Flowers and Foliage in 2013 - A glimpse

Zooming up close!

And below, a promise of things to come in 2014!

Shared with Floral Friday, Today's Flowers, Saturday Show Off, Pink Saturday,  Weekend Reflections,  Macro Monday 2, Monday Mellow Yellows, Wordless Wednesday, ABC Wednesday and 

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day.

Sowing Petunia seeds

Last year I had bought Petunia seedlings from a nursery. Those seedlings had grown into the most beautiful Petunias. I completely fell in love with them. So I decided to save some of the seeds and try to grow them myself this year.
After the Petunia flower shrivels and dries up one can pull it off easily. That exposes the small, dried, brown seed pods which are full of tiny black seeds. One can pry the pod open easily and shake out the tiny dot like seeds. I managed to save seeds from all the different colored Petunias.

For the sowing medium, I used Soilrite, which is a commercially available multipurpose soilless compost and soil conditioner. I put some of the Soilrite in a bucket and then added water to soak it.

I filled the seed tray and a couple of shallow plastic containers with the moist Soilrite and evened out the surface using my fingers.I sprinkled the Petunis seeds on the surface of the Soilrite and patted the seeds into place with a gentle to and fro motion. Petunia seeds are surface sown as they are very tiny and not able to push through a heavy layer of soil. Finally, I covered the seed tray and containers with a clear plastic film which helps trap the moisture.
The Petunia seeds have begun to sprout in the picture below.

I also sowed Marigold and Pansy seeds in the tray. Once some seedlings began sprouting I propped up the plastic film using toothpicks so that the seedlings did not touch the plastic. And when most of them had sprouted I removed the film completely.                             

Petunias

My balcony is looking rather pretty these days with beautiful Petunia blooms. I always found Petunias a little plain and boring but last year I noticed that things seems to have changed . Now there are many new cultivars with bright colors and stunning patterns. So November last I planted some petunias I bought from a nursery and now I'm so glad I did! 

                           

 

 

 

The Petunia Picotee variety with the contrasting margins are particularly eye catching. 

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day April 2011

This is the first time I am participating in GBBD hosted by Carol over at May Dreams Gardens. Here are a few pictures from my home and garden. They are taken with my phone so I'm afraid the quality is not great.
The Amaryllis bulbs are blooming their heads off in the garden. I am so glad that the Amaryllis has decided to put on a great show this year. Last year I was very dissapointed as very few of the bulbs had flowerd. Here they are lining the garden wall.
In a planter adjoining the balcony. (There are many more pics in the Amaryllis post below).
Oriental Lilies...
Pansies, Amaryllis and Carnations on the balcony..
A closeup of the Pansies..lover their speckled faces!
Ruellias in the garden..
A Ladybug on the Ruellia bush...
Kalanchoes..
Carnations..
The Bougainvilleas on the terrace...
Dahlias..
Sadly, this seems to be the end of the Dahlias for this season..
But I see promises of things to come...The Asiatic Lilies should be blooming soon.
The Petunias that have self seeded in the Lily pots. I don't have the heart to pull them out.
Even the Lily leaves are so pretty..
Thank you Carol for GBBD!