March 2010

Seed-Starting: Online Help

March 30, 2010

Several years ago I decided to quit starting plants (ornamental and edible) indoors from seed. It was always a great way to appease my impatience for spring’s arrival, but a seedling massacre occurred every May, as my attention was diverted to the many garden tasks outdoors needing completion. Inevitably, I’d forget to water, or take [...]

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Clivia, Re-Potted

March 29, 2010

Repotting a houseplant reputed to be slow-growing and expensive is almost as daunting as dividing a perennial for the first time. You are just sure you are going to kill it, so it helps to have someone more experienced to coach you through the process. Many thanks to L. T. Tran of Idlewild Farm, Andrew [...]

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Siberian Squills From Seed

March 28, 2010

So often we’re told that a certain bulb multiplies by seed, but how often do you see it in action? In the photo above, the Siberian squill seedlings look almost like grass, but many of them still have the brown seed coat on their tips. Also, they are not flat like grass blades, but round [...]

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Mud Season: Clean Up Quandaries

March 25, 2010

A fellow gardener emailed me earlier this week: Oh cold climate wise one, Have you seen the forecast for Friday?! Snow and lows in the high teens. What does this mean for all the little perennials I’ve pulled leaf mulch off of? Should it go back on? I’m really looking forward to actual gardening this [...]

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Should I Root Prune My Mom’s Clivia?

March 24, 2010

My mom asked me to repot her clivia for her. Clivia miniata is a slow-growing and slow-to-bloom houseplant in cold climates, blooming in late winter and highly tolerant of neglect. I don’t own one myself (though I hope, in time, to inherit an offset of hers), so I made some attempt to familiarize myself with [...]

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Snowdrops, Winter Aconites, Crocus: Garden Bloggers Bloom Day March 2010

March 15, 2010

Another March, another mud season in full swing. The snowdrops that had barely opened five days ago are now in full flower: The snowdrops that were buried under snow on March 7th are now in full bud, as you can see on the left. This is the path in the Secret Garden that I brag [...]

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Choose locations to plant fall bulbs now

March 10, 2010

In January, the snowdrops in the Secret Garden looked like this: This Sunday just passed–March 7th–those same snowdrops looked like this: Such are the vagaries of an upstate New York winter. Since then, the temperatures have been mild and the sunshine brilliant, and the snow is receding. This, my fellow cold climate gardeners, is the [...]

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