April Gardening Update: Sunflowers, Marigolds, Propagations, and More
This is a long, long-overdue post of the rest of the gardening I did in April. Enjoy!
Bird Seed Experiment
What would happen if I put the Cantina customers' meals in soil, I wondered?
Date sowed: April 1
This! it turns out.
Days after sowing: 32
I don't know what it all is - maybe a type of grass? Anyway, it was fun to watch it grow! I thought about planting some in the ground but worried it would attract thieves. I may still give it a try.
Blondie Fin was spotted munching on the seed that wasn't sowed.
Fuchsia Propagation
There is a fuchsia in the Courtyard that my mom said she bought 20 years ago. It's in a sunny spot, but fuchsia likes shade, so I tried to move it and discovered the root busted through the bottom tray and into the ground!
I thought it would be beautiful next to my bedroom door, which is in full shade. I learned you can propagate it, so I decided to try so it can grow there. I cut the tip of one of the branches just above the second leaf node and put it in soil.
Date propagated: April 2
I put it in a pot I found that already had soil. The soil looked thick and wet. An interesting note: I put three other fuchsia cuttings in the potting mix I bought, but those didn't make it.
This one, though, is doing very well. Notice the new leaves in the middle!
May 3
Marigolds
I was browsing the nursery and noticed the marigolds. I was looking at them when a person who works there said, "One ninety-nine." I was sold.
I got one and planted it in a pot. It is an African Marigold.
Date planted: April 2
It was so pretty and vibrant I decided to get more later that week. I planted four in the ground and two in pots.
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Dates planted: April 6 and 7
They were doing great. Such a nice sight to see bright colors in the Courtyard.
Then... out of nowhere, I noticed a missing flower... then another.
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A week later, most of the pretty marigold flowers were gone, and the leaves of one of them were totally eaten.
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I think it was the bunny gang again...
The bunnies liked them as much as the marigolds like being in the Courtyard. As you can see, there are even new flowers coming in. I will have to find bunny-resistent flowers.
California Poppy
The state flower of California. I saw they had these at the nursery and had wanted to plant one a while back.
Date planted: April 2
I planted it in full sun at the front of the house next to the big boy tomato. The day after I planted it another flower bloomed! And a few days after that there were many flowers!
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Rosemary Propagations Round 2
Remember the rosemary propagations?
Well, the three other cuttings I left to grow stronger did grow stronger. I planted two in the ground next to Rosemary Jungle and one in a pot.
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Date planted: April 5
What a big pot for a little rosemary, you might be thinking. Stay tuned, I have a plan.
Sunflowers
From seed!
I am so excited to grow sunflowers. They are my favorite flower. Lavender might be second. And I'm excited to be growing them from seed!
Part 1: Sowed in cups
The first ones I sowed were in cups. I put them in the Glass Room, which is like a greenhouse. The big variety (Lemon Queen) are in the orange cups and the little variety (Elves Blend) are in the pink ones.
Date sowed: April 5
Just a few days later some of them started to sprout!
April 9
And here's how they looked just 8 days after sowing:
April 13
I then transplanted three of them (two Lemon Queens and one Elves Blend) into the ground.
Lemon Queen transplanting on April 21
And two of the Elves Blend into pots.
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April 23
So far, the ones in pots are showing a little growth. But one of the Lemon Queens in the ground is doing really well! I will share more progress pictures in an upcoming post. Follow along with the growth! If you are not already, subscribe to my blog via email or RSS feed.
Part 2: Sowed in ground
I wanted to see how sowing the sunflowers in the ground would compare to sowing in cups. So I planted a Lemon Queen near the big boy tommy and poppy and four more (two Lemon Queens and two Elves Blend) in the... hmmm we need to give this new project area a name... the Stairway Slope.
Sunflower seeds in ground at Stairway Slope Date sowed: April 9
I placed clear cups over the seeds to provide some protection. I had noticed from the cup plantings that some critter likes to snack on sunflower leaves.
This picture shows you where I planted the other two sown-in-cups sunflowers as mentioned in Part 1: Sowed in cups
Here they are in Stairway Slope looking good on April 21 - only 12 days after sowing!
And even better the other day! (May 2)
23 days after sowing
Herb Propagations
I find propagating plants to be interesting and fun, so I did some research on what can be propagated and propagated some more!
Basil, parsley, and mint cuttings placed in water on April 8
The parsley didn't grow roots. I'll try again. But the basil and mint did.
Here is the basil:
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And here is the mint:
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Date planted: April 20
Seaside Daisy Transplanting
You may remember when I planted the Seaside Daisy back in early March, that I basically planted it in mud. And for perhaps this reason, the soil was always wet. At first I thought it might be under a section of eave that was collecting rainwater. But I moved it to the Deck and it never dried out. It wasn't growing, and since it has low water needs I thought the wet, muddy mix wasn't helping.
So I transplanted it to the Stairway Slope.
Date transplanted: April 11
It's next to the also-transplanted Bee's Bliss Sage. I hope it finds this to be a better home.
🪴
Thus concludes the April gardening update! Thank you for reading.
In case you missed the other April garden happenings, check out these posts:
Too much shade: A lesson on mildew (plus a new project)
Too much sun? An observation on growing kale