Google For Gardeners Update 2-12-09

Moments ago Google For Gardeners reached a milestone. I added the 500th site to the search engine dedicated to finding gardening and plant information through Google. Thanks to all the people who have submitted recommendations for the search engine and thanks to Google for allowing people like me to create a custom search engine out of their product.

Burpee Seeds At Home Depot 2009

A few years ago I requested a catalog from Burpee but I never got it. My zip code is probably not seen as very desirable to people in the gardening business so I pretty much stick to buying retail. That's the case with Burpee, I couldn't tell you what is in their catalog but I can tick off what I like that they're offering in retail settings. I really enjoying growing my own plants from seeds and I buy from whoever is selling them. This year though the Burpee seeds at Home Depot seem to be uninspired and there isn't much for an ornamentalist like myself to choose from.



I wanted to buy the Burpee 'Cypress Vine' seed pack I saw at Home Depot but didn't because it looked to be mislabeled to me. The name of the seed pack says 'Cypress Vine' but if you look at the photo of the plant is isn't what is commonly called 'Cypress Vine'-it is 'Cardinal Climber.' I already grow a mix of pink, red and white Cypress Vine and posted pictures of it in the post "When I collected Cypress Vine Seeds". You can look at the photos in that entry and compare them to the photos of the packet at Home Depot. I also have pictures of a pink and white Cypress Vine flower.They're in the same family and very similar looking except 'Cypress Vine' has the prettier shaped flowers (they look like 5 point stars) and nicer foliage than 'Cardinal Climber'. If I'm not mistaken I believe Burpee is also selling the mix of 'Cypress Vine' I already grow but I didn't bother to check the labeling and didn't notice this "mistake" until I was uploading the photo to this entry.

The Buzz On Bees

While going through my hard drive looking for photos to upload to my photo blog I've noticed a trend. I spend a lot of time in the garden photographing the bees that visit. I think I've mentioned here before that my favorite pollinator in my urban garden is the bumblebee but until recently I hadn't noticed that I had quite the bee fetish that my photographs seem to indicate I have. This epiphany of mine has lead to me deciding I want to be part of the solution and do my part in protecting bees. Below you'll find a number of links that you can visit if you want to become involved too. Your recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Tell Me How You Really Feel

I started to write an entry on the back story to this email but it grew into a several paragraph long post/rant. I abandoned it because I couldn't find an ending to it that satisfied me or would pay off to the reader of all those grammatical errors I made. I've decided I'm going to start publishing some of the more interesting emails I get or am part of as a result of this garden blog.

The short story:

There's a seed swap/ seed sowing demonstration going on in Chicago that I wanted to attend and cover on this here gardening blog. Here is the email I sent:

I see you're doing a seed swap and seminar.I'm thinking of attending it- do you think photo would be ok so I can cover it on my gardening blog? I grow a lot from seed and post my tutorials using recyclables on my gardening blog. Mostly using things like plastic soda bottles and fast food containers to make greenhouses for the seeds. If you'd like an extra hand or another seed sowing example I'd be glad to help.

Here is the reply I got:

"hardly a seminar. more of a shared discussion.
it would be good to meet you - though am uncertain about the photo taking. would rather you didn't unless i knew why you'd want to blog about this and how that would serve the broader mission. to be honest, i am slightly put off by your labelling of images with your logo."

Ouch.

Sowing Poppy Seeds

A few years ago I was gifted a handful of poppy seeds by a gardener on a gardening forum I participated on. The seeds came with the instructions to just "scatter them in your garden in February" and the promise that soon I'd have more poppy seeds than I knew what to do with. Not knowing any better, I followed the instructions to scatter the seeds in February. I got more seeds later in the month and scattered those too.

Then around the middle of March I started to wonder if scattering the poppy seeds when it was still winter and snowing in Chicago was the best idea. This is how I sow poppy seeds in my garden. 

(Lavender Peony Poppy)

Anemone De Caen (Freebie)

Last fall I purchased a box of mixed bulbs at the grocery store and in it came 10 Anemone De Caen corms. I didn't plant them because I didn't have much luck with them 2 years ago when I did a mass planting of them in my garden. The ugly corms produce beautiful flowers that look like poppies and make great cut flowers but they don't overwinter in my garden. So instead of going through the motions with these corm I'm giving them away to a reader of this garden blog. I know it isn't much of a freebie but I'd rather not plant them or end up forgetting about them and find them growing under my tv like the Allium bulgaricum bulb. I'll pay for the shipping of the corms to you if you don't live in Chicago but only within the U.S.

Chicago Flower & Garden Show

After a two year absence from Chicago's Navy Pier the Chicago Flower & Garden Show will return March 7th-15, 2009. In 2007 it became the Chicagoland Flower & Garden Show after the show moved to Rosemont, IL in an effort to attract more visitors. All seems to be forgiven and forgotten- including that the city was suppose to but on the Garden in a City Show aimed at urban gardeners. I've tried looking up the domain for the show that was only held once in 2006 and it seems to be parked and for sale.