I think the goat is kinda cute, goats have pretty eyes. Does he whine or mew or bleat or whatever sound goats make when you're paying more attention to the dog? Many years ago I wanted to increase my columbines, so I took the dried stems of the few I had in the garden and shook them around here and there. It took over a year before I saw all the blooms, but I had an array petal count, some with or without spurs, and a range of blues, pinks, purple, plum, white and an odd grey color--well, the grey wasn't bad and actually was lovely--you just don't expect grey for a flower bloom. Open-pollinated columbine seedlings are like a mixed litter of kittens, you never know what you'll get but you'll love everyone. I do a lot of seed packing here and as expected some of it hits the floor :-O but waste not want not--I have a new bagless vacuum with a catcher cup which I dump over the side of the porch behind a shrub. I don't know all that will sprout there but it will amaze. Yesterday I finished packing out a large bag of mixed wildflowers--once you get to the bottom there's more chaff than seed, though it is still loaded with a lot of very small seeds. Well, it doesn't look right for sharing so I dumped the remainder over the other side of the porch railing--that's gonna be a sight when those sprout and grow too. Direct sowing can be a hazardous thing--not to the sower but to the seeds. Seeds are food! and Mother Nature will take as many as she can. So, when you're direct sowing you must sow heavily to avoid disappointment, you must be realistic and expect less than a ten percent of the seeds you sow will survive long enough to bloom--ten percent might actually be a high number. But if you're sowing 40,000 poppy seeds then 400 plants is still 400 plants. Obviously results will vary based on predator, climate, and skill and tools of the gardener; but when it comes down to it direct sown seed survival is mostly dependant on luck--you either get eaten or you don't. Mother Nature is very hungry.

Thanks Bill. Great info. Are you saying that the Zinnas, yellow cosmos, gomphrenas, tithonias, wild madagascar periwinkles will reseed in the spring from seed dropped the previous season? I get alot of vinca reseeding. I would like to get some cora vincas and drop the seed in the fall along with others you mentioned. Instead of collecting the seed and putting them out in the spring I would rather put them out in the fall. Another interesting plant is:(from the ufl trial site). "Helenium (Helenium amarum) This crop is listed as a Florida native and has not been evaluated in our best-of-class trials before. Gold class. ÂDakota Gold was uncontested best-of-class with outstanding overall performance. Foliage was very full and uniform, and flowers were numerous and evenly distributed over the plant. The plant centers opened up very slightly late in June. This plantÂs bright green foliage was unique compared to any crops weÂve seen thus far, and should make this plant a very striking focal point in the landscape." That is from the University of Florida test garden site (link below). The seeds are super expensive. From geoseed the price is 100 seeds $13.15. And Geoseed is the least expensive. Alot of sites like it. Not sure I like it. But if I spend $13.15 I will learn to like it. Yahoo and Google have good pictures of it under images. Bob Here is a link that might be useful: UFL

Hi! My name is Karen and I've posted some questions on the geranium forum and got some good advice, but noone is terribly chatty over there so I was wondering if this is a good forum for me to join. Are you taking new members?? I'm in IL and we started over 700 (agh!)pelargoniums, or whatever they are called. We call them geraniums. Anyway, I was told to pinch and went to town and I hope I did it right because I have some sad plants. And it's about time to start hardening off...and I haven't a clue what I'm doing! We have two portable greenhouses outside with heaters in them and we put the impatiens and pansies, I think, in there. But the geraniums are inside under grow lights and in sunny windows (as sunny as it gets during the long awaited IL 'Spring' if that's what you call it!) Can anyone help me keep them alive?

FWIW, I think you have a lot of different crops which require different methods for best results. For example; Okra needs warm, damp soils to properly germinate and the plants never seem to do well when transplanted...best wait until, maybe, mid- May and direct sow seed then. Potato eyes will rot if left in cold damp soils and they should go in later as well...they actually do better in a barrel slowly filled with a mixture of straw and compost than in the soil. These could be planted sooner using this method as the soil stays warmer and they are less likely to rot. So; greenhouse plants best set out after tax day: Eggplant, tomatoes, peppers, basil and parsley. Excepting potatoes, plants in the deadly nightshade family and herbs take to transplantation well and you can really get a jump on the season using plants from your greenhouse with this group. Direct seed now: turnips, peas (sweet english), onion sets, carrots and beets. Cabbage and collard plants would be best set out now (so they will have time to mature) before hot weather and there is less liklihood of bolting before they are really ready. Direct seed after tax day: corn, beans, field peas, melons, squash and cukes. Cucurbits do best when planted in succession (two week intervals) as later crops tend to not be as affected by borer beetles. These guys sprout quickly, easily and would just be a waste of greenhouse space. Direct seed first of May: Okra, cured sweet potato and potato eyes (in barrels). As I say, FWIW, this is what I have been doing and it usually works out.