Wordless Wednesday: Bumble Bee on Steroids

I guess I'm not used to seeing bumble bees. This guys was HUGE in my book. About 2" long and 1" thick. He would land on the flowers and the stems would start to bend.

The Seedling Gang

Statice Sinuata Blend seedlings in their tray before being transplanted.

I really wanted to post today about the great surprises I got over the past couple of days. Instead I'll update on the seedlings since some have been transplanted yesterday into bigger containers. I know if I don't post now about the seedlings then soon you will all see them grown up and wonder when did that happen and so will I in the future when I look back.

Statice was transplanted into it's own pot. I transplanted all but 2 which were smaller then the others. I thought I would give them some time to grow up and maybe they will get in a pot with some lobelia or rock soapwort once they are bigger. The Statice got big fast. It seemed everyday they were just growing and growing. I couldn't procrastinate any longer on transplanted them. They clearly needed a bigger space to grow better.

After work yesterday since I was close to my favorite nursery and bookstore I went shopping. First stop was half price books to see if they had anything I might want that was not too expensive. I found a wonderful book after much searching. It's called smallgarden: ideas for balconies, terraces & backyards by john brookes. Really it's just more about the small backyards then balconies and terraces. I loved all the pictures in the book that provides a lot of inspiration and ideas. I wish it had more on balconies though. It had two pages and the balconies were those bare ones with a few pots of 1 or 2 plants. Sure it looks good for like a hotel or something but not for a gardener.

Then I went to my nursery and looked around at plants. This has to be the first time I didn't buy any plants but just what I intended on getting in the first place. I didn't even buy seeds! I got some potting soil. They had a new brand from Austin that is organic and all that jazz. I purchased it to try it out because anything made locally is a good thing, right? Well so far it looks like good potting soil I'll have to see how the plants like it. And I got some perlite too since I ran out. I really need soil moist for when I go on vacation for about 2 weeks. I was about to get a hummingbird feeder since I have seen them around. Now I am wishing I had and not passed it by.


Bunny Tails Grass

Enough about that, back to the seedlings. The Bunny Tails Grass is starting to grow faster and get more blades going. I transplanted it into a rectangular pot with the nemesia and laurentia. I'm hoping it will do okay but it really had hardly any roots at all. I'm not even sure how it is standing in the soil right now.


Nemesia

The Nemesia has long been overdue for a transplant. I think where I put the pot that I transplanted it in is not a good location for it. The Nemesia is dry at the end of it's leaves and I assume maybe from the sun. I don't think it will make it in the container but at least I try.


Rock Soapwort

These did not get tranplanted. They are still small but are starting to grow more now. The Rock Soapwort was stalled for a bit. It takes a while for these seeds to germinate. I had sown more after the first time because I didn't get anything to sprout. Now I have about 6 of them and every once in awhile another one will germinate. I do have a surprise seed in one of the cells that is not a rocksoapwort and I'm not sure what it could be. It might have been something I previously had sown in those cells that did not germinate at all. I can't remember what I had in it's place, maybe cascade petunia or gazania kiss rose?


Lobelia Crystal Palace

I'm in love with these little Lobelia seedlings. Their little round leaves are just so cute. They were also slow to germinate but now I keep getting new little sprouts. Each cells has around 2 when before I only had 2 or 3 to begin with. These did not get transplanted either since they are still tiny.


Big Mountain Parsley

Here are the big boys. This parsley has really taken off in the month that it has been in it's new container. I swear everyday these look bigger and bigger. I tasted some and they are great but haven't used them to cook yet. I just don't have the heart to cut their growing when they are doing so good.

Get Up Close

Black Sweet Potato VIne

I like getting up close to my plants. Seeing the mixed colors in the leaves and the texture is something special. Even though I'm not getting a degree in an art related field any more I still have an artistic eye. See my plants through the eyes of the camera really makes me see them better. I appreciate things that I normally wouldn't see. Macro are my favorite since every little detail is shown. I'm sure everyone has had those times that a bug shows up in your photo that you didn't even see was there.


Black Sweet Potato Vine

I like to try and get more abstract photos of my plants. Getting the abstract shots I see shapes and colors that I don't normally see just looking at the plant. When normally looking at the color of a plant you can name it's overall color like for blackie it's a dark purple near black. But once you get up close to it you see all the different colors mixed in like the red and the tinge of blue maybe even a tiny bit of orange in there. I personally have a hard time drawing and painting abstract. I like to do my artwork realistically. To make artwork of plants look realistic as possible you have to see all those underlying colors to get the full effect.


Variegated Sweet Potato Vine

As you can tell I'm having an art withdrawal. I haven't really painted or drawn anything for a very long time since school has been out. Art School was really draining for me that I took a year after I dropped out and just didn't draw but did crafts instead. I often everyday get those feelings when I see certain plants or take certain pictures that I want to pick up the paint and get going.


Purple Fountain Grass

It gets hard doing all the hobbies I like to do. Right now I'm devoting all my time to work, school, and learning more about plants. Really I procrastinate for most of my day with my face stuck to the computer screen. I need to learn to let go of the computer.

Anyone else out there have a bad addiction getting in the way of things they normally love to do?

For me? How Generous!

Shade Container made at school.

Yet again I got more free plants from school. I just can't ever say no to getting these plants that I either grew from seed or in this case containers I made. It was a real struggle to find a place to put these guys. The shade container above was relatively easy since the only shade is my front door. My front door already has a container outside but it's not fairing well and I assume it's because the soil is too dense and things just die after sitting in there for a while.




My shade container has a Rex Begonia not sure the variety and some ruellia/mexican petunia. I hope it does well where I put it because I don't really have another place to put it. It looks nice out there for now. Lets see how long it will survive.


Really big container with Purple Fountain Grass and Sweet Potato Vines.

This container doesn't look too good now but I think it will look great once everything starts to grow. I got the slim pickings of the Sweet Potato vine since everyone wanted to use it. We didn't really have many choices but I like what I did. Even though someone copied me and I think they switched our tags because this one looks a bit meh (off centered etc.) and I don't remember mine looking that way at all. Plus I remember putting it next to my other container on the left side of the greenhouse and this one was on the right side far away from my other container. I'm telling you fowl play. The Sweet Potato Vine will still grow out the Fountain Grass come back to life. I might move this because I put it in the upper left corner of my balcony where it won't get blasted with sun right now. I know it can probably take full sun at least the fountain grass for sure.


Candlestick Plant (Cassia alata)

Our teacher said we could take the candlestick plants since they were left over from the plant sale. They are really beautiful plants once they get big with these great yellow blooms similar to a shrimp plant bloom. I took one even though I won't have space for it once it starts getting to larger proportions. Maybe by then I can swap it with someone locally or sell it to someone who wants a unique plant in their yard. I noticed yeseterday though they were infested with aphids. I'm not sure if they were like this at the greenhouse at school and that is why he wanted to get rid of them. Most likely it was just infested when it go to my balcony. I had noticed many ants around it and on the neighboring pansy. Ants on my plants means aphids are around. Not sure still if ants eat the aphids or eat the stuff that comes off of the aphids.First I cleaned off the leaves with a soap and water towel. Then I sprayed it with some soap and water and put it in the contamination corner/no blazing sun corner. I'll have to spray it again today and maybe for the next few days or weeks to make sure it's all gone.

By the way another seed offer for those that may want some. My pansies the yellow ones look like they will have seeds. The ants that got on them I think might have pollinated them or something because I see something that looks like a seed forming on two of them. If any of you want some pansy seeds of the yellow and purple kind just give me a holler and I'll gladly send some over.
Other seeds I have to give:
Red Yucca
Grape Hyacinth
Pink Snapdragon
White Columbine (was supposed to be blue and white)*coming soon still on the plant

I know these aren't unique but someone might want some.

My First Succulent Purchase

Aeonium 'Kiwi'

I went to the Botanical Gardens today to let go of some stress and relax a bit. Also I needed to acquire some more photos for my blog because it's getting boring seeing the same few plants over and over.

I went into the San Antonio Garden Center for the first time today. I never have gone in there for whatever reason. Today there was a plant sale by The San Antonio Cactus and Xerophyte Society. I've been eying the succulents at work but just haven't got the guts to purchase them.

I walked in and there were all these plants everywhere mostly in 4 inch or smaller pots but also many in bigger pots too. They had some tables on the right of award winning plants that had been named yesterday. They were spectacular of course and I wish I had taken some photos of them.

I thought I would walk around and look at all the cool things for sale but of course not purchase anything. As you can see I did purchase. I went up to one table and started picking up cute succulents when that vendor started talking to me. I had to start asking questions stupid me. She then was recommending stuff I might like that would do good inside or on my balcony. Next thing I know I have 4 plants in a box that I am carrying around while she tries to sell me more.

The Aeonium 'Kiwi' is a cute variegated succulent that will get 2-3 feet tall and 1-2 feet wide. It likes cool sun light shade so it is on my windowsill in the computer room.


Jovibarba hirts f/Belansky Tatra

These little fellows are awesome. I have them on the balcony in hopes what she said is right and they will live out there in the full sun. These were the first things I saw and picked up right away with intent on buying them if they were just right for my conditions. They make little babies (like the one in the upper left corner) that will grow and roll off then grow some more. After picking these up she could tell I was a newbie but one that would fall in love with succulents and strange plants. She then proceeded to show me things similar to these guys. That was when I picked up the Aeonium Kiwi with it's nice variegation and pinkness to the tips.


Adenium Obesum/Desert Rose

She started to show me different succulents in her few books that she had. She would point out plants and watch my reaction to them and then go from there. She showed me this Desert Rose and said she would cut the price in half since it needed a good home and she thought I would do well with it. Desert Roses are supposed to be easy to begin with. I think she was having a hard time selling it because everyone wanted the much larger ones and I clearly likes to buy things in smaller form but didn't mind them getting larger. She grew this Desert Rose from seed which is good. This means it will have a nice trunk that will enlarge with the plant and possibly make more branches for more flowers.


Callisia fragrans/ Basket Plant

She showed me the Dutchman's Pipe and I wasn't too keen on it. She some how bribed me into taking it. I'm a sucker for when people push me to buy plants especially when I am on the fence about them. If I don't like them well then I don't. If I do then I really do. But if I'm not sure what you say can nudge me to buy it or quickly make me not want it. I thought I knew what this looked like but when I went home to search I was wrong. I thought it was the Dutchman's Pipe Vine but it can't be since it looks nothing like that. The only thing that goes by Dutchman's Pipe is the Dutchman's Pipe Cactus also called Night Blooming Cereus or many other names. I had cuttings before of that plant and the leaves look nothing like this. I know that there is a confusing with the Night Blooming Cereus since another plant has same blooms that bloom at night too but it's leaves are not as fleshy and whatever else. I thought it would be the cactus but my leaves don't look anything like the plant when it is grown. I couldn't find any photos of when the plant is small or grown from seed so I have no idea. I am about to email her in a few days if someone does not ID it. I just want to know for sure what I have.

I posed on Gardenweb and a kind member told me it looked like Callisia fragrans which is related to the Wandering Jew. When she said that I knew for sure that must be it because I remember the women saying it was related to the Wandering Jew. Looked at some pictures and that is what I have. It has some nice little blooms and makes trailing babies.

So 4 plants came home with me. 3 of them I am very happy with and the 4th it depends on what it really is to make me really like it or regret it. I think I got a new addiction now to succulents. It would be easy to sell them and not all that much space to do all the propagation.

Phlox of Sheep and Another Herd

Phlox of Sheep Blooming in Pink and White

My Phlox of Sheep has started to bloom. There is a herd of blooms over here it's crazy. I never thought I would have so many things flowering at all. I'm in love with the Phlox and their cute little blooms. When I saw them open yesterday I just wanted to plant tons of it in the new pots I purchased. I'm sure I will make one of the pots into just Phlox.


Columbine

My Columbine has been blooming non stop. It looks like I have around 3 seed pods that will eventually ripen. Then I'll have some Columbine seeds. If anyone wants any when they have ripened just say so. All these seeds I can't even plants except for a few. I'm sure I'll have many seeds that I won't know what to do with.


Yellow Pansy Blooms and Buds

The Pansy is about to bust out in a ton of yellow blooms. There were about 4-5 buds yesterday and they have started to partially open today. These were planted from seed last year in fall and have been making a great show.


Laura Bush Petunia

Just a couple days ago the Laura Bush Petunia had it's first bloom. Now there are 4 blooms out. It's really liking it's new home. Yet another plant I planted from seed in January. The Laura Bush had all the extravagant seed care with heating mats in a green house with lights and special products applied to it. It had a pampered life at the school greenhouse. Now it's roughing it out with the rest of the plants on my balcony and doing great.


Candytuft

The monstrous Candytuft is blooming great. I'm wondering if these are just normal and my other ones are just shrimpy. I should put a side by side photo to compare these two. The other candytuft grown from the seeds of the other candytuft that bloomed last year are getting buds to bloom soon. They are around 8" tall or less while the monster was last time I checked 16" tall. It looks great below my balcony to see the candytuft blooms floating .

A New Bloom and Some Oldies

Say Hello to the Laura Bush Petunia.

The Laura Bush Petunia is blooming. My little seed has become a big plant already with great blooms. I love this color it's so rich. It's one of those colors that are hard to capture but I think I did a good job.


Godetia

My Godetia has been blooming well. I love the blooms but have learned that it probably doesn't do well here which is why the lower leaves are all gone. This has to be my first bad experience with a plant that does not do well here. So far I have been lucky in selecting plants that fair well in the hot sun and heat.


Armeria

This is the Armeria blooming again. I think this does not do well here either or I did something to kill it. It has become limp instead of the foliage standing straight. The same for the old blooms. I'm not sure if that just happens and then new foliage comes up. Could it be root rot or maybe it got too dried out. It's in a pot with the Columbine and not blooming Campanula. The Columbine I believe has spider mites but it's been blooming anyways. All these are in a terra cotta pot which dries has to be watered every other day or everyday. Darn those pots.


Sweet William Pinocchio Mix

Why when I purchases mixes they have a habit of not being mixed. The sweet william has started to bloom again while the old blooms die off. Not sure if I will get seed from this. If I do I will surely keep it and see if the seeds are true.

Off to get ready to go to school. I think I have the day off today from work (I hope). I have many things to do today and I really want to go to the Botanical Gardens. But I have to really clean up the place and mail out some things and whatever else. I think I can take some time to go to the Botanical Gardens right after class but I'm hoping I don't get caught up and stay there too long and then miss out on mailing my packages again.

Wordless Wednesday: Seedlings

Phlox seedlings growing slowly in the forest of grape hyacinth foliage.

Growing and Blooming

White Petunias

As tired as I am of Petunias I still love taking pictures of my white ones. They are just bursting with blooms and I hardly find any old ones to pick off. At work we get in tons of petunias. We have a whole table filled with wave petunias. Half of our six pack table is petunias. Our Petunias just don't do well at the stores because they either don't get watered enough don't get enough sun or get fried. Finally yesterday I could throw out some of those ugly Petunias. We had gotten a load of six packs in with no where to put them. The Petunias just weren't selling any more. My boss just said throw out the uglies and the ones no longer flowering. Now that the Petunias are gone I don't feel so much hate towards them any more. Now my new found hate is Celosia. We have tons of six pack Celosia. I put around 12 flats under the six pack table and then converted half of the 4 inch table for some more flats of six packs. Why did we get so many, no one really likes them here because everyone just complains how leggy and gross they look later on?


Hyacinth Bean Vine New Leaves

My Hyacinth Bean Vines have got some nice new leaves growing. I'm patiently waiting for them to get taller so I can pot them in a bigger planter and start their way on the trellis. I need to figure a way to keep the trellis up. I'm sure I'll figure something out but any ideas are welcome. I have it up against the siding of the building so I'm not sure I can stick anything to the wall really. I'll deal with that at another time. I gave my boss the rest of my hyacinth bean seeds because he moved into a new house and lost his other ones. There would be no way I could have any more vines on my balcony. I have 2 corkscrew vines, a clematis, jasmine, and maybe the bougainvillea if I want it that way. I'm pushing my vine limit. The clematis has kind of halted for the past month and hasn't gotten any bigger or any new leaves. I'm wondering if it will stay this way or if it's just warming up.


Myrtle Spurge

I love to look at the Myrtle Spurge seedlings. Their new leaves make them look like they are screaming. I'm surprised I like them so far since I really didn't want to plant them at all. I've been searching for some sedum because I feel like the only gardener that does not have one. There are some at work but not that I like. I just might have to resort to an internet purchase if I don't find anything at the local nurseries. They must have some because they carry a lot of wonderful unique plants.

More Plants From School

Catharanthus roseus (Thanks to Annie)

The school plant sale went by and many of the seeds and plugs we planted for the sale sold. Surprisingly there were many Laura Bush Petunias left but not many normal petunias. I personally like the Laura Bush Petunias more but that could be because I don't see them everyday at work. Last week for class the teacher let us take whatever left over plants were left that we grew. Well most of everything I had or would not do well on my balcony. Being the sucker I am for free stuff I grabbed a Catharanthus roseus. In my head I kept running threw the fact that Vinca does not like full sun. I thought, well there has to be a place where it will be okay maybe it does okay with part sun. I brought it home anyways knowing that it has a great chance of not surviving. I put it in the shade of the Cocktail Vodka Begonias. So far so good I can only hope it will like that spot because it's the only semi shaded spot there is. Then the wonderful Annie from the Transplantable Rose who lives in Austin kindly pointed out that it was not a vinca I had at all but instead a Catharanthus roseus (Madagascar Periwinkle) which likes full sun. Possibly my instincts knew that it would like full sun and that is why I took it home anyways. Well this makes me feel bad since at work I've been telling customers these do not do well in full sun but do great in shade. Shame on me.


Livewire Grass

I have been eying this little grass for a while. It gets about 8 to 10 inches tall and has this nice cascade to it. There was quite a bit left over but I just got myself one little 4" pot of it. At first I didn't like this grass but it's unique look has grown on me. I didn't take anything else because it was things I had and stuff that wouldn't survive with my conditions.

Collecting my seeds!

Grape Hyacinth seeds 40 of them.

Going from a sad post to a happy post. I got some seeds collected. Another wonderful thing that makes me happy besides growing seeds is collecting seeds. Well, they weren't collected from plants I grew from seed. Even though the plants I didn't grow from seed I still get the great feeling of collecting them. To see the pods form and find that you will have seeds. Seeing pictures online of what the seeds and pod will look like still never prepares me for what I find. I love opening the pods and having seeds fall out.

My Grape Hyacinths long stopped blooming. Their pods finally dried up and I got 40 seeds from them. Now what will I do with 40 seeds that will take a while to make 40 bulbs? So if anyone out there wants some grape hyacinth seeds to sprinkle somewhere and be surprised a few years down the line when they grow drop me a line. I'm all for sharing and trading. Of course being a newbie myself I was thankful for the many that gave me extra seeds when my first attempts failed . Or when I was just looking for any plants to grow just to get my hands dirty and my balcony full.


Snapdragon seeds from just one pod.

Back a few months ago I had a snapdragon stalk snap off with some intense wind. There was one seed pod on it and I was very sad. I thought for sure the seed pod was doomed and I would get no seeds from it. Like many of my other plant ventures patience paid off. I kept that pod anyways and let it dry. Just a last week it was ready to crack open. Now if I had known the seeds were so tiny I wouldn't have opened it where I did. This was just one pod! So many tiny little seeds. I have 12 more pods drying up that I just took from a stalk a few days ago. The snapdragons are pink and they smell like candy. I love to sit outside by them and smell their fragrance and admire the white columbine at the same time. Yet again if anyone wants some snapdragon seeds drop me a line!!!

Also if any Austin gardeners or other southern gardeners want some red yucca seed I have many many of those too. I plucked some pods off the one plant in our apartment complex. I'm not sure if I'm a fan of the plant or not so I have been avoiding planting a seed. They are great for xeriscape gardens, tolerate heat, is a texas native, get 3 ft by 3ft, likes full to part sun, has coral flowers, blooms spring through summer, attracts hummingbirds and butterflies, is deer resistant and not effected by wind. So if you just want to try some seeds give me a holler, don't be shy.

No New House and No Yard

So being a balcony gardener isn't bad. I'm just like everyone else that wants more space in their home. Also like every gardener I want a yard to dig in and plant many things in. Yesteray my husband and I were talking about if we had a home it would be so nice. Our dog has chewed some 4 small 2"holes in the carpet. More like she picks out the carpet fibers and just for no reason. I would like to have my own home were I could get different carpet, paint the walls, etc. All the things that home owners like to do to make the place their own. Plus we would like another room since we are cramped for space. More like I want another room because my art and crafting takes up space. It's frustrating to want to draw paint do whatever in an area that is shared with your husband and computers with not much desk space.

Okay now to the backyard. I would love one being a gardener. I want to dig gosh darnit! I want to be able to get shrubs and trees and do it up my way. Its okay container gardening but I can't get many plants I wish I could. Plus all my plants have to be full sun lovers or they will die. Also again with my dog. She would probably be better if she could have a yard to run in and be outside when she wants to instead of locked up with us. She is a ball of energy and a dog that needs constant stimulation. It's hard to play with her when people live downstairs and her mother and father are computer addicts.

Where is all of this leading to? Well, my husband is in the military. We can get base housing were it's pretty much free to get a house and they pay for it. You get a yard and can do pretty much anything to your home except with some rules. When we moved to San Antonio last year we put ourselves on the housing list. Our lease expired a month or two ago. We called them and they said nothing would be open for awhile. Because of this we renewed our lease for 13 months. Today my husband got a call that guess what, it's our turn to pick a house. Well thank you but now we can't get out of our lease. The only way to get out is to find someone that will want to live here and we can just switch the lease over to them. I don't think that will happen.

Sadly now for another year I will remain a balcony gardener. I'll have to deal with the stress of babysitting my dog 24/7 so she doesn't chew at the carpet. I'll have to take her for walks all the time even when I don't want to. I'll have to deal with walls I can't clean, paint, hang stuff on, etc. I'll have to deal with the small space and no room for all my crafty and arty needs. Now I'm just depressed because I want a home and a yard. I'm sure I'll get over it sooner or later.

It's Alive: Juanita Hatten Bougainvillea

Juanita Hatten Bougainvillea alive and kicking.

Just not too long ago I was thinking of throwing out the stump of the Bougainvillea and potting something else in it's place. It had died back and was showing no sign of life. Now look at it! It's a whopping 11" tall.


The Bougainvillea on March 31st.

At the end of March a sign of life arrived. I wasn't getting my hopes up in case something went wrong. There were actually two of these little guys growing at the base of the old wood. One of them fell off when I watered one day. Goes to show yet again that patience pays off. I'm always surprised how tough plants are. The moment I think that today is the day I will throw them away they awaken. Really I'm lucky because they don't normally come back here. Not sure what I did to make it live the very short winter. Others I spoke to lost theirs. I'm happy it's back, it makes a great show. If my Corkscrew Vines and Jasmine Vine reach where I want them to it will look stunning in this corner of the balcony. The bougainvillea will really stand out against the vine blooms.

White Lined Sphinx Moth Caterpillar

White Lined Sphinx Moth Caterpillar

I have been thinking of adding some plants that attract butterflies. Little did I know I had a host already for the white lines sphinx moth. Yes this little bugger ate half of my Evening Primrose! Really I'm not upset it's a weed/wildflower here but my husband plucked it for me so it means something. There wasn't only one but two of these little guys on my Primrose. I took one off a few days ago. Then another one appeared yesterday.

The White Lined Sphinx Moth is one of those hummingbird moths that can hover. They have a proboscis that they eat drink whatever nectar from. Their underwing is bright pink. The White Lined Sphinx Moth or Hawkmoth can be found in most of the USA. For pictures of the moth visit Butterflies and Moths of North America.

I might have to rethink this butterfly garden thing until I have a garden where the chewed up plants won't be as noticeable. Or avoid the hosts for the caterpillars.

Wordless Wednesday: Puppy Time

Kasha the pup

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day: Blooming in the Hot South

Evening Primrose

It's that time again! Another month has flown by. I think the months go by fast when you have blooms to post for BLOOM DAY!!! Yeah! Thank you to Carol from May Dreams Gardens for putting this wonderful event together. Make sure to visit her post and all the others that have blooms to share on April 15th.

I've been busy and wish I had been able to post earlier. You know homework and all that jazz that goes on in life. Anyways enjoy my blooms. So far it's been the month with the most blooms. I'll be seeing if maybe I can top this month some other time.


Hibiscus Rose. Really doesn't look like this right now but there are 3-4 buds starting to open up. I just couldn't leave it out because of that.



The Red Petunias in the hanging basket and blooming full blast.


My White Columbine that was supposed to be blue and white is profusely blooming also. I wonder if I'll be getting seeds from them.


Armeria Joystick Mix is about to get another burst of color. There are around 5 new buds coming up. I'm awaiting for the old blooms to dry out so I can collect the seeds. It's hard to tell with these when they are fully ready.


Knotweed still blooming since last year. It's leaves have gotten a bit ragged and worn. It has many new leaves popping up to make it look better again.


My husbands Pansies are doing well. So far they had blue blooms and now yellow and purple blooms. There are some new buds for more blue blooms.


Like the red Petunias the white Petunias are just blooming away. They are really enjoy their time. I have been deadheading them since saving seeds isn't really worth it. Petunias are available in such an abundance it's cheap to get a six pack in any color imaginable.


The Cockscomb Celosia has a little bloom on it. It has finally started to grow some more and should be getting bigger soon.



Candytuft all in purples are starting to bloom. Soon there will be a great show of purple on their side of the balcony.


Always going strong is the Cocktail Vodka Begonia. I still love them and they have given non stop blooms for months now. Once they start who knows when they will stop.



Finally I got to see the Godetia. The buds have been there for what seems like forever. They are so pretty! I wish I could get more of my seeds to grow so I could see more of these beauties. The lower leaves are still dieing but I'm not sure why. It's time to do some research and see if I can find out what is going on.


Sweet William Pinocchio Mix making a wonderful show. They pink color has started to fade as the blooms are past their prime. No worries there are more buds soon to show up.


Last but not least the Snapdragon. 2 nice spikes of flowers are a bloom in their pretty pink. Another spike looks a bit funky since it bloomed and went to seed then rebloomed above the seeds. Just today the seed pod that was on the spike that broke off months ago is dry. I popped it up and tons of little specks of seeds came out. Not only that but I plucked off the seed pods that were still hanging on outside. Now I have around 10 pods drying. I'll be swimming in Snapdragon seeds.