Seedy

I *finally* got around to starting seedlings. Or at least doing what needed to be done to get them started.

Something new to me is starting wild strawberry and wild petunia from seed. The seeds need to be pre-treated by stratification. The gardener mixes the seeds with damp sand to help break through the seeds' dormancy mechanism and allow germination. The mixture sits in the refrigerator for a given amount of time, 60 days for these varieties, at which time the seeds have hopefully sprouted and may be planted directly into the garden. Fingers crossed!

The other seeds that needed starting were zinnias and amaranth. This process is more "normal" - fill little pots with potting soil (I chose to top the potting soil with vermiculum), moisten the medium, then plant the seeds. Ordinarily, I would place the pots on a warming pad, but this year I have too many for that. The flats are in a room that is fairly warm and protected from Beau the Feline Destroyer.

Each packet of zinnia seeds contained 40 seeds, although they are so small I was skeptical. However, when I counted them out, there were 41 seeds in each. A while back I learned that the gardener does not need to use more than one seed per pot, so that is what I did here. There are some leftovers in case some of the seeds don't germinate.

If the zinnia seeds seemed tiny, the amaranth seeds made them look like giants. The package contains 100 seeds, but all I needed were six. In this case, I did plant two per container, just because they are so small.

By the way, amaranth is a ancient grain, but I plan to use my plants for dyeing yarn.

It feels like March around here, especially with the wind - in like a lion. Around town, forsythia is blooming and magnolias are budding. The birdhouses are cleaned and hung. The lawn is green and will soon need to be mowed. The yard awakens.

Bugs, buds, and blossoms

I've seen a swarm or two of gnats this past week, but today I spotted this fellow feeding on the witch hazel blossoms. Some kind of bee, I guess. Honey?

Bee on witch hazel

Meanwhile, buds are starting to swell here and there around the yard.

Serviceberry

Chokeberry

Elm

Hawthorn

Ragwort

I didn't get a good photo of the snowdrops, but the "regular" croci are blooming as well as the daffodils (which look a little raggedy, due to the fluctuating weather).


So much for outside. Inside, I finally got around to starting the zinnias from seed. But first, I made some pots from newspaper, as described in this video.


Mine are not as refined as the ones in the video, but they will work.

Today I finished de-branching the arborvitae, so that task is finished. Now I am waiting on an estimate for the rain garden, because of this repeat performance:

I hope the rain garden helps.

Potted

I decided to transplant the Dracena marginata I lopped off a while back as there were a few roots poking out of the bottom of the pot. (Photo did not turn out.) There were fewer roots than I expected, so the poor thing feels unstable. Also, Beau the Feline Destroyer of All Things Nice kept trying to nibble on the leaves while I worked. The repotted plant is back in my bedroom (where the cats are forbidden - one too many episodes of puke on the bedding). It seems to be doing okay on the dresser despite the lack of direct sunlight.

Besides not being able to find the heating mat for seed starting, I also cannot find the doodad I have for making little pots from newspaper. The New York Times came to my rescue with instructions for making these pots which use a tomato paste can for the form. I went to town.

I think there are about 44 pots here, all filled with potting soil. The seeds are out of the refrigerator. I just need to decide what and how much to plant. There will be herbs, hollyhocks, and zinnias for sure.

I subscribe to the digital edition of the New York Times, but receive a hardcopy of the local paper. I've contemplated going paperless with the latter as well, but I use a lot of the newspaper in the garden and for various and sundry things. I guess I'll keep getting it for now.

I worked on cutting down the big bluestem this past week and came to the conclusion that there are THREE plants, not four. Three of them flop and do not form a clump; what I thought was a fourth plant is a clump of something else, silvergrass, I presume. For a while, I was mistakenly identifying some silvergrass as big bluestem; I must have moved it, thinking it was joining its cousins.

The lawn service came and applied fertilizer and a pre-emergent to the front lawn. They leave a little sign in the yard as advertisement, but given the state of my lawn, they might not want to do that yet. I don't expect any miracles there.

Per usual, I like to sit on the deck in favorable weather and plot changes to the yard. Last summer, I moved a lot of plants around. I was contemplating something similar for this summer or next, but the thought struck me that I don't particularly like everything in my yard. My habit has been, You plant it, you keep it. But some shrubs are too big, others too small, some uninspiring, many perennials that I love are missing, etc. My eye has become much more critical now that there is less room for stuff. It's time to take inventory and decide if I want to keep, replace, or just plain remove some things.

The fruit trees are coming, the fruit trees are coming!

Grandpa's Orchard sent me an email to let me know the eight fruit trees I ordered are on their way. I've been reading Grow a Little Fruit Tree in anticipation of this event, and growing a bit anxious myself about timing. The underground utility people are scheduled to mark the yard tomorrow, so then we should be good to go. Yippee!

I'm not excited about today's weather - still cold and windy. The past couple of days I've coped by potting up some of my indoor starts. The lettuce has been transplanted to "lettuce bowls", some of which are destined to be gifts. The peppers are in larger containers, where they can spread their feet until nighttime temps are over 50. The broccoli roots also have a bit more room now, although I hope to get them into the ground by May 1. And I made the first yarden trip of the season to Home Depot, for bags of garden soil and potting mix.

Otherwise, it is just more hurry-up-and-wait. *sigh*

I see asparagus

This past week as been the epitome of our fair city's nickname, Fort Rain, Windiana. The temperatures have not been all that bad, but when combined with the wet and the wind, being outdoors was just miserable. Today, however, is beautiful.

The only edibles in the garden so far are garlic, rhubarb, and as of today, asparagus. Inside, I have broccoli, lettuces, and peppers started. I plan to transplant the lettuce plants to "lettuce bowls" for myself and as gifts for friends.

The Meyer lemon is producing tiny green lemons, but the plant is starting to look a bit peaked again, presumably because of my neglect regarding fertilizer. I top dressed the pot with some potting soil formulated for citrus. Other options on hand are: fish emulsion (which I don't like to use indoors because it stinks, plus the cat may find it irresistible) or manure/compost tea, which if odor free, would work. Or I could shell out some bucks for something more appropriate.

For some reason, lumber labeled as being 8" wide is actually closer to 7", which I find not quite deep enough for my raised beds, especially for potatoes. The plan is to double the height of three beds each year. Today my (handsome *and* handy) SO brought power tools and accomplished that task.

The movable fence has not yet been erected for the season. I wish I didn't need it - I love having a clear view of the garden. Finn does an admirable job limiting the rabbit, mice, and vole populations, but he won't take on woodchucks.

Having a higher vantage point now helps, though. Pots are coming out of hibernation along with patio furniture. I'm looking forward to morning coffee on the deck.

Current bloomers are daffodils, hyacinth, and something tiny and white that I can't identify. Inside, the mother plant for the coleus has been decimated, and nine babies are establishing their root systems. I'm also starting black eyed Susan vine inside this year, as last year they did not germinate very well outside; unfortunately, they aren't doing very well inside, either.

A little worried

Last weekend I started some seeds indoors: broccoli (late, I know), tomatoes, peppers. The broccoli seeds have sprouted, but no sign of life from the rest. These are the seeds that were delivered during the polar vortex. I hope the bitter temps they may have experienced in transit did not kill them. I'm going to put a little heat under them, to see if that helps.

I am also fretting about plant deliveries because, during a brain fart, I decided to be out of town in late April. Pinetree responded to my neurotic fretmail by shipping the rest of my order the next day. I didn't notice that, besides Irish potatoes, the order includes sweet potato slips; if the latter are hurt by the chilly temps as they travel, it will be my own damn fault. I also contacted Stark Bros. about the blueberry plants that were supposed to be shipped in March; they are on their way. That leaves only some ground cherry and pepper plants from Seed Savers to worry about.

Otherwise, I've been trying to achieve a little yard clean up. Not easy with cool temps and frigid wind and alternately pelting and misting rain. This weekend promises to be sunny, or so they say. Around here, you can never tell.

Let's do stuff

Last weekend, my granddaughter said, "Let's do stuff, Grandma!" So we did some stuff that required the wearing of the striped overalls.

We watched a video on how to make seed starter pots from toilet paper rolls, then tried it ourselves. We used these pots to transplant the poppy seedlings we started on her last visit, plus plant a few more.

The coleus bits from the mother plant had sprouted roots, so we transplanted them as well, to yogurt containers.

And that is about all the gardening we could do, as snow was still upon the land.

I can't wait

It is too early to start transplants from seed, even broccoli, but that does not mean I can't get prepared.

Last year I tried growing transplants in the garage, thinking the cooler temperatures out there would keep the plants from getting leggy. Instead, they pouted. So I moved the rack back inside. If I weren't planning some major renovations to the house, I would locate the rack elsewhere, but the West Wing will have to do for now. It is cool out there most of the time, unless there is afternoon sun.

Then I hacked up the coleus mother plant, to clone transplants for the flower box on the front porch. I did something similar last year, and it worked out well and saves me a few bucks at the greenhouse.

The snow has begun to melt. Last night we had weather alerts for wind, fog, flooding, AND thunderstorms. Fortunately, the rain was short lived. This morning the temperature is still above freezing, but that won't last. Can't put away the wool sweaters just yet.