Hundreds of Seedlings. . .

– Posted in: Garden chores, What's up/blooming
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Oh, dear. I seem to have a lot more seedlings on my hands than I had planned for. Most of the seeds I was using were old–the newest stuff was at least 3 years old, and some was a lot older. So I figured most of it wouldn’t sprout, and started a good deal more than I thought I could plant. After all, I was planning on, at most, about half of them sprouting. How wrong I was! Now I’m buried in seedlings, as most of the seeds seem to have been only biding their time until the conditions were right. I have flats and flats of seedlings, more seedlings than I can count. Some things I have planted out already–around a hundred Snapdragons, for instance. Other things I have been frantically trying to keep from wilting, or I have been trying to harden off. Everything seems to need potting on at the same time. Needless to say, I have been kept busy.

Besides Snapdragons (and not even counting the vegetables and herbs!), I have started Marigolds, Clarkia, Balsam (the Busy Lizzies took too long showing their faces, so I wound up dumping them in the compost so other plants could use their space under the grow lights), three kinds of Nicotiana, Cosmos, Portulaca, Zinnias, Salvia (Lady in Red, very gorgeous and vigorous), and probably some other things that I am forgetting at the moment. Most of these things I started en masse, so I have more than 7 very crammed flats full of seedlings. I am beginning to wonder if I will have enough ground to plant them all!! But if I do have enough room, things should look spectacular. I love the way swaths of flowers look.

At any rate, between potting on, watering, planting out, trying to talk brothers into digging ground for me, and the more annoying facts of life (such as practicing for my road test and the Regents Exams), I’ve barely had a chance at the computer. And now that I’m here, I hardly feel like I even know what I’m growing any more. I just feel completely overwhelmed by the sheer number of seedlings, and rather puzzled as to how they all came to be. Somehow, I had something a good deal more managable in my mind when I started all of these seeds, not a miniature jungle. How on earth do you keep yourself from starting too many seeds when you’re in the middle of the worst month of cabin fever of the winter?!

About the Author

Talitha spent the last few years doing an absurd combination of work and school, and found it wasn’t very pleasant. Now she’s doing work, school and a garden, and life is a little better! She also enjoys photography and hand feeding her ducks. USDA Hardiness Zone: 4 AHS Heat Zone: 3 Location: rural; Southern Tier of NY Geographic type: foothills of Appalachian Mountains Soil Type: acid clay Experience level: advanced beginner Particular interests: herbs, vegetables, cutting garden, cottage gardening

When dealing with frost it is always best to be paranoid. In the spring never think it is too late for one more frost to come. And in the fall never think it too early.

~Rundy in Frost

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