11/02/2006

Night gardening

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I started my new job this week. That, and the arrival of Daylight Savings Time means I only get to see my garden in daylight in the morning before I leave. It's dark when I get home. And tonight it was raining. Whatever! I'm out there anyway, pruning this, inspecting that, moving seedlings around.

Were you here when I sorted the Cineraria seeds? These are the seedlings!

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Other seedlings I'm excited about: Fuchsia boliviana v. alba.

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Also growing, and much more dramatically: Dahlia imperialis.

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It's like the beanstalk in Jack and the Beanstalk. I don't know when it's going to stop. It's over 12 feet tall now. Here it was back in April of this year:

Dahlia imperialis

Taking digital pictures at night is fun.

Bartlettina sordida.

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Beaucarnia recurvata.

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Besides moving the seedlings in to the garage for some love under the fluorescent lights, I sowed some seeds of Datura wrightii. Next year, I'll have this:

datura

I can't use all the seeds that came in the packet I ordered from Theodore Payne. I sowed several in my garden, gave half to a friend, and I still have many left over. I feel an urge to sow them in one of the wilder parks in my neighborhood. But it's a poisonous plant, and dogs and kids use that park. So what do you think?

5 comments:

Jenn said...

Rather than using the choices for your poll, I ask this question:

Is the datura a native to your area?

If yes, go ahead and plant.
If no, then I would say not to do this.

Does that help?

lisa said...

Another option is to sell them on Ebay, or list them as a trade in:
Gardenweb.com
Seedswappers.com
Davesgarden.com/forums

That way, you can use something you have to get something you want!

Annie in Austin said...

ChuckB - have you been to Angela's blog in Sacramento? She posted her Tree Dahlia in bloom on November 2
http://sacgardening.blogspot.com/

What color will your flowers bloom - do you know? What incredible plants!

Annie

chuck b. said...

I have no idea what color the D. imperialias will bloom...White? Pink? I don't know. Anticipation is making me wait. Stay tuned. You know I'll post pictures as soon as I can.

That little stick has become a huuuge part of my garden landscape. I was planning to put a bench there where it's growing, but if the flower show is fabulous/interesting enough, we might not.

I have a friend who has a friend who uses D. imperialis as her garden's only vertical element. I would love to see that.

Also flowering soon, my Brugmansia.
I had no idea, but I was out doing clean up work this morning and I looked up, and there are flower buds ready to open. Unbelievable. I bought the Brugmansia on a lark from an online garden catalog, surfing the web, drunk on the couch one night last spring. I should know better. I do know better. I just don't care. The more the merrier.

Okay, okay--I won't sow the Datura in the park. Damn you all! :)

chuck b. said...

I'm planning to keep the tree dahlia until it finishes its flower show. Then I'll face a decision point. It might be that I just move it over 12 inches.