An Alameda Garden: Propagation Month, Day 19: Direct-Seeding Cosmos and California Poppies

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Propagation Month, Day 19: Direct-Seeding Cosmos and California Poppies

I've been neglecting my front yard lately while I've been working in the back yard. I took out the lawn in the front last year and replanted with a variety of drought-tolerant plants and three dwarf citrus trees and although there are some things in bloom right now (some apricot-colored poppies, white Pacific coast iris, purple and white tulips, orange gazanias, and white calla lilies), overall it's lacking in color. More orange, I'm thinking, is what's needed. So today I spread around liberal amounts of California poppy seeds and less generous amounts of Cosmos seeds. These Cosmos, called Little Ladybirds and Cosmic Orange, only grow to about 1 1/2 feet tall but if they're anything like the other types of Cosmos I've grown, the butterflies and bees will love them.

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2 comments:

  1. It sounds spectacular. I am crazy about iris and poppies. I have never tried cosmos. I was not sure if they would get powdery mildew here in the bay area. let me know and i will try,too!
    best,
    Philip

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  2. I am trying to direct-sow California poppies for the second time. Last year, I had just finished pulling all of these ferny-looking weeds when it occurred to me that they were growing in almost the same spots where I had planted California poppies earlier in the spring... DUH. :)

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