Seedling Surprises


I am mostly happy to find that some of my perennials have produced offspring – who doesn’t want a free plant. Well – we all know about the thugs – or perhaps I should say “enthusiastic reseeders”.  This year I have found several offspring that I currently welcome.


I will readily admit I like these offspring of Echinacea Green Twister better than their parent which is the plant farthest back in the photo above – interesting that they are taller. I particularly like the one on the right which is shown closer in the photo above right – the bud color is a glowing lime green and the flower shape with the longer untwisted petals is more pleasing to me.  I’ll save seed from it and see what happens even though it could be cross pollinated from echinacea nearby. The others are more like echinacea Magnus and although very nice aren’t unique enough for me to save the seed.

This seedling of Gaillardia x ‘Arizona Red Shades’ are another I really like. The shorter parent is behind it.  Arizona Red Shades is a selection of the hybrid Gaillardia ‘Arizona Sun’ – it was bred to be dwarf. This seedling is short but has longer stems and a more open form.

I’m in favor of more open plant shapes rather than the compact squatty ones you get from some cultivars or hybrids, although I respect the breeders for helping out people with small yards or planting in containers. I look forward to seeing what the other seedlings are like although I am deadheading like crazy since I have enough of these pretty guys. I hope they don’t join the enthusiastic list! 

The last and the prettiest of the seedlings that surprised me is exactly one plant that showed up near my Coral Baby penstemon – it is to the left of the parent. Coral Baby was introduced by Plant Select and we have Kelly Grummons at Cold Hardy Cactus to thank. 

I thought Coral Baby was a hybrid but revisiting Plant Select’s article reminded me it was a seedling from a cross between ‘Rondo’ hybrid barbatus penstemon and ‘Schooley’s Coral’ barbatus penstemon.  My seedling is true to the parent in color and plant form. Probably due to the weird late freeze we had in April when we tumbled to -19F at my home, it is blooming now in late September and early October. I’m happy about this because the only other penstemon blooming now is Pikes Peak purple and it is 40 feet or so away. I’m saving seed and will definitely plant out a lot of them – hopefully they will come true.

Gladiolus Saundersii

Gladiolus saundersii blooming in the garden. These blooms are a pleasant surprise. – last year I managed to germinate  a few seeds I got from the NARGS Seed Exchange. They came up with one cute little strappy leaf each. After a month in 2.5 inch pots, I put them in the ground in late June. The foliage promptly died and I thought they hadn’t survived the transplant. They were near a Cheyenne Mock Orange that got some winter water. Late this spring I noticed gladiolus leaves poking up and realized all  the corms had survived the winter. I suppose they were putting down roots or just biding their time, but now all three are blooming and one has a new little offset. I hope they will return next year.  

Gladiolus saundersii is from the Drakensburg area of South Africa and is classified as hardy to U.S. Zone 5. The coldest overnight temperature we saw last winter was -14F/-25.5C Here’s the Pacific Bulb Society writeup: https://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/Gladiolus_saundersii #nargsrocks

The Winter Tomato Experiment

Seedlings newly up-potted into 4 inch pots on November 27, 2024.

With the advent of micro tomatoes, I decided to see if I could successfully grow some under lights in my basement. I set up two high output LED light strips from Gardener’s Supply My great DIY husband made supports from PVC pipe and I got Vivosun adjustable hangers. I selected two tomatoes: micro Tiny Tim and “compact” Patio Choice Yellow for my first attempt. Seeds were sown in Fertilome Seed Starting Mix (peat based) on November 9 and they were placed under the lights on a seed heat mat. Germination was good and I up-potted into 4 inch pots on November 27. Also sprayed the plants with an organic spray to prevent pests.

The Grow Light Setup.

Yes the tomatoes are sharing space with my wintering tender agave collection and germinating cat grass. Notice they are also getting some supplemental natural light from the window in the background. Heat mats are plugged in since the basement cools off into the 60’s at night.

Fruit on January 10, 2025 – Patio Choice Yellow (l) and Tiny Tim (r)

The plants grew well and I moved them to gallon pots over Decmber 24-27, resprayed for pests and raised the lights. The plants started blooming almost immediately and as of January 10, there is small fruit on both Tiny Tim and Patio Choice Yellow.

I am feeding weekly with Age Old Fish and Seaweed fertilizer. I put out a sticky trap to monitor for insects and have seen only fungus gnats. There is some leaf yellowing off and on. Not sure if it is disease or just lower leaves not getting enough light. When I see yellowing foliage I remove it.

Today, February 12 , I picked two almost ripe Patio Choice Yellow tomatoes. There is excellent fruit set on both tomato varieties. One mistake I made is choosing varieties with different heights. I’ve adjusted the grow lights at an angle to keep them around 4″ above the top of the plants. I’ve also topped the Patio Choice Yellows. There is very minimal leaf yellowing at this point as well.

The timeline:

  • Seed sown November 9
  • Moved to 4 inch pots November 27
  • Moved to gallon pots December 24-27
  • First fruit picked February 12.

So 74 days from sowing to first ripe fruit.

Fruit in various stages on February 19, 2025. Note the diseased foliage on the Patio Choice Yellow in the back. This variety had a lot of yellowing/brown leaves – that one plant was so diseased I removed it on February 24. Tiny Tim’s foliage has remained healthy except for some lower leaves which I think were not getting light. The yellowing on the Tiny Tim far left I think is scalding from being too close to the lights. I have since raised them around 2 inches.

Some of the fruits collected over a few days. I tasted one of each when ripe – one half without salt and one with (thank you Lena Halberstadt for that tasting tip). Patio choice yellow was sweeter but still had nice acidity. Tiny Tim was more tart but still had good tomato flavor. The flavor of both tomatoes improved with a little salt, bringing out the sweetness. I was more impressed with these two tomatoes than previous micros I have grown outdoors. Lots of work is being done on micro tomatoes and I look forward to more flavor improvements.

My take aways from my first attempt at growing tomatoes under lights:

  • The two LED light strips from Gardener’s Supply provided enough light to grow and produce fruit when on 16 hours/off 8 hours.
  • Heat mats helped keep the temperature up in my cool basement so they stayed on.
  • Spraying twice with organic pest spray – I used Grower’s Ally Plant Defender 3.
  • I think using fresh potting soil helped prevent leaf disease.
  • Fertilization with Fish and Seaweed fertilizer proved adequate – maybe add Espoma tomato tone when seedlings to into gallons.
  • If you are growing more than one variety – choose plants with similar heights.
  • I will sterilize the gallon pots next time to see if that prevents the leaf disease.

I want to compare flavor when grown outside to under lights so am going to start some of both varieties later this spring. Next up will be a second round of Tiny Tim. Just two plants so I can devote time to outdoor gardening in a month or so.

Bukiniczia Cabulica

Bukiniczia cabulica
Photo by Author

I was fortunate to be able to attend the NARGS (North American Rock Garden Society) annual plant sale in Denver this year. The variety of plants was amazing and would tempt all gardeners – not just the rock garden specialists. I came home with too many plants of course! Penstemons, an alder leaf mountain mahogany, and three little Bukiniczia cabulica. This charming plant is also known as variegated statice. It hails from Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The leathery leaves of this biennial have a beautiful veined pattern and form a perfect rosette. It is a good fit for rock gardens as it prefers drier and well draining conditions. I have only seen mature rosettes during garden tours in Pueblo and every time it has been in partial shade and in a perennial bed, not a rock garden. Since I don’t have a rock garden yet, I decided to try planting them in sandy soil front of a Kintzley’s Ghost honeysuckle on the east side of my house.

Bukiniczia cabulica in front of Kintzley’s Ghost Honeysuckle
Photo by Author

The plants were in 2.5 inch pots and around an inch or two across when I planted them. Now at our growing season’s end, the rosettes are 4-5inches across. Hopefully both will bloom and set seed next year before they die. It is not an easy plant to come by locally — I only have seen them at the NARGS sale. Annie’s Annuals in California and Far Reaches Farm in Washington State sell it online.

Bukiniczia cabulica bloom stem
Photo by Annie’s Annuals

Bukiniczia cabulica blooms are borne on 18″ stalks and are pretty insignificant. I’ve seen the color described as pinkish tan but haven’t seen it in person yet. Both plants have done really well so hope to get some seeds from them next year. Annie’s description says some plants may also produce offsets, which would be great. Both Annie’s Annuals and Far Reaches farm classify Bukiniczia cabulica as hardy to Zone 5 on their website. I plan to winter protect mine this year when temperatures go below zero. I also am wintering one in a container that I can move into the garage in case these two don’t survive our erratic Colorado winter weather. If I do get seed, I’ll update this post.

Some Early Fall Garden Vignettes

There are still flowers in my early fall garden. We have had above average temperatures appreciated by both plants and the gardener. I’ve recently planted some single roses to support pollinators although I do have my favorite doubles and English style roses as well.

Rose Fourth Of July – a climber. She’s hardy to Zone 5, but I put her against the south wall of the house for extra protection.

Happy to see that big new cane appear its first year in the ground. As you can see, my hummingbird feeder is still up. I leave my feeders up until mid-October in case there are stragglers. I did see a hummer on September 29.

Rose Darlow’s Enigma is over halfway up the obelisk in its second year. This rose is hardy to Zone 4.

Clusters of lightly fragrant single white flowers attract pollinators.

Some surprise late bloom on clematis Niobe. She’s planted under an obelisk that is the twin of the one Darlow’s Enigma is climbing up. The foliage is that of rose Blanc Double de Coubert, a hardy to Zone 4 semi-double white rose with a yellow center. The idea is that Niobe will climb through Blanc Double de Coubert and Heavenly Blue morning glory will be planted out next spring to climb through Darlow’s Enigma.

Rose Golden Wings. This time of year, I do not deadhead so the roses know it is time to prepare for winter. Golden Wings also produces lovely orange hips from the spent blooms. She is hardy to Zone 5 so at my 7100 ft elevation, I will give winter protection during our coldest weather.

Spotlight on Silverheels Horehound

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Silverheels Horehound (Marrubium rotundifolium) looking pretty nestled against a red boulder in my xeric bed. This plant is in its third year and keeps spreading slowly contrasting beautifully with the red stone.  I love the silvery edges on its soft and wooly leaves. It is native to south facing slopes in the dry mountains of Turkey where it gets extremely cold and windswept, so it’s a natural for the steppe climate of Colorado.  It’s in full sun in poor gravelly soil here and thrives with very infrequent watering. A beautiful plant I don’t want to be without.  

Finally, Success with Orchids (Phalaenopsis )

Last year I bought a Phalaenopsis aka Moth Orchid for Al as an anniversary gift on January 18. It had two bloom stems and was still blooming in May. I figured I would kill it as usual, but had attended an orchid care class and decided to give it a go.

After it finished blooming I moved it to bright indirect light and followed the instructions that came with the plant to give it 8 ounces of water once a week. I also bought some orchid fertilizer which was pelleted slow release and fed it. It continued to look healthy and put out some new leaves. Aaannnnd — in January 2021 it started putting up a bloom spike. It is still blooming today. This rebloom is my first success with an orchid, so I am a very happy camper.

So happy in fact, I bought another one last week. This beauty is white with a yellow and brown column and lip. I love the color contrast.

The trick for me was to not overwater and provide bright indirect light. My next challenge will be to repot our “Anniversary Orchid”. I hope to see both these orchids rebloom with more and more bloom spikes for us year after year.