Wednesday, August 12, 2009

A Direct Sower of Seeds, I Am Not


Yes, it is waaaaaaaaaay overdue for the report on my seed experiment from the spring: direct sowing after chance of frost instead of starting my seeds in my greenhouse in the early spring.

Normally, I do not cut to the chase but today I will allow myself. So you are spared :-)

It was a dismal failure. For instance, the above photo. Now, in my defense, after I sowed these sunflower seeds we had mucho rain. Noah kind of rain. Maybe not 40 days but pretty darn close. As you can witness, I've moved onto other endeavors with the weeding of this plot being last on my to-do list. The viable beds being more important. I apologize for it's untidiness.

Seeds that were sown in the long border did nothing. Seeds I intentionally planted in my containers did not germinate (Maybe it was the seed vendors fault! Maybe I was shipped faulty SEEDS!). BUT the seeds that fell from the plants that grew in those containers LAST YEAR, germinated and did fine!

Seeds planted in the raised bed garden germinated half-heartedly so I threw some zinnia seeds that were hanging out in the garage into the beds there and they have done fine. I did discover that nasturtiums do not like the heat and humidty prevelant in my raised bed garden. This area has a microclimate of it's very own. However, I think I am on to something with herbs in that space and if I am here next spring, I will explore doing more with those. The birds love that garden and I would welcome opinion as to whether the seeds might have fallen prey to my feathered friends.

It's a mess, both from the storm the other night and my neglecting to pull out the bolted plants, but as you can see, some things have grown.



All in all, I have learned that direct sow doesn't work for me. More success was had when I started seeds in my greenhouse in early spring. Sure, it took more baby-sitting, or seed-sitting if you will, but the results were worth it.

Hey, you'll never know unless you try! Now, let's go get dirty! Happy gardening!

6 comments:

Garden Wise Guy said...

Live, learn, move on. The rest of the garden looks great. Love the gates and urn. Next year, start again.

Garden Chick said...

Never did fill the urns (next year now). The gates need work to close properly to keep the boxers out (SOON!). It is a work in process but next up is house painting. The to-do list keeps growing. I've also been thinking about breaking into acting . . . something along the lines of "The Creature From The Black Lagoon" . . .

Garden Chick said...

Have I ever told you "thank you" for your encouragement? Okay, well I won't start now then. :-)

Unknown said...

I don't think I have ever seen pictures of your raised bed garden. It is beautiful. My direct sowing never seems to work out quite right either.

Chloe said...

I think your garden is beautiful. Love the pink trellis in the back! It has that formal yet whimsical quality that I adore!

Deborah at Kilbourne Grove said...

You may think that your raised garden looks a mess, but think again. The strong structure in this area, the urn, gates and trellis all add to the design. Even if you feel your plants are messy, it sure doesn't look that way.