Volunteers

I find it interesting that petunias that sprout from seed don't necessarily breed true to the characteristics of the parents, especially if the parents were hybrids. The volunteers from last year's purple pentunias are coming out red or pink. They do have the veining of the original, and if anything it is more pronounced in the one shown here. Clones, of course, do keep the original color and veining. Here are a volunteer and a clone.

Theoretically I could apply for a patent on this variation for discovering it, but I don't know that it is commercially desireable. The veining is intense, but the overall color is a bit blah. I suppose this is how they do it, breeding billions of petunias to find a few marketable variations that are worth cloning. But I can still give it a name and call it by an unenforceable trademark. May I introduce 'Red Lodge Red Vein'™. I'm going to save this one.

After three tries, I figured out the size of 3D-printed clips to use to hold the netting in place on the hoops in the west planting bed. The fabric is described as "Garden Pest Barrier Netting," and I doubt it holds in any heat. It just holds the pests out. Water passes through it so I don't have to take it apart for watering, and hopefully enough light gets through for all the lettuce and radishes to grow. I'll have to remove it from the right side to allow the peas to grow in a few weeks. As the image shows, it hangs down a bit, but I don't want to cut it in case I want to use taller hoops. I don't know whether this will work but I got sick of battling aphids all winter, and I have seen moths flying around the greenhouse already.

I have enough pipe for hoops and netting for all four beds, but I don't know whether I will do that. It depends on what pests hit the strawberries, flowers and onions.

It is Earth Day so of course I had to put an order in at Mountain Crest. I have no idea where I am going to put everything so I delayed shipment until May 11. By then the greenhouse will be in production and the garage can catch any overflow. Just don't ask me what I'm going to do Nov. 15 when it all comes back to the garage. The order includes:

• Crassula capitella ssp. Thyrsiflora 'Pagoda Village'
• Echeveria 'Doris Taylor'
• Echeveria 'Muesli'
• Echeveria 'Red Beauty'
• Echeveria elegans 'Mexican Snowball'
• Graptoveria 'Titubans Variegata'
• Sempervivum 'Gold Nugget'
• Sempervivum 'Gold Rush'

The 'Gold Nugget' was a freebie. I already have one but I had to dig it out of a pot with two bigger plants, and I have seen better copies. The fuzzy 'Doris Taylor' is the must-have on this list. I've had my eye on all of these except 'Red Beauty,' which was added to get me one cent over the free shipping threshhold.