds. Anyone know of a website that shows what weeds look like at an early stage? Lol.

You could do what I do, Lance. Study your flower seedlings from start to finish and pull out anything that doesn't look l like any of them! It might be easier! Lol! :)

Ginny

Hehe Ginny I wasn't smart enough to take photos of them way back when to remember what they look like. As well some I have never grown...but was smart enough to mark location to know when they come up. I do have marigolds down pat :-)

Looking forward to seeing pics of everyone's gardens once those babies are blooming!

I'm still moving perennials since I have empty places following doing a serious cull of self-seeders and weeds the last 2 years. I plan to only use perennials at the moment as will be away for a couple of weeks in June so won't be around to tend young annuals. I'll see what the garden centers have left at the end of June and do my containers then. I do about 6 containers with annuals but also plant some in the garden where extra color is needed.

In the past I've seeded coleus, nasturtiums, calendula, alyssum, and more I've forgotten.

Have also bought:
~petunias, especially purple and more recently Waves
~coleus
~marigolds
~snapdragons
~salvia
~portulaca
~four o'clocks (tender perennial)
~verbena
~sweet potato vine, both lime and burgundy
~other flowering or non-flowering vines for containers I don't remember the names of
~pansies
~various herbs which may or may not return
~various geraniums especially Vancouver Centennial for containers
~Dusty Miller with the lacey leaves - altho it's a perennial it doesn't always come back nicely. I usually give them a chance but often end up pulling them.

My peony poppies self-seed and I also 'help' them. Forget-me-nots (biennials) also come back but I think I'll scatter some new seed as I want more and some have reverted to white. I've always had dill return from seeds altho haven't seen any yet. I use them in the perennial bed as a filler plant and also dry to use in cooking. I had given up having sunflowers as the chipmunks or squirrels dig up the seeds but might try again.

Surprisingly a few of my snapdragons have returned this year. I always thought they were annuals but apparently they are perennials. Not really hardy in zone 3b but some toughies survived.

I usually just walk around the garden center with a large wagon and pick up whatever appeals to me, usually some old standards and a few new. I'm still thinking about seeding a few.

Re: ID'ing weeds - I pull the known ones, right now dandelions, clover, and encroaching grass. Also feverfew, lamb's ears, and yarrow which I originally seeded. I keep some self-seeding perennials - flax, columbine, Jacob's Ladder, and chives which are all quite obvious from early on.

I think you are lucky to have so much lucky. :)

I have a bad feeling I am going to be over run with weeds this year. Quack grass is already showing up and I can't dig it up in risk of losing sown seeds. Ack!!

I am curious, if I put roundup on a paper towel then wiped the weeds would it hurt my other plants? Does anyone have experience with this? Or maybe on a q-tip?

A paintbrush works too.

I use a needle and syringe for RU and inject it directly into the centre of the weed. :)

Ginny

Re: using roundup close to plants you don't want to spray:

A while back someone else on this forum described using a 2 litre pop bottle, bottom trimmed off, centered over the target and spraying through the neck opening, as a way to use roundup without hitting neighboring desirable plants.

I've positioned those black 2 or 5 gallon nursery pots over small plants while dh sprays nearby, or gone alongside him with a small sheet of plywood as a shield to protect certain plants (and kill others).

Thanks to all with the help on round up. I figured I was going to have to do something, just not sure what.

It is still +6 here at 12am so I only have to get up a few more times LOL...

Thanks again all.

A way back there someone asked about Cisanthe.
The seeds came from William Dam Seeds.
What I had thought was a self seeded one was actually another plant---a weed.

I never noticed them at William Dam. Will have to check again next year. Thanks, xaroline!

I have since found that Cisanthe is a rock purslane and so should be treated as a rock garden plant rather than as a wild flower.

I just kept it in a container, and as i said, the seeds didn't germinate the following year, and i didn't see it in the nursery again.