Here Comes the Sun

Mar10

What a beautiful weekend. A little windy, a little cold… actually if you went by the commentary which followed nearly everyone’s observation on me working outside you would say it was a frigid weekend… but it was perfect. I cleaned up the front yard, it looks amazing in my opinion but others do not like all the autumn leaves which mulch the street bed. Okay maybe it looks a bit messy and they could have been mulched a little more, but if that’s what’s distracting you after weeks of frozen soil and cold winds well then I can’t help you. Color is back and I’m ready to enjoy.

Some of the first snowdrop plantings here have matured nicely. This is a favorite spot along the front of the house and the shelter from the wind brings everything on a little earlier.

‘Straffan’ in front and ‘Brenda Troyle’ in back. Also a sheltered spot, right up against the porch. Normally ‘Straffan’ is a little later, but I guess this year everyone is anxious for spring.

The rabbits have been caught off guard and didn’t realize the first crocus (‘Tatra Shades’) are ready and waiting. They should find them by tomorrow.

Hamamelis ‘Barmstedt Gold’ is amazing this spring. I might need to collect even more witch hazels 🙂

The driveway soaks up the sun’s warmth and keeps this bed warm enough to bring on a full flush of snowdrops and winter aconite. Cyclamen coum are on the way as well!

The winter aconite in this bed are a mix of the straight species Eranthis hiemalis, plus pale yellow ‘Lightning’ (which is already starting to look tired), and the faded yellow of ‘Schwefelglanz’. I love them all.

The newer snowdrop plantings need to fight for their space. This Dryad Gold snowdrop was planted a little too close to the giant reed grass patch, and I’ll need an axe and a pick to free up the delicate little thing.

‘Bloomer’. I’m showing this just because none of them sold at the gala and it’s one of my absolute favorites. On the plus side I replanted the unsold ones as a second clump, and perhaps next year will be their year!

So that was a hit and run post. I don’t think anyone will miss me prattling on about all kinds of nonsense and I wanted to get these photos up before I take another twenty or two hundred tomorrow! Enjoy your week 🙂

The Recap

Mar8

So what can I say? David Culp’s Gala was fun. Great seeing people excited about snowdrops, talking way too much about snowdrops, amazing lectures about snowdrops, and in general excited about the new gardening year. Selling went well. I was remarkably okay with seeing snowdrops leave my garden, somewhat insulted that a few favorites didn’t sell, and then just fine with bringing a bunch home for replanting. But… I was unusually luke-warm to new purchases and plant shopping in general. For the first time ever I tried to come back with more money in my pocket than when I went down, and in hindsight that was a terrible mindset since there were only 5 new snowdrops for the return trip and now I have to sit for months with only five new snowdrops when I really think all that work should have earned me dozens of new snowdrops!

And for the first year ever I didn’t treat myself to a new ‘Brandywine Hybrids’ hellebore. They were perfect, and seeing the others in the garden starting to stir to life makes the regret even harsher.

Each year the Gala hellebores are amazing. After years of coveting doubles I’m back to singles and any of the picotees or the purple stained whites could have easily joined me for the ride home.

I was distracted though. Maybe even stressed? The day worked out perfectly, but to be honest I woke up at 1 that morning sick to my stomach and got to enjoy that feeling right up to the minutes before the doors opened.. .and then in typical fashion it lifted right as the excitement began.

A few seconds after the doors opened. Tables are full, hands are empty, there’s little socializing but some real intense table scanning! Fyi this is the Suburban Home Nursery table, manned by the always entertaining Kevin and my exceedingly competent cashier-daughter.

Also in typical fashion I took next to no pictures. Just like every other year I’ll apologize and promise better but I think we know the truth, and it’s probably for the best too since 10 out of 10 family members will only use me as the last resort when it comes to any type of event photo. “ugh, just delete them all. Where’s mom?” should be a warning/reminder sticker on the back of my phone.

Edgewood Gardens warming up and coloring up with Adonis amurensis

I think it was mentioned that rather than work my own table, I had already committed to working the Edgewood table for the Gala, and a perk to this was a leisurely tour of Edgewood Gardens the day before. The week of above freezing weather had paid off. Things were embracing the weather and bursting out of the ground and starting off on that spring flush of color. Hellebores, winter aconite, Adonis, witch hazels, crocus… and of course snowdrops were scattered throughout the garden. At one point I was even unsupervised, and the low light, flowers, and bird song were enough to make me want to soak up the moment rather than consider what might fit into my pocket.

The best clump of ‘Blewbury Tart’ I’ve ever seen. How silly of me to have given this plant a lukewarm review years ago, I should have known it was more my growing skills and not the drop.

To round it out it was an excellent weekend. I was almost tempted to return this weekend for the Bend to Bank lecture at Winterthur, and hear Anne Repnow give a talk, but alas it might be time to spend a weekend at home. Trust me there’s plenty to do.

A coldframe inspection at Edgewood Gardens. Quite a few treasures here, both inside and out!

Will I do what needs to be done? Probably, if I can only get started. Last night was spent browsing houseplants on some fraudulent website, and then this morning I had to spend time canceling my credit card and getting it re-issued, but honestly entertaining the dog and cleaning the kitchen took more time than that. The garden is still waiting 🙂

A terrible picture of winter aconite (Eranthis) opening up alongside the snowdrops. I love these first cautious blooms.

So blog post done, maybe breakfast and a shower wouldn’t be the worst ideas either, and then maybe it’s time for a little work outside. Just because I stayed home to get things done doesn’t mean it will happen!

Enjoy your weekend, and prepare for the onslaught of even more snowdrop photos while I second guess the witch hazel and primulas which I also did not buy last weekend. Grrr.

Off to the Gala!

Feb28

I have a gift. Many people have special gifts, but mine is the gift of chaos. I’ve been told that in the midst of chaos I come across as very calm, but the truth is I’m just used to it, since for as far back as I can remember whenever things can go wrong they did, and when it can’t possibly look worse it does, and I guess the silver lining is that it always works out in the end. Kind of along the same line of thought as “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”… except I’m not sure I’d like to push it that far, and I’m just fine sticking with ‘What doesn’t ruin everything might make for a nice story in a few years’. To sum it up, eventually the birthday stitches come out, the garden tour which finished up in the ER becomes a story, and you find a new job after cutting the vacation trip short.

Melting snow has finally arrived, and this exceptionally early winter aconite (Eranthis hyemalis ‘Lightning’) and a few other early risers can finally begin to show off.

I was lucky this time. No toothache on Christmas Eve, but with a table to set up at David Culp’s Galanthus Gala in Downington Pa this Saturday, I shouldn’t have been surprised something would happen. First the car went. I wanted to finish up making labels but first the car had to get to the dealer. Then the water heater went. I just wanted to pot up a few more things. Then the garage door broke when I wanted to move things out and into the other car. Then my nephew told me he was indeed sick and would not be able to help sell… and would also not be able to give my other helper a ride down to Downington. Good times, but also silver lining time. We were able to lift the garage door and roll the car out, the repair bill came in about 2k less than expected, the door is also set for repair, the heater is fixed, a new helper has been tapped,and a new plan to get the other helper down has been set up… even the labels got done. Was it touch and go for a few hours? Maybe, but I’m back to excited and won’t even consider the repair bills until after this weekend’s adventure!

‘Wendy’s Gold’ is probably my favorite for an early bright spot. She waits for the first warm days, sprouts, and never looks back.

So that’s enough woe is me for one post because seriously it’s just life for every one else, except for me there’s the added fun of ‘dramatic timing’. The thing happens and I just look to the heavens and say “good one. Did not even see that one coming”.

Winter interest in the garden is about done for the season. Should old hellebore foliage be removed before blooming? I would have to say yes, and that might be the first thing I do once things calm down here.

So tomorrow in spite of whatever still comes my way I’m off to the Gala with my goodies. It’s been a solidly cold winter… one which coincidentally seemed to start the day after I agreed to sell a few things from the garden… but the silver lining is a burst of warmth in the days right before. Let me share how a few things have turned out.

With everything freezing solid outside, I potted up a few clumps of English bluebells (Hyacinthoides non-scripta) for a just-in-case scenario. English bluebells are kinda awesome and fairly hard to find so of course I’m keeping a bunch.

There will be English bluebells, spring snowflakes (Leucojum vernum), and of course snowdrops and winter aconite. They look pretty good and I would buy them, but not everything came through. Another just-in-case scenario had potfuls of species tulips, and they just don’t look like much so I’m leaving them here. Really. They are barely sprouting and don’t look like much so in the garage they stay and I’m absolutely not leaving them behind because I want more species tulips.

Leucojum vernum out of the garden of my friend Paula. I think they look great and if you’re thinking how much? I suppose $25 a pot will be the price even though I’m worried they’ll all sell and they’re another thing I wouldn’t mind having more of in the garden.

Besides the threat of chaos there’s another thing which gives me sweaty palms on the eve of the Gala. I’m not a good salesman. I don’t really want to get rid of any of my snowdrops so I’d actually be just fine bringing dozens back and replanting them, and I’m afraid my sales pitch will reflect that. They look so nice all potted up. It makes me think of a greenhouse filled with pot after pot of perfect snowdrops and what a shame it would be if I had to build a greenhouse next week because just having snowdrops in the ground isn’t good enough anymore. Hmmm.

Some of the potted goodies awaiting the sale. A few varieties were potted up too early and did not like the last cold blast (their flowers were burned) but most look quite happy. I hope there’s enough variety to be interesting.

If you’ve been to the Gala you may know there’s an auction which goes on. My friend Paula gave me a drop to donate, and I know I’ll feel a little light-headed when I hand it over. A Dutch drop named in 2020, ‘Snowdropfever’s Nelly’s Birthday’ is a vigorous, early, large-flowered snowdrop with strong green markings on the outer petals, and a full green inner. It’s about ready to split into three bulbs, which of course will make for an even better show next year, but even now I think it looks just dandy. Of course Paula found a small offset to share with me, she knows how I am. I hope it grows quickly!

galanthus snowdropfevers Nell's Birthday

Galanthus ‘Snowdropfevers Nelly’s Birthday’. I think it’s been in bloom at least two weeks and the green has only faded a bit. It’s a cool drop.

So I’m looking forward to the day. Oddly enough I won’t even be behind my own table, I’ll be helping out at Edgewood Gardens, only a few steps away, and hopefully that is far enough so I don’t keep taking things off my own table “on second thought” to take back home, because between that and all the other vendor tables there’s a high probability the car is fuller on the return trip than it was going down. We will see.

If I see you there, great! If I don’t I shall try this time (just like I try and fail every time) to take some decent pictures of the day to share later on. Maybe I’ll even try and take a picture of a person or two, because I notice that people somehow manage to do that in spite of all the horticultural distractions and maybe it’s time I broaden my horizons 😉

Gala or not I wish you a wonderful weekend, and I hope you’re also finally experiencing some sort of a warmup and feeling the promise of spring!

Brrrrrrrrrr

Feb15

Damn groundhog. After all the work we put into the Days of Plantness the stupid groundhog has to go see his shadow and bring six more weeks of winter onto us all. Everything here is trying to sprout, but it’s just one cold night after another and I can only imagine the mess that would be if we didn’t do Plantness in January. It could be colder. We haven’t had much snow. I bet that extra orchid I bought stopped a blizzard or something so you’re welcome.

Of course this is the year that I was hoping for a mild winter and early spring so that I could do a few really important things in February, mainly get a bunch of snowdrops ready to bring to a certain Galathus Gala for a sales table. Yeah, a sales table. Long story short, last November I was convinced by someone that I’m capable of selling snowdrops at this year’s Galanthus Gala in Downingtown Pa, so we will see… and perhaps you will see it as well if you make it down there in two weeks! I think the in-person talks and early entry are all sold out (click >here< for ticket info) but from ten through the afternoon anyone can stop by just to look and browse, and even if you’re outside the area, virtual tickets for all the talks are also available. I’m anxiously excited yet a little nervous. Anonymity is so much easier when you’re not lined up against a wall at a table, and I am a big fan of being anonymous at these things 😉

I potted up a bunch of snowdrops in December “just in case” and so far so good. Here they are open to the elements for a breather. I’m not crazy about a frosting of ice, but they seem to like it.

So. The cold. Maybe that’s got me a little nervous as well. Hopefully all the goodies which are, and are yet-to-be, potted up will not be locked up in ice the day I need to load the car, but of course that couldn’t happen and I’m positive everything will be fine. Surely this cold can’t last forever… unless it does… and this week it feels like it could.

An icy frosting to the garden

In spite of the cold and frequent snow and ice, the snowdrops at least are anxious to grow! It’s absolutely amazing when a frozen earth with air temperatures barely above freezing can produce sprouts from one day to the next! The plants have spoken, and are rising up in spite of that fat little groundhog’s prediction to bring a little springtime vibe to an icy garden. I may be biased, but snowdrops are pretty amazing for what they do.

Under the shelter of an evergreen, ‘Castle Plum’ is ready to go. Our one warm day tomorrow will open these blooms right up.

So in defiance of the cold I was supposed to visit my friend Paula today for a few more sales table snowdrops, but more predicted snow and an observation of frozen earth, and her “if you really insist on coming maybe you can pickaxe up a chunk of frozen muddy sprouts to take home” suggestion, pushed me over to the side of better sense and the visit is rescheduled for Monday. Tomorrow the snow is to change over to rain alongside a rise in temperatures, and perhaps slimy mud is better than hacking out chunks of ice.

Winter interest is starting to get old around here. I can’t wait to trim the hellebores and clear things out for the coming show!

In the meantime I’m trying to avoid spending too much time staring out windows and imagining the perfect year to come. I haven’t been distracted by skiing this year in spite of the excellent conditions (and I blame kids with their own drivers licenses and friends who are “aging out” for this), and to be honest I was almost bored a few days ago when weather kept me inside and I just didn’t care enough to finish fixing a burst water line or carry water to the basement plants. I think I’m suffering garden withdrawl.

A primrose purchased “for a friend” but then I just couldn’t be home any of the times she offered to stop by to pick it up. Hmmm. I feel terrible about that.

We will carry on. I’m somewhat excited but can feel myself on the edge of that manic snowdrop fever and it’s scary. There’s not even a thought of going back to the days when I’d pretend they were no big deal, and of course it will be fun seeing it all return. Just one more cold week and then snowdrops, witch hazel, winter aconite, willows… and all will start bursting out with every new sunny day to fill the garden again.

Hang in there and have a great weekend!

The Tenth Day of Plantness!

Jan22

We did it! We made it to the tenth day of Plantness and I must say I am so proud of all the sacrifice and commitment I’ve seen from everyone. From the smallest cutting exchanged to the biggest seed order, and all the little pots of plants and plain pots purchased, you’ve made a difference. I can practically feel spring lurking somewhere… close… I think… because to be honest it still feels wintery and I just spent a few minutes looking at my brother’s snow pictures from Pensacola Florida and shared in his excitement that Atlanta is sending 6 snow plows… since Pensacola just doesn’t have any! Winter is really trying and although I did add ten new plant things for each of the days I might go out for another two or three more, just because we might need something to push us out of this frosty rut!

Ahhhhhhh… much better than sharing snow pictures, here are four new Plantness offerings. Two excellent tender cyclamen, one maidenhair fern, and the new watering can I’ve been searching for!

The cold may be lingering but we really did put our best foot forward last Saturday with the headliner trip of our Ten Days of Plantness. Grocery store floral sections are nice, but a trip to the greenhouses of Ott’s Exotic Plants is indoor plant nirvana. Multiple greenhouses filled with exotic plant treasures and it’s just a great place to visit when you want to fill your lungs with the warm and humid air only a greenhouse full of plants can produce.

Otts has a lot of mature plants, and citrus is in season so the ‘Ponderosa’ lemons stole the show. Some day I wouldn’t mind seeing the Plumeria trees (fragipani) behind them in bloom as well, but that’s a great reason to visit again.

A good greenhouse visit in winter does wonders for a gardener, but outside of that what did I get? I was one of the most restrained members of the Posse, and limited myself to two new plants and a watering can. A maidenhair fern was the first since it was just too elegant to resist, and a begonia came second. Begonia bipinnatifida to be exact, and although there’s the usual question as to how a “trickier, requires humidity” plant will survive my neglect, that’s something to worry about later. This plant was 100% impulse buy 😉

I think you can see what the attraction was. In my book, Begonia bipinnatifida indexes under “cool”.

So Ott’s was excellent, but when I suggested either two more stops or a stop for lunch you can imagine my surprise when Kimberley said “oh lets just have a snack here and do the stops’ and proceeded to pull the makings of a charcuterie board out of her purse! My level of preparations was an already opened water bottle I found in the door of the car, but here’s Kimberley pulling various cheeses and coldcuts with a mix of nuts and fruits out of her bag! There was even a delightful chocolate selection to clear the palate afterwards.

I think we did have fun. A couple more stops along the way and then a Trader Joe’s which I think everyone enjoyed. My two cyclamen are from there and I should have taken an orchid or two as well!

Now if you’re keeping count the cyclamen took me to nine on this trip, and of course ten is what you want for Plantness. I almost ran out the next day in a snowstorm to get the last one but wiser heads prevailed and I waited until the last day to get the last plant. I had to take a mother-in-law to a Dr appointment regarding an on-the-mend broken arm the next day, and as long as I’m driving we’re going to look at plants.

Oops. A “real” houseplant, Philodendron billietiae ‘Orange Smooth’. I’m concerned this could get big and not politely die like many of my other plantness purchases, but for the holiday I took a chance. Even better when it rang up 50% off 🙂

Now ten is the magic number, and according to the lore of Plantness if we add a new plant-goodie for each of the days that will break the back of winter and usher us into an early spring… except when it doesn’t… Someone might look at the long range weather forecast and say things look bad, but I did take a walk around the garden (before more snow came) and sensed that the witch hazel appreciated our efforts, and was trying just as hard as we were.

The first bits of color on the witch hazel (Hammamelis ‘Pallida’) and all is not lost!

A thermometer says that it’s 1F (-17C) outside right now and probably still dropping a few more. If the winter hazel can stand up to this kind of onslaught then so can we, and maybe we just need to try harder. Technically I did and bought an 11th plant, a cool Primula obconica, but since this one is for a friend it sadly does not count towards Plantness… or at least not on my tally.

As a temporary guest this Primula obconica has joined the winter garden. I love these primulas and should have gotten one for myself but as it was I don’t think anyone really believed me when I said it was for a friend, so two would have been even worse.

We’ve gained about twenty minutes of daylight since the start of the month, and we’re now at our lowest temperatures of the year and the temperatures begin to go up again from here. In theory, but it doesn’t feel like it tonight and maybe I should find a few seeds to plant or something more just to encourage the warmth!

Happy Plantness and thanks for coming along for the ride! These ten doses of hope did me good and my wish is that it’s done the same for you, so enjoy and stay warm and fingers crossed for an excellent 2025 season 🙂

The Ten Days Continue

Jan19

Oh my gosh, it’s already the ~~seventh~~ eighth day (I did try to gt this post up yesterday) of Plantness and I’ve only officially celebrated the first four! We had an excellent start to the holiday with last Saturday’s gathering and indoor plant crawl, but even with all the greenhouse visits this gardener only purchased four new goodies. Others have done much better! In our local group Kimberley is probably the star, with enough new plants and plant goodies that I suspect she could already round out the holiday, but overseas, Cathy of Words and Herbs is running at the Olympic level! She’s been able to find new additions for each day of Plantness and I’m absolutely loving her enthusiasm during these chilly days and frigid nights. Her embracing of the holiday is exactly the kind of attitude which will inspire us today for our second indoor plant crawl. “Do it for Cathy” shall be our mantra anytime we’re on the fence about something which might get too big, or might not like our care, or might be something uncomfortably new to us and outside the comfort zone. Heh heh, I shall of course update on how it goes 😉

Our table setting for our Plantness Eve celebrations last week. Two new plants which came home with us last year, two flowering goodies from under the plant lights, and four new treats purchased that day!

So in spite of zero success at every grocery store, box store, and DIY stop which I made during the week, here are the four new things which followed me home the weekend prior. I’d offer up photos but its been dark, or nearly so, every time I pull into the drive after work, and my camera skills don’t do flash very well, so I’ll offer a written summary and hope for a little more natural light this weekend.

I find myself finally getting sucked back into the houseplant world, and by that I mean the tropical foliage trend, so the first plant is a Syngonium podophyllum ‘Albo variegata’ (variegated arrowleaf vine). The leaf was just too cool to resist, but we will see how I handle something which wants to crawl and climb… Secondly is a miniscule foxtail fern (Asparagus densiflorus ‘Meyerii’) which although nearly an un-killable plant, I killed mine off, so maybe this one I shall remember to water (and also take inside for the winter). Third is a plant which is much bigger than I normally buy, a nearly gallon sized sanseviera ‘sayuri’… very cool imo… and the fourth and final is a pink variegated strawberry begonia (Saxifraga stolonifera ‘Tricolor’). I saw one about a year ago and ever since then…

Oh my gosh I’m so excited about the new goodies but maybe that’s partially due to the fact I’ve gone and returned from this season’s biggest Plantness trip which involved a 1.5 hour drive down towards Philly. I was relatively good but others maybe not so much, especially since “do it for Cathy’ came up much more frequently than I ought to admit, but based on the amount of fun we had I should have been driving a busload of people down instead of just the four of us!

So I hope everyone is enjoying the tail end of Plantness, and two things before I go look at my new plants again and then consider a pre-snowstorm trip to the last two local places… even though I do already have a plant item for each day 🙂 First: If you dabble in houseplants you have probably heard of the Philodendron ‘Thai Constellation’, and you’ve probably heard of snake plants (Sanseviera). The name Barry Yinger is a name you should know as well since he is probably the horticulturalist who first brought the poster child of houselants ‘Thai Constellation’ to the Americas and who is now leading Sanseviera conservation efforts in East Africa. Check out >this link< if you’re curious. Secondly: I don’t remember what my second thing was going to be but this weekend I decided that houseplants are dangerous since anything in the world of plants is an option, and now tissue culture and two day delivery can bring them all close to your doorstep.

Two more weeks and it’s already February! Hmmmm, I won’t even mention the little white flowers that could possibly bring 😉

Plantness ’25 and the Winter Garden

Jan12

Today is the 12th day of January and as such marks the first day of the Ten Days of Plantness. Some observant readers may have noticed that in a recent post it may have said the holiday begins on the 10th day, but they were mistaken since upon re-reading the post it clearly says that the Ten Days of Plantness begin on the 12th and runs until the 21st, and I’m 100% sure I didn’t just go back and edit my mistake out.

So what are the Ten Days of Plantness you might ask? Well let me explain. It’s a very official holiday which celebrates ten of the gloomiest and coldest days of the Northern Hemisphere’s winter with plants! Just like happiness is the act of embracing happy, plantness is the act of embracing plants, and for the next ten days the world is invited to celebrate each sunrise (regardless of clouds or gloom or snow) with a new plant. Indoor plants count, outdoor plants count, seeds count, gifts count, cuttings count, pots and tools count, cut flowers, dried flowers… I think you get it, just keep in mind fake flowers and leaves don’t count. And to what end is this holiday geared towards? Encouraging and welcoming back a new gardening season. Fully celebrating means signs of spring and blooming witch hazels by the 22nd, not celebrating means eight more weeks of winter, so be careful.

The garage growlights still have plenty of room for a few more plants, so an excuse to add more is both timely and welcome.

It was only just last year that my friends and I found out about the >10 Days of Plantness<, but this year we were prepared. My Plant Posse was activated a week in advance. Kathy of Cold Climate Gardening plotted a trip down through the snows of upstate NY, Lisa worked some meal making magic, ‘Cosmos and Cleome’ Kimberley was in charge of the Plantness cake… yellow cake with a chocolate frosting and raspberry filling in case you’re curious 🙂 … Kevin arrived at the crack of dawn for last minute prep and logistics, and our Louise opted out. Sadly oral surgery, pain meds, and soft foods are in no way lessened by celebrating the ten days.

Hmmm… another bromeliad, actually it’s an offset from one of last year’s plantness purchases and proof that not all houseplants come here to die.

Once mobilized we headed out on a nursery by nursery tour through the local indoor plant scene and did the holiday proud. Creekside Gardens is always a treat and we make that trip on a regular basis, but two other stops were first time visits for me. Keller’s Garden Center surprised us with a nice range of offerings (and a funny run in with another desperate January shopper who we all agreed we just wanted to take with us for the day), and then there was Hidden Garden in Plymouth Pa. The name is appropriate. My Plant Posse is relatively trusting but when I pulled into the parking lot of some run-down beer distributor a few questions were raised. “Why are you getting out here” was one of them, but “trust the process” is what I said. I admit to being a little proud of the Posse as they grabbed purses and whatnot to accompany me in to buy a case of Michelob light, but instead passed through the double doors towards the back of the building, and entered the zen zone of Hidden Gardens.

My geraniums have forgiven me for ripping them out of their planters in October and stuffing them into undersized pots to sit out the winter under lights. It’s just the kind of color one needs in mid January.

If you’ve ever visited Plymouth Pa it’s probably not a second visit. Of course there are nice areas, but this former coal town/flood zone city, hasn’t seen much change in the last 40 years, other than changes for the worse. I remember my first drive through and it left me with the impression that just the local strip club and local diner, the Tilbury Inn and Flamingo Diner (both now closed after flood and fire and subsequent demolition) were handling a steady flow of customers, so it’s nice to see a business which has headed off into a new direction. I’ll be back I’m sure since the store is full of vision and optimism and I think we were all impressed.

The blue of Streptocarpella is always welcomed and seems to do well in my relatively cold indoor garden.

As usual I’ve gone off track. Let me get away from talk of strip clubs and get back to Plantness and the indoor garden.

I’m trying another orchid mostly because $4 on a clearance bench with buds showing was just irresistible. Two months later and it’s blooming and all I know is it gets watered and I think it’s a dendrobium and it must be pretty easy to grow since it still looks healthy.

The Winter Garden here sounds like more than it is. It started as fluorescent shop lights but recently I’ve begun upgrading to cheap LED shop lights as I find them on sale here and there. One light, three lights, ten… over the years it’s expanded from a table in the back of the barely heated garage, to a converted workshop in the garage, and last year oops, it grew to include the unheated basement of our new addition.

The garage is cooler, and has dipped below freezing in spots near a window or door, but generally stays frost free. It’s a great place to grow on a few hardy cyclamen coum while the outdoor ones are locked under an icy blanket.

I’ve gone on about the garage grow lights, and if winter keeps making an effort towards cold weather I’ll probably go on more and more about it, but I don’t think I’ve mentioned much about the new basement grow space. It’s expanded. It hasn’t replaced the garage growing area as I think some people in this house were hoping for, but I’m pleased. I had hoped to do more this winter as far as making it a lush, plant filled space, but I think it’s doing good enough.

The new basement growing area. Mostly stuff overwintering and a little on the unkempt, sparse, and messy side, but I like the potential!

The basement plants are doing better than expected, and if anything is holding them back it’s probably me. As you may know I struggle to motivate myself to water, and the garage garden has a hose which I use that makes it into a 15 minute job, but the basement garden involves filling buckets, carrying them from the basement, dipping a tub in to ladle out water to each plant… some people find serenity in watering, but I do not. I hate it. Once dying plants motivate me enough I’m drilling through to access the house water supply and I’m running pipes to a spigot inside the new area. Me + a hose inside the house will be messy of course, but I at least have plastic down already to keep spilled water and soil from staining the new concrete floor.

More bromeliads. The aggressive spines along the leaf edges are something you should consider, but in general I’m amazed at how easy they are to grow.

Once I get running water back there of course I’ll need a little goldfish pond as well, obviously with a fountain. I just mention that in case you think not being able to get things done would be putting a damper on what I’d like to get done 🙂

The succulents seem happy overwintering in the basement. Most of what I have gets no water or maybe a splash once a month, and they just sit there in the low light without rotting or stretching their stems too much.

Hopefully having all this space to put more and more plants doesn’t come off as gloating. In reality it’s kinda cramped with a low ceiling in the garage, mice and spiders, chilly… and in the basement the statement ‘why are we wasting so much space on plants’ has come up even while the walls are unfinished and the space lacks real outlets or heat… but whatever. Gloating is when I show a picture of the bougainvillea which didn’t do much all summer but is now putting out flower after flower as if it really doesn’t mind the ‘in progress’ surroundings and the hit or miss watering.

I guess you can grow bougainvillea under cheap LED shoplights in case somebody was wondering. The colors are less intense, but again this is a Pennsylvania basement not the French Riviera.

So that’s Plantness and the Winter garden, and although I definitely need to get out and add bunches of new plants because of how much empty space I have, you might not have that luxury. Here’s my advice from last year which I shall repeat: Get plants which you know you’ll probably kill or give away. The mini moth orchids I bought last Plantness are happily putting out new flower stalks on my mother’s windowsills this year rather than decaying on my compost pile like the florist cyclamen I also added last year. Both were worth it and I’ve moved on… just like the African violet I also bought 😉 Keep in mind that you’re forcing yourself to think of plants for ten days rather than focus on winter, so pick up a bouquet at the grocery and just do it. I know some people are a little timid about killing growing things, and it can be fun to hold on to a poinsettia for years, but you’re not picking up a kitten or adopting a baby here, you’re getting excited about lengthening days and the fact winter won’t last forever, so enjoy!

And in case you’re wondering, I did enjoy the start of Plantness. I’m all set for the first five days and will hopefully fill you in on them before the week is out 🙂

Winter? In January?

Jan5

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.

Winter Solstice ’24

Dec21

Somehow it’s already the Winter Solstice and when you’re focused on making it through the busy weeks before Christmas these things can sneak up on you. Not that the timing changes much from year to year, but with all eyes focused on food and gifts and vacation plans, this celestial switch from shortening days to lengthening ones can slip by. Winter has a timer running now, and although here we are plunging into a few days of cold again, on this longest night of the year we start climbing back out of this winter darkness.

Just a few days ago ‘Faringdon Double’ was just beginning to nose up. A couple days of warm weather later and he’s been tricked into bloom. We will see how he holds up to the cold.

On the plus side the warm weather thawed the soil and allowed me to plant the last couple hundred tulips which have been sitting in the garage. The garlic should have also gone in as well, but maybe eating it isn’t the worst solution along with a year off from garlic growing and buying a few new cloves for planting next fall. Who says that just because you can, you must?

The arriving cold brought more snow than expected which should act as a decent cover for all the autumn/winter snowdrops already in growth. This is ‘Potter’s Prelude’ in case your ID skills are iffy 😉

Actually I use the ‘because I can’ logic all the time, so maybe during our likely January thaw they will still get planted… or not… since there’s always plenty of other things which need doing around here, like things which flood the basement with water and need unplugging and cleaning up, which fortunately didn’t happen on Christmas Eve but there’s still time.

Also, since this blog rarely offers useful or timely information I guess now might be a good chance to point out that there’s still time to blow on an ember or throw gasoline on the flames of obsession, if those flames are for snowdrops. One of the first, and one of the longest running purveyors of named snowdrops in the US, Mr Hitch Lyman, should be sending out his list during the first days of the new year. You can’t request it online and you can’t dilly dally since once the list goes out it sells out, so dust off that stationary and get a note off to him asap if you want your own copy.

Mr Hitch Lyman, Box 591, Trumansburg NY 14886. Years ago I believe $2 or $3 was added to cover the cost, but I’d play it safe with $5 these days, and in my opinion the art and the read are worth it even if you don’t fall for the drops. I may be biased of course.

The front porch is ready for the longest night. A few more inches of snow have fallen since and it looks absolutely seasonal now.

I apologize for again drifting into snowdrops but another timely note is that the date for this year’s Galanthus Gala has been set. Snowdroppers from near and far will be descending upon Downingtown Pa Saturday, March 1st for a day of lectures, sales, and camaraderie. There will still be ups and downs this winter, but the date will be here before we know it, and what better promise on this longest night than the promise of a new season and a Gala. Of course I’ll mention it again once tickets go on sale. I’m sure you would expect no less from someone who does tend to go on far too long about those little white flowers.

Enjoy. If it’s cold where you are, I hope for warmth, and if you’re ramping up for celebrations I wish you a blessed holiday season.

**Hopefully no one is too upset that the longest night was actually the Friday night before the solstice, but I started the post yesterday and just didn’t feel like changing everything today 😉

Go Winter!

Dec17

Winter is giving it a try this December and I’m proud of her! There have been chilly nights, brisk winds, snow and ice, and more forced time indoors than I’m used to. Could it be that we are headed for a real winter this year?

The fall blooming snowdrops have been slowed by autumn’s drought and this cold jump into winter. This is Galanthus elwesii hiemalis ssp monostictus ex Montrose and that’s not what the label says since I planted something else in this perfect spot which bloomed a few weeks earlier 🙂

Everyone seems to think it’s brilliantly cold out and will only get colder, snowblowers are revving and snowmobiles are going in for tuneups while the ice fishermen are talking bait and planning their best spots. This weekend we nearly dipped into the single digits (-12C) and it feels like it’s been a while since we saw that in December.

More fall blooming snowdrops, these in a cold pocket which wilts them down but usually they recover… unless it’s ‘Mrs Macnamara’ who does not recover yet still grows quite well in spite of the beating.

This winter seems off to an Arctic start but I’m still not biting my nails worried about the new crape myrtles and camellias which have somehow snuck into the garden. Granted, it was a shock going from the warmest November on record to a little snow and ice, but overall for our little corner of Pennsylvania we’re only averaging about 3 degrees below(!) average… for once… and I’m pretty sure 2024 is still headed towards going down as the hottest year on record globally, which might embarrass 2023 since last year we all thought that heat record was un-toppable.

‘Faringdon Double’ is carefree and reliable in this garden and here it is nosing up and aiming for a January show. What a hopeful sign to see during a a frigid spell of December weather.

Against everyone else I’m hoping that things stay somewhat cold, even if it means being inside more than I’d like, and being bored on nearly every trip outside when the soil is frozen and there’s little to do on the to-do list. The gardener’s plus to a cold winter is that everything goes dormant and stays there. The hellebores won’t be trying to bloom in January only to freeze into mush in February, which is what happens when a fake-spring rolls into Pa in the middle of our winter and forces new growth on things. I’ll take some bleakness for a couple weeks if it means buds are saved for a beautiful March.

Bleakness and a threat? The brutally sharp thorns of the hardy orange (Citrus trifoliata ‘Flying Dragon’) in all their winter starkness. It’s a plant no one will ever snuggle up to.

So it’s cold, and as a result the winter garden is getting more attention that it’s used to and is overflowing with color from coleus, geraniums, and the odd orchid. Poor things don’t know what’s in store for them the minute a thaw rolls in and the gardener is lost again outside, poking around for more snowdrop shoots and other signs of spring. Hopefully before that happens I can share a few of the indoor highlights.

Hope you have a great week!

sorta like suburbia

more than you ever wanted to know about my garden

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