Cold Climate Gardening

This was the view out my kitchen door yesterday morning. We had rain which changed to snow as the day progressed. Because everything was wet, the heavy snow stuck to everything. When the wind picked up, the snow didn’t blow off the branches but added weight to the force of the wind. Consequently branches were falling everywhere.

We were without power for twelve hours. The “nice” thing about a snowstorm at this time of the year is you know it won’t stay around. Although the roads were snow covered …

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In contrast to what gardeners in many other parts of the country have endured, where Spring arrived in full force, only to be slapped down by Winter’s last stand, Spring has not really made its grand entrance. It’s only been peeking through the window, wondering if it really wants to come in.

The snowdrops are dangling the last of their bells. The crocus bank would look pretty good–if only their blossoms would open, which they won’t do without sunshine. The daffodils have been on the verge of blooming for a week, likewise just waiting for a bit of sunshine:

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Thank you one and all for nominating this blog for the Best Design of a Garden Blog category in the first annual Mouse & Trowel Awards. I confess I’ve always been a bit miffed at how garden blogs were so neglected in general blog awards, and I’m glad Colleen has taken the initiative and developed some awards we garden bloggers can call our own.

Voting is now open and will continue to May 11. Note: you don’t have to have a garden blog yourself to vote.

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When I’m thinking of building a garden project, the first book I turn to for ideas and inspiration is Classic Garden Structures by Jan and Michael Gertley. I’ve read and leafed through many books on making and building objects for the garden but this one remains my favorite. Beyond their inherent usefulness, all of the projects are good looking, well-designed, and a pleasure to own and use. They are simple enough to be doable with only a few that are really challenging. I’m still thinking I might be able to build my dream greenhouse someday.

The Gertleys have a way of taking many common garden objects and making them extraordinary. Ornamental molding on tomato cages may sound peculiar but when you’ve seen how the Gertleys use it you will wonder why it isn’t commonly done. Many of the structures have finials, end caps, and posts with ornamental flourishes but instead of looking fey or twee you will be saying yes! to yourself as you’re reading.

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Look at the hardiness map for Minnesota and you will see that the whole state is in zone 4 or colder. The Minnesota State Horticultural Society, which publishes Northern Gardener Magazine, is devoted to helping northern gardeners. If you join the society, besides the magazine you will get borrowing privileges at the society’s library (they mail you the books!), as well as other benefits that would mostly appeal to local members. Or, you can subscribe to the magazine alone.

This month’s issue featured an article on hardy magnolias, as well as a northern native (bloodroot in this issue), an article on hardier …

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Many people who commented on the Katinka Matson post encouraged me to try the technique of obtaining images of flowers by scanning them with a flatbed scanner (an HP Scanjet 2400) myself. So I did.

Even though it remains cold and we get some flurries every day, the snowdrops are slowly going over. Many of them look like they are drying out from the constant wind. I picked the freshest looking ones to bring in the house, and decided to toss them on the scanner first. Unfortunately, the only black cloth I could find was a piece of black felt …

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The standard advice for pruning spring-blooming shrubs is to prune them no later than two weeks after they’re done blooming. This is because most spring-flowering shrubs, at least, all those commonly grown, develop their flower buds on the previous year’s wood. So if you prune them in high summer, or autumn, you are cutting off the wood that has the next spring’s flowers.
However, it is far easier to see the structure of the shrub you are pruning in late winter, when the temperatures have moderated somewhat but the shrub hasn’t leafed out or started blooming yet. And, in the case of forsythia, you can bring the prunings indoors, stick them in a container of water, and, in about a week, have forsythia blooming in the house. These in the photo were cut about a week ago, on one of those nice days just before winter returned.

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