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 🙂

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!

Winter Flowers

Feb15

Last weekend was beautiful. Technically we’re in the depths of winter, but with a January thaw which has blended into a February thaw winter just doesn’t even seem to be trying this year. Part of me doesn’t mind, but the other part misses the weeks of nothing to do but curl up in a blanket indoors and that bounty of weather-imposed reading and puzzle time. A lack of snow and an abundance of mild days doesn’t offer the same break, and in fact can be exhausting with all the poking and shuffling around -hunched over of course- which needs to be done on a daily basis. Also there’s the idea that this is just the start of ever increasingly warm winters and the anxiety over where it will end… yeah that’s also slightly concerning…

Honeybees busy visiting the winter aconite (Eranthis hyemalis). Plant nerds may notice the bee sits on the straight yellow species while the blooms behind are seedlings of the more apricot ‘Schwefelglantz’, but I don’t think the bees care.

But this week my only consideration is that I’m enjoying winter aconite, snowdrops, witch hazel, and other winter flowers in the middle of February.

Snowdrops close to the house are in full bloom.

The pattern and schedule of these flowers is oddly different than the order I’ve become accustomed to. Some late snowdrops are in full bloom, some early ones are barely up, flowers in the later, more shaded beds are beating out flowers in protected spots, and it seem all kinds of disorganized but I’m sure there’s a logic which escapes me.

More of the straight Eranthis hyemalis, it’s been seeding about and patches are finally forming.

Strangely enough many of the other bulbs are still a little wary of the mild temperatures. I don’t blame them since it’s hard to trust a spring which shows up in the middle of winter, and there’s bound to be an argument somewhere along the line before May and I’d rather not face the frozen wreckage of a spring garden which trusted a little too blindly.

This is Galanthus ‘Egret’ and I like it more and more each spring as it clumps up and settles in. Like the wings of a bird the flowers take flight when fully open.

Ok, one more complaint about a fabulously early and moderate spring. Without a foot of frozen soil and an inch or two of crusty old ice and snow holding everything back the pace of spring seems less exciting. Even with a string of mild days there’s no explosion of new blooms or a string of new flowers opening hour by hour, and it’s more measured and contemplative. I love the excitement of a spring explosion, but I’m also foolish to complain when it doesn’t happen. Four out of five days I’m stuck at work for the explosion and it’s sad cramming it in to the 48 minutes between getting out of the car and the sun going down so just forget I ever mentioned that last complaint.

Another snowdrop which took a few years to grow on me, galanthus ‘Blewbury Tart’.

With spring smoldering outside the fever inside is burning, and I’m moving into dangerous territory with a risky date on the horizon. In case you don’t know March 2nd is Galanthus Gala time, and for me that means a trip to Downingtown PA to meet up with fellow snowdrop fans to browse the snowdrop vendors, consider other rare plant purchases, listen to snowdrop-themed talks, and enjoy the enthusiastic bidding of the Gala auction. Since 2017 David Culp has been hosting this event and if you’re interested in specifics the ticket site can be found >here< …although I have to warn you that tickets for everything other than the streaming online access are already sold out. But don’t fret. Free admission runs from 10-4 and perhaps missing the opening frenzy and enjoying the sales tables while the masses have moved on to the lectures isn’t the worst approach. Here’s another link, this one to the Gala Facebook page which has more info on the vendors and the event, and even though nobody asked I’m going to give away my method for approaching this sale.

Walk in and start talking to someone. Ignore the selling frenzy. Talk to more people. Examine what others are buying and randomly stalk the people who are carrying the coolest plants. Make it (hopefully) less awkward by asking them about their favorites. Eventually start looking at plants. Try to make a full circuit without buying anything because there’s no way you can afford buying everything you want. Go back to the start and see what’s left and only then can you start buying. Trust me you’ll save a ton of money this way and still end up with too much… plus on the first round let’s be honest, everyone has a cheat list with a special snowdrop or witch hazel or two on it, so maybe I could be entirely understanding if you falter and pick up a few things on the first round 😉

If I didn’t already have one I’d consider ‘Moya’s Green’ to be worth adding to the cheat list. It’s been a good grower here, large blooms, the green fades in warmer weather but don’t we all?

Sorry, I didn’t expect to go on like that. It’s a weeknight and bedtime approaches so here’s where the warm weekend went.

I was relieved to see ‘Rosemary Burnham’ returning after I ripped up the boxwoods here and seeded grass. It will be interesting to see how she holds up to the new environment, and it will be interesting to see if the stray sprouts are more Rosemary or some equally interesting seedlings.

One of my favorite snowdrops out of the bulk elwesii bulbs. Large flowers and nice foliage, they just don’t like a cold snap after sprouting.

A warm weekend in February will almost always bring on a cold snap and here we are. Snow and some colder weather but nothing for most plants to worry about. I’m actually loving the sunshine and brisk weather.

I rarely get home in time to see this one open in the sun, but today I did. Adonis amurensis ‘fukujukai’.

Fortunately it’s not too brisk, and the snow is melting faster than it can pack down and turn to ice and the plants should be fine. Even better it will slow the season down and keep the more tender things from thinking it’s time to grow.

Galanthus ‘S. Arnott’ in the afternoon light.

Actually with things not growing yet I can imagine my beds are riddled with empty spots and perhaps I should go all out on the first round. Hmmm.

Have a great week, whether or not your days are warm or brisk, and trust me this isn’t the last you’ll hear of Galas or snowdrops 😉

It Worked!

Jan31

Well look at that. Northeastern Pennsylvania, end of January, and the winter aconite is blooming and the witch hazel is open. I’m sure it’s entirely due to our faithful observance of the Ten Days of Plantness, and I’m thrilled to have color returning to the garden now that the ten darkest weeks of our Northern Hemisphere winter have passed.

The pale yellow form of winter aconite (Eranthis hiemalis) is always first in flower by a few weeks over the regular bright yellow.

Surely it’s all downhill from here, right? Might as well mothball the winter coat for another year and pull out the shorts and sandals because it will be cold drinks on the porch season before we know it!

Galanthus ‘Colossus’ is always eager to rise during any break in winter, except usually the return of winter brutalizes any flowers which dare open. This year a blanket of snow came at just the right time, and for once he looks great.

Ok, maybe there’s still a bit of winter to get through but at least we have progress and I hope you’re seeing something similar in your own garden. These winter flowers can really lift the spirits in January especially during a winter which tends more towards rainy and gray rather than cold and white, and it’s somewhat of a compensation for another lackluster ski season.

A lonely flower on the witch hazel (Hamamelis ‘Pallida’). With the exception of ‘Arnold’s Promise’ all the witch hazels are sparse this year and I’m not entirely sure of the reason, but am guessing they didn’t get the rain they wanted when they wanted it.

For a while I though just about everyone was experiencing another mild winter, but then heard multiple stories about record-breaking cold earlier in the month and am wondering what the real story is. You often hear of ‘records broken’ but is it just for that date, or that town on that day, or that month?… I’m never sure beyond my own little corner of this state, but from what I saw here, although the weather got colder we’re still running a zone 7 winter in what used to be zone 5 territory, and for what it’s worth I’m sourcing crape myrtles and selecting camellias for planting this spring 😉

Flooded snowdrops. With all the rain there are puddles sitting in just about every low lying spot in the garden. These G. nivalis (or some x valentinei mix) have been here for a few years though, and have never complained.

As usual we will see where this leads and for now I suspect it will lead to more flowers and I’m ready for that. So far the usual early bloomers are starting to move but with a random sprinkling of off-schedule bedmates for which I have less of an explanation for than I do for the weather. Regardless I think I need to begin the annual warnings for snowdrop overload as the normal level-headedness, modesty, and self-restrain leave my system and galanthaholism wields its ugly head. I no longer pretend that the state of my snowdrop thing is normal.

‘Ophelia’ is a warm day or two away from opening. She’s several years beyond dividing but that’s a lot more ‘Ophelia’ than I know what to do with!

So consider yourself warned. Other than a here-and-there winter garden update it’s all snowdrops, things which look well with snowdrops, weather which effects snowdrops, snowdrop visits and snowdrop events from here on out. Time to brush off the scroll button and fine tune the ‘Oh nice, Frank. That seems fun” comments for those of you who feel obligated.

‘Dick’s Early Yellow’ in the coldframe. I pulled the glass back so perhaps he will yellow up to a brighter color. Under glass yellows tend to lean more towards green.

Fun is what it should be. I’m hoping for another excellent season, and if you can join me in ignoring the multiple cases of bulb neglect (the coldframe for example should have been cleared out entirely in June), I think it should be an amusing time… even if the bulk of the fun is just seeing how far I’ve fallen 🙂

A Breakthrough

Jan22

Today was the last day of the Ten Days of Plantness and I’m thrilled to announce that it was a success. One new plant for each day between Jan 12th and the 21st, and let me tell you it wasn’t as easy at it sounds but you’re welcome. I say you’re welcome because a successful ten days means that spring will begin to arrive now rather than after 6 more weeks of winter… or at least I think that’s what we decided on… my friend Kimberley and I are still working out the specifics of this newly minted holiday and perfection doesn’t come all at once you know…

The kitchen countertop is filled with the Ten Plants of Plantness. A new philodendron, roses in a bouquet, an African violet, cyclamen, primula, orchids, a kalanchoe, and an unexpected bromeliad.

You would think finding ten new plants in January would be a breeze, but for some reason it became stressful as marts were empty of plants and grocery stores were sparse, and of course I’m cheap… and a little picky… but good fortune prevailed and the two primula and two mini orchids of the early days were joined by a white cyclamen, orange kalanchoe, a little philodendron, a purple and white African violet, a clearance bromeliad, and a somewhat borderline cheat of a plant -a small bouquet of pink roses. Normally I wouldn’t have come close to buying any of this but for Plantness? I made the effort.

So fingers crossed a few of these politely die within the next few weeks, because anyone who knows me knows I have enough plants, but in the meantime I’m quite pleased with all the color in the kitchen contrasted by the snow outside. Breakfast with the flowers has been great, and to celebrate the tenth day properly a cake was even baked.

I don’t think anyone will doubt that I made this myself. Normally a child will help, but not this weekend and I was left to my own and this is what you get. A reduced calorie chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting, but the only calorie reduction was the frosting which slipped off the side.

So obviously it’s a holiday if there’s cake, right? But that’s not the breakthrough mentioned in the title. The breakthrough is an actual breaking through of the house foundation into the basement of the new addition. You would be surprised by how easy it is to pop a hole through your walls with just a grinder and a sledgehammer but there’s much to be said for structurally sound foundation walls, so I wouldn’t really recommend it unless you’re completely bored and on the hunt for new projects. Myself of course, has found a new project, and I can finally bring water to the plants overwintering in here without climbing in through the window.

Maybe once things are cleaned up I can bring a few of the new plants down here 🙂

The new opening from the basement into the basement of the addition. As you can see, just like many things here it’s a work in progress.

Maybe a day on the couch would have been a better way to spend the afternoon, but when you’re talking with your contractor and he says he has some time well you can finish eating your cake later.

Have a great week and enjoy your early spring?

The 10 Days of Plantness

Jan17

Ugh, this cold is unbearable! I had to pull out the winter coat and there’s even snow on the ground, but at least the distraction of the 10 Days of Plantness can help me through. My friend Kimberley made it official with a few new plant purchases, and of course what kind of friend would I be to abandon her at this moment, so out into the snow I went to pick up milk, bread, and a couple new houseplants. “Why are you going all the way there for milk!?” was the question, but I’m sure you know as well as I do which groceries also have excellent plants, so driving a few extra miles is worth the trip, but I still got a sigh and an eye roll when I mumbled “plants” when I hastily walked out the door. Apparently some people don’t embrace new holidays but I do and when I came back with a few new plants no one even thought to criticize. Maybe it was the two boxes of pizza I was also carrying, but after the feeding frenzy settled someone other than myself mentioned the flowers were nice so I think of it as a win.

Mini orchids ($9.99 a piece) and primrose (two for $5).

That’s four plants and that takes me through the first four days of Plantness. To celebrate properly I’ll need six more before the sun goes down on the 21st and that will be one plant for each of the ten days between Jan 12th and the 21st. Easy enough, right? “Yes, that makes sense” is what I hear you thinking, and no, I’m absolutely not just making this up as I go along. Remember though that if the 10 days are not celebrated properly it means winter will last 8 more weeks, but if done correctly witch hazel and snowdrops will be in bloom by January 22nd. You’ll be thanking me.

“I don’t have room for anymore plants”… is not an excuse. Buy something you’re very likely to kill is what I suggest. I’ll plant the primrose out in the spring and they’ll probably die during the summer, and the orchids will go to my mom on our next visit, and that will probably be for the best. Thanks for the pressure Kimberley, I wouldn’t have bought them otherwise and I’m quite pleased admiring them on this chilly night.

By the way, cut flowers count. Maybe my next six will all be bouquets and six vases surrounding these new additions would be very nice as well.

The Winter Garden 23/24

Jan14

Yesterday I took a soggy stroll around the garden and noticed that a bucket I left out the week before Christmas, to measure how much rain that week would bring, is still sitting out there collecting water. We’ve had plenty of rain since. It was over a foot of water when I kicked it over, and that would have been nice last April when everything was brown but I’m sure it serves some purpose now as well. Maybe. Now that everything is dormant…

Coleus cuttings were potted up last month after about two months in water. They look much happier now and I suspect by the time spring rolls around I’ll have plenty!

Besides kicking over a bucket of water the daily garden tour was mostly uneventful. I did it mostly as a goodbye tour to wish the snowdrop sprouts good luck as colder weather moves in for a few days. For ten days starting this morning temperatures are supposed to sit below freezing and give the impression that winter is going to make a go of it after all and not be lazy about the cold like all of the last two months. For the sake of the snowdrops I’m relieved. The latest warm deluge had them thinking April showers, and even the more hesitant bulbs were sending up shoots, so this cold should at least freeze a few inches down and cool their engines.

This bromeliad (neoregelia ‘variegated Fireball’ I think) has faded a bit under the growlights, but still seems happier inside rather than out.

So now we have ten days of winter. Six of the ten have temperatures which actually drop below our average, which is reassuring since the next two weeks should be our coldest of the year, but they’re still just barely enough to make me close the coldframe and finally move the potted rosemary into the garage. -and move myself into the winter garden 🙂

$echeveria diffractens$

This echeveria (E. diffractens?) always treats me to a nice New Years bloom. It’s cheery color for when the days are so short.

I’ve been enjoying my winter garden for a few years now. It started innocently enough when a few plants overwintering in the back of the garage earned a spot under a shoplight, and has now escalated to eight lights, all with plants, and the workshop has become a plant room. The coldest days of the year are far less painful with all these goodies growing under lights, and with free heat from the adjacent furnace room the electrical costs for 10 hours of lights is probably still much less than the heating costs for a greenhouse.

Last winter the pale blue of streptocarpella ruled the winter garden. This year it’s one cutting in one pot which almost didn’t make it. Fortunately it’s chosen life, so maybe by May there will be enough of it to start a few more cuttings.

So my winter garden is a cost saver? Yeah…. sure…. just ignore the world of houseplants which has opened up for me now. Houseplants were frowned upon in this house for their dirt and bugs and the lack of decent windowsills, but now there’s room. Friends give me cuttings. I buy a plant here and there. Maybe the winter garden isn’t the brilliant money-saver that I imagine.

This winter I bought a sansevieria (s. ‘Fernwood’) and normally I would judge anyone who buys a sanseveria rather than rooting their own or having one given to them, but it was a nice greenhouse and I was bored and they looked really cool… except for the trick where these were rooted leaf cuttings rather than one plant but whatever…

Money saver or not I enjoy it. It’s a good spot for puttering away an hour or two during the latest winter downpour.

The coldest corner of the workshop is reserved for hardy cyclamen and other forced bulbs which don’t mind a frigid draft or dip close to freezing.

The only problem with the winter garden is that I keep neglecting the snowdrop, cyclamen, and somewhat hardy daffodil selections. I love having them here with me inside but always neglect them come May… and then forget them come September when they need a little attention.

Narcissus romieuxii ‘Craigton Clumper’ would most likely not enjoy a position in my outdoor garden, but is as easy as anything here in a cool spot under lights.

Tragically this winter I have no snowdrops potted up. I’ll have to hope other things distract me enough to ease that pain, and so far the blooms of Cyclamen coum have done the trick, but this garden could really use a few more cyclamen to distract. This year I will be diligent in pollinating blooms and beating the mice to the seedpods… which has been a problem the last two years.

My few pots of Cyclamen coum look much more impressive close up. They will bloom for the next few weeks and should wrap up just as the ones outside begin to flower.

So cold is here, the lights are on, and the winter garden delights. Not bad. Not bad is also the ‘Ten Days of Plantness’ my friend Kimberley and I have decided to celebrate this year. For the ten days before post-solstice (another personal holiday we made up) we celebrate by buying a new plant each day. That would be Jan 12th to the 21st if you’re wondering, and even though I haven’t bought anything for the first two days all that means is I can buy three plants today if I so chose, all completely guilt-free since it’s for the holiday and not just because a new plant is wanted. Plantness plants don’t even need a spot or a plan, you could even buy an orchid even if you’ve killed the last three so enjoy!

On the third day of Plantness my self gave to me… an orchid!? We will see. I might have to stop by Aldis.

sorta like suburbia

more than you ever wanted to know about my garden

Category Archives: winter