Another product of blogging networks is the sending of seeds through the posts. I have twice been a recipient of this blogger-friends' kindness. They are both from the US and being a temperate country, the seeds they sent were all experimentally monitored. Not all temperate climate plants germinate in hot tropics like the Philippines, so i germinated them without much expectations. Skeeter sent my first seeds of vegetables and ornamentals. I remember it was my interest in the birdhouse gourd which touched her to send me seeds with additional ornamental packets. However, the gourd and other cucurbits germinated but did not grow well. Only the marigolds grow favorably and they are now already in their third generation. But marigolds thrive on wide ranges of temperatures and climates. Actually, we already have marigolds in this country, although Skeeter's was my first of the pom-pom variety. My second seeds from the US came from The Suburban Gardener of Illinois. She is a lily breeder, sent me fourteen kinds of seeds including two bulb species. The two bulbs are growing well, but the gaillardia is the first to flower. It will be followed by coneflowers which are still in the vegetative stage. The rest either did not germinate or not able to grow. I hope she will be thrilled like me in seeing the survivors. My mother, sisters, nephew and niece (as well as the cats and chickens) were excitedly thrilled too!
We were thrilled seeing the first gaillardia flower bud.
The stingless bees want it too, even if they see this for the first time! We have both the native honey bee and stingless bee in our property, signifying ours is a healthy environment.
It is affected much by high temperatures, so maybe the stalks are so long and thin, and they might not be as prolific as their relatives in the country it came from.
A collage showing the different stages of maturity of a gaillardia flower
The above coneflowers are another source of anticipation.
I haven't seen flowering coneflowers, so i hope the above will be successful.
My sincere gratitude to Donna@Gardens Eye View for checking my flowers as gaillardia.
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Very pretty. Your coneflowers look great and you will get blooms but when growing from seed, you usually don't get blooms the first year. Maybe you'll luck out with an occasional but they are one that grows foliage the first year and then all the blooms come the second. Good luck.
ReplyDeleteCher Sunray Gardens
Oh thank you Cher for clarifying that, i thought it is just like the rudbeckia, just a little bit late. That means we will have more months to wait. But till then we are already appreciating the foliage.
DeleteI love the macro photo.
ReplyDeleteThank you for participating.
those flowers blooming are gaillardias...I have many different ones and they are native to my area...they are fabulous flowers and will seed themselves and be happy in many conditions.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Donna for correcting my flower's name. I already checked it in the body of the text. We have exchanged the tag in the pot, haha!
DeleteThe rudbeckia is very pretty. I am happy that you had luck with the seeds that were sent to you.
ReplyDeleteLinda, i am so sorry about my mistaking it for rudbeckia. But Donna @Garden's Eye View already corrected it as gaillardia. Thanks for your visit.
Deletei love the photo of the bud, beautiful color, too.
ReplyDeleteThat is so beautiful!
ReplyDeleteLupine Flower
Have a blessed Sunday!
These are so pretty.
ReplyDeleteTiger Lilies
Andrea, you are right, many in the US have met and traveled great distance to do so. I have met some bloggers at the Fling in Buffalo, but that was before I was blogging. Now I will be meeting many in NC this May. It should be fun. It is nice you received seeds. I got some from Donna and Gesine.
ReplyDeleteDonna, if only I am nearer some of you, i will surely wanted to visit many gardens, and your designs will certainly be one in the list. Thanks.
DeleteTruly agree with you when it comes to Garden Friends - they really take care in encouraging & inspiring another gardener with seeds & plants.
ReplyDeleteGlad to see the progress of the flower - it still look beautiful.
How exciting. It is always so much fun to get those first blooms on new plants. Coneflowers are one of my favorite staples in the garden here. If there are ever any seeds you would like to try from any of the plants from my garden Andrea I will gladly save and send them to you. Have a great week.
ReplyDeleteWow Lona, I appreciate that offer, but i will not agree as you are very far and from very temperate conditions. But thank you very much as well. Oh gardeners are really from a different race of human beings! How lovely.
Deletehahaha, gaillardia pala yan. i have that one. every year it goes away then comes back with beautiful flowers. it needs hardly any maintenance. does it also come in different colors. if i remember correctly i've seen a sea of them in yosemite valley but the color of the blooms is all yellow (http://www.flickr.com/photos/15205767@N03/3631286854/in/set-72157606566876534)
ReplyDeleteThats one of the best things about gardening, having friends to swap plants and seeds with, so nice to be able to see a plant in your garden and be reminded of the kind person who gave it to you :)
ReplyDeleteYes Mark and Gaz, and do you know that whenever i see a big leafed plant here in the country, i always think that you too will love it. If only i can send it to you, hahaha! We have lots of Alocasia growing in marginal areas. I actually did not swap with them, they sent them without any expectation in return. Love really transcends beyond culture!
DeleteWhat a great idea this exchange of seeds is, Andrea! I am glad your seeds sprouted and some of them at least are doing very well as your photos show.
ReplyDeleteI am looking forward to my coneflower blooms as well. Perhaps in a few weeks I will see signs of their buds. Your gaillardia are beautiful!
ReplyDeleteHi Andrea, It is nice having friends in far away places! Like the marigold that was really a gaillardia, I am questioning whether your coneflower is really a coneflower. Two things make me suspect this. 1. The plants are rather bushy for a young coneflower. A coneflower should be more slender and upright. 2. The leaves look to have a fine, fuzzy texture. (Perhaps this is just the photograph giving me the wrong impression.) A coneflower has a smooth, shiny surface. A brown-eyed susan, on the other hand, has a soft, furry texture. The leaf shape for both flowers is very, very similar. I am thinking you have a variety of brown-eyed susan. Time will tell. If I am right, you will see flowers this year, but they will be yellow with a dark center.
ReplyDeletehahaha, hi Jennifer, and it is nicest when blogger friends correct the mistakes in blogs, and also identifying your unknown plants. Actually, I've said before that if all the people in the world are like us garden-lovers, there will be no war! Actually it is not the marigold, but what i thought to be rudbeckia is gaillardia. I already checked the post so you didn't see anymore the word rudbeckia. Marigold was given to me earlier on by Skeeter, this one is given by The Suburban Gardener.
DeleteI hope this unknown will flower early and i will get back to you for assistance, please! There was no brown-eyed susan in the envelope, so maybe it can be something different. I am not removing the possibility that my markers were somehow exchange by me, my mother or my nephew! Whatever they turned out, i am sure my friend bloggers will always be on the rescue! Thanks.
that's exciting! It's funny b/c these flowers seem so common to me while you're native blooms are just spectacular. I hope your foreign flowers bring you joy!
ReplyDeleteYes Wendy, they bring me so much joy not only of how they look, but mostly because they carry love and friendship within them, carried from a very far place. They signify the positive side of human nature, and love of plants too.
DeleteWow! Lucky you! The gaillardia has very vibrant colors. I'm sure they are/were a beautiful addition to your country garden.
ReplyDeleteThe only one that flowered for me was the snapdragon and it really looked pitiful. Stunted stalk compared to the long ones you see online.
The nicely growing coneflowers i posted above was eventually infested by mealy bugs and aphids, some already died. I wonder if a plant can survive and produce at least a flower for me to see. It is difficult to raise something if you are far from them, as i only go home once-in-a while. She didn't send me snapdragons.
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