Photographs and thoughts from Andrea Badgley's garden
I’ve got my gardening vacation on the calendar — first week in April — but there’s so much to do, I don’t think I can get it all done in one week.
It was sunny and 50 degrees today, so I started early with the cutting back and the turning compost and the getting ready for spring.
We got another doozie of a snow. I think it was probably 8 inches, but I don’t know for sure.
I forged ahead anyway. I’m pretending this is the final snow, and I planted more seeds indoors today:
I cleared out all the pots that hadn’t sprouted yet to make room for these new seeds. Only 4 of the original 12 Scabiosa seeds emerged from the March 4 planting, so I started some more. The ones that sprouted look healthy, so here’s to hoping at least some of these new ones will come up.
I had planned to take this week off to garden, but was fortunately able to push it out one more week. I don’t really want to garden in the snow. Hopefully next week it will be a little warmer for digging around in the beds.
I was supposed to sow seeds today. In order to do that, I needed to move a bunch of plants to open up the spots where the seeds would go. After nearly 6 hours of ripping out mint, digging holes, unearthing plants, hauling them up hills, reburying them, and watering them in, I am pooped. And I didn’t start any seeds.
Here’s what I did do. Everything is still dormant, so I’m hopeful they’ll get established in their new spots and continue growing unstunted:
I’ve got a to-do list at least as long as the one above to get to before I can actually plant the seeds. I’m bummed I couldn’t get more done today since we’re about to have 2 days of rain (and possibly sleet and snow). I guess we’ll have more rain in April, so everything can get watered in then. And this week I’ll try to chip away at my list :-).
Welp, after all that optimism and planning, March decided to test the garden. I wrote more about the snow on my main blog — I’m ready for spring so I can stop writing about how I’m ready for spring — but wanted to share the photos here for posterity.
We planted these seeds on March 4, 7 days ago. The Mexican sunflowers and tomatoes started sprouting on March 9. They are growing under a shop light, I think it’s this 2.8 ft LED one.
Spring is near! It’s been in the 70s most of this week, and today, before a few days of rain set in, I did the following:
Transplants
Seeds
Last night I scraped each blue bonnet seed across an emery board to rough up the surface, then soaked the seeds in boiling water over night. After moving the mums and rue out of the way where I wanted to plant the blue bonnets, I smoothed the dirt as much as possible and drew a pattern in the soil for where I wanted to plant each seed type.
I sowed chamomile, feverfew, and blue bonnet seeds and sprayed them in. Coreopsis seeds need to be sowed when it’s warmer. I can expect the seeds to sprout anywhere from 10-25 days from now, depending on the weather. It may take longer, but I think now that they’re out there they can make their choice about when to emerge.
Colder weather is coming — it will still be warm during the day but will drop below freezing at night, so we’ll see how everything does. Here are some photos of what the garden looks like in late February:
And planning diagrams/seed packet instructions:
I happened to check my viola seeds yesterday, and they sprouted! After a week in the fridge, and then a week out of the fridge but still in darkness, I opened the egg carton lid and saw these little yellow sprouts, trying to find some light:
We hadn’t set up a light for them yet, so my husband hung the shoplight while I figured out the timer, and after one day under lights, our little sprouts are greening up. They’re the only seedlings under the light right now — the bluestem and purple vervain seeds are still in the refrigerator — but soon they’ll have company.
We had a run of above freezing temperatures last week (highs in the 50s and 60s, lows ranging from 29 to 55), and today is bright and warm. There may be some new grass growing — I see green out there where there was only brown last week. I strolled the garden, comfortable in a long sleeved shirt and vest, and saw that tulips are pushing up down by the mailbox:
And the tulips my husband gave me for Valentine’s day will start blooming any minute:
Spring is finally in sight!
I’m finally able to start gardening! I took a flex day on midwinter day (also known as Imbolc, Candlemas, and most familiarly, Groundhog day), and since the kids also had a snow day, my daughter and I drove to Lowes and Home Depot to pick up seed trays, seedling-starting soil, and a shop light for when the seedlings emerge and need light. I bought a large rectangular Gladware container that will eventually be good for storing cupcakes, but for now I am using it to hold the seed pots so I can refrigerate them. I also ordered more seeds 😬.
After making some midwinter cutout cookies with the kids, I started the first round of seeds, which need to be started indoors 10-12 weeks before our average last frost date (April 29 in our area).
Little Bluestem grass
Violas (Johnny Jump-up) Inside
Violas (Johnny Jump-up) Outside
I read on Botanical Interests‘ site, the place I bought my seeds, that I should start little bluestem indoors 10-12 weeks before the last frost (April 29 in our area):
When to sow outside: 2 to 4 weeks before average last frost. Can be sown in the early fall so plants get established before winter and get an early start on spring.
When to start inside: 10 to 12 weeks before average last frost.
Special germination instructions: Germination may improve if seed receives a cold treatment. See inside of packet for detailed information.
When I opened the packet for more information, I read that the seeds need stratification when started indoors in the spring:
When starting seed indoors in spring, sow the seed into a container of moistened seed starting mix, cover with clear plastic wrap and leave the container in a refrigerator for three to six weeks, then remove to a warm location. Always keep soil evenly moist.
I’m not sure how many to plant, though — if I want the grass to take up 1.5 feet in diameter, how many seeds do I plant and in how many pots?
Oh wait, on the packet it says:
Seed depth: 1/8″ – 1/4″
Seed spacing: a group of 4-6 seeds every 1′-2′
Thinning: when 2″ tall, thin to 1 every 1′-2′
So if I want 10 1′ clumps, I should probably start 12 small pots, each with 4 seeds. Okay, I think I’m good for bluestem.
We don’t have a lot of shade on our property, which I love — more sun means more flowers. We do have a shady spot up on the hill though, and I thought it’d be fun to put some violets up there. Instructions for how to start Johnny-Jump-Up seeds are all over the place — some say they need stratification like mentioned above, some say to start them in a warm place — so I’m not sure what the best approach is. Since they are an early spring bloomer, I’m going to go with the cold treatment.
The seeds I bought are Burpee seeds, so I looked at Burpee’s instructions which read:
Sow indoors 8-12 weeks before the last heavy frost using a seed starting kit. Violas can take a light frost. They may also be started late summer for fall blooming.
Sow seeds thinly and evenly in seed starting formula. Cover completely as seeds need darkness to germinate; firm lightly and keep evenly moist.
Seedlings emerge in 10-14 days
As soon as seedlings emerge, provide plenty of light on a sunny windowsill or grow seedlings 3-4 inches beneath fluorescent plant lights turned on 16 hours per day, off for 8 hours at night. Raise the lights as the plants grow taller. Incandescent bulbs will not work for this process because they will get too hot. Most plants require a dark period to grow, do not leave lights on for 24 hours.
Thin to one seedling per cell when they have two sets of leaves.
Seedlings do not need much fertilizer, feed when they are 3-4 weeks old using a starter solution (half strength of a complete indoor houseplant food) according to manufacturer’s directions.
Transplant hardened-off seedlings to the garden after the heavy frost.
Before planting in the garden, seedling plants need to be “hardened off”. Accustom young plants to outdoor conditions by moving them to a sheltered place outside for a week. Be sure to protect them from wind and hot sun at first. If frost threatens at night, cover or bring containers indoors, then take them out again in the morning. This hardening off process toughens the plant’s cell structure and reduces transplant shock and scalding.
I’ve cleared another 1000 square feet of our property for flower beds instead of lawn, and since it’s on a steep hill and I want it to be relatively low maintenance, I’m trying to find drought tolerant plants that attract butterflies and birds, that will hold the hill in place, and that won’t cost us a fortune to establish.
I also have about a million plants I want to try because I keep seeing them in books and magazines and I love them (globe thistle), or I hear they’re a must have for butterflies and hummingbirds (anise hyssop), or because we had a few come up from the wildflower mix last year and I want more of them (bachelor’s buttons).
Since buying everything I want as fully grown plants would cost almost as much as a used car, I researched what I could start on my own and bought seeds. I’ve been waiting a week for them to get here, and they finally arrived!
I cleared out some of the brush last weekend — old seed heads from Sedum, dried stems from mums — to prepare for the coming planting season. I probably should have done that in October or November, as the garden looks much tidier now. I wanted to leave the seeds for birds, though, so I was torn between having neat beds and providing food for winter friends. I think it might look more depressing without the dried plants than it did with them still intact, as it’s now very bare, so I’m not sure which I like better.
Either way, I think it might be good that I didn’t cut everything back in the fall: the remaining stems collected dry leaves and created an insulating blanket for their roots in these cold temperatures. I’ve read it’s good to mulch perennials in the fall to protect the roots, and since we didn’t do that, maybe my autumn neglect turned out to be a good thing.
That’s about the extent of what I could do outside in December and January, so over the past few weeks I”ve spent a lot of time inside thinking about the garden, poring over gardening books and magazines, popping outside to measure, drawing plans, and then browsing catalogs.
Now that I have these beautiful seed packets, I’m even antsier for spring to come so I can start planting. I keep trying to visualize what the beds will look like when plants come in, and I’ve got a calendar for when to plant what and where. I’ll be able to start some seeds indoors in just a couple of weeks.
My biggest questions right now, besides how to make the time go faster, are what kind of seed starter to use — peat pellets or pots with soil? — and whether to buy a grow light. I read something about seedlings needing 14 hours of light, which they won’t get in my basement office, so I think I still have a bit of research to do.
That should kill an hour or two in the zillion hours between now and April when I can get outside and start gardening.
