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Post by ottawagardener on Aug 17, 2009 15:57:43 GMT -5
Here are the highlights from my seed trades and those generously given to me: Silvery Fir Tomato proved to be a really early producer of large fruits and would definitely be worth growing again next year to get some early slicers. It surcommded to blight quick to at the plague ridden allotment. Chickpeas, including popping, had a cold, wet season but produced something for next year's try. Perennial Leek, russian wild onion and nodding onion all doing well and holding their own against the leek moth who consumed the rest of my alliums.  My favourite pepper in appearance has to be Hungarian Black with its lovely dark purple stems and exotic fruit.  Perennial kale rooting up nicely to be transplanted soon!  Magenta spreen and possibly perennial kale growing to tree like proportions.  9 Star Broccoli/Cauliflower big and beautiful but not in flowerbud yet.  Self seeding fennel growing fatter.  St. Victor's leek was unfortunately devastated by leek moth. Before:  After:  Lots of herbs like Golden Agastache and Variegated Tree Mallow:  I've had lots more trades and need to post pictures of more. Before that, just a BIG THANKS to everyone. It's great being in such a generous and like minded community of others. Anyone else want to report on their seed trades? |
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Post by plantsnobin on Aug 17, 2009 21:03:39 GMT -5
I love that pepper, would look great in the ornamental garden. The nodding onion has done really well for me this year, bloomed a long time with our milder than usual temps and I think it is still pretty when it is going to seed. I have tons of them self seeding and got a couple that were a little darker pink than the plant I saved seed from last year. Still none that were the color I hoped for, but they are nice anyway.
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Post by orflo on Aug 17, 2009 22:56:20 GMT -5
Telsing, it's looking great!!!! The pepper though is Czech black, not Hungarian black....There's is however a 'sweet black hungarian' , the fruits are much bigger, but just as black, and just as this one, fruits become red ripening off...
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Post by ottawagardener on Aug 18, 2009 6:49:40 GMT -5
Thanks for letting me know Frank. I got it on a trade. Is the Czech black, spicy?
I can't wait until my nodding onion flowers but it's still a long way off at the moment.
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Post by Penny on Aug 18, 2009 7:51:32 GMT -5
I agree, nice pepper plant Telsing.
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Post by paquebot on Aug 18, 2009 22:22:17 GMT -5
Nodding onions should not only be done blooming by now but will have dropped their seeds. However, you started from seeds according to the small size of the plant in the picture. Remember that most alliums are biennials. Therefore you won't see the blooms until next year.
Martin
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Post by ottawagardener on Aug 19, 2009 8:03:00 GMT -5
In the picture, those are perennial leeks. My nodding onion also are small and yes, I started from seed. I'm not expecting blooms for awhile.  |
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Post by plantsnobin on Aug 19, 2009 8:17:54 GMT -5
Well Martin, I don't know where you live, but here in southern Indiana my nodding allium are still blooming, some setting seed but none have dropped seed yet. I have never heard of a biennial allium. I grow many types and I all have are soundly perennial. Even the nodding allium I grew last year from seed bloomed the first year.
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Post by paquebot on Aug 19, 2009 23:15:34 GMT -5
Well Martin, I don't know where you live, but here in southern Indiana my nodding allium are still blooming, some setting seed but none have dropped seed yet. I have never heard of a biennial allium. I grow many types and I all have are soundly perennial. Even the nodding allium I grew last year from seed bloomed the first year. All onions are considered biennials. Plant a seed or set and you get a bulb this year. Plant the bulb next year and you get seeds. Plant a leek seed this year and just get a leek plant. Winter it over and you get seeds. Both of those are alliums My nodding onions came from the original area which gave Chicago it's original name. Native Americans used them for food. I'm about 90 miles north and they are not native here. Right now, mine have all straightened up with only a few still showing a few pink stragglers. Most flower heads are now dry and about to drop their seeds. Martin |
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Post by hiven on Aug 25, 2009 7:38:30 GMT -5
They are looking very good ,Telsing. My magenta spreen are now a bit over 2 metres (goodness me !) and I can't control it by eating as they grow faster then what we can possibly eat...
Sadly, the ramps and nodding onion seeds were destroyed by a wind storm ... my empty rain barrel was blew away and it landed on the small containers... the soil scattered over the lawn... by the time we were home, the rain has done it's work...no more trace to be save...
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Post by plantsnobin on Aug 25, 2009 9:05:44 GMT -5
I don't want to argue with Martin, but in fact most Alliums are perennial. Just because it takes something two years to bloom from seed doesn't mean it is biennial. Biennials grow foliage the first year, bloom and set seed the second year and then die. Perennials generally take two years to bloom from seed, though not always if you start them early enough. Some may even take 3 or more years to bloom, but don't die after they set seed. True enough A. cepa is grown as a biennial, but the vast majority of Alliums will live a long life to delight you in your garden year after year. And you can eat just about any of them, but some are so pretty and so expensive I wouldn't want to. I remember paying $20 for a Globemaster bulb when they first came out. Seems pretty silly now.
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Post by ottawagardener on Aug 26, 2009 21:34:00 GMT -5
Yet, you gotta love the globemaster...
Hiven: Yeah, that Magenta Spreen is impressive. I should have more onion seeds for you next year if you remind me. Sorry to hear about the disaster. Something similar happened to me but with pests... Thankfully the nodding onion did survive.
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Post by paquebot on Aug 26, 2009 22:10:32 GMT -5
BUT, when those come back after 2 years and blooming, are they the same bulb or a fresh one due to division? Walking onions are a good example of a non-seeding perennial allium as we all know that you only need to plant them once. But after the plants send up the seed stalk, that bulb dies. What comes up in its place is a fresh bulb or bulbs which developed just before the original one died.
I do have the seeding A. cernuum here and that's the nodding onion. Only the mower prevents it from taking over a lot of lawn. Where a seed head manages to reach bare ground, there are a large clump of scallions the following summer. It's not until the second summer that flower stalks appear. The bulb that formed the stalk then dies and is replaced by several new ones. The new ones then can produce a seed stalk but the bulbs grown from seed do not have enough stored energy.
That factor is somewhat similar to the common Ebenezer and Stuttgarter onions which are available everywhere as sets. As long as the sets are small, all they will produce is a larger bulb. If the sets are too large, they readily bolt to seed. When that happens, the entire plant dies without producing a replacement bulb. That's makes it a biennial under any definition.
Another example is the Amish bottle onions which I grow. Planted from seed, best I'll ever see in one year is a decent bulb. If I leave any in the ground, they are guaranteed to bolt to seed next spring. What I pull up after that is a dead plant with no provision for propagating other than by seed. That definitely makes it a biennial.
Martin
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