On Tue, 22 Jul 2003 08:36:23 -0400, DigitalVinyl
wrote:

Growing everything from seeds made it more interesting. All
my failures were in never getting some things to germinate at all.
Sanvitalia, Basil, Lovage, Lavender, Convulvus, French Vanila
Marigolds, Blue Lace, Cumin, Rosemary, Spinach, Flamenco were all on
the no-show list. PLus I had ground that was uneven and flooded out
what seeds I planted. The clematis & tomato plants I did buy--didn't
realize i needed to start tomatos early. Everything else was seed.

In my experience, basil is pretty easy. Never got cumin to grow from
seed (although I *did* grow a sesame plant). Rosemary is hard. I think
I got one plant from seed that flourished encouragingly and then died.
Oh, and I was starting in a greenhouse with heating mats and whatnot.
Tomatoes were pretty never-fail in that atmosphere.

Another learning lesson-- "burgundy" in flower catalogs usually means
purple and not wine-red. I had wanted all red/orange colors in the
bowl. The california poppy seed were yellow instead of advertised red,
the petunia are a purple not a deep red, the silene is light violet.
I'll know better next year.

YMMV. Mistakes happen. I once ordered a dozen "mixed color" iris, and
they were all white. Funny how, to me anyhow, there are color
combinations in decor or people clothing that are perfectly ghastly,
yet a purple flower next to an orange one can look just fine.


Peach Melba is the yellow with red centers and it has a much smaller
bronzed leaf with wine red outline. You can see the red in the leaves
just below the center flower. It doesn't fill out like the Alaska Mix
Nasturitums. They are taller than wider for me. There are three in the
basket and they aren't anywhere near as full as two Alaska's.
http://members.aol.com/digitalvinyl6...PeachMelba.jpg

Gorgous picture. I love nasturtiums, but have never had a day's luck
with 'em. Good soil, poor soil, full sun, part shade -- they hate me.
But I'm going to try again.

Milkmaid is the pale yellow/cream one. There are two in the basket.
One grew way out of the basket--reaching for sunlight I think. The
ceiling is ten feet high and when we hung them they were over my head
and getting less sun because of the roof overhang. That's when the
Milkmaid through out that long arm hanging off the side. I extended a
chain down so they would get more light and I can see them better.
http://members.aol.com/digitalvinyl6...m-Milkmaid.jpg

And again. BTW, nasturtium leaves and flowers are edible. The leaves
are pretty spicy, but the blossoms are nice decor for a salad.

The back wall of the house faces SW. The entire patio gets full sun
from 11 to 6 then shadows start affecting things.

I was thinking that if you can protect that baker's rack a bit and the
pots, you may get enough heat-sink effect with the stone(?) side of
the house and brick patio to keep those perennial herbs going. Sage
and thyme (was that thyme?) are perennials. If the thyme is oregano,
then that is also perennial. My late lamented rosemary bush survived
for years against a SW-facing red brick wall through a number of harsh
winters.

Now where are you going to establish your compost pile/heap/bin?