gldno, the stuff is everywhere! I can't even reach the other plants in the bed without walking right over top of them, and that's just the stuff in the bed. I have more in the lawn than I have in the bed. (In fact, we have more of the GH in the lawn than we do grass right now, because we killed most of the crabgrass off last year through neglect when we first moved in, and are only now getting around to seeding the lawn in sections roped to keep the dogs from running it bare.) So right now the bed is mostly GH that's been trampled down. Looks terrible. I wouldn't mind having some in the front of the bed at the border (where all the irises currently are, actually), but it doesn't look like I'd have much luck in containing it there. But as I dig through the bed, I'm still amazed at how few weeds there actually are. I don't think any of them can get established through the stringy mass of grape hyacinth. LOL! ego45, I really doubt that I'm going to be replanting much if any of this stuff. If you or someone else wants it, you'll be more than welcome to it. I assume there are climates where it doesn't take over the whole property! ;-) It's going to take me quite a while to get it all up though. As I'm pulling the bulbs up, should I remove the leaves? Just toss the bulbs into a bin as I go along? I'd rather someone else be able to use them than to just toss them in the trash, for sure. I'm amazed at how many bulbs there are, though, and how very tiny some of them are.

Hi Sammy, Neither of your pictures look like the zinnias are outdoors in full Sun. The long internodal length on the visible stems would indicate insufficient light. I, too, use hydrogen peroxide, but only on my indoor zinnias. Your use of pots and a soilless mix are a culture more like indoor growing. Zinnias can be grown successfully indoors (I do it during late Fall, Winter, and early Spring), but it is not easy. Outdoor growing is easy. Stick the seeds in the soil and let nature takes its course with rain and sun. "Care: used bloom fertilizer 15-30-15, once a week , 1/2 dilutional strength from manufacturer's instructions." There is a severe danger that the soluble nutrient concentration can build up too strong using that regimen. You need to add nutrients to the container at a rate to make up for what the plant has used since the last application. A zinnia doesn't grow a whole lot during a 24-hour period, and most of its new growth is water. So a very small amount of nutrients are consumed during that period. For that matter, a very small weight of nutrients are taken up and used during a week. Unless you flood your containers and a lot of excess nutrient solution runs out the bottom of the container each time, your nutrients will accumulate approximately like: one half strength the first week, full strength the second week, 1.5 strength the third week, twice strength the fourth, and so on. The key to successful container growing of zinnias in a soilless potting mix is to realize that what you are doing is actually a form of hydroponic culture, using the potting mix as the substrate to support the roots. If you recognized your operation as hydroponic, you might use a mix of peat moss/vermiculite/perlite, or pine bark/vermiculite/perlite, or peat moss/pine bark/perlite, or something like that as a substrate. The mix in your picture looks like it doesn't drain well, and it needs something that will increase drainage, like pine bark and/or perlite. Zinnia roots need water and air, or the oxygen in air. Hydroponic growers monitor the electrical conductivity (EC) of their nutrient solution, usually with an EC meter. If the EC goes too high, they dilute it and if it goes too low they add more soluble nutrients. I'm not suggesting you buy an EC meter, but I am suggesting that you take steps to prevent the nutrient on the zinnia roots from becoming too concentrated. A white buildup (efflorescence) on the surface of your growing medium would be a sign of a seriously too high EC. Hydroponics requires a complete set of nutrients in the water. Check the nutrient list of your 15-30-15 "bloom" fertilizer. In addition to the usual nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, does it also contain the macronutrients calcium, magnesium and sulfur and micronutrients like iron, manganese, magnesium, boron, molybdenum, zinc, copper, etc? Plants need quite a lot of calcium, which is absent in most commercial nutrients, so hydroponics growers supply that as calcium nitrate. Does your bloom fertilizer contain calcium? I include calcium nitrate in my nutrient solution for zinnias. Incidentally, are you starting your zinnias from seed, or buying plants? ZM

I've finished the Eddison book. A lot of wisdom, well-said, but not very applicable to me for several reasons. She says that gardeners are perfectionists. Anybody who sees my garden, or the Sacramento cemetery, knows that I am not. I do strive to grow every rose as well as possible, but I am a "good enough" gardener. I can focus on the things that please me, and block out the things that do not. Eddison's lowered standards probably are still much higher than mine! Being such a perfectionist, probably there are few roses that would have suited her. She likes hot colors, which would have driven her to modern roses. She says in the book that probably the only more labor intensive garden than a sunny perennial border is a rose garden. I'm pretty sure that she'd have made roses a tremendous job, deadheading them every day just as she does the daylilies, and feeling the need to spray or fuss in pursuit of "perfection." I do think that Albas or species roses would be fabulous in her garden, but don't think such a thing ever occurred to her. (She does mention grubbing out wild multiflora, a good thing!) Eddison gardens on a scale that few of us have the space, finances or energy to do. She had help all through the process, too. She has woodlands, shade gardens, sun borders, etc. She describes her "little" woodland garden as 175 by 70 feet. That's about a quarter of an acre, huge by California suburban/urban standards. She talks about pruning being terrible for the hands, and choosing plants that don't need it. I'm blessed with very little arthritis so far (nearly 60 yrs old), and wonder if decades more of wielding secateurs will take an inevitable toll. I had some bursitis in my hips, which was keeping me awake at night, but no longer have a problem now that I do water aerobics several times a week. Being in the water has made my hands, back, shoulders, etc feel better, as well as improving my overall disposition! She advocates container gardening as being an easier strategy. I've been intrigued by the differing views of containers in this thread. In hot, dry Sacramento, watering containers is a major chore. I also find wrestling things into/out of a pot is a problem. I just had a plastic pot shatter from old age, and its Japanese maple has grown into the ground. I asked my husband to build a box around it, because otherwise I'd kill the tree (and my back) trying to repot it. Overall, I don't think that containers are a strategy for MY old age, unless I end up somewhere with only a balcony. I've never read her other books, but do love how she writes, and she truly is a real gardener, even if her garden in Connecticut has very little resemblance to mine. Hostas and primroses are tatty and short-lived for me. I have to say that she seems largely oblivious to the fact that many people garden in different climates from hers. Reminds me of those maps of NYC, where Manhattan is very large and everything to the west is miniscule. One thing that I love about this forum is how it's made us all very aware of regional differences. Anita

Solenostemon scutellarioides is the Latin name for a very common group of plants called, collectively, Coleus. As it happens, it is very easy to propagate from cuttings. Just take 3 to 4 inch stems from the growing tips, and place them in a glass of water on a bright (indirect light) windowsill. If you still have the plant in a container (not in the ground) then you can bring the plant indoors and place it on a bright windowsill for the Winter. The Coleus were commonly kept from year to year by previous generations of gardeners (like my Granny), overwintering them as houseplants till the following Spring.