Seed Starting Update

I'm very pleased to report that all my seeds have sprouted. The last to do so were the two varieties of peppers, but they managed to show themselves this morning and I moved them to the lights. So with the peppers I have marigolds, basil, eggplant and three varieties of tomatoes.

Philadelphia Flower Show 2011 "Springtime in Paris"

This was my first trip ever to a Flower Show. I had no idea what to expect. It was lovely!

Here are some of my favorite photos. The rest are on my picture share site: Birds, Blooms & Books.


Notice the rain chain on the left is made from a bicycle chain.






When I first looked at this tree I thought is was growing on trellis. It is the trellis.

I definitely will go next year. The theme will be Hawaii.

Marigolds are Up!

I'm glad I check my newly planted seeds more than once a day. They reside in the very warm mechanical room next to the boiler where it's toasty warm for germinating but also very dark. These marigolds are the first to germinate so they've been moved to the grow light.

Aren't they really cute!

I use cowpots though these will have to be thinned some into other cowpots before they go into the vegetable garden to keep out the tomato horn worms.

Here's what I started them in. My peppers, eggplants and tomatoes are in domed tubs (below). Here they are on the washer before I moved them to the mechanical room and its warmth. I had some trouble with mold until I sprayed them with a mix of listerine and water per directions from my friend Wilderness at Growing and Cooking. She's posting step by step directions for seed starting on her new blog.

"Still Alice"

This novel by Lisa Genova is a must read for anyone who has known someone with Alzheimer's disease. The story is told from the perspective of the woman who has the disease and though the author has taken some liberties with how fast the disease progresses you get the full impact of the tragedy of such a diagnosis.