Free book Friday!

Jan Brider says:

That cute little 6 pack that I planted and wanted to find more is now everywhere in my yard. Want some. Free to a good home!

Posted on September 23, 2011 at 5:40 am.

Bonnie Manion says:

I just saw a terrific program on Planting Winter Vegetables by Pat Welsh. She said to let your arugula, cilantro reseed themselves in the garden. I love that.

Posted on September 23, 2011 at 5:48 am.

Nina Strnad says:

After 2 complete landscape overhauls in 16 years, the volunteer columbine tucked right against our house has started procreating in a ballistic way! It has taken over the aster patch, which is okay because the asters bloom later and the columbine helps to support the much taller fernlike aster foliage. But now it has crowded out the “Montrose Ruby” Heuchera, and starting to migrate down the path in cracks meant for flowering thyme.
    To add insult to injury, the deep blues that make these volunteers work are being inflitrated by some mousy pinks and dirty white sports, tipping our almost formal layout towards the wantonly unkempt.
    Why, oh, why can’t my little columbine flabellata take off an a self-sowing rampage like this? I need more of those cute little guys to soldier through the sedum ternatum that is bullying its way through the irish moss amongst stepping stones there.
    This year, we practiced “birth control” on the volunteers…. I collected all the seeds and will scatter them in the wilderness of our dappled shaded woods… where I hope they will take up arms against the garlic mustard!!!

Posted on September 23, 2011 at 5:55 am.

Jodi Rios says:

Mine is a mixed blessing….while shopping for garden seeds I offered my young son the opportunity to “pick anything you want to grow…” thinking that I’d have some company in the garden and enjoy harvesting our bounty all summer side by side. Hmmmp. Much to my dismay he selected the most brilliant morning glory package on the shelf. He insisted on planting them in the bed near the front door so that everyone could enjoy them. I lost the site selection battle, but in the end, as my teenager son is nearing leaving the nest, I will have reminders of him as a little boy every time I enter our home.

Posted on September 23, 2011 at 6:04 am.

Nina Mueller says:

This is the first year I stopped deadheading to see what would happen.  Fun.  Lot’s of seeds.

Posted on September 23, 2011 at 6:11 am.

Susan Fortune says:

Things I should never have planted:
  Garlic chives: reseeds like crazy, and the plants themselves have a deep,tenacious root system.  It’s coming up in cracks in the cement patio.
  Mexican hair grass.  One plant 12 years ago…I’m still getting a few sprouts.

Things I’m happy to see:  lettuce, peppers, and anything that comes up from the compost I’ve spread.
I like the surprises, and they always come up earlier than anything else, a harbinger of spring.
Mmmm..~

Posted on September 23, 2011 at 6:38 am.

Megan says:

I love it when my violas self-seed and show up in the most peculiar places like the lawn or in the cedar mulch. I mostly love them because no two are exactly alike.

Posted on September 23, 2011 at 6:39 am.

Susan Fortune says:

OH NO!!!  That’s a photo of garlic chive seed head on the cover of the book!  Beware, oh ye who enter here.

Posted on September 23, 2011 at 6:41 am.

Guida Quon says:

This year my friend in Ohio and I exchanged pictures of our zennias. Now were’re going to exchange the seeds. Hope I can get her seeds to grow…... as I only had one zennia seed sprout that I started from commercial seed packages. Next year I’ll use seed starter dirt…..I had to break down and buy plants…..I’m going all out for zennias next year. PS This year our best tomatoes were the ones who had reseeded themselves….PPS I just asked my hubby “You didn’t throw away the drying poppy plants, did you???” Well, of course he did!!!!! Now, I’ve just asked him to not cut the zennias…..that’s going to be a tough one for Mr Tidy!!

Posted on September 23, 2011 at 6:55 am.

Lynn says:

What’s that old saying? Borage in the garden and you’ll always have borage?!! While it is beautiful and useful… only so much I can handle.

Posted on September 23, 2011 at 6:59 am.

Janet C. says:

Cosmos, violas, verbena, nemesia, even lavender reseed in my garden beds. It’s a fun surprise, but not always where I want them to grow!

Posted on September 23, 2011 at 7:07 am.

Connie Beck says:

A friend gave me one arugala plant about 12 years ago.  I have never had to replant it and I have tender delicious salad greens almost all year around.  What a lovely visitor to my garden.

Posted on September 23, 2011 at 7:12 am.

Kathy Matthews says:

Love the four o’clocks that reseed.  The cute little violets are like weeds in the gravel pathway.  Best surprise was the cyclamen - four have turned into forty.  I tuck them in shady places and pot up a few to give away. One plant has lived in a purple pot and bloomed year after year.

Posted on September 23, 2011 at 7:19 am.

Christy Wilhelmi says:

I still have brown mustard seed sprouting up all over my garden (and compost pile) even though I grew it two years ago.  This year’s catastrophe is going to be nematicidal Golden Guardian marigolds that have gone to seed in my raised beds. A little water and they’ve already started re-seeding where my broccoli is supposed to go this fall.

Posted on September 23, 2011 at 7:21 am.

Ellen B. says:

I love volunteers and will nurture them even though I know they may have come from hybrid seeds! A real personality defect for a gardener.

Posted on September 23, 2011 at 7:23 am.

Heather says:

That tall campanula that I planted several years ago is now all over the yard and it looks really weedy, ugh.

Posted on September 23, 2011 at 7:30 am.

Your Name Carol says:

This fall I waited until my beautiful delphinium stalks dried to gather hundreds of seeds to mix with seeds from packages of Pacific Giant delphiniums, larkspur, oriental poppies and Miss Jekyll dwarf love-in-a-mist to sow among my David Austin roses that are planted in a parterre garden surrounded by boxwoods. Every morning I go out to see what is coming up. In spring, the garden should look like a beautiful bouquet!
And who says cosmos have to stay in the raised bed? I left some in the middle of a pathway instead of pulling them up - we just walked around them all summer. To get an almost one hundred percent germination for sweet peas, lay a papertowel on a cookie sheet (on a kitchen counter), spread the seeds on the paper, cover with a paper towel, and keep the paper damp. Pretty soon roots will grow, then leaves will form, and when they are the size you want to handle, plant them! You can do this with other peas - snow peas, sugar snap, etc. Nasturtiums are already up and away . . .

Posted on September 23, 2011 at 7:40 am.

Cathy says:

So those weren’t supposed to come up there the following year?  *snort*

Posted on September 23, 2011 at 7:45 am.

Jess says:

You know, I can live with the borage and columbine that fulfill their own manifest destinies, but the nasturtiums that have crossed themselves until they are just brown flowers—- that isn’t exciting to me. at all.

Posted on September 23, 2011 at 7:46 am.

Mary says:

I love my marigolds especially in the Fall…they are adorable next to all the pumpkins…morning glories drive me crazy…so do the wild onions….I think this two have form a conspiracy against me.  I hope I win the book

Posted on September 23, 2011 at 7:51 am.

Patricia says:

A “tomato battle”. Really?
With so many people out of work, with all the food banks desperate for food, it is amazing that we still manage this great waste of food.

Posted on September 23, 2011 at 8:02 am.

Gail Michelsen says:

My mother was an avid gardener and liked to collect seeds from her favorite plants.  She had mixed results over the years- experiencing the joy of propagating something beautiful from dried up little seeds or daily disappointment when she walked out to the garden and saw nothing take hold after all her efforts.  I lost my mother last year and wished I had paid more attention to how she preserved and planted those seeds.  My 11-year-old daughter is showing interest in gardening and what a great “life lesson” for her to experience the thrill of success when starting from seeds as well as the harsh reality that even when we do our best, we may not get the results we hope for…

Posted on September 23, 2011 at 8:10 am.

Garden Goddess says:

How about these giant sun loving ferns that I inherited…  They are 3’ to 5’ tall and are drought tolerant!  I keep pulling them out, but they have underground runners and just keep popping back up—through the pathways, in the grass, overshadowing all the other plants until the poor things die out…UGGGH!  I like them under the avocado trees in the “fern grotto”, but apparently they don’t like it there.  I call them the “Travelling Ferns”.  They are seriously trying to overrun the entire back yard now.  What happens if they make it into the house?

Posted on September 23, 2011 at 8:19 am.

Glenys says:

Seeds are really something. I can not help but marvel at them as I look at the millions of noxious grass seeds on my black landscape fabric - weeds that I didn’t get pulled before they reseeded.

Posted on September 23, 2011 at 8:29 am.

Sharon says:

OOHHH - I just picked my last summer tomatoes so I could collect those seeds.  Maybe they will wait a week until I win this book????

Posted on September 23, 2011 at 8:52 am.

Jeannette says:

I have always wanted to learn about seeds.  If I buy a pack of seeds in the store, I have way too many for the few plants I want to plant. I need help.  Jeannette…..

Posted on September 23, 2011 at 8:55 am.

Tracy Bantel says:

I have always wanted to learn how to keep Calla Lily seed pods, when i have tried in the past they always come out of the paper towel left in gooy mush and mold has taken its toll. Have any tips?

Posted on September 23, 2011 at 9:00 am.

Linda Mendelssohn says:

I just love those tomatoes that come up in the most unexpected places - from flower pots to cracks in the cement - and at all times of the year.

Posted on September 23, 2011 at 9:21 am.

Maryann says:

still trying to learn what reseeds, novice here but the tubers are taking over! ahhhhh

Posted on September 23, 2011 at 10:46 am.

Ron, the Plant Man says:

Cherry Tomatoes! When we moved into our home in 1994 we had Pomeranian dogs.  I planted cherry tomatoes in a planter in the back and the Poms seemed to really love them…everything they could reach would disappear as soon as they turned red.  Glad they weren’t Great Danes or we never would have any to bring into the house!  Well, one of the Poms was very tiny and could get through the fence slats that fenced off the swimming pool area, and he would go into that area to do his business in a planter over there, and yup, you guessed it…cherry tomatoes started growing in that planter.  Then the birds took over and cherry tomatoes came up in the rose garden in the front yard and in a planter along the side of the house! Now some of the tomatoes just fall to the ground and grow in those spots every year. I’m not complaining however as we enjoy eating the free tomatoes that we get, and they aren’t so prolific that I can’t pull a few out that are in places where I don’t want them.  However, I can’t help but vision the image of that lovable little dog every time I go out and harvest a few cherry tomatoes!

Posted on September 23, 2011 at 11:08 am.

Kim says:

I have to laugh these days thinking of the morning glory package that instructed us to scarify, etc to ensure germination. Now of course, morning glories grow willy nilly everywhere, including the little bit of lawn. The most fun are the mystery squash that come up in the compost. That and the lima bean, which in addition to wintering over also self-sows if we don’t get the dried pods picked in time!

Posted on September 23, 2011 at 11:40 am.

Victoria says:

I live in Hawaii where many things will reseed themselves given the slightest bit of encouragement. I learned the hard way that there are some plants that shouldn’t be encouraged.  I’ve always loved the look of thistles, the lovely purple and green is my favorite color combination.  When I first saw them at the side of the road here, I thought wouldn’t that little guy look nice in my yard?  On the side of the road with little water to be had thistles stay small and lovely.  Once there given a protected and consistently moist zone in the garden they become the guest who overstays their welcome and then some.  Did you know they can get to be 4+ feet tall covered in glove piercing thorns, still with their lovely purple globes which change to beautiful fluffy down that when they explode travel all over the yard reseeding and popping up wherever they land?  It’s all good fun till someone gets their hand all poked up!!

Posted on September 23, 2011 at 11:42 am.

Diane says:

Seeds are our biggest adventure and experiment this year.  Bought plenty at the Heirloom Exposition…....in hopes to save the seeds from those plantings for the future.  Hope to gather and share seeds with friends and family. Wish us luck.

Posted on September 23, 2011 at 12:16 pm.

Donna Minick says:

If you’re ever offered a succulent called Mother of Thousands, be warned by the name and decline the offer.  Its official name is Kalanchoe daigremontianum.  A friend gave me one and a few weeks later I got a frantic call from her telling me to pull up that plant immediately—that it would create an invasion.  I did pull it up, but I am still getting starts of it.

Posted on September 23, 2011 at 12:34 pm.

Judy Sundermann says:

I’ve already learned from the other comments!  I love my sweetpeas that I’ve collected seeds from for the past 5 years.  I let them climb larger shrubs and even rose bushes.  Last year I tossed some seeds on our overgrown hillside and was happy with the results.  Losts of vines growning wild.

Posted on September 23, 2011 at 2:39 pm.

Suzie Sherwin says:

Thirty-five years ago, my husband and I got married in our backyard. For flowers, we put chrysanthemum leucandenum or oxe eye daisies on all the tables. Those sweet little flowers have continued to reseed themselves, multiply, and display their sunny faces year after year, ever reminding us of our growing love.  However, this past year, as much as I still love my husband, those flowers became weeds in my eyes as their numbers over powered my weed pulling power. So much for one source of love and hate seeds!!!

Posted on September 23, 2011 at 3:36 pm.

Annie M. says:

I love the California poppies that reseed…and reseed…and reseed…

Posted on September 23, 2011 at 6:29 pm.

Jill Patterson says:

Love/hate:
In the hate column, Mexican evening primrose.  A very pretty flower, except it knows no boundaries! Even years later, it still pops up.

Love the fact that I get some sweet basil that self sows.

I could sure use some info on saving seeds…

Posted on September 23, 2011 at 8:30 pm.

Gayle Ackerman says:

I was thrilled to find ten times as much lobelia in my planters this year compared to the one pony pack I planted last year!

Posted on September 23, 2011 at 10:57 pm.

Lee Ann says:

I tried that “let your arugula go to seed” thing—see Bonnie Manion’s comment—and I still am pulling arugula out of the garden years later.  By now I’m tired of arugula.

Posted on September 24, 2011 at 5:59 am.

Jeanne Rubin says:

Gauras - - they are so beautiful with their white and pink flowers on tall, graceful stems.  They are now in glorious profusion, but the hard part is having to pill the more wayward ones from spots where I don’t want them!

Posted on September 24, 2011 at 6:14 am.

Linda says:

Although I was an active 51 year old I had been doomed to a hip replacement surgery. According to my doctor that meant no gardening for six weeks.  I would open the curtain and watch my lettuce grow, flower, and go to seed. The rains were abundant and the lettuce exploded. One year later I had the most lush crop of beautiful “salad”.

Posted on September 24, 2011 at 6:30 am.

Christine Weber says:

I love almost all reseeding plants especially cilantro. They are free and a fun surprise. My best tomato plant this year was a volunteer!

Posted on September 24, 2011 at 7:31 pm.

Ashley says:

I’m always delighted when my various tomato and squash plants reseed themselves in the most unexpected places in next year’s garden.  What drives me crazy is that despite my relative neglect of them, they inevitably tend to fare better than the plants I start indoors and fuss over to no end for the first few months of their lives!  Anyone else have that experience?  I guess it’s natural selection in action, eh?

Posted on September 25, 2011 at 9:49 am.