Germinating hollyhocks on paper towel is my go to method. Will probably transplant the largest of the begonias in the next ten days or so, they're coming along well. Got the mold issues under control by using about four or five drops of bleach in a half glass of water and targeting the stuff. Was hesitant and more so that it was lemon scented bleach, just went for it and worked fine with mold eradicated after several applications.

House plants are really waking up, hoyas, hibiscus and ficus spouting vigorous new growth in the sunny south window. Have aphid issues am attempting to keep on top of, the buggers quickly engulf tiny rose seedlings and easily do them in. Experiencing a high rate of mortality of maybe 1/4 or more with them, though attribute it to the poor quality seed caused by last summers weather, I don't know!

Ubro, glad you're having success with the lewisia. Yes, they never go fully dormant and not uncommon to push blooms at temps just above freezing. Checked on the 'Balsors Hardy Black' blackberries and they're looking good, stems remain their normal bright maroon color, no blackening, cambium is green and moist and buds fine as well. The biggest challenge is to now prevent late winter / early spring desiccation, I'll probably attempt to erect some form of sun block screen.

PNR, the size and quality of your annual starts always impresses me, realize I need to do better, sow some things earlier and be consistent with fertilizing.

Good day today, pelargonium crosses are sprouting on paper towel. Filing down one side of the seed has helped.

FrozeBudd, I got lots of plants which don’t make it, they just don’t make it to the camera roll haha! Although not all annuals,

unsuccessful plants from last year included blue poppies, hyacinth bean vine, Dancy tangerine seedlings. And almost all my peas didn’t come up. For fertilizer I use Plant Prod’s all purpose 20-20-20 liquid soluble for almost everything, but very diluted for seedlings. In the garden many things get a sprinkling of the Miracle Gro’s slow release 12-4-8.

Curious, what is everyone's preferred fertilizer?

Yes Petite Gris. It was a stellar cantaloupe and I don't really like cantaloupe LOL, my husband does and after having these, I changed my mind.

The trick seems to be to start them very early, pot up until they are in the size of a gallon pot and have blossoms. Since I only need three, the work is not nearly as extensive as my flowers.

Frozbud, I got lax as well last year and did not get any cantaloupe either.

PNR, I have been using a couple different Miracle Grow products with micro nutrients and granular 7-7-7 or similar. I started a few seeds from a mandarin orange about 5 years ago. The seeds were starting to sprout when I ate the orange,I crunched a few before being more careful when eating them. If I get to exuberant with the fert the leaves grow to large and distorted. Last year I had it to close to my Purple Martin houses and they use green leaves as they start egg laying. So the upper half of the plant had it's leaves shreaded, I had a good laugh watching them trying to tear the leaves off. This season I will put it out of their sight. I transplanted apple seedlings to larger pots, I put the tray of Prairie Peace seeds in the fridge for a week and then back out again and I will keep doing this to try and break their dormancy.

I've used a bit of everything over the years. Had purchased a large and expensive bag of 14-14-14 Osmocote for waterlily culture, worked great for that and pretty much everything else. For seedlings, until this year, I hadn't applied anything until the plants were on the larger size and then had sprikled the above around them in their flats or individual pots. Though, after seeing PNR's big husky transplants, thought best I get myself some liquid fertilizer and start feeding soon and regularly! Also, been keeping some seedlings on the warmer side, sunny south widow during the day and downstairs at night where it's snug and warm with the infloor heating. Two week old 'BullsEye' geraniums are as big as what my previous month olds had been!

Hibiscus I recently transplanted are nicely kicking into gear and budding up. Again, am impressed with the sturdy compact growing 'Hawaiian Punch' series, they hardly had lost a leaf during the winter and gave a few blooms here and there. Rose seedlings are doing decently okay with a few of the tiny guys budding up, hopefully a lot more are yet to germinate in their baggies.

As for peas not germinating, I have lousy success with garden peas unless they're treated. Raw seeds, even when sown early, only give me sporadic germination! Yes, I dislike chemicals, but a shame to go about planting and only end up with a few plants per foot of row. This spring, I intend to soak them in a copper or sulphur solution and hope for the best! PNR, looking forward to your geranium hybrids! I wouldn't mind attempting to cross 'BullsEye Salmon' with a really good ivy geranium.

The last few years have been re-establishing the 'Blue Moon' wisteria, the thing had stretched for a whopping 45 ft up and along the window and veranda ... well, that is until I made some blunders and had needed to cut it way back and start all over again, sigh! The vine is taken down and laid to the ground for winter. It's not a difficult plant to grow in a protected position, though very late to ripen off and a lot of wood left prone to dieback. Not recommending people bother with it, though I enjoy the challenge, or should I say, the results of the effort! The foliage in itself is very attractive, never mind for those blooms! :)

This lovely lady loves the wisteria!

Wayne, how big is your mandarin plant now, or any luck with fruit? It was hard to see all eight of my tangerine seedings slowly wither away & lose their leaves. Still not quite sure what was the cause. I have a bag of kumquats in the fridge & am in the process of saving their seeds to try.

Ubro, thank you, I just found Petit Gris cantaloupe seeds through Baker Creek, and I see free shipping to North America!

FrozeBudd, congratulations on your stunning wisteria blooms! I remember you mentioning it before on the forum, wow it sure is big! Amazing to see it can be done here in Alberta.

An ivy geranium with a BullsEye is a great idea for a cross. BulleEye Salmon did not work for me as a seed parent, although the pollen is good!

I suppose I do the early fertilizing of seedlings as a result of using Pro-Mix HP, which I understand to have little or no nutrients. Usually I start fertilizing a very dilute solution as soon as the first true leaves open. Glad to hear you are getting good growth! I find geraniums are heavy feeders.

I have cut it back, it gets lanky because I don't give it extra light in the winter and in summer the wind raises heck with it, so about 30". It has 2 stems from one seed, one vertical and the other spreading.

Wayne, I'd say your citrus is looking really very good!

Prairie_northrose and FrozeBudd, would you have any photos of your tuberous begonia seedlings? Are they not hard to grow, I know the seeds are literally invisible!

Sweet photos FrozeBudd, only have seen runted out wisterias in zone 3 Canada. Yes, I wouldn't doubt yours having grown to 45 feet, it looks massive, how big is it currently and how do you protect it, like ubro's lay to the ground and covering method? Wouldn't surprise me if you also have camellias and palms in your back yard lol.

Ubro, I'm interested in your success with the cantaloupes. I always heard you shouldn't start them too early because they don't transplant well? A couple years ago I got one to grow but it was only the size of a softball by the first frost, and last year I planted straight into the garden and the seeds didn't even sprout until halfway through July. How many weeks before last frost would you say you started them?

Wayne, your mandarin looks fantastic, it’s amazing you grew that from seed! I hope it holds fruit for you soon. Sadly the kumquat seeds from WH Perron went mush on me, I need to get around to harvesting the seeds from the fresh kumquats in my fridge.

Markrjc, I took these photos of the begonia seedlings this week Monday Feb 10, (planted on Jan 1). I’d say easy to grow but takes a while to get going, then they gain momentum fast. But very rewarding when you get big huge plants from such tiny seedlings. I’d say these are behind due to algae growth on the surface of the soil & lost a few seedlings from this too. The seeds were all pelleted/coated & easy to handle.

Illumination begonias:

Nonstop Joy begonias:

Sun Dancer begonias:

A bit detailed, but I find the culture guides usually give some helpful tips, https://www.panamseed.com/utility/CultureSheetPDF.aspx?pagename=culture.aspx&type=Ann&txtphid=009408606006060

violetjune,

I start mine the 1st of April, pot up as needed and it is really good if the final pot is at least a 1/2 gallon or larger. If they start to bloom that is good as well. They will set flowers for a while before they actually pollinate.

I plant them in black plastic to keep out the weeds, warm up the soil, and keep the moisture in.

Wire mesh or something like it gives the vines a place to hold onto so if it gets windy they don’t whip around on the slippery plastic. You can choose landscape fabric if you like but I still would put square of mesh next to the plant.

As I said, these three cantaloupe plants gave me 30 or more good harvestable melons. They are hard to tell when ripe, but if picked somewhat green they do ripen well in the house.

They do not transplant well and can get set back, but I found that with plants this large a week or two setback still leaves me ahead of the curve.

I got some very large watermelon this way, more of a novelty as the plants do not set many but they take up a ton of room.

This is not my set up, but I learned my method from this guy. These are watermelon

Ubro, thanks! April 1 seems so early that I would never have thought to plant then, but I will give it a try this year. Has anyone tried Fastbreak before?

And do you start cucumbers that early too?

No, cucumbers do fine on a normal timeline, you could try it though. I only put work into those things I cannot grow in a 'regular' way.

April 1 is early, but you can also stagger the plantings doing a couple each week and see what works best for your area.

I only need 3 plants, but odds are I am going to lose a few to, transplant shock, damping off, frost, bugs etc., so I start more than that and give the extras away or feed them to the chickens LOL.

Great advice. I do struggle a little with cucumbers, I think because we just don't usually get the heat they like. I'm in the Calgary area so we get those cool nights. I think I'll start some extra early this year just to see if it helps.

I am north of PA Sask. so I understand your cool nights problem. Some years cucumbers do well, some years they don't, especially if it is a cool summer.

PNR, your begonia seedlings are looking great! I transplanted mine the other day and lightened up the soil mixture, they were lagging somewhat compared to your husky little guys.

I tend to have very productive cucumbers, I start in cell packs in early May and plant out in the beginning of June and using a plastic hoop tunnel until the plants are approaching blooming. Last summer, despite the horrific wet season, I still was able to give away a bulk amout of cucumbers from a 20 ft row, as I had continued to keep them covered through much of the sopping wet weather.

I start pumpkins April 1 indoors too, transplanting has been made easier by using a 1 gallon pot which I can cut vertically to avoid tipping the vine and pot upside down. This year I’ll try cutting the pot and taping together before sowing, this way I can just cut the tape when it’s time to transplant. A makeshift greenhouse (it’s more like an oversized hoop tunnel we made) has done wonders to keep the night temps up, and protect from wind & hail.

I figured out last night I've been under fertilizing my begonia seedlings. The culture guide suggests up to 100ppm of nitrogen a few times each week. I did some research & math and this should equal 0.5g per one litre of water when using 20-20-20 fertilizer. I wanted to see what 0.5g looks like on a precision scale, here’s a photo with my thumb for size reference, it’s also the same as a level 1/4 tsp. My pinches have been far too small!

Prairie, those begonias are quickly developing from a Jan. 1 st start, gives me incentive to go ahead with them next winter, always imagined they were very finicky! Would see trays and trays of these seedlings at my local greenhouse, all anemic and stunted when they opened their doors to the public in May, they could learn a thing or two from you!

Prairie, I will have to 'steal' that idea, I never thought of pre-cutting the pots but it makes sense.

I use old coffee bags to start my tomatoes and peppers. I clip the bottom corners for drainage, roll down the top till I like it, fill with dirt, plant a little transplant and add dirt as it grows while rolling up the top. I end up with some pretty massive roots without having to transplant the plant. The bags are water proof and because the bottoms are square they stand up well.

Ubro, I gathered the pot cutting idea from one of the giant vegetable growers on the Bigpumpkins.com website who shared it online, so I’m hoping they are ok with us giving life to the technique. Love your technique of rolling up a coffee bag for planting tomatoes and peppers, I’d love to give this a try. I’m trying the heirloom tomato San Marzano this year in hopes of getting a less seedy tomato good for sauce.

On the topic of growing melons/cucumbers/vines in the north - I can’t remember if I’ve posted this one before but this is the 2018 photo gallery from Don Crews of Lloydminster Alberta, and his record winning 1884 lb pumpkin, he does some watermelons as well, http://www.bigpumpkins.com/Diary/DiaryView.asp?season=2018&grower=25399&action=L

Markrjc, I tried the 'BIG' series of hybrid fibrous begonias last year, and they were much faster than these tuberous ones so far. Hopefully it’ll help now I know how much fertilizer to use.

San Marzano produced well for me. Thanks for the links.

PNR, i have a "ditch lily" as well and while it has gotten larger, it hasn't taken over. I'm not sure why because there are so many other things in my gardens that do!

Ubro, thanks for the cantaloupe tips. I definitely will try this for both cantaloupe and watermelon.

I've been remarkably restrained on seed-starting so far this winter. I've started wave petunias, impatiens, dichondra, lobelia and Livingstone daisies, which germinated quickly and really took off!

Since i posted last, i've had a new task added to my list for the summer. We recently lost my mother-in-law, so now i want to make a little hummingbird garden in her memory. She loved hummers and had so many hummingbird decorations and trinkets. :)

Some photos I was finally able to download to my laptop after getting a new camera.

A beautiful seedling, though becomes a bit too diseased later in the season.

A nice clean and very healthy 5 ft pillar rose.

I rather like this one, it's ('Morden Sunrise' x 'John Davis') x Marshall's Peace Garden Rose' ... a strong sturdy plant that shows very good hardiness and decent disease resistance despite the lineage.

'Balsors Hardy Black' blackberries, the canes had been laid to the ground the previous winter and began flowering around mid June, surprisingly early I thought. I left them standing this winter and so far they're looking good, patch is spreading out and getting large, canes are tall and stocky and prickly mean as heck! Yes, the fruit is delicious!

Now, for a bit of neon color, this is dahlia 'Firepot', as grown in a pot, lol. This variety has been around for a good long time and deservedly so!

Marcia, I’m sorry for the loss of your mother-in-law, what a lovely way to honour her, hummingbirds are such spectacular creatures, we get a few here each year. My neighbour gets more hummingbirds, I think she said they like feeding off the nectar on her borage. I heard that hummingbirds have an incredible memory and will return to the exact same spot for the same flower each year.

FrozeBudd, your roses are lovely & I especially love the look of your tall pillar rose, it is stunning! It’s so rewarding to see blooms. That looks like an amazing harvest of blackberries, I’ve seen them in the wild in BC, they must take up a fair bit of space. I’ll have to try dahlias again one day, perhaps growing in a pot will be the key for me, they don't seems to handle the cold at all. I saw gorgeous dahlias at the local agricultural fair last year, I’ll have to ask what her trick is.

Local greenhouse has been offering some buddleia plugs, the below 'Buzz Raspberry' is compact and continuous blooming, too bad I lost it, should have planted it next to the foundation instead of keeping over in the garage.

The below was a nice surprise, had planted two small plugs together, both suppose to have been 'Black Knight', though one decided otherwise and ended up for an attractive pairing.

PNR, yes, for sure the blackberries are vigorous, the patch is expanding quickly with sturdy canes popping up everywhere. Now, if I'd just get the fence installed around the yard, I'd then plant several patches here and there and have the possibility of substantial crops produced when winters have been favorable. As is, the deer would only end up badly chewing the canes down.

Dwarf dahlias are great for containers and quite easy to store over, just leave in the pot and store cool and don't bother with any watering for the winter.

Froze, Edmonton's climate is very similar to Thunder Bay. Yet, I am blown away with the blackberry and butterfly bushes, very lilac like! Let me get this correct, you manage to grow and fruit the blackberries with no winter protection, it's all about selecting the correct variety? The butterfly bushes are planted against the foundation, south side, how deeply? Both you and PNR hybridize your own roses, please the two of you keep showing them!

Much enjoy this site, had frequented the place before the Houzz change over, back then this forum was one happening place, now only a few pump any life into it!

FrozeBudd, gosh that buddleia is gorgeous, looks like something bees and butterflies would love. I’ve never grown buddleia before. Last year the bees loved my sedum Autumn Joy. A few horse owners I know use electric fences, not sure if they work for deer due to their jumping capabilities. I’ve been shocked before, but yet by a fence. I’ll have to ask my husband how it feels, who probably has greater experience with such things.

Markrjc, I love the discussions here about fruit growing too. Amazing to see melons, apricots, cherries, plums and grapes grown in the north - I find there is some excellent experience to reference here. I have to remember to take some photos of the roses with odd looking distorted blooms, they are very interesting but probably would not be considered beautiful, or even rose-like to most human eyes.

I find with the increase in smart phone usage many have moved towards social media platforms like Facebook groups or Instagram pages for gardening discussion. But I find the type of discussion on social media is not often as in depth and can quickly degrade due to the quantity of shorter comments. I find the ability to write longer paragraphs and search posts is not as easy compared to a discussion forum. And I find the tone of each Facebook group also vastly differs according to the moderators. I really like the FB group “Alberta Gardening,” it is very focused on Alberta gardening only, but it has so many members that it is too much for me to keep up with. Garden.org is a really nice resource too, lots of discussion forums and usually most are in depth with smaller groups. It is interesting to see that a community can be whatever people make of it.

Technology is funny to me, good and bad all at the same time. I would not have known of all these amazing plants, techniques and people without technology, but the time I spend using technology takes me away from the plants! I often feel nature/gardening/plants and technology are as opposite as can be. On that note, time for me to go water the plants. :)

Hi there! I haven't posted much since I moved to "the far north" about 10 years ago. I've been having mixed success because the environment is so challenging for me, not just temperature-wise, but also because I now am doing all my seed starting in my apartment in just a few flats. I am doing most of my gardening balconies on containers and vertically, and in the raised beds in our apartment parking lot. I've spent the last several years battling the tree roots and amending the soil and I've finally made some head-way.

This is the first year I'm going to try my hand at eggplant 'little fingers' and peppers 'king of the north' - brave without a greenhouse, I know, but I've done tomatoes successfully, so I'm fairly confident I can do it as long as we don't have a cold summer. I'm also going to try alcea nigra, which I used to always grow in my native NJ, but this will be a first for me here. Also going to try for a hearty clematis, I've researched some varieties and have narrowed my choices. I'm experimenting with a tomato I've not tried before 'betalux', also a fun radish mix from Baker Creek 'Easter Basket Mix'

I generally try to choose vegetables that are unusual/ornamental since I'm working with limited space. As such I only alot a very limited space to flowers- New flowers Baker Creek from seed this year are: snapdragon 'appleblossom', Poppy 'mother of pearl' mix, and poppy 'amazing grey' which looks super exciting. Like I said, I like weird stuff. I collect blue, black, purple vegetables and flowers. Returning to the garden this year are purple beans, cauliflower, cabbage, kale, potatoes, etc.

asturnut, that is awesome you are planting in your apartment parking lot raised beds! I am sure it is delightful for those who walk by. Years ago I helped care for a perennial garden informally planted in a public city space, we were probably breaking some bylaws but no one complained as it was better than the thistle and eroding soil before. It's now mostly reverted back but a few tough rose bushes remain.

Sounds like we might have a similar taste in some plants, I've ordered the 'Amazing Grey' poppies too and have germinated some black hollyhocks. I really like the tomato 'Black Cherry', the flavour continues to develop after picking. 'Sungold' is a great cherry tomato too, very sweet, but tastes best picked ripe off the vine. Grew some tasty purple carrots last year too, I forgot the variety but the flavour was great. It seems like the flavours of purple or dark veggies is stronger, but they sometimes take longer to grow and don't produce as much. I wished I ordered some of the unique yellow ground cherry seeds from Baker Creek to try, they have really good variety of them, but I just forgot to add them to the order!

I love the poppy 'Lauren's Deep Grape', the leaves sit high on the plant and they are ideal for tight spaces as other things can be planted below them. They are a very rich dark purple, more than in my photos here, the colour looks lighter here because this was taken in bright sun:

That's a beautiful poppy.

I have grown the carrots 'Purple Haze' for several years and the flavour is really good for a non-nantes type. The carrot is a really dark purple but the core is orange, so when you cut them open you get this wild contrast. When my kids take them to school their classmates are really shocked.

Peppers are a little trickier than tomatoes, in my experience. You really need the heat for them. Raised beds are good but I've had better luck growing in a very large black pot, I think because it really warms up the roots. It also seems to work best if I transplant the largest seedling possible. Our summers just aren't long enough otherwise.

Violetjune, I was surprised how available the Lauren’s Grape poppy seeds were available once I started looking around, at first I ordered the seeds from the US through Renee’s Garden Seeds, now I see them in stores everywhere! Thank you for the name of the carrot variety 'Purple Haze', I think that is the name of the purple carrot I grew last year, they were delicious and yes they had that orange core.

Unfortunately many of my carrots got carrot flies last year and did not store well because of the damage from the maggots.

PNR, yes, the buddleia really are something different to have in this climate! Mark, these are planted no more than 9 inches from my south foundation wall and 3 inches deep. As for blackberries, there are only a few selections capable of production when not provided with winter protection and a "normal" decent winter is necessary to prevent both winterkill and desiccation. 'Balsors Hardy Black' is upright and stout growing, making it difficult to lay canes down. I'd like to find a flexible thornless variety of early ripening, a few exist, though not readily available in Canada.

I have hardly ordered any new plants for spring, hate to say this, but have a lot on my mind with this coronavirus matter upon us. Tending an elderly parent and having significant digestive problems myself, it weighs on me. Had brought this up with a friend who operates a large greenhouse facility. He's glad to have as many locked in contracts as he does, though with annuals that have yet to be sown, those orders have dropped off a cliff or been cancelled with the very real speculation of the virus coming full force here as well. As in times of crisis and financial downturn, flowers are often the first thing on the chopping block.

Though, on a upbeat note, my seed tuberous begonias, especially the 'Illumination Apricot Shades' are growing like heck and I' ve needed to lower the temperature to slow them down.

Those 'Lauren's Deep Grape' poppies are stunning! :)

Yes, peppers can be tricky here, thougn excellent results had during warmer summers or when using row covers or black plastic pots. Here's my in ground plants from a few summers ago.

Oh, and a rose seedling now blooming.

I'm really nervous about the peppers, i looked short for the shortest season peppers i could find. I'm thinking that surrounded by the asphalt that will also give them a little extra boost of heat as well. If they don't do well this year, I can try, try, try again and tinker around till i figure out something that works. wish me luck...

Froze, I will definitely consider the buddleia, at least one or two places always carry them, appears you have reliable success. I will forge the blackberries, sounds hit and miss and difficult to protect. You guys are currently experiencing very cold temperatures, I hope those blackberries are holding out okay and all. That's rather heavy pepper production, any specific variety to recommend? Rose is cute!

Regarding the COVID19 crisis, I work in healthcare and my department is pressing the government to do more than simply recommend Canadians implement soical distancing and diligent hand washing. These measures provide literally zero protection from the vast expelling of virus that occurs when infected individuals cough or sneeze anywhere nearby to others. I'm shocked to see tv news footage of people going about as normal within crowds in Toronto and few with masks and warp around total eye protection. If you want to protect yourself and the ones you love, wear a very well fitted mask and sealed around eye protection! We will be seeing a large wave of infection in this country and there's no excuse for it with the time we've had to prepare in advance, again washing one's hands and maintaining a 3 ft stance from others is NOT enough, when infection is simply a cough or sneeze away!

A decent salmon rose seedling now blooming, fragrant as well. Never ceases to amaze me the range of seedlings obtained from controlled crosses, I mean seldom do I see the desired or expected results and instead ever so many off sorts and weak growers, when something good shows, it's almost surprising!

Mark, to some forums, I've kinda copied and pasted your comments regarding the use of masks and eyeware. Today, had seen it mentioned on Global News, only high quality masks and sealed around eye protection is of much true value, I had gone to the grocery store sporting such, received some looks! What surprised me was the high number of seniors going about their usual routine, maybe that will soon change.

Cold weather continues on, the two week forecast is chilly into early April, by the way it's going there won't be much melting in this region for another entire month! I guess, they're calling for warmth to settle in over the east, while we continue cold. Here's to another late spring start I guess!

As for the most reliable pepper production, usually can't go wrong with the banana sorts, 'Sweet Sunset' is a new favorite.

'BullsEye' geranium seedlings, sure do love the foliage! PNR, how's your geranium seedlings coming along?

asturnut I cannot grow peppers well but my DIL seems to have no problem getting peppers and she plops them in her garden. She is not picky on the variety but again, as with melons, she starts them very early.

I am going to try peppers again this season, maybe third time is the charm.

Geranium seedlings are doing good, lots of worry around here with news of the Coronavirus, the plants seem to ease my mind off things. Below are 'Crystal Palace Gem x BullsEye Salmon' and 'Mrs. Pollock' x either Crystal Palace or BullsEye Salmon - I lost the label argh! Perhaps if they flower it will be telling. The variegation is exciting however the new leaves have lost the variegation. I have pinched out the newer leaves in hopes it will help preserve the variegation.

I have over a hundred plants to transplant this week and have been procrastinating. Begonias are definitely ready!

those begonias are incredibly healthy. I uncovered the radiator in the greenhouse today but with the sun it tops 36 degrees, perfect temps to sit and pretend it is summer.

Yes, your begonias look fantastic, advanced and well developed and having a nice bit of foliage contrast. I've kept putting off transplanting, but will do so soon directly into hanging baskets. The geraniums, I like the one showing the somewhat marbled foliage and the yellow with brown center, the little guys peeking out with the small foliage could turn out interesting.

Am having better rose seedlings results using ProMix, will stick with that for starting them. Hopefully, a second round of germination will soon occur. Impatiens are a bit overboard fast growing, sown only about a month ago and already showing buds. Need to check on the dahlias and cannas and get them going soon.

Ubro, the Petit Gris cantaloupe seeds came in the mail, I’m looking forward to planting them soon!

I hear Baker Creek Seeds and Stokes Seeds had to stop taking orders in for a period due to an unprecedented increased demand. With schools and daycares closed it sounds like parents are getting together with their children to plant seeds. I suppose that is some good that’s coming the whole covid-19 situation, it appears more people are wanting to start things from seed and grow their own food.

FrozeBudd, it won’t be long before everything is in full swing again for me here too. It feels like spring is just around the corner, we’ve had some snow these last few days but it looks like it’s finally going to warm up a bit over the next few days! I want to get zinnias, marigolds and morning glories started soon, everything was so behind last year.

Nothing earth shattering, but a decent good rose seedling, blooms are small, though of good quality and long lasting, plant is vigorous with large foliage, I think it'll develop into a sizeable hardy plant.

Beautiful mild day with plenty of melting occurring, otherwise March has not been terribly favorable in my region. Yesterday, The Weather Network was showing a very nice Calgary forecast, while Edmonton tanked, now temps have been revised sharply downward there as well. The next two weeks look absolutely dismal for Edmonton, with the warmest temperature forcast to be a very paltry + 2 C, at this rate we'll have snow on the ground to May! Honestly, I'm so ready to move to the interior of BC. Yes, all places have their problems but six months of winter gets to me and snow returns in September!

Stunning seedling FrozeBudd! It is very charming. It reminds me of Quadra.

I'm tired of winter too. They’re calling for -17C tonight. Brrrrrr.

Yet no breakthrough spring weather here, albeit a bit milder, yesterday very nice, though still remaining below normal, back to cold for tomorrow and very windy, sigh! Been busy transplanting and sowing more seeds. Begonias are doing nicely, especially the Illuminations, vigorous and uniform plants that are now budding up. PNR, I bet many of yours will soon to flower.

Been following some UK folks on social media, kinda depressing with their magnificant array of plants and very colorful spring bulbs that bloom for weeks and weeks on end, I tend to get maybe six measly days from my tulips before the heat fries them! Definitely, am gardening in the wrong place, really kick myself for not having installed a large four seasons sunroom on the house !!

FrozeBudd, yes I have a bloom from begonia 'Illumination Lemon', I had been pinching buds to hopefully encourage leaf growth after transplanting, but I missed one. Here it is today, it brings me hope that things will get better one day, both weather & pandemic-wise. Photos can’t really capture how glowing the flower is:

It’s a constant puzzle rearranging, but this mass of plants in the little corner of my basement has become my little oasis among everything:

Here’s a striking pelargonium leaf, if only I could keep the plant reverting to green, most of the new growth is green even after pinching:

Your plants always look fantastic, begonias very dark and healthy, well fed! Indeed, I think some of the best full and shapely blooms are in the 'Illumination' yellow breeding lines. Soon the first flowers to open on my 'Apricot Shades' and hope they're as nice as the photos. These are developing better than any others, 'Sun Dancers' were a bit pokey, though now kicking into gear, the 'On Tops' are the most NON uniform, I have large, medium and very small plants. All in all, growing from seed is very economical in comparison to purchasing bulbs and plants, really not all that difficult either!

Yes, really too bad your very nicely variegated geranium refuses to remain that way, that leaf is gorgeous!

Need to get more transplanting done today and sow some French marigolds!

Another rose seedling flowering for the first time (right), rather like this one and hope it doesn't pink all out as it matures. The solid pink being the one as shown above, it has really great lasting qualities, bloom here is two weeks old and still fresh and unfaded. Have been chip budding some of my favorite seedling roses and named varieties, sure a great way to utilize rose seedlings as rootstock, those that I'd otherwise discard due to poor quality traits. Weather has really improved of late, though wish this COVID thing would go away, really hate now going shopping and all this social distancing thing, not that I have a problem conforming, rather to the contrary, though it just all feels very awkward and people now so seldom even look one another in the eye.

A young chip budded specimen of my 5 ft tall pillar rose, there's just something about this rose!

FrozeBudd, what a great idea to do chip budding with your unused seedlings! Gorgeous blooms, lovely to see different forms brought to pink roses.

My geraniums have lost of some of their initial zone patterns, I was hoping they would keep more of a bullseye look, but I’m still happy they are healthy, I think I may have been feeding them a bit too much!

(Crystal Palace Gem x BullsEye Salmon)