Cold Climate Gardening

The Bookish Gardener has recently posted her seedlist. And her husband was complaining about how many seeds she’s bought. He doesn’t know how good he’s got it. What if she was a hosta-holic? One latest-and-greatest hosta probably costs more than all her seed orders combined.

She keeps track of her seed sowing using a spreadsheet, which sounds like a better idea than my using WordPerfect to make a form that I fill out by hand. Well, now that I think of it, it’s easier to keep a piece of paper and pencil by your side as you sow the seeds, but it’s probably easier to look things up later in the spreadsheet. But wouldn’t a database be even better? …

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Sarah of Waiting for Spring (catchy title, no?) has not only picked out her seeds, but placed her order with Vesey’s as well.

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I only order from Jungs as a last resort. But have you checked out Fedco Seeds? They have your Hydrangea, and incredible seeds cheap. They only download catalogs, so until we got cable, I couldn’t really look. Amazing!!!!

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Seed catalogs are terribly hard to resist, I know. Lynda and I refer to ourselves sometimes as the ‘co-dependant gardening society’ for our excessive plant habits. I over-extended myself and the gardens last year (last several years!) by sowing/growing too many things. One of the things that went by the wayside was flowers just for me, and I have decided to devote one raised bed to a cutting garden purely for my own pleasure. I moved some favorite dianthus and campanulas to it, refurbished it with topsoil & manure, reset hyacinths, delphiniums and alliums…..and still I am ordering new flower seed just for it!

In order to make room in the germinators (and my brain), …

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I am trying to abstain from seed starting this year. I still haven’t gotten my garden back into shape, and I am loathe to take on the additional time consumption of growing by seed until I feel matters are under control outside, at least, as “under control” as they’ve ever been. Sure, there’s plenty of time to start seeds in the winter, and the temptation is great. Those little bits of green coming out of the potting soil when all is white and cold outside are such a wonder. The garden’s potential for greatness when you are trapped inside is limited only by your imagination, not your available free time or the might of your arm (or back). But come May, there are seedlings to be started (yes, the plant-out-after-all-danger-of-frost-when-the-soil-is-thoroughly-warmed kind), seedlings to be pricked out, seedlings to be potted on, seedlings to be hardened off, and seedlings to be planted in the ground. But wait, there’s more:

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Pathetically, I have finished my order list. I found a bunch of stuff in Territorial that I liked, and I am not too concerned about climate difference. Even though I am 2 hours North of Kathleen, I am a block from Lake Ontario, and fancy myself a barely Zone 5.

Johnny’s is more expensive these days, but I appreciate their selection of cold hardy things, and most of all, their extensive growing information, both the website and the catalog. I try to order from them just to reward their efforts.

I think that was part of my problem with Park’s - they had generic cool weather annual instructions on the packet. Nichol’s Garden Nursery was even worse - the instructions were …

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My poor rosemary got frozen pretty good up one side this week–too near the glass on the porch. The others wintering over look ok and two of the English violets look like they may be alive. The lemon tree has a nearly ripe fruit, for Heavens’ sake. It was -20F this morning and the front door was frozen shut when I woke up. The jet stream can go back to the Yukon, please. At least there is lots of snow cover for the lining out stock in the gardens.

For the duration of this cold snap I am trying to stay inside as I frostbit my feet a bit last week plowing–a good …

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