Planting Peach Seeds. 1.18.22

 These are seeds that I stratified in the refrigerator.  The source peaches were from a tree that I also grew from a seed, that one from the variety "Oregon Curl Free".  The original tree died from canker but was not bothered by Peach Leaf Curl, the "leprosy" that usually kills most peach trees here.  Those peaches are delicious, nice size, yellow clingstone, great fresh, in pie, or canned.  The tree is highly productive and never bothered by peach leaf curl.

It might seem like it would take a long time for a seedling peach tree to produce fruit.  However in my experience, it takes about three or four years.  Almost as fast as a bought tree but no issues with the rootstock possibly being a problem (such as susceptibility to canker or carrying a nursery-borne virus).

The peaches ripened mid August.  I scrubbed some pits, wrapped in wet newspaper, and kept them in a closed jar in the refrigerator until a week ago. 

The pits are hard as rocks (maybe that's why they're called "stones" ha ha). I know peaches can be grown by planting the whole pit, but maybe they benefit by splitting the pit and removing the seed (see below).  That's what I did before. I used a hammer, tapping with some force on the pit edge against the concrete garage floor. A couple of seeds got smashed. Here are some nice looking ones.

To my eyes, these look nice and firm and viable. I planted six in seed starting medium in a seedling six pack.

Cover with more seed starting medium, water, label, place on seed warming mat.  The label is important.  Sometimes I think my mind is a sieve.

Will they grow? Who knows. I think, maybe.

[On removing hard shell from the seed.  Long ago when mastodons and wooly camels bellowed their forlorn songs across the frozen Pleistocene Savannas, I read an article in the Rodale era Organic Gardening and Farming Magazine describing how much better some seedlings grow if their outer coats are removed before planting the seeds.  The rationale was that the sprouts consume considerable energy breaking open the hard coat.  If the coat is removed, that energy goes into a burst of growth.  Why would I remember that after all these decades?]

Seedling Progress Notes. 1.17.22

 The peppers are starting to grow.  The Early Jalapeños are first.  Those are new seeds.  Maybe a Serrano is also emerging.  I look at them too closely but it keeps my mind occupied.  These were planted 1.11.22 so first to emerge was only 6 days. 

One thing I am learning is new seeds sometimes germinate faster and more uniformly, older seeds are slower and more sporadic.   My thought this year is save more seeds, such as from the peppers.  I think the fresh home saved seeds are faster and more vigorous as well as being a frugal and more reliable option.

The carnation seeds started to germinate too.  These are a few years old.  I bought the seeds but forgot to grow them.  

I haven't grown carnations before.  I don't know what to expect.  I'm guessing they will bloom late summer here if I start them now.  I don't know if they will survive the wet Pacific NW winter or whether deer or rabbits will eat the plants.  These are the variety  Picotee mix.  I'm also growing some Chaboud.  It's interesting how little they've changed in the past century.  This image via internet search.  Same as the peppers, 6 days to first sprout seen.

More of the New York Early onion seeds have germinated, but not many.  About a dozen.  I will be happy with a couple dozen, along with the shallots, a few Spanish onions that germinated, and the Whethersfield Red onions.  Some of those should be good keepers.  NY Early is and Whethersfield is described as a long keeper.  I have shallots that are all good from last summer too.

Seedling Update. Onions, Shallots, Rudbeckias. 1.15.21

Of the onions and shallots, Red Whethersfied Onion seeds are looking good,quite a few growing in under a week. Ditto for Camelot shallots. The Ambition shallots look pretty good despite the seeds being a year older. The New York Early onions are barely germinating despite being newly bought seeds. I see one or two sprouts so far. That's kind of disappointing so I planted another container of those. Maybe they are just slow. They grew very nicely last year, and are still keeping very well. 

 Red Whethersfield Onion Seedlings

Ambition Shallot Seedlings.

All of the Rudbeckias are growing already. I thought they might need stratifying, but they all germinated in about 3 or 4 days. That's even though those seeds are two or three years old. I added new 6-packs, some old Echinacea purpurea seeds (2018 and 2019), and Gallardias (2019). If they don't grow, it's OK. No use keeping the seeds if I don't grow them. Carnation seeds are not up so far. Neither are celery. Kale germinated in two days.

Setting Up Forsythia Bouquet / Cuttings. 1.13.22

I saw on a garden calendar that if forsythia stems are cut now, they can be persuaded to bloom early, indoors. Also it may be an OK way to start some more cuttings. I'd like to add about eight more plants to lengthen the hedge I started last year. Not much to it. I just cut them and put them into water. I'm aiming for about a foot long and not too flimsy.

The big vase contains Linwood (I think. It was grown from a discarded pruning about twenty years ago). The one in the jar is a more narrow, more vertical shrub with flowers more pale yellow, wider petals. I don't know the name.

Cleaning Up Some Flower Seeds. 1.13.22

During late summer / early fall I picked flower heads that appeared to be drying out. I stored them in paper lunch bags. Today I got them out, cleaned them up, and stored each type in their own paper envelopes. French Marigold. This strain must be pure, because they are all descended from a volunteer plant from three years ago. They have all grow out with identical plants and flowers.

Then grasp the flower base and pinch to hold the seeds in place, then pull off the petals. Then pull out the seeds. They come out nice and clean, ready to plant in Spring.

These dried marigold flowers are nice and perfumey. They remind me of my great aunts. I also cleaned up seeds from cosmos, and four o'clocks in two shades of pink - not sure if I will grow those.