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Seed-starting Success
The Spring seed-starting season is over. I’m happy with the results. Lessons learned from previous seasons made a difference. Over-planting has long been a problem. Yeah, I plant too much–that’s just my style. I like mass plantings. Growing too much causes problems. I quickly run out of room under lights and in the coldframe. Planting…
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Treating my Spring Fever
Groundhog’s Day has come and gone. Shadow or not, the prospect of an early spring makes me want to garden. Unseasonably mild weather in recent weeks is testing my resolve to avoid planting too early. Digging up day lilies to expand my veggie garden scratched my itch for several days. They came from Dad’s garden…
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Winter Garden Lessons Learned
Petunias can handle temperatures as low as 29 degrees (F)–a fact I’ve long applied to all cool season annuals. I recently checked cold tolerance for the specific varieties in my winter vegetable garden. Turns out, everything I’ve planted can handle temperatures as low as 20 with most surviving as low as 15. Talk about relieved.…
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Springing Forward
The eternal optimist in me believes a mid-March cold snap marked the end of freezing temperatures here in Athens. Locals say wait until Good Friday to plant tender annuals. Not me. I’m too impatient to wait any longer to jump into spring. The falling Mercury brought my seed-starting operation to a halt. I was out…
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Nursery Update
My little seed-starting operation is going gangbusters. Some of everything I planted germinated — including several varieties that didn’t come up last year. This unprecedented success was a nice surprise that meant running out of room sooner than expected. I hit the max (eight flats) earlier this month and would have been in trouble had…
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Mid-January in the Garden
Winter in Athens has been fairly mild so far. We’ve had frost on windshields many mornings, but only one when the mercury dropped below 25. I covered what I could and crossed my fingers. Everything survived — including plants I was not able to cover. Aside from scattered blossoms, annual flowers have hunkered down and…
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My Little Plant Factory
Toodles surprised me this year with everything I need for my own seed-starting operation. I’m guessing my sweet little dog thinks her thoughtful gift will keep me at home. She knows me so well. I’ve mostly avoided planting anything permanent. There are many reasons, but the biggest is a deep and abiding affection for annuals.…