Things are certainly stirring in the seedling stakes. These are my cosmos that I planted just over a week ago. I have some tiny Rudbeckia seeds starting to sprout as well. Looking forward to seeing my cosmos turn out like below from last year.
That makes me think of summer Jacqueline. I'm planning to sow cosmos later this month, as I'm trying to grow things that help bees and butterflies. Not sure I'll attract any like yours though.
“Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.” Winston Churchill
I plan on doings some sorting in my greenhouse today so that I can move my Pelargonium cuttings and my seedlings out there during the day. I need the room on my plant rack in the house to get my Petunia seeds germinating. I think I will bring the plants in in the late afternoon instead of using my GH heaters at night. A bit early to start that and they are costly to run. I have some Pelargoniums that I dug up and stored in boxes last fall. I may bring them out and plant them in pots. I've never tried this before and hope I have success.
Hi paul-in-surrey, I am sure that you will, I am trying to do my bit for the bees and butterflies, they struggle enough as it is, and when they come to your garden it means the world to me.
The plant I keep reading is very good for bees and butterflies is Greater Knapweed, and I've read a number of posts on here where people refer to it almost as a weed out of control. But it's the one thing I can't get to germinate. I tried last year and nothing happened, and I sowed some in the middle of January along with my other seed trays, and while all the others have started growing my Greater Knapweed tray is just sitting there doing nothing. Not sure what I'm doing wrong.
“Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.” Winston Churchill
The plant I keep reading is very good for bees and butterflies is Greater Knapweed, and I've read a number of posts on here where people refer to it almost as a weed out of control. But it's the one thing I can't get to germinate. I tried last year and nothing happened, and I sowed some in the middle of January along with my other seed trays, and while all the others have started growing my Greater Knapweed tray is just sitting there doing nothing. Not sure what I'm doing wrong.
See original postI've grown Greater Knapweed from seed Paul. Try sowing a few more in March. I grew mine in the greenhouse and being a hardy perennial they won't like heat for germinating. Give them a cool spot, I did find them erratic but don't give up.
I'm growing bee friendly plants too and planted a group of perennial Liatris ( the purple one ) last spring, when it flowered it was a real bee magnet, in fact the bees used to fall asleep on it they were so drunk on the nectar!
Life's tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late.
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Things are certainly stirring in the seedling stakes. These are my cosmos that I planted just over a week ago. I have some tiny Rudbeckia seeds starting to sprout as well. Looking forward to seeing my cosmos turn out like below from last year.
That makes me think of summer Jacqueline. I'm planning to sow cosmos later this month, as I'm trying to grow things that help bees and butterflies. Not sure I'll attract any like yours though.
I plan on doings some sorting in my greenhouse today so that I can move my Pelargonium cuttings and my seedlings out there during the day. I need the room on my plant rack in the house to get my Petunia seeds germinating. I think I will bring the plants in in the late afternoon instead of using my GH heaters at night. A bit early to start that and they are costly to run. I have some Pelargoniums that I dug up and stored in boxes last fall. I may bring them out and plant them in pots. I've never tried this before and hope I have success.
Hi paul-in-surrey, I am sure that you will, I am trying to do my bit for the bees and butterflies, they struggle enough as it is, and when they come to your garden it means the world to me.
The plant I keep reading is very good for bees and butterflies is Greater Knapweed, and I've read a number of posts on here where people refer to it almost as a weed out of control. But it's the one thing I can't get to germinate. I tried last year and nothing happened, and I sowed some in the middle of January along with my other seed trays, and while all the others have started growing my Greater Knapweed tray is just sitting there doing nothing. Not sure what I'm doing wrong.
Bees also like single flowers. Like pot marigolds, which I'll do next month with cosmos.
I'm growing bee friendly plants too and planted a group of perennial Liatris ( the purple one ) last spring, when it flowered it was a real bee magnet, in fact the bees used to fall asleep on it they were so drunk on the nectar!
Lovely flower pictures by the way?
Greater Knapweed = Centaurea scabiosa