Birdfeeding

[ysabetwordsmith]

Today is sunny and mild.  :D

I fed the birds.  I've seen a few house finches.

I started gathering seeds.  The first batch has short marigolds of yellow to orange.  I decided to save these separately from the tall orange to red landrace that I've got going.

EDIT 8/28/23 -- I gathered a large handful of seeds from the tall orange to red marigolds.  These have been landracing for a few years now.  Most are semi-double to double, some single.  There are some dark reds and a lot of medium orange, but a few -- especially the singles -- are streaky things with orange petals striped in red.  They're so assertive, they sprout in the grass around the barrel garden.  They sprout early in spring, take a while to get big enough to bloom, but when they do, they keep going right to a fairly hard frost.  By fall, they're swarming with pollinators because not much else is left.  These marigolds are built like a brick shithouse.  I probably should not call them Shithouse Marigolds, but my inner 13-year-old boy finds it amusing.

EDIT 8/28/23 -- I gathered seeds from the purple morning glory in the barrel garden.  This one's been going for many years.  I should probably throw in some fresh seeds one of these years.

EDIT 8/28/23 -- I filled a trolley with sticks and dumped it in the firepit. 

 



  

Comments

[the_broken_tower]

I approve of Shithouse Marigolds

- White (he/him)

Yes ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

Someone else did too, so I wrote it on the envelope.

[pameladean]

I think "shithouse marigolds" is hilarious.

I am very much intrigued by your landrace marigolds, and I appreciated your providing links when you first mentioned landrace seeds and plants. This year was too discombobulated, but I am considering it for next.

P.

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> I think "shithouse marigolds" is hilarious.<<

You're the second person to encourage the name, so I went ahead and wrote it on the envelope. :D

>> I am very much intrigued by your landrace marigolds, <<

Yay! Do you want some? If you're in the United States I could probably mail you some seeds. I'm in Zone 6a now, which used to be 5b and probably still gets that cold in winter.

>> and I appreciated your providing links when you first mentioned landrace seeds and plants. This year was too discombobulated, but I am considering it for next.<<

Well, now's a good time to start thinking about it. Catalogs for spring planting come out in fall and winter, so we're coming up on the leading edge of that season. And if you're looking at seed swapping, now is the time for that as people harvest lots of seeds in late summer through fall.

Re: Thoughts

[pameladean]

Excellent for writing it on the envelope! Hee.

Thank you for the offer of some of the marigold seeds. I am in Zone 4a; do you think that would be a bridge too far for them?

P.

Re: Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

I'm sure they'd do fine in summer. You could just plant them in spring. They may or may not take well to being started early indoors, as that's something I haven't done with mine. It might be worth a try if you have a hard time with their slow startup. They will likely bloom longer than nursery marigolds, as it takes a fairly hard frost to kill them off. I've seen mine keep blooming through October or even early November here.

I don't know if they'd survive overwintering as seeds in the ground, but it would not surprise me. Mine survived an insanely bad cold snap this past winter. Also, I'm growing most of mine in pots, and sometimes they volunteer on the ground. If you plant some in a ground bed, especially in a protected area, that'll help.

Re: Thoughts

[pameladean]

Well, in that case, if you really have the time and seeds to send to me, I'd be delighted.

I can't offer much in return except a pink garden phlox that escaped into the lawn quite some time ago and is now blooming despite a major drought. I think it's probably a sport of phlox "David".

P.

Re: Thoughts

[pameladean]

It should produce seeds eventually; at the moment it is just rioting quietly. P.

Re: Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> Well, in that case, if you really have the time and seeds to send to me, I'd be delighted. <<

Sure. Send me your address in a private message.

>> I can't offer much in return except a pink garden phlox that escaped into the lawn quite some time ago and is now blooming despite a major drought. I think it's probably a sport of phlox "David".<<

If you can get seeds off that, I'd be interested. I checked and it's native to Illinois, so it shouldn't get into too much mischief.