From: ceci@lysator.liu.se (Ceci Henningsson)
Subject: Starting plants indoors
Keywords: pansy, petunia, impatiens
Organization: Lysator Academic Computer Society, Linkoping University, Sweden
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 1992 00:47:52 GMT

(This ended up in my dead.letter file. I apologize if it did reach you)
(anyway.)

...
>I have an outdoor planter which is made up of 7 plastic pots which are about
>6" deep and 3 feet long.  This year I put in marigolds, zinnias, celosia,
>and some impatiens.  Excuse the spelling.  
...
>I would like to know opinions of planting all impatiens next year.  The area
>is full sun most of the day.  If I want to start the plants inside, when 
>would I do it?  Can someone give me a seed supply catalog reference that
>seems to meet my need?                  

You don't say where you live, but I still guess that March or April is
the right time. Kay promised to post the FAQ about starting plants
indoors today, so it should reach you within a week. There was a
posting of a list of seed firms just a few days ago. But it will
probably be reposted several times before it's time to order
catalogues.

>My objective is to have a colorful planter all summer,  while not attracting
>too many bees if possible.  Any advice appreciated and thanks in advance.
	
Then Impatiens is probably a very good choice for you. Impatiens will
flower until the first frost and they don't attract a lot of bees.
Bugs don't seem to like them a lot, at least not where I live. The
only real drawback about them, is that they need rather a lot of
water, especially if they get full sun. They can hardly take any
frost, so be sure not to put them outdoors too soon. Also, make sure
the drainage in the pots is good, as even Impatiens can get too much
water. As Impatiens is invasive, one or two plants per pot is enough.

I would think that having only Impatiens, can get a little bit boring.
Maybe you cold throw in some store-bought pansies to go? Pink
impatiens and darkblue pansies look great together. Pansies need a lot
less water than impatiens, so put them in separate pots. The major
drawback of pansies, is that you need to take away the wilted flowers
(dead-head), or it will stop blooming at the end of June. They don't
attract a lot of bees. They're very cheap and won't mind a few frosty
mornings.  Where I live they are true biennals, i.e.  if you sow them
in one year, they will flower the next year and then die.

Petunias are also nice. So are cascade pelargonias (the ones you see
on picture postcards from houses in the Alps). Neither of them attract
bugs, nor bees, but both require that you clip away wilted flowers or
they will stop blooming. You can sow petunias indoors in March or
April. There are cascade pelargonia seeds for sale, but they are
fairly new and can therefor be harder to get. Pelargonias can be
started indoors, too. In my climate they have to be started indoors.
The seed is unsually expensive, but so are the plants if you buy them.
Both petunias and pelargonias will flower from June to October if you
just dead-head them. They aren't as sensitive to frost as Impatiens.

This got quite long! My subconscious probably tries to ward off the
oncoming autumn and winter *shiver* by making me delve into seed
catalogues and gardening books.

--Ceci 
=====ceci@lysator.liu.se===========================================
Linkoeping, Sweden gets a little less than 500mm water/year.
The average lenght of daylight during the vegetation period is 16 hours.
The half of that is sunny. The vegetation period lasts from early April 
to late September.
===================================================================



--
=====ceci@lysator.liu.se===========================================
"Vorbedingung des kuenstlerischen Schaffens ist nicht, ein Ereignis
oder ein Motiv so "rein" anzuschauen, dass es auf das betrachtende
Subjekt gar keine Wirkung hat." Hermann Leber: Aquarellieren lernen
Newsgroups: rec.gardens