Have any luck growing primroses (cowslips)....supposed to be cold germinators?
Posted on 04/24/2021 7:11:16 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
You’re a good three weeks ahead of us then.
The Upper Valley isn’t so far along.
Peppers and tomatoes transplanted to the raised beds yesterday.
We covered the beds with heavy sheets overnight and added the light bulb treatment. Also, plugged in 80 white onion sets.
Will uncover after lunch...
Checking in - haven’t been on a Garden Thread for a while!
I push mowed my Mom’s acre last weekend. It’s just about due again, but, we are getting soaked (rain). I figure it’s good exercise. Almost too good.
Our “extra-small” bantam (mostly) hen went broody and hatched 3 chicks from 2 eggs that were well under 1 oz., and one about 1 oz. The latter was from another hen that just laid an atypically small egg for her, which she does every tenth egg or so. Anyway, the two smaller chicks look like Amberlinks, but with Bantam-type feathery feet. They were so tiny when hatched!! My wife almost couldn’t believe it. I don’t know what we’re gonna do with all these chickens except eat them, as we already have too many. But, OTOH bantam or mixed Bantam hens make great Moms and are small enough to keep in a medium large tote in the house when it’s really cold. (Just gotta clean often to keep odor low.) It’s funny later to watch them with chicks sometimes much bigger but still following “Mom” closely. It does occur to me the extra-small eggs might sell well to people with pet snakes that would normally eat full grown feeder mice?
5 of those Buckeye hens I had to work so hard to get chicks for are doing well, but are taking forever to begin laying. # 6 is ok too but has foot deformities. She’s separately housed but I’ll have to give that up soon. She can get around, but not as well as the others - this likely won’t go well. I DID spot a Buckeye chasing a small rat (or a big mouse - hard to tell at distance.) I don’t see how the Buckeyes are fast enough to actually catch either, but, at least it’s a good sign.
The Buckeyes seem to have pleasant enough personalities — about mid-scale, but, I swear they are the dumbest chickens we’ve ever had. Once they learn something they seem to behave consistently, but, golly, getting there can be a chore! Our ISA Browns are easily twice as smart. (Ok, ok, that’s all relative!)
I caught two trout almost 3 lb. 3 oz. on our Easter Sunday afternoon “out”, plus 4 much smaller ones. The longer of the two big ones made 4 magnificent jumps. That was fun!! It even got my daughter off her smart phone and fishing!
Congrats, Emma!
Oddly, we were hunting last night, too: trying to find the killer of a mammoth bone thief, at The Mammoth Site in town! A different team won, though we came close: missed the correct motive. Everyone had a blast, and enjoyed a fine meal, along with lots of wine. Nothing pertaining to gardening in the silent auction, so I ‘won’ a hot air balloon ride for 2, instead. LOL Murder-mystery dinners are fun.
Just a few stray flakes yesterday, as the ground continues to dry out. 3 weeks +/- to ‘last frost’: YAY!
Couple of weeks ago I planted a packet of leek seeds in a coffee can, full of dirt from the garden. I draped a plastic produce bag over the can, and left it on the kitchen table until they germinated.
This week I started placing them in the kitchen window by day; And recover them on the counter for the night.
Now they’re 1.5-2” tall, & I’m starting to give them a bit of outdoors time, to start hardening them off.
In another couple of weeks they’ll be ready to transplant. Hopefully, by using the garden soil they’ll be planted in, there’ll be less transplant shock when I put them in the ground. I used to buy transplants, but Bonnie stopped supplying them to our local dealers; and the local greenhouses don’t offer them, either.
Can’t have cock-a-leekie soup without leeks!
Oh, she’s a beauty! What’s her 0-6 time? LOL
Glad to see you’re again able to get out & about the garden: can’t keep a good gardener down!
Have any luck growing primroses (cowslips)....supposed to be cold germinators?
Hey and you are not sitting in it. That means you are getting around some - good news!!
Tubebender; I can see the heat mat on the bottom. Did you use bottom heat the whole time you they were germinating?
(Is it really 90 degrees like the thermometer sayes?)
Tubebender; I can see the heat mat on the bottom. Did you use bottom heat the whole time you they were germinating?
(Is it really 90 degrees like the thermometer sayes?)
Looks like you also have a fabric greenhouse. Has to be helpful!
Eric. I think we are finally over the freezes. I can take off my Reemay covers. I have some figs in 5 gallon subwatered pots. I moved them outside today. (Put them in the shade of a Red bud.)
What tomatoes are you planting? What peppers?
Paul, where are you that you are catching trout? (Did the chickens enjoy the heads?)
“may need the baler by this point”
And its getting wet next week...just make certain its dry before you move into the barn! :) (I know...its just your mower!)
Eric...forgot to mention, I was in the back yard and my daughter found a Morel Mushroom! My neighbor has an Elm Tree and Morels like to grow on the roots of Dying Elm Trees. (They feed on carbohydrates exuded from the roots.)
I cut the mushroom off and replanted the stem with the Hyphae back in the ground by a root.
I have a Hi-Low thermometer under the bench and it said 70*. This is our second “tent” style as they last about 5 years here in Eureka Ca. Our first structure was a Redwood framed geodesic dome that I glazed with real glass that lasted (with repairs) 30 years
My balcony garden is starting to come back to life after winter, and the hostas are pipping or even leafing out. Each day or so, I find another hosta or two has made it through the winter and pipped. Three of my heucheras are growing new baby leaves, but alas, little "Frost" didn't make it through the winter. Anyone know of somewhere I can find another dwarf heuchera "Frost"?
👍😉 Way too cool. Nice to see ya.
Nice lookin’ cukes etc.
I have a melon that I transplanted into a shorter 6” pot, a while back, and it’s ready to be transferred to the garden, but the weather is still too cold at night.
My winter cover crop down by the walnut tree is way over due for a mowing. Hoping the ground is dry enough for planting the next batch of taters tomorrow — well actually today - when daylight hrs. arrive.
I wish I had success growing primroses, but alas, I need help, too.
I’m also looking for advice on Virginia Bluebells. I purchased 3 yesterday at a garden show. I’ll keep reading up on them, but I hope somebody here can give me some pointers.
Re: Primrose. I’ve never tried to grow them, and have only used them already-potted in Spring Displays in the store.
Any Primrose Fans here?
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