Blue Fescue from Seed Progress Photos

I recently nabbed some blue fescue seeds [Festuca glauca] at Target because I want to do a mass planting in a section of my backyard bed. I'm going to be moving my side yard blue fescue to the back to get more sun, and I want a few more aside from what I'll get from dividing my Festuca glauca 'Elijah Blue' that I already own.

I was encouraged by this video I found online that shows actual progress examples for blue fescue grown from seed.



Unfortunately on the package it doesn't tell me what variety of blue fescue this is, whereas the one I got from Allisonville Nursery was the type 'Elijah Blue'. Oh well, hopefully they don't look obviously different near each other.

$1.37 for seeds, hoping to get a few good clumps and save myself $10 or so - plus the fun of watching grass grow!

I didn't space them, I just sort of sprinkled them around. I'm hoping to get 2 good clumps out of this.

Damp thin layer of soil over the seeds

Sandwich bag greenhouse to keep the soil moist - Day 0 is March 9, 2015

Blue fescue germination by day 4

Blue fescue from seed day 8

Blue fescue from seed day 16

Blue fescue from seed day 18 - So far it just looks like normal grass but it is slightly firm to the touch

Can you tell I've got cabin fever? Taking photos of grass growing every 2 days, sheesh! I'll try to hold off until they do something different, and then I'll add the photos to this same post...

Update 5/5/2015: I transplanted the new grass shoots into my backyard flower bed. I wouldn't say they "took off" but at least now they look more like blue fescue and not just regular grass. Each individual grass blade turns into a whole clump of its own. 

Blue fescue from seed, this is one of the babies planted March 9, photo taken May 5 so about 2 months since planting

Another update, here we are on August 25, 2015

Crocus Vigil Day 17: Freezing Rain, Winter's Last Hoorah

After hanging up my big winter coat 'for good' this season, I came home to freezing rain yesterday! Little ice balls dotted the mulch, they were actually quite pretty.



I'm trying not to freak out because I know the crocuses will be just fine. Every article I read re-assures me that everything will be just fine. Forecasts say lows will be down to 18°F on Wednesday - but I have to remind myself that the ground has done quite a bit of warming up over the past few weeks, on those days when it was sunny and 65. What a tease!

The clay soil actually warms slower, but will also cool slower - retaining the heat from earlier and leaving the croci basically unphased by the overnight dip.

I hope that new white shoot in the center is the actual flower poking through

Croci doing their best, taking their sweet time

Little frozen rain balls on a patio chair

Cryptanthus bivittatus Turning Red

I re-potted my Cryptanthus bivittatus into a ramekin on the windowsill in fresh brand new succulent mix potting soil and covered the top with quartz chips. Shortly thereafter, I noticed the Cryptanthus bivittatus turning pinkish. Now I've seen pink varieties in the store, so I thought - maybe it's supposed to be pink and it's happy to have new soil?



As they weeks go by, the Cryptanthus bivittatus is turning redder and redder. It's a dark maroon red now, and my denial is fading. I'm pretty sure I over-watered the little sucker. The quartz chips not only make it harder to see when the soil is dry, but it holds the moisture in longer as well. I think I flooded it out, and it's basically sitting there half dead and bright red. I'll let it go a bit longer, because actually it's quite striking, but I'm not very optimistic.

Cryptanthus bivittatus - Thursday, March 19, 2015

The 'before' photo - February 22, 2015