skip to main content

Wintersown tomatoes and Perennial Flowers (Pics)

14 years ago

I just love Wintersowing! It has opened up all kinds of possibilities to me.

Here are wintersown Striped Roman tomatoes! I must confess all but a couple of my tomatoes this year were grown in an unheated mini greenhouse/indoors when cold. I decided to plant out my indoor ones before the last frost date, and if they didn't make it, I could always use my WS ones as backups. Turns out we had a warm spring and they all made it, but these Striped Roman are WS and produced fruit only a week or so later than the rest. (I gave extra WS toms away.)

{{gwi:402420}}

Here are some perennials from last year's winter sowing blooming this year! It's hard to be patient, but it's worth it.

Echinacea

{{gwi:402421}}

Blanket Flower

{{gwi:402422}}

This one, I posted a while back, trying to identify it, and was told it was a rudbeckia. Here it is now blooming ... with fun green centers. Does anyone know what this is? Rudbeckia Hirta?

{{gwi:402423}}

Mexican Hat: I had a couple blooms of this last year, but many more this year.

{{gwi:402424}}

This blue flax has been a bit sulky, but maybe now that it's hot and dry, it will perk up. I was happy to see it bloom:

{{gwi:402425}}

Here's a link to my blog, if anyone's interested. I have some pics that explain how to save Columbine seeds, in case you've never attempted this. I also have some pics of my Giant Cape Gooseberry plants that are beginning to fruit!

Here is a link that might be useful: Seed Girl Blog

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (8)

highalttransplant
14 years ago
Hey, Mo girl! Great pictures!

I believe that Rudbeckia is either Irish Eyes or Prairie Sun. They are very similar to one another, so I can't be certain which one you have there.

So is that Striped Roman a paste tomato?

Thanks for sharing your garden with us!

Bonnie
carrie630
14 years ago
Mo girl - wow- I can never grow blue flax - great pics...

My echinacea bloomed this year for the first time too - it was worth the wait...

Carrie
Related Discussions
My perennial garden so far w/ pics....
Q
Comments (19)
The wood is just decoration and doesn't stop the grass. I respectfully disagree, based on many years of experience in different states, with different grasses. When I lived in OH, I had "nice" grass, non-rhizomatous, mostly, like it looks like bgaviator has. Bricks or timbers laying on the ground will stop about 95% of the grass permanently, especially when the bed is well mulched such as this. Wherever there's a low spot, or seam between pieces, the grass may creep under/through. Easy to fix in a few minutes about every-other month. As the timber settles, it will sink a bit and then it's even less of a problem, something to check maybe once in the spring, once in the fall. Even here, with a yard of St. Augustine or Bermuda or whatever type of vine-grass this is in my yard in AL, with Bahia invading that, something like this timber is enough of a barrier to easily achieve control. Agree it's not a type of border that is completely certain, but certainly worth doing, especially compared to the effort and expense required for a completely reliable border. I prefer this type of border because it's easy to pick up the timber and definitely remove any invading grass by the roots. I spend very little time on out-of-bounds grass. Often grass is let to make seeds before it's mowed, then not enough care is taken to direct the outflow away from the bed, or it drops in the bed before mowing. When the seeds sprout, the border gets blamed for not doing its' job.
...See More
wintersown maters
Q
Comments (1)
I've had maters for a couple of weeks, but they've stalled at the seed leaf stage. A couple have bitten the dust from cold temps, or so I assume because they turned purple and keeled over. But this is my second year for ws maters, and I'm not worried. When the temps are consistently warm, more sprouts will appear, and the ones that are already up will take off. So don't give up! I still have several unsprouted cups, but I expect those will pop up over the next couple weeks. I do worry about baking the seeds in the sun, so I make sure the cups are well watered and nicely ventilated. Where in Va. are you? I'm in the D.C. metro area, and the weather has been spectacular the last few days. Good tomato weather :) If only the peppers would sprout...
...See More
Blooming WS Perennials from 2007! (Pics)
Q
Comments (12)
The lupine must be done introducing herself. I looked later, and the lupine is standing straight up again, lol. I didn't realize lupines are so fragrant. My daughter noticed it before I did. She said the blooms smelled like honey. Thanks for the suggestions as to the type of columbine. I feel a little more educated .... didn't know about long spurred vs. spurless. I've seen pics of the Barlow columbines, and the blooms on the pink one do look similar to that. They could be some kind of mixture, but no matter, I like the results. The pink variety is taller/fuller than the purple. I am looking forward to my canterbury bells, penstemon, and apricot foxglove hopefully blooming this year as well. I imagine I'll post pictures when they do. This is so fun :)
...See More
2 wintersown pics
Q
Comments (8)
Thank you everyone,I thought it was Autumn colors,I don't know.I've got some that are almost ready to bloom that I thought were the cherrybrandys..They all bloomed last year but the plants are alot bigger this year the one by the porch is 4ft tall and 4 ft wide and the little yellow birds are showing up and trying to make a meal of them,but I don't mind. When the others bloom and if they are different I will post a pic..I'm terrible with the flowers of knowing what I have,I spend most of the time with the vegetables but since coming on here I've got flowers everywhere.Here is a different view of it and another that is different from the rest.
...See More
albertar
14 years ago
Great Pics Mogirl, thanks so much for sharing.

Alberta
mo_girl
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks everyone. It's fun to share and to see what everyone else is up to.

Bonnie, I looked up the varieties of rudbeckia you mentioned, and you're right, they both look very similar. I would guess the Irish eyes, but I'm not at all positive about it. Yes, the Striped Roman are paste tomatoes. I purchased my first pressure canner this year, and hope to figure out how to use it. Maybe I should invite my mom over. She used to can when I was a child, but I don't quite remember what she did.

Carrie, ever since I saw Vera's pics of blue flax, I just had to have it! ;) This was the only plant that survived, and I was very thankful it did. I think Echinacea is so pretty. I'm beginning to get more interested in growing native, drought tolerant plants I don't have to baby and water constantly.
vera_eastern_wa
14 years ago
Looking good mo_girl!!

Here my Echinacea purpurea 'Magnus' and 'White Swan' are just in the bud stage yet and the E. angustifolia are only foliage at this point. BTW if you really looking for a drought tolerant Echinacea try the E. angustifolia. This one is MUCH more tolerant to drought than the other. In my garden I notice that if getting too dry the 'Magnus' and 'White Swan' get scorched leaf margins. Our summer humidity is way low too and that may be the cause, but not sure.
mo_girl
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks. I'll look into the Echinacea Angustifolia. I don't have enough seeds, you know ;)
ktinmd
14 years ago
Love those maters! And the flowers are very pretty.

kt
mnwsgal
14 years ago
Great photos, thanks for sharing.

Related Stories

GARDENING GUIDES Attract Hummingbirds and Bees With These Beautiful Summer Flowers

By Annie Thornton

Roll out a welcome mat for pollinators to keep your landscape in balance and thriving

FARM YOUR YARD Houzz Call: Home Farmers, Show Us Your Edible Gardens

By Stacy Briscoe

We want to see where your tomatoes, summer squashes and beautiful berries are growing this summer

GARDENING GUIDES Pacific Northwest Gardener's August Checklist

By Genevieve Schmidt

Deadheading perennials, cutting raspberry canes and preparing for the onion harvest keeps Northwest gardeners busy in August

FALL GARDENING Why Fall Is the Best Time for Planting

By Benjamin Vogt / Monarch Gardens

Spring is overrated for planting. Starting plants in autumn has advantages for both garden and gardener

GARDENING GUIDES Houzz Call: What’s Your Favorite Backyard Beauty?

By Stacy Briscoe

The simple, honest daisy is this writer’s go-to garden flower. We want to hear which plant, flowering or otherwise, gives you special joy

GARDENING GUIDES Small Carpenter Bees Are Looking for a Home in Your Plant Stems

By Pollination Press LLC

Provide flowers and nesting sites in your garden for this beautiful, tiny, metallic blue wild bee — your plants will thank you

SPRING GARDENING Summer Crops: How to Grow Strawberries

By Marianne Lipanovich

Pluck your own sweet strawberries right from the garden vine for smoothies, salads or eating then and there

INSPIRING GARDENS 12 Storybook Cottage Gardens

By Becky Harris

If you want a bewitching cottage garden but aren’t sure where to start, these ideas will get you planting in no time

SUMMER GARDENING Houzz Call: Please Show Us Your Summer Garden!

By Annie Thornton

Share pictures of your home and yard this summer — we’d love to feature them in an upcoming story

FARM YOUR YARD How to Build a Raised Bed for Your Veggies and Plants

By Annie Thornton

Whether you’re farming your parking strip or beautifying your backyard, a planting box you make yourself can come in mighty handy

Sponsored

Landscape Management Group

29 Reviews

High Quality Landscaping Services in Columbus