Gertrude's Flower Garden Weekly Diary

1/23/04 - The latest news from my basement seed growing operation is as follows. Under lights and on warming pads I now have Periwinkle Vinca seeds that have germinated, Lobelia seeds that have not germinated yet, and the Ivy Geranium discussed below. There are three other seeds that have germinated: Love-in-the-Mist, Browallia, and Dahlberg Daisies. My Heliotrope seeds have not come up yet. I usually wait until it appears that most if not all of the seeds planted have begun to show green before moving them off the heating pads. At present, the following seedlings have been moved off of the heating pads, but, of course, are still under florescent lights: two boxes of Begonias, one box each of White and Yellow Star Zinnias, and a box each of white and mixed colors of Impatiens.
As I mentioned in a previous "Diary," I lost the last of the pink Ivy Geraniums that hang by the front door in the summer and spend the winter in the glass room. One of the new seeds that I am growing this year, therefore, is a mix of "Summer Showers" Ivy Geraniums which are described in my seed catalog as "cascades of ivy-leafed foliage, gorgeous in baskets and window boxes. Mix their loose, elegant flower heads and thick, glossy leaves with other trailing annuals, or mass in borders as ground cover." The specific seeds that I bought are "a unique eye-catching blend of red, rose, lavender, plum and white." Well, I would have been satisfied with just plain pink, but we will see what I end up with--so far only one seed has popped up its head, but I am hoping that this fellow is an early riser and that his brothers and sisters will be up soon. There were only a dozen seeds; I wonder how the colors will be divided.
This week's picture is of the newest bulb and the earliest bloomer in my Amaryllis "farm." This bulb was a gift from a good friend who has sent me Amaryllis bulbs before. It is the first of my bulbs to bloom, possibly because it was potted sooner than the other bulbs that I have sitting on the kitchen table. (Don't envision an unlighted spot; the table faces a window, is in front of the glass window and the door to the glass room.) My new Amaryllis is very different from blooms that I have had heretofore. The pink color is not unusual, nor are the two stems with four buds each (I am guessing that the second stem will be a duplicate of the first), but the double flowers are new to me. The great difference, however, is in the stem length of this new bulb. The stem that holds the flower head is only four to six inches long. This is a decided improvement, because, usually, Amaryllis flowers have to be staked or their long stems will bend under the weight of the flowers. So this is one more consideration to keep in mind when buying Amaryllis bulbs. I think that the growers have made an important advance that all who treasure this lovely spring bulb will appreciate.

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