White Citrus Flower Buds-like Things in Clematis Flowers?

I noticed that two of our Clematis flowers have a white thing in the center that resembles a white citrus flower bud.

Clematis

I don’t recall the other Clematis flowers looking having that.

Clematis

Anyone know what those white things are?

Massive Seed Sowing Sunday…

This weekend, we had beautiful summer-like weather with highs reaching 78°F (normal average is 63°F). Looks like we are going to have an early spring (which is what I think Mr. Groundhog told us). I remember last year, I couldn’t plant outside until May because he had rain everyday in April.

Sowing Seed

It’s funny seeing myself plant seeds… Does anyone else sit down cross-legged with slippers and short on and work on the ground like that? I think I need a potting table…

I decided to take advantage of the nice weather and start planting seeds… and I did some massive seed sowing:

Lemon Cucumber
Cosmos ‘Picotee’
Cosmos ‘Sensation Mixed Colors’
Orange Cosmos from treebreeze (Thank you for these! :)
Sunflower ‘Summer Sun’ (Ox-Eye) (Heliopsis Scabra)
Agrostemma ‘Ocean Pearl’
Strawflower (Helichrysum) Tall Double Mixed Colors
Nasturtium ‘Jewel Mixed Colors’
Zinnia ‘Envy’
Zinnia ‘Candy Cane Mix’
Zinnia ‘Dahlia Flowered Mixed Colors’
Zinnia ‘Giant Cactus Mixed Colors’
Zinnia ‘Thumbelina’
Lamb’s Ears (I think they are Lamb’s Ears) seeds that I collect from San Anselmo

Spider Fancy Spider House?
Spiders, Spiders, Spiders: As I was filling the 6-pack cell pots with soil, I found a Spider living in between them. I released it so it can find a new home. My Mom then noticed a Spider that had made a home in our of our decorative bird house. Then when I was sowing the seeds, I notice hundreds of tiny baby spiders around the 6-packs, so I tried to disperse them around the garden to make new homes.

Peanuts: I also took the Peanut outdoors and repotted it (again) into a larger container (its permanent home) filled with potting soil and a lot of perlite to make the soil really loose.

Garden progress:

Recent blooms: Spring Starflower, Rananculus

Spring Starflower Ranunculus

About to bloom: the very first Columbine, Pears, Apples, Clematis, Wisteria

Emerging growth: Forsythia leaves, Taro

Weekend Gardening (A Little Bit of Everything)

Friday the first really nice day that we had in a while. It was actually warm and there was no rain… so I took out all the cuttings and seedlings from my room and placed them outside in the front porch. Everybody OUT!!! Unfortunately, it was chilly again on Saturday and Sunday, so they didn’t get to come back out.

Everybody OUT!!!

We have several plants blooming outside, including our first Roses. I several photos of the Rose blooms, unfortunately, I forgot to turn the macro setting and almost all those photos came out blurry. Here are some of my Mom’s White Bank Rose and Clematis in our back patio.

First Rose Blooms of the Year   Clematis Blooms

On Friday, my Mom and I went to Costco, and they were selling Purple Fountain Grass (Pennisetum setaceum ‘Cupreum’)… Hmmm? Everywhere I go, it seems that seeds start breaking off. Knowing me, I had to save them.

Purple Fountain Grass Photo

Quick Response + Rose Stumps + Gardening Thoughts…

I wrote an email to White Flower Farm last night asking if they knew what varieties of Coleus my coworker purchased from them… and this morning, I got a response with the names. They are Black Magic, Peridot, Bronze Pagoda, Garnet Robe and Rattlesnake… Now I’ll update my previous entry and my flickr page to reflect this information.

My Mom finally cut down the Roses in the front yard to about a foot from the stump. There were a few flowers left, but nothing significant. Our front yard looks so bare now.

As I was watching A Gardener’s Diary before bed last night, I saw this gardener who grew Clematis through one of her bushes. It made the illusion that bush was flowering. That gave me an idea. How it would look if we grew Clematis next to our White Birch tree in the front. Would it enhance the tree with flowers or would it look too weird. Hmm???… My Mom doesn’t really like the Birch tree, but we can not chop it down because of our city’s municipal code prohibits it.

I was also thinking about making a make-shift grow-light thingy-a-gig in my room like my LiveJournal friend, lblanchard. Just a small one… maybe I can take one of my old aquariums, replace the light with a warm white fluorescent bulb and add mirrors on the sides to intensify the light. I’ll add gravel or stones the the bottom with just a little bit of water to add some humidity. Hmm?… That’s an idea… Lemme research that on Google…

A Whole Bunch of Garden Photos…

Today I was able to take a whole bunch of garden photos, including some fruits, vegetables, flowers and other stuff in my garden. So if you have the bandwidth, check behind the cut.

Vegetables

Cucumbers
Cucumber

Hungarian Hot Wax Pepper
Hungarian Hot Wax Pepper

Pepperoncini
Pepperoncini

Baby Zuchini
Baby Zuchini

Sweet 100 Tomatoes
Sweet 100 Tomatoes

Newly transplanted Bok Choy
Newly transplanted Bok Choy

Flowers

Begonia
Begonia

Succulent Flower (I forgot this succulent’s name)
Succulent Flower

Flamingo Flower or Brazilian Plume Flower
Flamingo Flower

Coreopsis
Coreopsis

Clematis seed pod
Clematis

Fushia
Fushia

Radish
Radish Flowers

Lettuce
Lettuce Flowers

Young Hollyhock
Young Hollyhock

Garlic
Garlic

Young Gladiola
Young Gladiola

Hydrangea
Hydrangea

Fruits

Apples and Fushia
Apples and Fushia

Figs
Figs

Persimmons
Persimmons

Plum
Plum

Pear
Pear

Calamansi
Calamansi

Calamansi Leaves
Calamansi Leaves

Other Garden Stuff

Me
Me

Black Ladybug?
Black Ladybug?

Mickey
Mickey

p.s. Sorry for the image quality, my camera is acting up.

Also posted in gardening, entry: 691466