Cold Climate Gardening — Hardy plants for hardy souls

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day January 2010

January 15, 2010

There’s Nothing Blooming Outside
The plants I saw two and a half weeks ago are buried under snow.
No Houseplants Are Blooming
The Christmas cactus that provided a bloom this time last year dropped its one and only blossom a couple of days ago.
My Forced Bulbs Aren’t Ready Yet–Neither Hyacinths
My forced hyacinth is just barely getting started:

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Seeds for Cold Climates

January 14, 2010

Seeds of vegetables grown in cold climates need to have a short length to maturity and an ability to tolerate cooler than typical temperatures–day and night. You can look in any general seed catalog for terms like “short growing season,” “early-bearing,” “tolerates cool evenings,” or even the magic words, “especially bred for northern growers.”
It’s even [...]

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Botanical Interests Seed Collection Giveaway

January 12, 2010

Botanical Interests was a new seed company for me when I hosted a giveaway of their seeds last year. Since then I’ve had a chance to grow their seeds. My favorite has got to be the Lauren’s Grape poppy. It is gorgeous paired up with ‘Dark Towers’ penstemon.
Over 300 Kinds of Seeds
But Botanical Interests sells [...]

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Why Is This Winter So Cold?

January 10, 2010

Yesterday, the low here was 8F (-13C). That’s not too surprising. But Dee Nash of Red Dirt Ramblings told me her low that same day was 5F (-15C) in Oklahoma. Whoa! What’s going on here? Check out Eric Berger’s explanation in the Houston Chronicle. It turns out a lot of factors have contributed to the [...]

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Buffa10: Garden Bloggers Meet-Up

January 7, 2010

For the third year in a row, garden bloggers from all over the country are gathering to meet face-to-face, this time in Buffalo, NY. Buffa10 officially begins Thursday night, July 8th and extends to Saturday, July 10th. Elizabeth Licata and Jim Charlier are the masterminds behind this garden lover’s extravaganza. Check out the blog they’ve [...]

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Winter Thaw Discoveries

December 29, 2009

Even in a cold, snowy climate, there are often thaws, periods where it warms up (that means, above freezing), the sun shines, and you may even lose snow cover. In my case, while Oklahoma was getting buried under a record snowfall, it was raining here, and then, on this past Sunday, the sun came out. [...]

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Ellis Hollow Calendar Will Inspire Your Gardening

December 21, 2009

After I had posted about Katinka Matson’s digital flower scans, I tried it myself and so did several other garden bloggers. But, to the best of my knowledge, Craig Cramer of Ellis Hollow is the only one who, month after month, scans what’s blooming in his garden for Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day.
Craig has created a [...]

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Snowfall Records

December 16, 2009

In the spirit of cold climate one-upmanship, let me direct your attention to the Snowfall Averages compiled by the National Climatic Data Center. (Sorry, I don’t have Canadian data handy.) Unless your yearly snowfall is in the triple digits, you might as well give up on bragging rights. But you can get a good idea [...]

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Garden Bloggers Bloom Day December 2009

December 15, 2009

A few Johnny-jump-ups (Viola tricolor) sport raggedly blooms amidst the patchy snow. That’s it. That’s more than I’ve had in other years. November was mild; December’s lows have been in the teens (F). Not as bitter as some winters, and violas are tough. There hasn’t been enough snow to smother them.
Inspired by the words of [...]

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Plants vs. Zombies: Game Review

December 8, 2009

PopCap Games sent me a copy of their Plants vs. Zombies computer game. My 12-year-old son agreed to review the game. This is a compilation of his responses to my questions.
Plants vs. Zombies is a defense type game. You are defending your house from the Zombies. It starts out easy but gets harder later [...]

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Hudson River Valley Farms: Book Review

December 1, 2009

When I first picked up Hudson River Valley Farms: The People and the Pride behind the Produce by Joanne Michaels, I thought it was a typical self-promoting regional book, meant to be sold at gift shops throughout its depicted geography. But I discovered within the farm profiles a commentary on agriculture in New York [...]

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Why I Garden

November 24, 2009

Why do I garden? Why does an artist paint? Why does a pianist spend days practicing for an hour long concert? The truth is, I don’t know why I garden. I don’t know why I have an affinity for plants, a need to see them thrive, a hungering for their beauty.
As a child, I [...]

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