Will They Really Provide?

Besides tomatoes and cucumbers, I am growing green beans, too!  I chose a "Bush" type beans (not the kind in cans!) because they don't require supports.  Actually, I was drawn by the name, PROVIDER.  The package describes the beans are "old time very prolific," but I don't know if this is a heirloom kind.

The seeds look just like regular dry beans.  I planted 3 of these in a cell pack and  used Miracle Gro(R) Potting Soil. Cell packs are placed at a sunny spot that receives full sun.

Just in 19 days after seeding, large seedlings started to emerge.  Isn't it amazing that true leaves already grew underground?

And look how fast they grew!  Within a couple days after germination, they already look this big.  What's more, long roots were growing out of the bottom of the cell packs by this time!

I procrastinated (what's new, right?), but finally, I transplanted the seedlings to a planter.  I used Miracle Gro(R) Potting Soil and placed the planter at the spot that receives full sun through the day.  This picture was taken about a month after seeding.

About 2 weeks after I transplanted the seedlings, growth seemed to be slowing down.  Hmm...do they not like the soil or the size of the planter?  I continue to give lots of water in the morning.

All 3 of them have more new leaves, but they are not much taller than 10 days ago.  Although, supposedly, plants don't need support, I put some poles in case they were looking for something to cling.

2 more weeks have passed, but the plants are not much taller.  However, I found soft lavender colored buds!  Can you see them??

This is how the plants look in 2 months.  Not tall, but bushier, and leaves are much larger.  Will they grow more, or will they just stop at this height?  I hope they really 'provide' many beans!

In a couple of days, flowers started to open.  I tried to smell the flowers to see if they smell similar to Sweet Peas but no scent.  BORING!

Baby beans, baby beans!  They are about toothpick size in this picture, but they look just like the beans I see in supermarkets; they are just micro.

Then, I noticed some curly, browned leaves.  It's been very hot in San Diego, so maybe they dried out?

More beans are visible on each plant, and they are growing :) 

SEED INFORMATION:

Seeds I bought: Pinetree Garden Seeds' PROVIDER GREEN BUSH BEAN

Seeds bought from: Pinetree Garden Seeds

Origination of the seeds: N/A

According to the package:

*  Days to germination: N/A - Mine took about 19 days to germinate

*  Days to fruit: 50 days - Mine took 87 days to fruit

*  Plant height: N/A - Mine were about 12" high

*  Grows best: N/A

*  Recommended planting season for San Diego: Unknown - I planted in February.

Poona Keera Update

3 weeks after germination, Poona Keera showed its first true leaf, and roots started to grow out of the bottom of the cell packs, so I transplanted 2 survived seedlings into larger pots.  I read somewhere that a cucumber plant needs at least 12 inches across for the roots, but all I had were 9-inch pots :(  I hope my cucumbers grow in these pots without any problem!

I used Miracle Gro(R) Potting Soil and used some compost from my composter.

In a few days after being transplanted into a larger pot, the true leaf grew this much.

I can't believe it!  I didn't take any picture for one whole month - gah!  Anyway, one month has passed since the above picture, and both plants already have many buds.  Look at the base of the flowers - can  you see baby cucumbers?!  I thought they would fruit after flowers bloom, but I guess, it's not the case for cucumbers.

Cucumber flower which is about to open.

Love It! Cosmos Day Dream

Cosmos is very easy to grow, and especially when the flowers are as pretty as this one, it's like hitting a jackpot.

Two months, or 65 days to be exact, after seeding, the first flower has just opened.  I love the color so much <3

Happy but Devastated.

My first Blanket Flower finally bloomed, and I felt a great sense of achievement.  After all, I waited nearly 7 months for this day!

 I love the colors.  What a cheerful flower :)

BUT...

Something devastating has happened in the last few days.  Five days ago, the plant looked like THIS, and today, it looks like the pictures below.

What is going on??  It's all wilted and looks like something stomped on the plant.  Same thing happened to the Blanket Flower I planted in the front yard and killed the first, very-much-anticipated flower.  I've been watering them well, and they looked happy.  Now what?  What did I do wrong?  I've got to do some research on this.  Does anyone know?

Witnessing the Vogue Apple Blossom

Geraniums seeds germinated in 5 days, so I thought this plant was a fast grower.  I was WRONG! These, in fact, grow so slowly that I eventually stopped paying attention, but if I see the pictures in the last entry from January, it sure has grown bigger.  Even better, I found buds!

Can you see the buds?

Close-up.  Can you see the buds?

Single petaled pale pink flowers opened on the 181st day after seeding.  By the way, according to the seed package, the color is indicated as "Vogue Apple Blossom" - so I was expecting to see darker color.

Seed Pods.

Texas Bluebonnet adds bright blue color in my garden, and I am glad I grew them.  Even now in late April, Texas Bluebonnet is still blooming profusely, but some of the early bloomers started having their babies.

 Look how pretty these flowers are.  So blue and so pretty.

New buds pop up continuously.

There are many seed pods on the flowers that started earlier.  There will be many seeds to seed next year :)

Almost, almost!

The Blanket Flower bud I wrote about last month was snapped off by the winds or something and eventually died :(  However, the giant (literally!) Blanket Flower planted in the backyard started to show some buds right after the 'casualty' in the front yard.  It's been over a month since I found this bud, but I haven't yet to see the first flower.  Talk about patience!

The giant Blanket Flower in the backyard is about 3-feet tall while the one in the front yard is about 10-inches tall.  I don't know if this is normal because the ones I see in my neighbors' yards aren't this big.

The bud.  Looks as though each petal is an individual bud, don't you agree?

3 days after the above picture was taken, and while I see a slight change, it doesn't seem like it's ready to open anytime soon.  I guess I will have to wait several more days. 

Patience, patience...

It has been almost 7 months since I seeded the seed.