Four O'Clock Seeds Planted. 25 Mar 24.

 I planted the Four O'Clock seeds (Mirabilis jalapa) today.  They soaked about 24 hours in plain water.  

This year, I'm starting them in re-usable silicone six-packs.  These are big seeds, so I just used potting soil and covered with a layer of seed starting mix. That will be better for evener moisture and makes a dent in use of peat.

The humidity cover is a plastic Amazon bag, repurposed.

They are on seed starting mat.   There were extra seeds.  I wrapped those in moist paper towel, wrapped in a plastic bag, and placed on heating mat too.

Which will work better?

Spring Flowers. 24 Mar 24.

 Some daffodils.  I like this idea of overwintering the containers in the vegetable garden, then moving to the front deck when blooming.

Hyacinths.  Something pushed the bulbs over during the winter.  Brilliant colors!

Some are just beginning to come up.  Maybe they are not OK?

Muscari.  When we had the old deck replaced, these were in a planter there  - 4 inches deep, under an awning so almost no water, and on north side of house.  For years.  I just laid the mats of growth on top of the soil in this rose planter.  And there they are!  Such resilient bulbs.

Leucojum.  These have been divided and moved twice.  The original clump came with the old house, so they are kind of a hand-me-down heirloom.

Helleborus.   These take virtually no effort and bloom like crazy every year.

Starting Some Four O'Clock Seeds. 24 Mar 24.

 I'm pre-soaking some Four O'Clock seeds to plant tonight.

I don't always get good germination with these when I buy the seeds.  Better with home-saved seeds.  I don't know why.  They do have a hard coat, and I pre-soak per directions.

Here are my notes from 2014.  My experience then was, they germinated better on a seed warming mat, on moist paper towel in a zip lock.  I'll try half of them that way and half in seed starter containers.

I'll see if I have some saved from last year and try those too.  My own are not variegated.

Just for fun, a highly vintage image of Four O'Clocks.

Overwintered Alstroemeria. 24 March 24.

 I overwintered two super-dwarf Alstroemeria in the dry / chilly garage last winter.  I brought them outside and started watering again, last week. Also cut off all of the dead leaves and stems.

Here is the purple one.

There are several new shoots, plus one that was already up.  No growth yet on the yellow one.  It was low to wake up last year.

My rationale for overwintering dormant in containers is that not all Alstroemeria descend from fully cold winter places.  I don't know the ancestors of these highly hybridized dwarfs.  They are very nice deck plants.  It takes almost no effort to store them over the winter in the garage.

Here's a clump of tall, not as nice, Alstroemeria that has been growing outside in my fenced orchard / garden.  Plus a dandelion.

I grew those from seeds about 20 years ago.  These are divisions from divisions from those original plants.  They have survived every winter outside in the borders.

The newest seedlings (Ligtu hybrids) should ad some new and brighter colors to the orchard clumps.

Overwintering Echinacea. 24 Mar 24.

 Here's the Cheyenne Spirit Echinacea that I overwintered dry, in light, in garage.  I moved it outside a week or two ago, cleaned it up, and started watering.

I haven't looked at the ones that I left in the ground over the winter.   The plants that I left outside in a container dried out and died.

These are nice plants.  I hope some of the others survived too.