All the Dirt on Gardening

The first two winners for the 2013 award have been approved. Canna 'South Pacific Scarlet' F1 AAS Flower Award Winner C . ‘South Pacific’ adds a beautiful touch of the tropics to the garden with showy, 4-inch flowers that bloom all summer long in a delicious shade of scarlet. AAS Judges raved about this first F1 hybrid canna from seed because it is such a robust and floriferous bloomer. C . ‘South Pacific’ grows up to 24-inch tall in a two gallon container, 4-5 feet tall in the garden, providing a great grouping of specimen plants or a back-of-the-border focal point. The colorful blooms are produced on a flower spike held above the large leafed statuesque plants.  Compared to other seed cannas, ‘South Pacific’ was earlier to flower by one week, bloomed longer, had better basal branching and even withstood a light frost…all top qualitie.  As with other cannas, C . ‘South Pacific’ tolerates wet conditions so it can be used as a pond border or in other similar ...

Do you think you want this new Echinacea in your garden? It is an AAS winner for 2010 called Echinacea purpurea PowWow Wild Berry . Hot pink cone flowers - shriek with joy or in horror? For a direct link to coneflower/Echinaceae seed starting tips from Harris Seed click here . Basically - 70 to 75-degrees, do not cover seed. Allow 10 days to emerge. Seed sources: Park Seed Ivy Garth called me and said they have the seeds. I couldn't find them on the website so you may have to call or email them if you want their 100 seeds for $11.75 deal. email is sales@ivygarth.com and phone is 800-351-4025.

Is there a more agreeable flower to grow from seed than zinnias? They come up from seed, add color until frost and bring skippers and butterflies by the dozens, followed by finches who want the dry flower heads. One of the 2010 All American Selections , double cherry zinnia is widely available now. Double Cherry Zinnia Seed Sources Park Seed - 25 seeds $3. Ivy Garth Seed - 250 seeds for $15.00 HPS Horticultural - 100 seeds $6

Just a few Sunday night tidbits --- One tidbit - This blog author http://uncorked.org/medley/ is offering a free hand made gift to the first five people who comment on her blog entry tonight. Click over and see if you can be one of the five. Next tidbit is this http://theseedsite.co.uk/ website about seed starting. Great information plus photos of 700 seedlings to help you identify your unmarked ones when they come up. Third is the National Garden Bureau's list of new varieties for 2009 at http://www.ngb.org/gardening/varieties/index.cfm - while you are there, on the left you can click on the All America Selections link. AAS varieties go through rigorous testing at gardens all over the country to earn the AAS distinction. My seeds are germinating and I'm repotting some already. The broccoli babies are in individual pots. Now, we need some rain and some warmer weather.