Tag Archives: ideas

Massive Seed Sowing Sunday…

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This weekend, we had beautiful summer-like weather with highs reaching 78°F (normal average is 63°F). Looks like we are going to have an early spring (which is what I think Mr. Groundhog told us). I remember last year, I couldn’t plant outside until May because he had rain everyday in April.

Sowing Seed

It’s funny seeing myself plant seeds… Does anyone else sit down cross-legged with slippers and short on and work on the ground like that? I think I need a potting table…

I decided to take advantage of the nice weather and start planting seeds… and I did some massive seed sowing:

– Lemon Cucumber
– Cosmos ‘Picotee’
– Cosmos ‘Sensation Mixed Colors’
– Orange Cosmos from treebreeze (Thank you for these! :)
– Sunflower ‘Summer Sun’ (Ox-Eye) (Heliopsis Scabra)
– Agrostemma ‘Ocean Pearl’
– Strawflower (Helichrysum) Tall Double Mixed Colors
– Nasturtium ‘Jewel Mixed Colors’
– Zinnia ‘Envy’
– Zinnia ‘Candy Cane Mix’
– Zinnia ‘Dahlia Flowered Mixed Colors’
– Zinnia ‘Giant Cactus Mixed Colors’
– Zinnia ‘Thumbelina’
– Lamb’s Ears (I think they are Lamb’s Ears) seeds that I collect from San Anselmo

Spider Fancy Spider House?
Spiders, Spiders, Spiders: As I was filling the 6-pack cell pots with soil, I found a Spider living in between them. I released it so it can find a new home. My Mom then noticed a Spider that had made a home in our of our decorative bird house. Then when I was sowing the seeds, I notice hundreds of tiny baby spiders around the 6-packs, so I tried to disperse them around the garden to make new homes.

Peanuts: I also took the Peanut outdoors and repotted it (again) into a larger container (its permanent home) filled with potting soil and a lot of perlite to make the soil really loose.

Garden progress:

Recent blooms: Spring Starflower, Rananculus

Spring Starflower Ranunculus

About to bloom: the very first Columbine, Pears, Apples, Clematis, Wisteria

Emerging growth: Forsythia leaves, Taro

Hmmm… Can I Make Money Growing Plants?

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I fell asleep right after dinner while watching TV and woke up so early (4:30am), so I’m doing some computer work, until I can get back to sleep and wake up (6:30am) for work.

Yesterday, one of my best friend (who is just started his garden design business in Reno last year) left me a message on my mobile phone and had a thought. He said that if and when I got my new house, maybe I can grow some plants for him, and he can use these in his garden design business or sell it at the farmers market. I thought this was a great idea, but I have no clue when it comes to business, so some questions came to mind:

1. Do I need to get a business license, or can I do this just as a side business and make extra money?
2. Can I grow plants and sell them myself at a local farmers market or online, like on Craig’s List?
3. Is there a demand for plants grown by just regular gardeners?
4. What plants are sought after in Reno? One that comes to mind are Ornamental Grasses.
5. What Ornamental Grasses are popular?
6. Where should I get seeds or young plants for cheap?

See how my mind works?

( Also posted in Gardening )

MacWorld San Francisco 2006 + Non-gardening Photos on Flickr

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I was able to leave work early to go to the MacWorld San Francisco 2006 Expo. The new Intel Mac look pretty impressive, but I don’t want to get one just yet, since it’s still in it’s infancy. I want iLife ’06 and the new version of EyeTV, though.

After the expo, as I walked over to the casual carpool line, I snapped photos. In addition to plant photos, I also like snapping up numbers, urinals, fire hydrants and street art (i.e. posters, graffiti, stickers, etc.). I don’t really post these photos, but think I should.

My “paid” Flickr account just contains plant and gardening related photos, but I think I will start using it for the above mentioned photos as well as friends, family and work photos, since I don’t want to buy another “separate” Flickr account. I’m going to stew this over and decide later. I’m going to continue to make this LiveJournal mostly plant and gardening specific though, with a few daily life thoughts here and there.

Live Christmas Tree for My New House…

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Just a thought… When I get my own house, I want to get a live Christmas Tree to plant in a large container. I’ll keep it in the back and take to the front of the house and decorated with lights at Christmas time. I’ll so some research and see what trees don’t grow too big or can be controlled with pruning.

Does anyone do this?

Quick Response + Rose Stumps + Gardening Thoughts…

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I wrote an email to White Flower Farm last night asking if they knew what varieties of Coleus my coworker purchased from them… and this morning, I got a response with the names. They are Black Magic, Peridot, Bronze Pagoda, Garnet Robe and Rattlesnake… Now I’ll update my previous entry and my flickr page to reflect this information.

My Mom finally cut down the Roses in the front yard to about a foot from the stump. There were a few flowers left, but nothing significant. Our front yard looks so bare now.

As I was watching A Gardener’s Diary before bed last night, I saw this gardener who grew Clematis through one of her bushes. It made the illusion that bush was flowering. That gave me an idea. How it would look if we grew Clematis next to our White Birch tree in the front. Would it enhance the tree with flowers or would it look too weird. Hmm???… My Mom doesn’t really like the Birch tree, but we can not chop it down because of our city’s municipal code prohibits it.

I was also thinking about making a make-shift grow-light thingy-a-gig in my room like my LiveJournal friend, lblanchard. Just a small one… maybe I can take one of my old aquariums, replace the light with a warm white fluorescent bulb and add mirrors on the sides to intensify the light. I’ll add gravel or stones the the bottom with just a little bit of water to add some humidity. Hmm?… That’s an idea… Lemme research that on Google…

More sowing…

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I made even more newspaper pots this evening and planted more leafy vegetables: Salad Bowl Lettuce, Grand Rapids Lettuce and Correnta Hybrid Spinach.

My oldest brother and sister-in-law came by and picked up some extra plants that we had, so they can plant it in their new house. They took some Bamboo, a Fig, some Ferns and a Pomegranate. These are plants that we have lots of. My mom takes division and give them away…

Right now I’m looking at some greenhouse plans. I’m just interested of the cost of building one from scratch versus a pre-build one that you just snap together. hmm?… I’m just curious…