February 2010

Forced Bulbs: Garden Bloggers Bloom Day February 2010

February 15, 2010

The bulbs that I am forcing have started to bloom. I put one hyacinth in a forcing glass into the basement on November 29th. I potted the rest up on December 5th. I brought them all up when I saw green tips emerging from the bulbs. I now realize this was too early. According to [...]

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Cut Flowers Are a Frugal Luxury

February 14, 2010

I had long considered flowers from a florist to be a frivolous expense. You couldn’t plant them, and had nothing to show for it when they finally shriveled up and died. Spend the same amount on groceries, and at least you’ve fed your family, even if it still seems like you’ve got nothing to show [...]

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Black Plants: Book Review

February 9, 2010

Black Plants: 75 Striking Choices for the Garden by Paul Bonine is the kind of book that drives me wild. Seventy-five gorgeous plants and over half of them are not hardy for me. Wait. Maybe it’s just that half of the ones I want to grow aren’t hardy for me. I actually didn’t go through [...]

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January Thaw Discoveries: Plants

February 7, 2010

The January thaw of last week provided me with an opportunity to “check under the hood”–or, in this case, under the snow cover. It’s always thought provoking, prompting me to think about how different plants respond to this cold season. This snapdragon looked perkier the last time I saw it. I don’t think it will [...]

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The Great Houseplant Census of 2010

February 2, 2010

Mr. McGregor’s Daughter, in an effort to promote domestic harmony*, has requested gardeners everywhere to tally up the number of plants they currently have growing inside. Here are my results: Outdoor Plants Wintering Over 1 rosemary 1 ‘Rehoku Sunrise’ carex (an experiment) 1 apple seedling (my middle daughter’s experiment) 1 orange tree grown from seed [...]

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