During daylight savings time I’m not entirely sure where all the saved light goes, but after getting to work in the dark and leaving in the dark, I’d like to pretend a little shows up in my winter garden. Ok, winter garden is a pretty fancy label for my shoplight in the back of the garage but in a family that calls the vegetable garden “the farm” and one apple tree “the orchard”, it makes sense. I cleaned things up a little with a plastic liner and gravel base and I’m more pleased than ever. My only complaint is I should have used a sand base to place the pots on, a sort of ‘sand plunge’ that would distribute the watering better. Looks like that’s the plan for next year.
Things seem late, maybe because of the cold spells or my late setup and start-of-watering, but from the looks of things it should pick up soon. More of the cyclamen coum are sending up blooms including the darker ‘Meaden’s Crimson”
This is my current favorite though. It’s got a nice pink shade that darkens around the petal edges giving almost a bicolor effect.
The seedlings from last winter are also recovering well from my neglect. For about the first year of their lives these cyclamen hederifolium will grow quickly sending up new and larger leaves if kept cool and watered with a little fertilizer. Once they get past a certain point, around their first birthday, they either get too big or get too old (I’m not sure) and no amount of light, water, cool or warm will keep them actively growing through the winter. They just sit there until warmer weather and drought bring on dormancy. In this batch of seedlings I like the silver leaf in the center with it’s slight pink tinge. Maybe it will hold onto this as it grows, but I’ve seen other babies play this trick and it never lasts.
More snowdrops are coming into bloom. I don’t think any of these are galanthus woronowii (like the label said) since they just don’t have the glossy green leaves that they should, but the blooms are welcome anyway.
The first of many Van Engelen clearance sale bulbs are blooming. I can’t hold them back any more! It’s difficult to tell from the picture but these are barely half the size of the others. Still nice though as more snow falls outside.
I have a birthday coming up. I’m considering gifting myself two more shoplights rather than endlessly wishing for a greenhouse. It’s not quite the same but it’s a start!
disclaimer: I guess daylight savings time is technically the summer time change, but just like I’m desperate for sun I was also desperate for a title 🙂
One of the centerpieces was the tree fern room. Always flooded with a thin sheet of water, this year Granny Smith and Rome apples were arranged into a floating flourish of color. The hanging “chandelier” isn’t too shabby either!
Writing out the labels probably takes the most time. Name, notes, date, and source written with a plain old pencil.
All kinds of goodies were re-discovered just in time for fall planting, I think it was something like 20 packets for $7 and I picked out 40. Who can’t use a few more lily seedlings coming along or a couple packets of winter aconite seed? NARGS keeps previous lists online, so if you’re curious to see if it’s something you might be interested in, 
The red color in the last picture is a burning bush (euonymus alata) and its days may be numbered. Even though they show up in many local landscapes they’re very invasive. I haven’t seen any seedlings yet, but don’t doubt they’re out there, so next spring I may move one of the blueberries into its spot. The color is not as intense and the shape is less tight but you get delicious blueberries!
‘Skyracer’ purple moor grass (Molinia caerulea subsp. arundinacea) is a top 5 grass. Up to 6 foot tall seed heads come up out of a neat 2 ft fountain of foliage. It’s tall yet airy and light, and the yellow fall color hangs on for a while. If winter comes late and seeds ripen there might be a seedling or two next spring but hardly anything to worry about. The plant practically falls apart over the winter and is an easy cleanup.
Miscanthus in general are losing their hold on me. The springtime cleanup is a pain with their tight clumps and I’m starting to think of them as industrial park plants. They look great there, but might be too much work in my own garden. I still have a few variegated kinds and who knows what next year will bring, since my fickle crabby self might divide up this porcupine grass (miscanthus sinensis ‘Strictus’) next spring and plant it all over the place.
Planting grasses is easy, it’s removing ornamental grasses that’s the problem. My only advice is sharpen your shovel beforehand, you need a nice blade-sharp tip to make the job almost easy, but even then you really have to put your back into it. Also watch the seeders. I’ve evicted the taller Pennisetum alopecuroides because of their reseeding (the real dwarf ones seem to be sterile) and I’m keeping my eye on the Korean feather grass. Most of the trimmings can be composted, but don’t mulch your daffodil bed with fresh little bluestem mulch, it makes a great grass seedbed and will make you hate your daffodils and weeding them.
