It's alive!

[TheBrownThumb]

Sorry. I couldn't resist. They're green and not dead...yet.

Give me another day or two. Sooner or later I'm bound to accidentally let my shadow fall on them.

[valley]

Greetings, What are they? Looks like you are in a wooded area, judging from the soil in the pictures.

[TheBrownThumb]

To be completely honest, I have no idea what they are.

I was talking to a neighbor from up the road at the park one day and the conversation turned to my complete inability to keep a plant alive. The next day she stopped over and handed me a mixed bag of seeds from her own stock and a few simple instructions. A week or so later there were green things in the little garden box that's been completely barren for the last 5 years. There's actually getting to be quite a few little green things.

I did toss in a bag of MiracleGrow organic garden soil before I planted anything. I figured it couldn't hurt.


Edit: I do know someone nearby who raises rabbits. I wonder if she'd think I was crazy if I asked for a bucket of bunnypoo.

[valley]

Really exciting when something you planted comes popping up isn't it? That's going on in out greenhouse, I was just out there looking them over.

[TheBrownThumb]

I was just looking at the weather forecast for the next couple of days and it's supposed to get down into the 20s and snow!

[rainbowgardener]

wow, snow in May... where are you?

That will be hard on your little green things depending on what they are. You might want to cover your planter with plastic for the cold nights.

[TheBrownThumb]

I'm in northwestern PA about 15 miles from the NY border. The forecast was wrong about the snow but it did get down very close to freezing last night. I dug out a sheet of plastic left over from when we winterized last fall and tented it over the poor things to try to keep them snug and warm in their bed. It looks like we're in for a couple more near-freezing nights before it warms up again so I'll be out there tucking them in for the night again.

[watermelonpunch]

Greetings, What are they? Looks like you are in a wooded area, judging from the soil in the pictures.

I did toss in a bag of MiracleGrow organic garden soil before I planted anything. I figured it couldn't hurt.

I was going to say, that looks exactly like the organic potting soil I have!
When I needed potting soil - that's all they had that was reasonably priced in a big bag, so that's what I got.
It's VERY woodsy. ha ha

That's a blade of cat grass in organic potting soil.
I think it's more "well-draining" than a lot of other potting soil I've gotten over the years.
Certainly less compact than the other potting soil I wound up getting last week... which I think would do well to have a bit of fluff in it.

Anyway, TheBrownThumb... from what I've read, it probably might help, as apparently stuff growing from seed likes it a bit fluffy so the baby roots can stretch themselves out I guess.

I'm in northwestern PA about 15 miles from the NY border. The forecast was wrong about the snow but it did get down very close to freezing last night. I dug out a sheet of plastic left over from when we winterized last fall and tented it over the poor things to try to keep them snug and warm in their bed. It looks like we're in for a couple more near-freezing nights before it warms up again so I'll be out there tucking them in for the night again.

I was at World's End State Park today (Monday, around noon) - and it was snowing around there off & on for an hour or so! (That's about equidistant from Scranton, Williamsport, and Mansfield, about 30 miles south of Towanda.)

When I got home (to Scranton) the rain was kind of thick... not quite snow, but not really liquid enough I think!
I noticed my seedlings in pots on the porch were a tad wilty, so I brought them indoors, I put a gallon milk jug cut in half over my jalapeno plant, and tonight I've tarped my snow peas, and tarped a flowerbed that had sprouts from seed coming up the past few days.

The rest of my flowerbeds are going to be fending for themselves tonight.

I really thought it would be like it was last spring. (This is just my 2nd season with a yard.) There was no frost past the end of April last year.

That said, maybe the larkspur seed I planted will actually germinate now. I believed I planted the seeds outside too late. But maybe not!

Anyway... Make sure to update about what ends up growing there!!
I love surprise gardening. LOL

I got a mixed wildflower seed bag & planted it in a patch I cleared that was an ugly mess and I can see from my desk window in the parlor. It's adjacent to a undeveloped field that's kind of a sparse meadow with some native wildflowers. Which is why I figured I should just go with wildflowers at that part of the yard, behind a proper flowerbed.
I had a lot of fun seeing what cropped up last year in my wildflower patch... and since many were perennials that don't bloom the first year, I'm having fun already this year seeing what's happening.

I mean I guess I can understand this heavy planning drifts & groupings & having things "pop" from like a interior decorating standpoint. But I'm just not wanting my outdoors to be like my indoors.
Of course my house on the inside is a bit of a potpourri of stuff too. So maybe it's just me.
But like my neighbor's son was bragging about him keeping his mother's lawn looking like "wall-to-wall carpeting"... and I thought wow, how dreadful!! ha ha ha

I found this blog called "Plant-Killer's Garden" and the person had bought a package of 4 different kinds of seeds & planted them in one pot & is now seeing what sprouts up. I bought that same package, and also planted the seeds... though not all in the same pot. Anyway, I thought that was pretty interesting to blog a record of it & share. And I have to say, I was much intrigued by their statement, "I will not be researching proper methods for planting these."
ha ha ha ha
Here's the link:
http://plantkillersgarden.wordpress.com/

I guess I think this is funny because I'm constantly researching every plant. In regards to their needs. And then when they work out, or don't, I use that as a means to judge the conditions, and consider other things to plant.
For example, this year I've chosen some plants to grow, based on what other plants will or don't grow in certain areas, and how their conditions preferences are similar.

But I don't follow any kind of design gardening advice.
Beyond the obvious of like planting taller stuff behind shorter stuff from where I or others would normally be viewing it. But that's mainly just so I can see it and it's not hidden, not really because I want it to look tidy.
I refuse to plant bunches of the same thing in "drifts". I would have to make more flowerbeds to do that & still plant the variety of stuff I want to grow. And my husband doesn't want me "making any more obstacles" for him to drive the lawnmower around. So I'm limited to planting along the borders and in the already existing flowerbeds.

I love that gardening is sort of like an artistic science project, at the same time as being nature as a spectator sport.

[TheBrownThumb]

It snowed like crazy today! And it was sticking! I had to brush the car off to go to work and again to come home.

I hope my little babyplants make it through this cold snap. When I got home, my plastic tent had collapsed and squashed a few of them.

[watermelonpunch]

Oh wow! It was sticking? Jinkies!

We had a frost here last night. My husband said when he was going to work this morning (around 7am) the windshields of the cars were all frosty.

When it got up to 47F, and the sun was on stuff, I untarped/uncovered everything.

I had a small flowerbed underneath the mailbox tarped with clear plastic (from a new still folded clear leaf trash bag that blew into our yard from a neighbor the other day ha ha ha)...

Not only did the plastic protect the sprouts from the frost... But it was 8:30am by the time I got up from bed this morning, so the sun had already been on this flowerbed (& the plastic) for probably close to 2 hours.
It was like the plastic cover acted not only as protection from the frost... but also like a little greenhouse. There are now TWICE as many sprouts there than there were yesterday!! ha ha

Anyway, a lot of the sprouts were smooshed down by the plastic, and seem to have already bounced back.
I've often smooshed down sprouts and they're more resilient than you would expect. They don't actually crush so easily. I've sometimes stepped on some and they've bounced back.

So I wouldn't worry too much about having smooshed them down with the plastic cover.
Seems the most important thing is that you don't mess with them at the roots in the dirt.

In fact, my cat ate the first true leaves off several of my annuals sprouts in pots in the bedroom windowsills. And most of them have completely recovered and grown another set of true leaves now.
(This is why I started growing cat grass, because my husband said she was obviously wanting some "greens" and I should cater to her more. ha ha I also read that if they have cat grass available, cats are less likely to bother house plants.)