Category: Gardening

New Moon in March

The daylight hours begin to stretch out now. The air is trying to warm here in central Massachusetts. The weather brings cold, frosty nights with the occasional snow shower. This past Sunday afternoon gave us a wild snow squall for about a half hour, followed by sunshine and blue skies. Perhaps a snowbow appeared?

In the garden, the sorrel and motherwort are greening up. The old peach has grey buds and the blush of sap is moving through the branches. The tree is ten years old and growing well. Woodpeckers and nuthatch stroll up and around the bark looking for insects as they begin to emerge from dormancy.

This year in the garden will be active in planting of native shrubs, trees and perennial flowers. The earlier posts show a progression starting last October with site preparation in two locations. The shed was renovated over the winter so a third area has emerged. Posts on. this project are planned in the weeks ahead.

The forsythia patch is now roots and stumps. Once they are removed, posts will mark out where the plants will be dug in. An order went into to Coldstream Farm for root stock with an arrival date based on the season, probably in May. The soil here is rich from years of leaf decomposition and tends to stay moist.  The section faces east and benefits from sun until about two o’clock in the afternoon. The tree line blocks the western side from direct sunlight. Marsh marigold has returned abundantly to this area so I look forward to the further spread of this native plant. Jewel weed tends to be prevalent here as well, although it is not drought tolerant. Our arch nemesis bittersweet continues to experience removal; however, it persists in trying to strangle another tree if I dare let my eyes wander away from it.

Some flower seeds that require a cold stretch hadn’t been prepared in any way until I viewed an online garden lecture with John Root. He spoke briefly on immersing seeds in wet vermiculite or sand, placing the mix in a plastic bag and storing in the back of the refrigerator for at least one month. So!  Sunday, this happened with two larger seed purchases from BetterBee and Prairie Moon Nursery. These photos show the process is quite easy to do. The seed size dictates the type of medium to use. Large seeds are better in vermiculite. Small seeds are better in sand. The plastic bags also contain tiny seeds from smaller packets pressed into a wet napkin. The seeds need the dark, cold and moisture to start to germinate. They’ll stay in the fridge until the last weekend in April. At that time, I’ll transfer them to a different container and hope they do germinate. The larger mixes are meant to be distributed over the prepared sites outside. I just need the weather to change to consistent warmth at 50º F with sun and rainfall to moisten the soil.

There’s a lot to do outside and it’s great to be on the tail end of winter. Let’s hope he doesn’t bring us a surprise like last year. We had a bully snow storm in early May which wrecked the release of mason bees purchased from Crown Bees. I am reluctant to order again as once bitten, twice shy. I know native bees are in the yard, but it’s fun to bring them in and create habitat for these hard-working garden pollinators.

Winter Sowing in February

February 20, 2021

02/20/21 – Folks fond of numerology may find this sequence of interest. The number 7. However, 02/21/21 will top this date sequence. The number 8.

The winter rolls on. Here in central Massachusetts, February has been quite cold and snow falls to the ground every few days. The earth and all her rooted plants are dormant. Little critters move about. Squirrels and birds hop around searching out seeds for a meal. A morsel of something, a drink of water and a cozy barrier against the winds is all that matters.

The winter sowing continues with a few additions. Yesterday, the peas were placed in the red container. Plant by the Signs poster suggested the 18th and 19th were good days for peas to be planted. It’s at least two months away from planting in the soil. So, if the cold alerts the seed to start the germination cycle. So, if the moisture and warmth from the sun induce the seed to sprout, I’ll have learned something new. The other containers have liatris, swamp milkweed, thyme, columbine and rudbeckia. They sleep under the snow and ice.

This group were put out so long ago now. Buried under the elements. Frozen in their containers. A month, it’s about a month until spring. The song birds did seem to change their tune lately. The watch is on for the red-winged black bird. When they shriek from the river, it will be a good day. Safe flights birds!

Winter Sowing in December

Winters in southern New England can be quite cold and snowy from Thanksgiving until late April. The jet stream sometimes brings on a milder weather pattern, but also can provide fierce, deep cold with abundant snowfall. A freeze, mild thaw cycle will be normal as we slowly creep towards spring renewal.

Outdoor gardening during these months is normally confined to pruning. Sometime in February, plans for the spring garden will start to take shape. A few sketches of different garden areas will emerge with notions to put in new plantings. A fierce October storm blew down a black cherry tree in the backyard. All that remains is the stump so that is on the list of things to do next year.

Next year’s major goals center on creating a more pollinator friendly environment. About eleven years ago when I bought the property, the lawn was weaned off a fertilization program. It took a while, but now I have healthy, fat earthworms emerge wherever the earth is turned over. So many birds live here bringing the great pleasure of being able to hear their songs.

The plantings will include native shrubs, flowers and trees if I can find them. Nurseries sell what is easy, not always what is best for conservation. In the fall, I prepared two large beds for seeding and planting pollinator friendly perennials and annuals. It took a lot of hard work to clear out the none native weeds, lay down the compost, letting it decay and settle during the long winter months.

One mission this winter is to purchase a seed mix for the beds. The goal is to order the right blend for my area and store it in a cold space to at least get some of the freeze/thaw conditions they need to germinate. However, the notion of winter sowing has been  discovered in the last few months and I am fully into the experimental phase of this different way to plant native perennials.

It’s actually appealing in that material that is normally put in the waste stream is salvaged to create miniature greenhouses that allow the seed to experience freeze/thaw, but provide for germination in a controlled environment. So much of seeding and germinating is happenstance. When the conditions are right, the seeds will sprout. This winter sowing helps to provide this condition.

So, here is the pile of materials that will assist in seeding. The milk crates will hold four plastic one-gallon jugs containing soil and seed. The seeds came from different sources. Some from a local seed exchange. The common milkweed was field harvested in October. There is also aster and black-eyed Susan ready to sow.

Apparently, there are also optimum days to seed and a reference to this  helped establish those days. December 20 was mentioned to be one best day to plant among many so called ember days.

It took about two hours to produce this lot. Here they sit out in the snow. Another batch will be prepared and then it’s time. The snow/rain cycle has been active for weeks so additional moisture in the jug won’t be necessary for a while. The caps are off the jugs allowing the elements inside. There are drainage holes in each jug.

It felt odd to be handling soil and seeds at this time of year but in a few months, we’ll see what happens.

Perennial List:
Common, swamp and swan milkweed, clematis, white turtlehead, coneflower, lavender hyssop, cardinal flower, lupine, columbine, wild bergamot, ironweed, and yarrow.