Comments on: Curiouser and Curiouser

By: Lisa

Lisa — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 05:03:18 +0000

Thank you Judy
I really appreciate your help with this matter. I will try them in spring.

Lisa

By: Judy Miller

Judy Miller — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 03:28:08 +0000

Hi Lisa–You might check out the weather links listed above. Spirit Lake gets quite a bit more snow than Coeur d’Alene, I know, and the growing season is thus somewhat shorter. The mesowest links would help there–I’d guess an average of 110 days? Roughly frost free from end of May to early Sept. I’m including a link to some more weather graphics for you too. But as to where to buy starts–I’d say the Kootenai County Farmers market would be a good place to start, they will likely start up the end of April or beginning of May. Garden centers have come and gone a bit in your area over the past few years and I’m hesitant to point you further! There are some lovely places but a bit spendy maybe. . . . and while my stuff isn’t spendy, I don’t do a lot of the veg end. The farmers market will be your best bet there.
Here’s the link: http://www.city-data.com/city/Spirit-Lake-Idaho.html –it has some real estate blah but you can just ignore that for the graphs of weather.

By: Lisa

Lisa — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 00:16:15 +0000

Hi we just moved to Spirit Lake and plan on putting in a garden this spring. Can any one tell us how long the growing season is here and where to get the best veggie and herb plants without costing and arm and a leg?

By: Judy Miller

Judy Miller — Wed, 01 Mar 2006 01:16:24 +0000

I posted a new entry for answers as the first two tries got eaten here. The barometer today was as low as I’ve ever seen it: 29.06! Typhoon, anyone?

By: Heather

Heather — Tue, 28 Feb 2006 21:43:48 +0000

Thanks you Judith for your advice on the bulbs and morning glory!
My true love is roses and I brought some with Ca suntans and winterized them and truly hope they made it! My questions is.once the ground thaws may I also begin planting new rose bushes purchased from the area. Thanks again for your time and wisdom! Heather

By: Betsy

Betsy — Tue, 28 Feb 2006 20:35:32 +0000

Hi Judith! Well, I made it through my first North Idaho winter…..oh great, are you laughing now because we probably have months left of it?!?!? Anyway, it has been so much fun and I LOVE snow shoeing! I want to do my first veggie garden…do you have any advice for when I need to start seeds inside, and which ones? I know I should start tomatoes, how about carrots? I saw a seed starting chart on Organic Gardening website that I am about to print out. Thanks!!! -Betsy

By: jenn

jenn — Tue, 28 Feb 2006 13:36:22 +0000

Hey Judith!

Thanks for the advice – I had forgotten I had pulled up dahlias to winter-over, I guess I should take a look at them and then plant them up.

And I’m betting this is the time to start the Cannas back up, too. Maybe if I start them early enough they will actually BLOOM!

Jenn

By: Judith

Judith — Tue, 28 Feb 2006 04:35:28 +0000

—when the ground thaws.

–Depends, of course, on which kind of bulbs. Begonias, callas, caladiums & other warm weather types should be started as soon as possible (last month if you can manage)–in a very warm place in the house. Dahlias benefit from an early start too though maybe March or April.

Ask the county extension folks or your neighbors what your average last frost date is, or poke through the Meso west data, and work around that for your growing season length.

Glads, dutch iris & other nearly hardies can go in when the ground is nice enough to dig.
That will depend on your site. Here I still have lots of snow and the ground had thawed only about 1-2″ before yesterday’s snow & today’s rain–any bulb planted out now would drown.

But PF is a chunk warmer and if you have a south facing slope, you could start much earlier there. And with glads, as they take about 90 days to flower from planting, you can work backwards from when you want to have them to when you will plant them.

If you have the room and the itch, you could pot bulbs like lilies & dutch iris and keep them cold, just off freezing, and get a few weeks jump on the season. They’ll be happier than in the bags of shavings they come in and you can enjoy the planting.

Morning glories! A woman after my own heart. They do well here and are not at all invasive, so plant all you want. I start them early in peat pots so they can take off in the garden. You’ll need a really warm site to get Moonflowers to bloom, like a south facing wall & maybe a nice concrete planter, but the general varieties are all reliable. There’s an electric pole in Sandpoint in someone’s yard and they’ve trained Heavenly Blue up them for years—all the way to the top.
Welcome to the neighborhood.
Judith

By: Heather

Heather — Tue, 28 Feb 2006 03:51:22 +0000

Hello, I am also a new Northern Idaho resident in the area of Post Falls. I was wondering when it will be safe to start planting bulbs? I also wondered does morning glory grow well up here? I am loving the new climate situation and excited about planning my back yards. Thanks Heather

By: Judith

Judith — Sat, 29 Oct 2005 00:18:43 +0000

We’re very close–I’m about 20 miles north of you. Elmira is in a cold spot–the wind across the flat south of you to Sandpoint is nasty in the winter. If you have a warmer-than your neighbors microclimate, you’re lucky.
As you will have noticed today, our November rains have begun, and the snow is quite a way down the mountains. The fall crocus and colchicums have mostly finished, but the hellebores have started and there’s those great weird mushrooms of every color wherever you set your foot.
I’m madly trying to get things finished before snow: last deer fencing, greenhouse tightening, plants bedded down, beds cut back, bulbs planted. In a week or so, generally, the slush & snow should start. Anything you have left in the yard will magically disappear, only to be found again on the weekend Sandpoint schedules its winter carnival & ice carving contest, when it Chinooks like mad and all melts off. Oh! There’s that rake!, etc.

That roller-coaster weather, swinging from -20F to 40+F in a day or so, and back again without snow cover, and the large amounts of winter wet when it thaws, are the real limiting factors on plant survival here. If you’re putting bulbs in around the house, be sure they aren’t in low spots or they’ll drown.

If you don’t have your garden fenced, you will need to before planting the veggies; there are elk, moose and especially deer all through here who just love a nice veggie or flower garden. I use steel t-posts and sheepwire, topped with field fence as they will jump a 5 or 6 foot fence easily.

And yes, gardening is hard work, but the results are magical and enthralling, and worth every sore back and blister. Welcome to gardening in North Idaho, and to the community here.