Time to start seeds for real

Seed starts will soon be sprouting (I hope)

Now it is late enough to truly start seeds! I took the lavender, columbine and poppy starts out of the fridge on Saturday and put them in my large bay window area. That was just short of three weeks because Saturday was a gorgeous sunny day and I didn't want to wait until Monday. I planted the exact same combo of seeds in another starter kit, so I can compare whether the fridge time had any effect.

I'm also waiting for seeds in the mail from Swallowtail Garden Seeds, just ordered this weekend: calamintha "Marvelette Blue" and "Marvelette White", which should be smaller than most calamint; nepeta nervosa "Pink Cat", a dwarf pink catmint; creeping thyme; and veronica hybrida "Blue Bouquet".

Full bay window, plenty of room for more seeds

I don't usually do any seed starting because it's so easy to buy vegetable starts from local nurseries, or just plant vegetable seeds outdoors. A lot of gardeners in the Pacific Northwest grow large trays of seeds each spring, but I've just never had the patience for that. But I'll need a lot of perennials for the rose garden, so I thought it was worth trying to start some myself - and I think I'm less likely to find some of these shorter varieties anywhere local. And I have plenty of room in the bay window area!

I'm ready to plant peas outdoors too, but waiting for another sunny day, which should happen this week. The ground was very soggy even on Saturday when it was sunny all day. It's certainly warm enough to plant peas, just a little wetter than I'd like; I have had problems in the past with peas not coming up if I plant them when it's really wet.