Two Gardeners Out of Control

On this week’s episode, we talked about zinnias—again—growing greens, the Pantone color of the year, and more. The photo above is ‘Giant Wine’ zinnia.

In her garden update, Carol found an Aglaonema ‘Red Siam’ for her nine-year-old great niece for Christmas. In January 2020, I fell down the red aglaonema addiction rabbit hole. Perhaps, my blog post will help Carol’s great niece take care of her new plant?

I planted most of my bulbs, including the extra daffodil bulbs for my front yard/garden. Whew!

What flower looks like a dahlia but is easier to grow? Zinnias! I found some fabulous and fancy zinnia seeds from Eden Brothers. I bought ‘Meteor Shower’ right after we finished recording. I wonder if Carol will get ‘Fresh Mix?’ Carol wants to grow Zinnia angustifolia 'Crystal White' and she finally found seeds at Pinetree Garden Seeds. All of this zinnia talk made her want to read Miss Willmott’s Ghosts by Sandra Lawrence (Amazon Link.) Listen to the podcast to hear why.

As for veggies, I wanted to talk about growing greens because I wrote a blog post on beans and greens last week. I discovered Carol is not a huge fan of greens. Last winter, Carol wrote a blog post on heirloom lettuce varieties. Grow lettuce like it’s 1957! The first lettuce I ever grew was ‘Black-Seeded Simpson’, an heirloom my Grandma Nita grew. Also, maybe try ‘Bloomsdale’ spinach because all of the spinach in the grocery stores is the little leaf type. (Links are to Botanical Interests Seeds.)

On the bookshelf, we discussed My Father is the Gardener: Devotions in Botany and Gardening of the Bible by Shelley S. Cramm.  Order from  BRIT Press.  To get 20% off your order, use the discount code THANKS20 by 12/18 for delivery by Christmas. (This is not an affiliate link.) For more info about the illustrator, visit her website, Layla Luna.  For more info about Shelley, visit her website, Garden in Delight.

Our dirt was Pantone’s Color of the Year, Viva Magenta. Our photo above shows a version of this bright and, I think, dreamy color. Not everyone agrees with me, but not everyone lives in hot summer land where the sun washes out the garden world's subtle pinks and demure whites. Bring on Viva Magenta, I say!

Rabbit Holes: Carol is still down her rabbit hole of Lost Ladies of Garden Writing, and I was amazed by how tree DNA helped police solve a woman’s murder. You can’t run from the genetic code, human or otherwise.

Thanks for reading. Here are our regular links:

Affiliate link to Botanical Interest Seeds.  Book links are also affiliate links.

Email us anytime at TheGardenangelists@gmail.com  

For more info on Carol and her books, visit her website.  Visit her blog May Dreams Gardens.

For more info on Dee and her book, visit her website.  Visit her blog, Red Dirt Ramblings.

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