It was a ridiculously warm start to 2025 here in NE Pennsylvania, and at one point I was outside working in just short sleeves… and pants of course, plus shoes… the snow is gone again, the lakes are thawed but that’s all about to change over the next few weeks. We have been threatened with ‘dangerous and hazardous weather’ and some ‘unusually low temperatures not seen since last January’ and I for one feel as if people’s attention span has become so short they’ve forgotten that this happens every year, during the same few months, and we used to just call it winter. Whatever. I for one am excited and relieved. Excited because I love a snowy day, and relieved because if this cold holds as predicted, the earliest of spring bloomers will sit quietly and wait, and then be right on time to explode into growth when the lengthening days bring real spring to this garden. Trust me though, if three weeks of this weather rolls in for mid March I will be far less pleased.
‘Potter’s Prelude’ was well protected under a blanket of snow when the last round of winter gave us a 0F (-18C) low. He should handle the next few weeks just as well, although I might cover the clump if lows veer towards the single digits again.
In the meantime with frozen soil outside, this gardener turns to the relative warmth of the winter garden inside. Cuttings have been repotted, more cuttings have been taken, bulbs have been planted, and a few seeds sown. It always starts out like this, so innocently, until it’s not and I’m looking around in a panic wondering what happened and where the hundreds of pots have come from. For now though we are still happily in the ‘better safe than sorry’ stage of indoor plant care, and ignorance is truly bliss 😉
Seeds have been cleaned and sent off to seed exchanges, but now it’s time to get a couple dozen labels and pots together for some winter sowing of all the new seeds which mysteriously show up.
It’s chilly today with some beautiful sunshine streaming in through the windows but that may not always be the case. The next few weeks are typically the coldest of the year and as a way of navigating through this I’m going to suggest you join in for the Ten Days of Plantness which begins January 12th! Long story short it’s a fake holiday which runs for ten days and involves new plant things and cake and an excuse to ignore the cold outside. It’s like an anti-Lent without the parades and Fat Tuesday and I’m already planning plant-hunting trips with my crew so that will be fun.
Have a great week, stay warm, and for those in the path of real winter storms all the best.
sorta like suburbia 
Yup, it is winter… not sure why folks are so shocked, ha!
Well to be honest I was a little shocked this afternoon when a frigid gust of wind fought me as I walked across the parking lot. Brrrrr!!!!!! I suppose I could have worn gloves or a hat… or zipped up my coat… or wore the winter coat though 😉
Your basement full of plants looks so cosy Frank. A great space to sit out the dangerous and hazardous conditions (i.e. winter!). 🤣 I was hoping you would mention that January holiday again… count me in. Any excuse to buy a plant… or ten! I may have to pass on the cake though after all the rich Christmas fayre. 😉
heh heh, I’m in no position to be eating more holiday cake, but when duty calls I must bow to the necessity. Glad you’re joining in, it really does distract you from a week or two of boring cold weather, and finding plants for sale in January was more of a struggle than I would have imagined, and more entertaining than I had expected!
This basement gardening is something never seen here in Ireland. Very, very few houses have a basement so that might explain it! It’s a good place to store plants over the winter and a good place for pottering about.
I don’t think basement gardens are anywhere near common here, but in this part of the country at least, basements are the norm. Other areas, such as the south and midwest, are less likely to have basements due to high water tables or unstable soils which expand and shrink too much. When I was in Texas I was told a watertight basement would cause a house to ‘float up’ and crack as the groundwater rose and the soil became saturated each winter.
My basement garden is indeed an excellent spot to store plants, not unlike a root cellar where the temps are low and the humidity higher.
I’m not one to tamper with tradition but on your inaugural post about the 10 days of plantness you said it started January 12th and now you are saying January 10th. Also, is the garden pictured above in the garage or the basement? Do you now have plants growing in both places?
Thanks Kathy! I just edited the dates. I must have gotten the 10 days mixed up with the 10th day of January, but you’re right and it should start on the 12th. Jeesh, mistakes like that make it almost seem like I’m making this stuff up off the top of my head 🙂
That’s a garage picture, and maybe I do have plants growing in both places and that might be too many plants, but without a victim can anyone really say it’s a crime?
Who said anything about it being a crime? I call it making good use of the space you have.
What a cheerful spot to work indoors! I need to get started on seeds, thanks for the reminder.