2023 Field Notes

Strawflower -- Bracteantha bracteata -- Seashell Mix & Apricot Mix

 
 
 
 
 
 

Sown 4/21
Germination 4/25

Germination counts
4/25, 9am: 5
4/26, 7am: 19
4/27, 7am: 24
4/29, 8am: 32
4/29, 6pm: 39

4/21 -- Two varieties sown into a 72 with potting mix - 50 seeds of Seashell and 54 of Apricot Mix. Filled each cell with mix and then bottom watered it before sowing, as these are surface sowed. Seeds are quite small but not the smallest I've seen.

4/24 -- Nothing yet. Making sure to keep the surface moist with these.

4/29 -- These keep coming along, albeit slowly. They're also really small - good old tiny seeds to blame for that.

5/28 -- These seedlings are alive, but honestly, really haven't grown very much. Not sure what the deal is! I don't think I'll get a lot of them to transplant, but I'll make that call in the next few days.

5/29 -- Transplanted 18 of these into a row, 12 inch spacing, two rows because the row is only 36 inches wide. These were...small. Having not done them before, no idea if they're supposed to be this small, but they had ample roots, so guessing that they're just on the smaller side. They were one of the last things I sowed, so maybe I sow them earlier next time? I have a bunch of these still in the tray but they really aren't transplant worthy size-wise. Watered them in using the phosphorus-rich fertilizer. I ended up only transplanting 6 Apricot Mix - those were quite a bit smaller than the Seashell Mix.

6/13 -- These have increased in size nicely since transplanting, and haven't been touched by any creatures, so I consider that a big success. Interestingly, the ones that were left behind in the tray have grown up quite a bit too, so there's potential to put them...somewhere if I want to.

6/25 -- These are continuing to grow nicely. I also potted up another ten or so of these into four inch pots to see if I could find another place for them. They're growing nicely in the pots, which is good.

7/2 -- No issues! Even the ones in the pots are growing well.

7/8 -- Ten of the potted plants have now been transplanted into the bed that was holding Stock - it was a pretty easy choice, as the right side of that bed wasn't doing much, mostly due to being nibbled. The transplants were big and healthy and had a LOT of roots, so they should do well.

7/11 -- First buds forming on these.

8/5 -- Plenty of flowers now on these - the flowers are interesting. Very odd texture - almost a plasticky feel to them? They make a crinkly sound when you touch them. They're, to this point, smaller flowers than I was expecting, but they look quite cool, very geometric in a way.

8/25 -- Might be my favorite addition to the garden this year, these. The flowers are really cool - fun colors, crazy textures! As I mentioned in the last update, the flowers have straw-like petals, but the middle of the flower is super squishy! It's really fun. And they look really good right now too.