Seeds and seedlings

Mar13

Our usual last frost is somewhere in the area of May 15th but I’ve never seen it happen that late. Usually the first week of May has been ok. Still I go off the 15th anyway and as a result I always feel behind. I did start the onions and leeks about two weeks ago (I think that’s about nine weeks early?) and the little sprouts have been coming up on the fringes of the shop light, but as they start grow it’s time for the change-over.

The cyclamen and snowdrops are kicked out from under the light, and the new seedlings take over. They’ll be fine on the cold windowsills now that its warmed up a bit and the onions and leeks should be happy with the prime lighting locations. You’re looking at lancelot leek and copra, red wings, and ailsa craig onions.

In another two or so weeks I’ll start the main crops of warm weather transplants such as tomatoes, eggplants and peppers. Also I’ll get some lettuce and cabbage started for early transplanting. A cold frame would really come in handy about now but I never did more than just collect the windows.

I did start some other stuff (hardy perennials and bulb seeds) when I started the onions, these are all chilling outside. The finer stuff sits under a plastic tote, the larger seeds get topped off with chicken grit for protection and sit out in the open. When things warm up outside to their liking hopefully I’ll get some sprouts.

They should have been planted about a month earlier to get a real taste of winter, but I didn’t get the seeds until the end of February, so they get what the get.

I also tried something new this year. For seeds that need a cold spell, I tried the Deno method. It’s named after Dr Norman Deno and is a method he used to test germination on thousands of seed types. Basically you take moist paper towels, spread the seeds out on them and then fold them up. This goes in a baggie with info on the outside and either gets room temperature treatment (warm) or refrigerator treatment (cold).

They need a little more attention (you need to check on them periodically for germination), and they need immediate planting in soil when they do show signs of sprouting, but they take up so much less room! The other big plus is you know where your seeds are and you can easily see if they’re dead and rotted. No more staring at an empty pot waiting.

Here I have a dozen or so started seeds sitting in the fridge, nice and neat and out of the way, and so much more acceptable than pots full of dirt next to the yogurt.

If you’re into seed starting, check out “the science of seed germination” at Hayefield blog. It’s a great intro to the science behind seeds and it offers a couple great links, I’d try and put the link right here for you but haven’t mastered that bit yet 😉

Good luck on your seeds!

First day of spring?

Mar12

The sun was out and temperatures crept up to the fifty plus range, so I did what every self respecting suburban boy does when the bad weather breaks. I washed the cars. Donna was pleased, clean cars and an industrious husband are far more respectable than a spouse who shuffles around the yard looking for crocus sprouts, but I couldn’t avoid poking around in the crusty flower beds. Here’s the one right next to the front walk.

The ugly reality

It was time for the trash and dead banana plant carcass to disappear so that there will be room for spring sprouts. Sure it’s early, but I think everything there will be fine even with a couple more freezes. I feel much better now.

A fresh new look

Sorry, but I can’t help putting in one more winter aconite and snowdrop photo. Sure it’s the same two inch plant from an earlier post, but in case you didn’t notice, the subtitle for this blog is “more than you ever wanted to know about my garden”, so to keep it honest I go for the overkill.

Shoots and flowers coming up to make spring a thing

A low of 20F is forecast for later in the week and winter hasn’t been completely crushed, but I’m going to call this past weekend spring (even if it’s just really really early spring).

Next I should consider cleaning the hellebore bed, it could use some attention too.

More of the ugly reality

The pussywillow at the end isn’t waiting so I better get on it, but at least for now the winter grime is off the cars and a couple plants have some breathing room.

Hope for spring

Flower show continued

Mar9

I always enjoy the individual exhibits of potted flowers, and the range and size of some entries is kinda crazy. This year there was a newly designed “Hamilton Horticourt” display area, a 1 million dollar construction donated by a Mrs. Hamilton (who’s name appeared on many impressive plant entries). There were orchids in colors I don’t normally put with orchids.

Daffodils….. featuring the reliable Ice Follies in front (for you Sue)

And hyacinths and amaryllis! I’ve never saw a pot this full. (the red is Pamela btw)

There were many many more, but I have a bias towards bulbs so sorry if you wanted foliage and cactus and more orchids.

One last display was this pot of yellow clivias. This plant always screams fancy to me, but only because I grew up reading a White Flower Farm catalog which listed it. The cost was somewhere in the area of $900 if I remember correctly, and I always thought of it as a houseplant holy grail. I’m past that (maybe?) but I still think of yellow clivia growers as having some kind of social one up on me.

The shopping area was our last stop. Lots of houseplant goodies, some excellent hardy plant displays and upscale garden knick knacks and the usual jewelry and art. I almost bought a hellebore from the Linden Hill display, but thought twice of lugging the pot around. I guess that will be a field trip for a later date.

So the trip was nice, we ate well at the Reading Terminal across the street, travel went smoothly, and the crowds weren’t too bad (for a Thursday). That said it will be a few years before I want to return. I like the springtime dose of gardening, but many of the show displays were silly fluff and there weren’t a ton of wow moments. Am I being crabby? Yes maybe, but it looks like the show is being geared up to a larger crowd and a broader interest range. It’s working too since I believe they’re expecting somewhere over a quarter million visitors, but still I never like change… unless it was my idea.

So I better get back to gardening now that spring is in the air!

Philadelphia Flower Show Time

Mar9

The signs of spring keep building. A major one from last week was the return of turkey vultures to the skies above the valley. I never really gave it much thought, but they are migratory and they do head back up north when things start to thaw out, so I guess they are a good sign of higher thermometer readings. Them being vultures you can figure out on your own what it is that draws them back, but it’s not just flowers that appear when the snow recedes.
For a different dose of spring, a friend and I made a mid-week road trip down to the flower show. This was the 185th show held by the Pennsylvania Horticulture Society and this year’s theme was “Brilliant” and had a British flair to it.

There was a music video show every hour on the Big Ben screen. It was funky and modern and not what I was expecting, but its been a couple years since I was last to this show. I was also surprised by all the cash bars (there’s one in the front left of the above photo) and snack stands sprinkled throughout the show. Maybe it was geared for the evening visitors, but I saw plenty of afternoon beverages being served. Made me wish for summer garden tours with a favorite beverage in hand, but being on a hard-core tour schedule, we opted out.

Florist displays were popular, table settings galore. I do like a green/white theme.

or a nice flower thicket looming over the dinner table.

This one makes me think late night party with way too much wine.

I think this one was a bronze manufacturer out of England (not a florist). Their display was a “Wonderland” theme. I liked it!

That’s enough table settings, I prefer the little yardscapes much more. Here are a couple I could see inspiring someone to do the same to their own place…. not me of course, I can barely keep up with the weeding and planting.

This is also take home worthy, even though there’s a bit too much “stuff” laying around (crap maybe?)… but to be honest I love having a bunch of interesting crap around!

I wish I could take better pictures, mine just doesn’t do this display justice. View for this display goes through the gate, down a flower lined grass path, and continues through a brick potting shed, and out to another garden. Nice plan and plants!

This one also appealed to me. Probably not much to take home, although I do have a pair of disfunctional wheelbarrows, but I liked it. There’s a nice wall-o-cabbage and other brassicas for a backdrop.

There were other great displays, but I won’t bore you with photos that get a little too far into the out of focus. Last one for the post is a mailbox entry from under the sea. The kids were impressed when they saw this picture, lets hope they don’t expect a mailbox overhaul at our own house.

Now it’s off to the ‘Horticourt” for individual plant entries!

Winter aconite

Feb25

I guess with a name like winter aconite there’s no kidding anyone that spring is here, but I guess I’ll take anything in February. These bulbs were moved last summer and now I feel like a squirrel trying to remember where I put them. I swear I had more.

Winter aconite (Eranthis hiemalis)

Breaking the back of winter

Feb25

We might be getting close. It’s still winter, but based on the strength of the sun and melting snow, I’m going to call it late winter. To me it matters. If it wasn’t for the low of 17F that’s sitting in the weekly forecast I might even say it’s early early spring…. but not yet.

Winter Aconite (eranthis hyemalis) has joined the ranks of flowers braving the cold.

Yellow winter aconite alongside the first snowdrops

The cyclamen coum are trying to make a go at it, but really get no respect from the kids….. Actually I have to say they are pretty conscientious about being careful, but when it’s 25F and windy and they have to clean up, things get tossed about a bit.

The first of the Cyclamen coum. You wouldn’t think a cyclamen would want to brave our winters…

Witch hazel (Hamamelis pallida)

The witch hazel is still going strong. I bet it could use an evergreen background to show off a little better, but I would first need evergreens for that

The hellebores still have a way to go, I wouldn’t call this a vision of spring just yet, but there’s hope. With March coming maybe I can start cleaning this mess up.

The attractive winter foliage of a Hellebore in Pennsylvania in February.

Color in the Garden

Feb11

Orange gerbera daisies in a cobalt blue pot, surrounded by red gomphrena. Classy.

Too much orange and red? I got it in my head two years ago to put together a red bed and this is the far end where the colors were a bit mellower. Gardeners are supposed to mature over the years as they gain a little experience and their plantings become more sophisticated. I must be developmentally delayed as this hasn’t happened to me in the over 30+ years since I planted my first seed. I still get suckered in by anything with a bright bloom.
Today as more bad weather keeps me inside I’m looking at dahlia websites. A few dahlias have nicer foliage but it’s for the blooms that you grow them. Not exactly a step forward in garden subtlety.

At least I’m not planning on adding more cannas….. yet.

Room for Vegetables

Feb10

I read that this qualifies as companion planting.

This is a part of the vegetable patch….. believe it or not….. if you look closely you can see a few lettuce transplants towards the lower left. In my defense it’s a new part and maybe it’s best to grow flowers until I have a chance to build up the soil.

Planning the Veggie Patch

Feb10

Some parts of the vegetable garden actually contain vegetables.

I just spent a large part of my Saturday afternoon putting together this year’s seed list, mostly for the vegtable patch. It’s not easy leafing through all the catalogs, browsing the websites, and looking up exactly what varieties will be best suited for your own little patch of land. The hours add up and it almost seems like more work than hobby, especially when you realize no one in this household really even likes vegetables.
Heirloom tomatoes, obscure asian greens, european market vegetables…. all sound great, but when you’re a canned corn and frozen spinach (usually only used for making dip) kind of family, a normal person might question the whole process.
The neighbors appreciate it though, and when a tray of eggplant parmesan shows up on our doorstep it’s all good.
As you can see in this photo from last year, flowers tend to dominate the veggies, each year getting a little worse. Annuals are one thing but perennials are a little harder to plant the tomatoes around. It seemed like a good idea in September but devoting four beds to tulips and daffodils (and one bed to hellebore seedlings) might be a problem when it’s time to plant peas.

The Winter Garden

Feb3

Gardening indoors

A winter garden usually means something a little fancier than my shop light setup that sits in the back part of the garage. Hellebores, evergreens and snowdrops could fill a corner of an outdoor winter garden, a nice glass conservatory planted with camellias and clivias would be a perfect spot for a January morning cup of coffee, even a couple southern windows with a flowering lemon tree and a couple amaryllis is nice….. but this is all I’ve got. It’s better than nothing.

The cyclamens love the cooler temperatures of the garage. I keep some of my babies here, the ones that I didn’t get around to planting out or ones that I wanted to “keep close” for another year. Right now the cyclamen coum are blooming. Here’s one grown from Green Ice Nursery seed. The mother plant was collected in Russia, and I think it’s cool that my little plants are only one generation removed from the Russian wilderness.

Last year’s Cyclamen coum seedlings

Seedlings for the next generation of Cyclamen hederifolium are also coming along in the winter garden. They were sown last winter, didn’t get enough of the cold they wanted, sat all summer and then finally sprouted in the fall. I could have left them outside but they take up barely any space and I can check up on their progress any time I want.

Various hardy cyclamen seedlings