When something that you grew from seeds flowers for the first time, it is a great event, especially if it takes 4-5 years to happen! (I will repeat, repeat & repeat again: it is worth the wait for peonies). Paeonia peregrina flowered in early June with its particular redder than red, bowl-shaped flowers and […]
Campanula rotundifolia Germination starts in about one week at room temp. The sowing pot was kept at room temperature for good imbibition with the intention to place it outdoors later – the seeds have germinated fast and, of course, seedlings elongated in the process since they were in the dark. These are seeds from the […]
The rainy winter continues and we continue reviewing garden moments from late spring to early summer. The drought was well installed by June and a lot of time had to be devoted to keeping an eye on various susceptible plants and on the seedlings. It was also a busy time seeds-wise, with early flowering species […]
In the second part of May, the drought had already showed its face in many locations, but the water reserve from the soil and a bit of watering were sufficient for most plants to grow and flower well. May is by definition the peonies month, both for species peonies and various cultivars. Paeonia officinalis in […]
As we welcome 2023 with the hope of renewal, I would like to express, again, my sincere gratitude to all supporters of BotanyCa Seeds in the past year(s). Navigating the seas of a small business selling low value products, i.e seeds, is not an easy task, to say the least. Especially with the ever […]
With the Christmas holidays over we continue to remember the past spring. The month of May in SW Ontario is the “season of ten thousand flowers”. The overlapping of early spring flowers with new species just starting to bloom results in a truly remarkable display: Helleborus, Disporum, fragrant daffodils, Hepatica, Primulas, peonies, Epimediums, various rock […]
I will finish the review of April 2023 before Christmas, to show that just 2 days after the snow (see: Remembering early spring 2022) the sun was up, plants were flowering and the bees were happily foraging. After the storm, sun always follows… In summary the early spring of 2022 was challenging for many species, […]
A favorite winter past-time for most gardeners is to review the pictures of their plants & garden while dreaming about the new season. It is not only about dreaming though. Keeping pictures-records of your garden can serve many other purposes: use them to compare the emergence of species over the years (so you don’t have […]
Most probably due to a mild November, I found Geum triflorum, prairie smoke, with few flowers! It is, of course, not good. These flowers will freeze sooner or later. Until then, we can enjoy them. I also found some of my pictures, Geum triflorum included, copied and used by other people, no less in their […]
As mentioned, gibberellic acid (GA3) it is now available for purchase in portions of 1g. I brought it in only in the idea of helping BotanyCa customers and it is available only coupled with purchases of seeds. It certainly makes no sense to use envelopes and have trips to the Post Office to ship only […]
As we slowly approach the end of the year, it is time to announce the last seeds added to the Seeds List in the 2022 season. They are all in rather limited quantities, due to the dry season and pollination problems; we can only hope for better conditions next year. Centaurea jankae, presented last week […]
Only about Centaurea jankae today; this species is too important to be mixed with other announcements. Centaurea jankae is an endemic and extremely rare species, which can be found growing in steppe habitats only in Dobrogea, Romania and Bulgaria. In fact, two small populations exist in both countries. It is a tall species with beautiful […]
Few more species have been added to the inventory; mostly seeds that arrived from friends, with many thanks: Dianthus deltoides, Phlomis tuberosa, Ratibida pinnata, Althaea officinalis, Primula florindae and Gentiana asclepiadea (a wonderful mix of colors :-). Also Rosa acicularis ssp. sayi, Iris tectorum ‘Album’ and Silene uniflora ‘Compacta’, of which I forgot to post […]
Ontario went from summer-like fall weather to winter in a blink of an eye! First, the shipping of the moist packed seeds has been cancelled as of today! With apologies to the few people who had them included in the recent orders; there is no point to ship non-viable seeds. Second, are your seedlings prepared […]
We are all enjoying the gorgeous weather of November. However, and I hate to spoil the mood, winter is fast approaching and there is no escape from it. So, I did a check-up on the moist packed seeds to place one more call for the remaining seeds in stock! Do not wait any longer for […]
While seeds are still collected into late fall, we continue with the updates of the Seeds List and occasional plant portraits. I introduce two more new North American species this season: Amsonia illustris, Shining Bluestar, Ozark Bluestar Veronicastrum virginicum, Culvert’s root Both of them are well known and present in our gardens, but Amsonia needs […]
