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:)

Showing posts with label Propagaiton. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Propagaiton. Show all posts

Sunday, February 10, 2013

It’s Miller Time! Tootsie Style!

  Dusty MillerTime that is!

Don't get me wrong..I do enjoy a good beer once in a blue moon...but today... is not one of those days.

Today we are throwing all self control out the window and planting some Dusty Miller seed.    For those who may not be familiar with this plant, allow me to introduce you!

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I really enjoy the silver qualities of Dusty Miller…also known as Silver Dust…when planted in amongst other plants with colorful blooms, it seems to reflect them. 
Colors Just pop against the light colored fuzzy plants! They are a versatile and fun to use plant in pots, in beds amongst plantings or even as a border…(such as the one I have planted below)

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Grab your planting tools…and lets get busy!

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You will need your trusty packages of seed….you can see what Dusty Miller seed looks like in the top right corner of the package…I like to make sure you all know what color and size they actually are!

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Next you will need to go to your stash of pre-filled seed cells in a lined tray with Daisy support tray below.
I like to use the Sunshine professional soil mixes...check them out if you haven't already!



Follow the directions on the package…


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Once you have placed your seed on the top of the soil, and your tray is all planted up…you will want to place it on the shelf and fill the lined tray with water.

Make sure you set that tray near the window…remember Dusty Miller NEEDS light to germinate!

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Watering from below will help make sure that you don’t lose your seeds…and will saturate the entire cell of soil.

And then….we wait. 

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….and WAIT….and WAIT some more!

I have terrible luck with Dusty Miller most years…I often have to re-seed before I get results.  I hope this year is not one of those years.   I have a great idea planned for my Dusty Miller Plants this year!

That’s it…that’s all!   How easy is that?   I don’t think there is any excuse for anyone not to try to sow from seed…do you?

Until Next Time... Happy Gardening!

*)*)*) If you don't see the light at the end of the tunnel...remember not all tunnels are straight!!!

(¯`v´¯)
`*.¸.*´Glenda/Tootsie
¸.•´¸.•*¨) ¸.•*¨)
(¸.•´ (¸.•´ .•´ ¸¸.•¨¯`•.
www.tootsietime.com

Monday, February 4, 2013

Recipe For Blooms


Geranium Blooms!!!

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Oh ya…kids…it’s time…yep..time to GET YOUR PLANT ON!!!
LETS GET SOME DIRT IN OUR HAIR!   WOO HOO!  
Yes…I am a little excited…but hey…it’s planting time…what do you expect?   IT’S PLANTING TIME!  :) 
Okay…ahem…I am going to pull myself together here…and stop celebrating for a few minutes…so I can help you guys get YOUR plant on!   It’s a simple recipe really…

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You will need a few little supplies…I use the items above quite regularly.   Included in this photo are:
~Plastic garden markers (made out of an inexpensive mini blind that I cut up)
~Chamomile Tea bag
~Stainless Steel Widger (helps to move soil and seeds)
~Seed spoons
~tweezers
~scissors
~permanent marker

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~Geranium Seeds!!!

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~soil and pots!!!  
Lets get busy!
!!!!!!!!   WAIT   !!!!!!!!
Now, before we continue here, I think it is important to discuss my choice of planting medium.  I have had a lot of questions regarding what I use to plant in, and I think it is about time, I answer this question once and for all…don’t you?  
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I like to use Sunshine professional growing mixes!   There are many different mixes…and there is always one that is just perfect for your planting needs!   I have used Pro Mix 3 and Pro Mix 4 for YEARS now and I have never been disappointed in this product.



 To visit the website for more information and to see what else this company has to offer, click on the highlighted words or the photos above…and you will be taken straight to their site!
Okay…I feel much better now…so lets get back to business….

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Geraniums are vulnerable to damping off …and I like to take some precautions to try to prevent this disease from becoming a problem in my greenhouse.   At one time I used a chemical product, but have learned a more environmentally friendly way to manage this issue.  I use chamomile tea!     I haven’t had any trouble with Damping off since…so it must be effective!
I use a plastic greenhouse tray, add a plastic liner (as some of them are getting old and have a few little leaks)   I fill the tray with water and put a tea bag in there to steep…

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(I also steep a full garbage can of chamomile tea in the greenhouse for watering purposes for a few weeks) 

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Next we need to make a little dimple in the soil to put out seed into…I use the tip of my marker to do this…it’s the perfect size.

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Remember…not too deep…just be gentle!  Now that we have our little dimple made…it’s time for SEEDS!

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Using the seed spoon or tweezers, place one tiny seed into the dimple you just made in the pot!

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There it is!

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Lightly cover that tiny seed with some of the growing medium and you are almost ready to grow!

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If you are like me, you like to know what color everything is going to be.   I label each pot with the color of the geranium that is planted in it.  I use the cut up mini blinds and my permanent marker to tag each pot with the bloom color!

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All tagged and sown…ready for some water!

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Once I have sown and labeled each pot, I like to let them absorb some of the tea steeped water from the bottom.  The chamomile tea will help to prevent damping off disease, and soaking in from the bottom will prevent our little seeds from being moved from their new little homes.   Once the soil is evenly moistened…I move them back into their growing trays and wait. 
…and wait.
…and wait.
…and wait.   I can’t even explain why I love to grow from seed so much…anyone who knows me knows I am NOT a patient Tootsie…and it seems there is a LOT of waiting involved in this hobby doesn’t there?  well…it’s worth it.
You will need to repeat the entire process again and again and again until all your Geranium seeds are sown…

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I planted 200 Geraniums of various colors today…How many do you plant?  Do you have a favorite color?

Well that’s it for me today…

Until Next Time…Happy Gardening!

*)*)*) Trials of life can either make us or break us - it's our attitude that makes the difference.

(¯`v´¯)
`*.¸.*´Glenda/Tootsie
¸.•´¸.•*¨) ¸.•*¨)
(¸.•´ (¸.•´ .•´ ¸¸.•¨¯`•.
www.tootsietime.com
 
sunshine

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Fertilizer Friday/ Flaunt Your Flowers Sept. 7/12

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IS EVERYBOY READY!!!! IT IS FRIDAY!!! FRIDAY IS FLAUNTING DAY!!! I am so glad you stopped by!

Friday is a BIG day for us here at Tootsie Time…(ok, just me…there is no one else here…lol) It’s a big deal because it means it’s PARTY TIME!!!! Fertilizer Friday is the day of the week than an ELITE group of gardeners from all around the world get together, snap photos, link up and Flaunt Their Flowers!!!
If you are new to Tootsie Time and Fertilizer Friday, I just know you are asking yourself…”How do I join?”
Well…it’s easy really. Here’s all you need to know to become a part of this great group of gardeners, bloggers and friends:
If it is spring or summer where you live, you need to snap a few photos of what you have growing, blooming or just love to look at that is of the plant variety…if it is winter where you live, you may post past favorite photos…or indoor plants…whatever you like. The only criteria is that it is a plant or something growing! You do not need to use fertilizer to participate in this party, but if you do, this is the reminder to fertilize weekly! All I ask is that: Your post must include the logo above and/or a link to Tootsie Time, or the linky will be deleted.
So....I would like to invite each and every one of you to join in and share your photos...

Today I am going to tell you a little story…and share my newest addition to the Tootsie family!

As some of you already know, I took a little holiday this summer. My Cowboy and I decided to take a drive…across British Columbia. I live in Alberta Canada so…it was a nice long drive…with lots to see and take in. Every day we would get in the car and drive along from antique shop to antique shop all through our neighboring province. Each day we would drive and tour and sight see…and at the end of each day…in early evening, we would stop for the night.

One of the towns we stayed overnight in was Valemont British Columbia. We checked into our hotel, and decided to go downstairs to the restaurant in the hotel. This was a rather nice restaurant, and we were not the only ones in there having supper. It wasn’t busy, in there by a long shot, but we were not in there alone.

The best part of this restaurant was that it was decorated primarily with PLANTS!!! There were dozens of them all over the place. Now, because there were about four other tables of people sitting in there, I could not take a bunch of photos of the room, but I did take photos of one plant in particular that caught my eye.

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As luck would have it, we were seated on a sofa in the back of the room, and along the windows…and behind the sofa there was this very unusual plant. I have never seen a plant like this one before…and I was intrigued. I could identify each and every plant in that room EXCEPT this one…and I NEEDED to have one of them….

…now I need to mention that this restaurant was rather large…and there was only one waitress working at this time…AND…she was …well…ok… lets be honest…she was not all that energetic. The service was very slow…we were actually starting to think she didn’t even know we were there when she finally came over to our table.

….so in fine Tootsie form…I started to snap a few photos…and try to zoom in so that I could get a little bit better look at this plant…It didn’t take long for me to need to see this up CLOSE. So….I went behind the sofa.

YES …yes I did…I crawled over the arm of the sofa…and casually crouched down behind it. YES….yes my Cowboy was indeed a little bit amused at this…but he was not surprised…not at all. He actually thought it rather funny.

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This is the plant I was staring at with delight! It is called….are you ready???? It is called….Kalanchoe Daigremontiana . The common name for it is Mother- of Millions.

There were about 4 0r 5 pots of this species all lined up behind that sofa!!!

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They were all right along the window to the patio outside…and there was no one really looking…so I wasn’t really drawing any attention to myself… hmmmmm….(evil grins)

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Is this not the neatest plant??? Are those baby plants on the leaf???? Oh MY!!! Can you blame me for being thrilled at the sight of this unusual plant??????? REALLY…CAN ANYONE???

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On the top of the soil in the pots there was a bunch of baby plants all popping up practically everywhere!!!

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I could not get over how glorious this plant looks with all the little rosettes of baby plants all lined up between the thorns!!! They look like ruffles!!! (this one was sharing space in the pot with a spider plant )

Now I mentioned that there were 4 or 5 pots of this special little plant all lined up along the window…and YES I did consider slipping one under my t-shirt and dashing out the door…until I saw that some of those “ruffles” on the leaves appeared to in fact be SEED!!!!

Squealing in delight, I asked my Cowboy, (who was doing a wonderful job as look out guy…) to pass me a napkin. He just grinned, shook his head and passed it over…I think he might have been thinking I was going to try to wrap up one of the already growing plants and sneak it out…but instead I filled my napkin with as many seeds as I could in a hurry…and quietly slipped back into my seat on the sofa. I think he was relieved when I finally came back to my perch on the sofa…he is a very shy sort of cowboy…does not like to draw a lot of attention to himself most of the time…

I was so excited…I could barely contain myself…I was also anxious to get some of these seeds into some soil! That would have to wait because we still had almost a full week until we were to be returning home.

Once we were home, I posted a photo of this plant online and found out what it was called…(thanks guys) I then got a little bit busy, put the seeds down, and forgot all about them! A few days ago I was in the greenhouse, and came across them…and of course I felt that same surge of excitement as I gingerly placed them into some potting soil and set them on the counter.

The very next day I checked the pot, and to my delight…

GUESS WHAT ?!?!?!?!

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I am officially the proud new owner of several MOTHER OF MILLIONS plants!

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Kalanchoe Daigremontiana/ Mother-of-millions /Alligator plant is a succulent plant native to Madagascar and Africa,where it is considered a horrible weed. (I can relate to this…people are actually paying good money for chickweed and dandelion seeds online!!! I hate it…it is invasive and horrible!) However, in other places…such as Alberta… it is a much sought after, hard to find, yet very easy to care for house plant!!! (and I have some!!!! yay!!!)

In my area (Alberta Canada) The Mother-of-millions plant will only survive as a houseplant, as it would be killed by frost, and cold temperatures. In warmer climates Mother-of-millions is a very invasive species, as they multiply rapidly.

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After only one day in the soil I had one! Two days later I have FIVE! There are only three in these photos…so you will have to take my word for it…ha ha! I imagine by the end of the weekend I will have several more!

If that Cowboy plays his cards right …I MIGHT even share and give him one for his house…MAYBE…if he’s nice. ha ha! Oh who am I kidding…he’s almost as excited as me about the seeds sprouting…after all…he was the lookout guy while I was hiding behind the sofa…picking seeds while we waited for our meal…I suppose I can give him ONE. I wonder…if someone would have been coming over to us, would he have warned me??? Or would he have pretended he didn’t know who I even was! Lucky for us we didn’t need to find out. I guess there is something to say about a waitress that wasn’t really all that energetic…ha ha! It definitely worked out well for me! Smile

Now…before I continue to celebrate…I need to tell you a couple of important things about this unique plant…

ALL PARTS of these plants are highly toxic to humans and animals so it is important to make sure that you keep this plant out of reach of kids and curious pets. Be cautious with this plant and watch the area around it’s pot…as some of the rosettes/ babies may drop off of the plant and land on the floor.

Okay kids…that is all for me for this week…now it is your turn.,,,

What are you waiting for??? Get flaunting!

I wish all of you hugs and smiles, and safe and happy weekend plans! Thank you all so much for dropping in today, and to those that faithfully link in to this party…and who are patient while waiting for me to finally visit you…THANK YOU!

Until Next Time... Happy Gardening!

*)*)*) A fool knows everything, except their own ignorance…just sayin’

(¯`v´¯)
`*.¸.*´Glenda/Tootsie
¸.•´¸.•*¨) ¸.•*¨)
(¸.•´ (¸.•´ .•´ ¸¸.•¨¯`•.
www.tootsietime.com