Last year, I requested about a dozen seed catalogs in late October and early November.  Early’s was well… early, arriving in December when I needed an infusion of hope that Spring was coming.  And I kind of chuckle at my impatience for the snow to be gone in December since winter solstice, or the first day of winter, officially begins that month, on the 21st… Winter is just getting started and my thoughts are pushing forward for what’s to come!  So what’s a girl to do when there’s snow on the ground and cold weather forcing her to remain inside?  After reading through the seed catalog for the fourth time (and marvelling at the price jump in all things seeds or bulbs), I planted two sweet potato cuttings that had sprouted.  Then I took a look at my African Violets and decided they needed a larger home.  

African Violets are kind of a finicky, sensitive plant.  When they’re happy, they’re very, very happy and thrive.  For me, that’s the first four days of my plant relationship with the violets, once I bring them home from the florist or store I’ve purchased them from… and then, once they’ve acclimatized, they drop their flowers and pout.  They’re NOT happy!  I know to water them from the bottom of the pot since watering them on the surface soil risks getting water on the foliage of the plant.  Should that happen, wherever the water touches dies.  The greenery literally turns brown and rots away.  I’ve even tried growing a new plant from a couple of these dying stems in the past, cutting away all the damaged bits and plucking them in a little jar of water to root, without success.  And I’ve also placed stems directly into moist soil and tried getting new plants that way, without success.  So, watering the Violets from the bottom works well, as does using a watering bulb.  If you’re not familiar with what that is, it’s basically a glass cylinder with a very long neck.  After filling the bulb up with water, the neck of the bulb is deeply inserted into the soil, close to the roots of the plant, without disturbing either the roots or the foliage of the plant.  As the soil dries and the roots suck up the water, the bulb empties and supplies the plant with a continuous source of water, as it needs it.  When the bulb is empty, refill it with water and insert it back into the plant soil.   If you’re going away for a few days or you’re forgetful, as I can be, the watering bulbs are a great way to provide house plants with water security so they never go dry.

Near the end of the growing season last summer I decided I’d like to use watering bulbs in my gardens as well - more specifically in my container gardens.  Some days I was watering fruit and vegetables, such as tomatoes and cucumbers, in the morning and again in the evening - daily.  And the plants still looked like they weren’t getting enough water as the soil wasn’t retaining moisture and there was no evidence of water in the reservoir at the bottom of the plant pots.  I didn’t get the bumper crop I was expecting and ended up purchasing tomatoes so I could put up jars of tomatoes for the winter.  I never did have enough cucumbers, or carrots, to pickle.  And I did one jar of garlic cloves but they turned green so I discarded them.  I’m not sure what I did wrong but it was sure tough to see all of my hard work, time and effort go down the drain and into the garbage.  I AM going to try again this year.  I’m even going to attempt to grow my own garlic, which is an exciting prospect for me as I was a very little girl when my Dad grew garlic one year.  It had been a new to him crop as well and the bulbs didn’t store well over winter, so he didn’t grow them again.  I don’t remember him drying them for very long after harvesting them.  And he didn’t bunch them, tie them together and hang them to fry either, as my YouTube researching has indicated should be done.  Once the skin of the garlic is dry and papery, they’re ready to set aside for winter storage.  I know that now but this learning technology wasn’t available when I was a little girl - it didn’t exist yet.  Back to the seed catalogs I requested.

I received two catalogs in the mail, the one from Early’s that I mentioned and then a second from Vessey’s seeds out of Prince Edward Island.  The prices listed in their catalog are anywhere from $2.95 to $7.95 and pricier.  I have chosen a few different seeds to buy from them, only because I haven’t seen the plant varieties anywhere else.  And my plan is to specifically grow some of the plants in my garden and allow them to “go to seed” by not harvesting them until seed pods are ripe.  If you’ve ever grown poppies, you’ve seen the seed pod once the flowers have finished blooming.  Once the pod is dried, snip it from the stem and put the pods directly into an enclosed container.  If you don’t contain the pods, the seeds will spill all over and you’ll have poppies coming out your wazoo the following year.  Also, if you leave the poppies to naturally seed your garden, be aware that the wind will also snatch the seeds and carry them a fair distance.  One day I hope to live away from the city, so as not to annoy my neighbours who won’t appreciate my plans (or the city’s bylaws that appreciate manicured lawns over, shall we say, more natural gardens) and I’m going to allow a portion of my property to grow a natural habitat.  It will be a place encouraging wildlife to come enjoy a feast of grasses, fruit and water, providing them with resources for their nests and trees to build homes.  But at the same time, I plan to grow plants such as poppies, delphiniums, daisies, sage, yarrow, echinacea and chamomile.  It will be a beautiful little meadow that is designed to look natural even though I will guide and manipulate some of the plant growth that is found there. Once I’ve planted a couple of species, I’ll let them decide where they will grow next.  I anticipate this will be one of my most beautiful, and personally satisfying, gardens to date.  I’ve tried doing this in the city, growing behind my six foot fence so my yard is completely enclosed.  First I planted a cherry tree, added five delphiniums, then eight day lilies.  I used the foliage from the plants to hide the chicken wire fence I put up to support the delphiniums.  I added some lily bulbs and then, when the neighbours ferns migrated onto my other garden, I transplanted them into my “wild” flower bed.  I enclosed the bed using the dead, dried trunks of a weeping willow that used to grow in the back yard.  All that work and then Bylaw visited because someone complained about that specific garden.  Can you believe it?  Someone had to look over that six foot fence to see my soul feeding garden and they complained.  Even more astounding to me was the fact Bylaw agreed and the officer told me what needed to be removed.  I still shake my head at how ridiculous it seems.  It’s a few years behind me now but that experience sure influences the gardens I grow now.  But I’m STILL going to allow some of my plants to go to seed so I can include them in my gardens next year.  For instance, fifteen watermelon seeds cost $8.00.  Buying a watermelon, that is seedless, may garner one seed if it has one and the cost is five dollars for the watermelon. If I buy a packet, I won’t plant fifteen plants so I’ll have seed for next year, and perhaps the year after as well.  And from the watermelons that mature for harvesting and eating, I’ll collect whatever seeds I find and add them to my collection for growing in years to come.  And I hope the library still has a seed library I can borrow seed from and replenish at the end of the growing season too.  It will be a great way to learn and experiment with new gardens from.  In the meantime, I’m devouring seed catalogs with my eyes as they arrive in the mail.  I’m disappointed most seed suppliers actually rely on online seed catalogs to reach their customers.  For those retailers, I put them on the end of my list to purchase from.  Online catalogs simply don’t engage me or hold my interest.  Instead, I search for the plant I’m looking for and then leave once the search is complete.  As the days are becoming longer, and rain is forecast for Thursday, I can see that Spring is indeed drawing closer.  And as it does, my green thumbs are becoming increasingly itchier - I am looking forward to puttering around outside in the garden!  I hope you are too.

Take care and have a great week, everyone!