Greetings and salutations, everyone; yes, once again it is I, your popular host, Mani the purebred border collie, here today to tell you about the seedlings. You may remember me from such posts as “Sowing Seeds”, among so many, many others.
Here I am in a characteristic pose.
You may be able to see how busy I was today. The swamp cooler was on full blast, and directed right at my Kitchen Fort. Not bad at all.
The guy I live with doesn’t remember what caused that big scrape on the garage door.
I got to listen to a bunch of preludes by Scriabin and then something called “Traffic” for a while. We’re not all that eclectic here but the guy I live with thought “Traffic” would be nice to listen to while he worked out on the patio.
Particularly one of his favorite songs, “Rainmaker”.
For possibly obvious reasons. We did get a bunch of rain on the first of the month, but the guy I live with is greedy for more, now.
Today the guy I live with potted up some of the Ipomopsis aggregata seedlings. He said it was exhausting work.
First of all, all the roots were bound together, even though these were teeny seedlings. He tried teasing apart the roots with a Widger
but something smaller was needed. And even then, it didn’t work.
So he resorted to his tried-and-true method, soaking the bunch of roots in a dishpan and kind of swishing the water around.
He says every gardener should have dishpans. These are Rubbermaid, and have been outdoors every day for over thirty years. Really.
This was the result.
You can see how long the roots are, for such tiny plants.
Then what he did was hold the tiny plants by their leaves over peat pots, and gently pour soil-less mix around the roots, into the pots.
Then the pots went on the shelves.
Believe it or not, there are still more seedlings that need to be repotted, He ran out of peat pots, though.
That was what happened today. And yesterday, too. Potting up seedlings while I listened to music and watched from the kitchen, with the swamp cooler blowing on me. As you can tell, my life is very rough.
Until next time, then.
the miserable gardener 
I’ve tried growing Ipomopsis from seed for several years running now. I’ve tried direct seeding in the fall, in the spring, in pots, waiting for years. Nada. Nothing. Zilch. Sort of suspecting I am perhaps getting some dud seed. One of these days I’ll get it. Until then, the hummingbirds will have to content themselves with the Zauschnerias/Epilobiums.
The guy I live with said that a friend in the nursery business, who grows ipomopsis for sale, said a lot of the seed hasn’t been viable, lately. That’s certainly been the experience here.
But this packet of seeds, which came from Alplains, was definitely viable. Unfortunately it’s not in their catalog now.
If we get some rain again, the zauschnerias might start flowering here. There are some from Las Pilitas which have been here for a long time, and some new ones from High Country Gardens.
(The common one in the trade, Z. garrettii, flowers best on drip. Stops flowering in an unirrigated garden.)
Ipomopsis aggregata might have been one of only a few native species that I remember reading about on one of those plaques at a roadside rest stop on Highway 5 either in far northern Californian or Southwestern Oregon. Like so many of those species that are worth describing on a plaque at a roadside rest stop, it was used medicinally by native people. I remember the name because it reminded me of Ipomoea, which reminds me of Ipomea.
Well that’s why their called Ipomopsis. Like an ipomoea.
One of those plants that tolerates dry situations, but not totally dry, or they won’t flower.
You have reminded me that I have a lot of seedlings to pot on!
There are a lot here, too. Pots full of seedlings in the seed frame. The guy I live with’s wife used to like to do things like that and so the work could be delegated, happily.
Keeping the seedlings alive when the weather becomes dry is a chore; the guy I live with lugs the two-gallon Haws watering can out to the seed frame, over 100 feet away.
Oooh, I’ll bet those seedlings will ring the hummingbird dinner bell once they mature.
Hopefully, huh. We haven’t seen as many hummingbirds here this year, maybe because, with all the rain, they can find more nectar up in the foothills.
WOWSERSS!!! Guy you have THE Payshuntss of a Saint to werk with them teeny plantss with such l-o-n-g rootss! Wee hope all of them grow big an strong!
An Mani you have to have creeture comfertss inn order to bee a GUUD an Viggylant Snoopervisor rite???
Yore lookin ADOORBSS inn yore Fort today!
***nose rubss***BellaDharma an {{{huggiess}}} BellaSita Mum
Thanks. Sleeping in my fort with the swamp cooler on is very pleasant.
There’s still more transplanting to do, but I guess it won’t happen in the next few days.
BellaSita bott mee a new table top fan fore bedoom an it iss purrfect. Then THE furry old Tabell Fan wee had dyed. (It was 40 yeerss old) so BellaSita bott a Tower fan fore mee an it iss wunderfull Mani. What wuud wee due without our Hu’manss?
I don’t know.
I think a swamp cooler only works in places with low humidity, like here.
The guy I live with says if you want to see an old fan, check out my post “The Awful Truth”. A fan that was a prop in a “Perry Mason” movie.
Wee have high Humiditee ususally…..sumtimess it iss so ucky….
Wee will hunt fore that post!
Wee found THE post an LIKED it Mani! You were hansum then as you are now! BellaSita wantss to meow to youss’….
Hello Mani & Guy I REMEMBER THAT Fan from “Perry Mason”!!!!
I was 2 years old when the show started. I would sit on my Nanna’s lap & watch the show with her. At the time Raymond Burr & my Father could have passed for twins. I would reach out to the TV & say “Father Father….” I REALLY thought my Father was the man in the TV. When I was 5 years old my Father took me to his workplace!
Back to the fan….I remember it because it was so big & black…..funny what impresses a 2 year old right?
🙂 BellaSita Mum & **purrss** BellaDharma
The guy I live with remembers the old “Perry Mason” show. His grandparents would watch it when it was his bedtime, so he always associates the theme music with going to bed in his grandparents’ house in Los Angeles.
Our Hu’manss are like Livin Hiss-tory aren’t they Mani?
BellaSita’ss Nanna let BellaSita stay up to watch “Perry Mason” beecause shee thott hee was her Father….an then BellaSita went to bed no problem 😉
That’s kind of funny.
There is a reason these are called the ‘dog days of summer’ Mani. You get to stay cool while the guy you live with works hard. Hopefully his hard work will pay off with some nice healthy Ipomopsis plants. There are lots of seedlings that I started in Spring that still need repotting and then will need to find a place to spend the winter. These are tender plants that will not tolerate our cold winter. Keep cool and help out where you can.
I really like the swamp cooler.
The guy I live with really has to keep an eye on the seedlings in the seed frame, since it’s gotten dry here now.
Overwintering seedlings in our house is kind of a touch-and-go thing.