Early Harbingers of Spring

By now many gardeners are fed up with winter: icy sidewalks, misplaced mittens, and dogs that need to go out at 5 below zero. But it will soon be time to start planting seeds indoors, so you might want to start getting ready now.

 

It’s true that greenhouses and garden centers do a nice job of starting plants if you are not interested in babying seedlings along for 8 to 12 weeks. I do let them start some for me, but find that there are plenty of things I want to grow that are not available. So I do both. I start some now, and buy others later.

 

In order to be successful with your seed-starting efforts, you will need supplemental lights. If you try to save money and just start a few seedlings on a sunny windowsill, you will most likely be disappointed. Even under the best conditions, direct sun only reaches your seedlings about six hours a day, much less than they need.

 

Fluorescent light are the least expensive solution to the need for supplemental light. My fixtures are 4-feet long and use two T-8 tubes each. The fixtures are available at hardware and big box stores, and cost from $16 to $40 each, depending where you buy them.

 

T-8 tubes use 32 watts of energy per hour, while older model T-12 tubes use 40 watts. This year I bought some LED bulbs that fit my 4-foot fluorescent fixtures but use only half the electricity. I’m switching over to LED for the sake of the environment, but as the tubes cost about $8 each, I am spreading out my purchases over a few years.  If you want to make the switch, make sure the package says they do not require any re-wiring of the fixtures (older models did require that). One nice thing about the LED lights are that they don’t break if you bump them hard or drop them. Select lights that are 4000 K or 5000K color spectrum, which are close to daylight color.

 

I use a biodynamic calendar called Stella Natura to help decide on planting dates. It uses the sun, moon and stars to determine the best time and day to plant four categories of plants: flowers, fruit, leaf and root. It also has “blackout” days when nothing should be done. I am not 100% convinced that this calendar really works, but have done some informal experiments planting seeds on their suggested days, and on blackout days, and it seemed to make a difference.

 

Read the seed packages carefully if you are new to starting indoors. Onion-family plants and peppers take a long time to develop, so most people start them in early March, though I started my onions and scallions on February 20 this year. Tomatoes I start around April 10 – I don’t want them to get root-bound or too tall before I put them out on June 10. If you plant outside earlier, start seeds earlier.

 

Not everything needs to be started indoors. Most root crops are direct seeded in the garden, though you can start beets indoors. Some flowers hate to be transplanted – larkspur, for example, which also needs cold temperatures after planting. Lettuce can be planted indoors or out, or both. I like to get some started early indoors. All the cucumber family plants I start indoors 4-5 weeks before planting outside as this protects them from striped cucumber beetles when they first germinate.

 

An important key to success with your seedlings is to water properly. If seeds dry out before they germinate, or when they are tiny, they are likely to fail. On the other hand, keeping seeds soggy all the time can lead to root rot. Check them every day. If you see the planting mix turn a lighter color or if it feels dry to the touch, water. I water with a dilute solution of fish or seaweed fertilizer once a week.

 

To get seedlings to wake up and start to grow, I use heat mats sold for that purpose. They plug in and gently warm the seed flats. But I only use them until most seeds have germinated as too much heat for seedlings is bad. For one thing, the “soil” dries out fast with extra heat. I prevent that by using clear plastic covers sold to fit over the flats, creating a mini-greenhouses that hold in the moisture.

 

I mostly use flats with 32-cells per trays that are roughly 9 by 18 inches, although others are sold with up to 108 cells per flat. I want plenty of room for roots to grow, so I buy cells that are as deep as I can find. I plant two or more seeds in each cell, just in case one seed does not germinate. For onions, I plant 3 or 4 seeds per cell, as they don’t mind a little crowding.

 

Most seeds germinate about 90% of the time. For tomatoes I sometimes snip off one plant when young, other times I let both grow, and separate them and re-plant both in bigger pots when they are 4 to 6 inches tall. For me, it’s hard to kill seedlings by snipping them off and I can always share seedlings with others.

 

Garden centers and catalogs sell a variety of stands with lights for growing seedlings. Most are quite expensive. You can also go to my web site, www.Gardening-Guy.com and search for “Building a Plant Stand”. That will give step-by-step directions for building an inexpensive A-frame plant stand that will hold 6 flats, and have room below it for 4 to 6 more flats on the floor.

Starting seedlings is not rocket science. It involves some investment, but the lights and plant stands last nearly forever. And, as the bumper sticker says, “Growing Tomatoes Is Cheaper than Therapy – and You Get Tomatoes!”

 

Henry is the author of 4 gardening books and a long time UNH master Gardener. You may reach him by e-mail at henry.homeyer@comcast.net. He lives and gardens in Cornish Flat, NH.

 

Usually at this time of year I am planning my travel to the various flower shows around New England: Boston, Connecticut or Vermont. Perhaps Maine. Not this year. Most of the show have been put off due to Covid, including the Boston Show, which cancelled recently. The Connecticut Flower Show website says it will be the only major flower show in New England.

 

The Connecticut Flower Show will take place February 24 to 27 at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford, CTR. Tickets costs $20 for adults on the day of the event, or $16 if purchased in advance (which will avoid the wait in line). Children ages 5 to 12 are $5, and children under 5 are free. The Convention Center has been upgraded to minimize risk of Covid transmission and state and local regulations will be followed.

 

The show is always known for having lots of educational workshops. This year is no exception: there are some 80 presentations including organic lawn care, container gardening, floral arranging and pollinator gardens, among others.

 

One talk that caught my eye is by a friend of mine, Len Giddix. It’s Rain Gutter Gardening: Sprouts, Herbs and Greens without Draining Your Wallet. I called Len who explained that he uses  four-inch pots in a 10-foot section of gutter partially filled with potting mix. It’s tidy, and can produce a lot of greens. And no, the gutter is not up high, it’s along the edge of a walkway. Sounds slick! He’ll repeat his demo every day.

 

The show will have all the usual vendors selling seeds, plants, cut flowers, air plants, tick protection products, beekeeping supplies, garden tools and more. Organizations like the Rose Society will be there, and other non-profits.

 

Next there is the Chelsea Flower Show in London from May 24 to 28. This show has always been held outdoors and is known for the lavish gardens built by world-famous designers, often using mature trees and shrubs. There are, of course, tents, one of which would easily accommodate Barnum and Bailey at its heyday. My wife and I attended in 2017.

 

The magnificence of the show is startling: hundreds of fresh blossoms in perfect form in many of the booths. New introductions of named varieties are on display. Actress Judi Dench got a lovely apricot-colored rose named after her by David Austin the year I attended, and as press, I got to see her accept the honor. The chief executive of Burpee Seeds, George Ball, was in the Burpee booth, greeting us and answering questions. There was even a cute little robot cutting the lawn in one booth. The show covers many acres.

 

If you decide to go, I recommend joining the Royal Horticultural Society for 50 pounds ($67.50 at current exchange rate). The membership gets you into the show for 2 days before it opens to all, a 10% discount on all tickets, and other benefits including their quarterly magazine. I went on the first membership day and it was quite crowded, so I can’t imagine what it is like when the show is open to the public. I recommend attending at least 2 days to see it all, which is what we did.

 

Daily tickets for adults cost about $55, with Saturday at about $116. But if you can afford it, go! It’s a once in a lifetime experience. And women: bring your most colorful garden hat and a flowered dress as the British women love to dress up for the show – and you don’t want to appear like the poor “country cousin.”

 

Then there is the Philadelphia Flower Show which will be held outdoors from June 11 to 19 at South Philadelphia’s Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park. The show, which was first organized by the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society in 1829, will include 15 acres of this large park with majestic trees and views of the waterfront. By holding the show outdoors in early summer, exhibitors will be able to include larger landscape material than an indoor event, much as the Chelsea Flower Show does.

 

I have attended the Philly show in the past, and always was thoroughly “wowed”. One aspect of the show that I love is the competitions that allows ordinary gardeners to strut their stuff, competing for ribbons for best house plants, flower arrangements, specialty plants and more. Then of course there are the displays made by professional landscapers, stone workers and designers. And more garden geegaws than you can imagine are for sale.

 

Bring an umbrella or rain coat, just in case of  shower. There are tents, but much is outdoors. The large venue outdoor should keep attendees well socially distanced.

 

For non-members of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS) admission is $45 for adults, $30 for young adults (18 to 29), and $20 for kids 5 to 17. Members of the PHS can get 10% discounts. Go to the website to read more about gala events and early morning tours: https://phsonline.org/the-flower-show

 

 Covid has limited what we can do and see, but there are still a few places to go if you hanker for a good garden show. And maybe next year they will all be back to normal.

 

Henry lives in Cornish Flat, NH., He is the author of 4 gardening books. His email is henry.homeyer@comcast.net.

I’m a lucky guy: for one thing, I have no Japanese knotweed. Many is the gardener who has e-mailed me asking, “What can I do to get rid of Japanese knotweed?” My usual answer? Sell the house.

Here in New England winter is long, especially for gardeners. We want to be outside in the garden but most days we can’t really do much. I compensate by learning about gardening from books. I recently finished a good one, Hummelo: A Journey Through a Plantsman’s Life by Piet Oudolf and Noel Kingsbury.

 

At over 400 pages it might seem daunting, but I’d estimate that nearly half of those pages are color photos of the gardens Piet Oudlof designed, with plenty from his home in Hummelo, Holland. It is written by Noel Kingsbury, a well-known British garden writer, and by Oudlof himself.  

 

Piet (which is pronounced Pete) Oudolf was the primary designer of the High Line Gardens in New York City, a garden planted on a section of an abandoned elevated railway line in mid-town Manhattan. This 1.45-mile planting is consistently rated in the top ten most visited places in New York City.

 

The book follows Oudolf’s life as a garden designer and plantsman. In addition to the High Line, he designed garden in Chicago, Detroit, and many in Europe. The book follows his professional life and illustrates the changes nicely. Many plants in the photos are not labeled, but more advanced gardeners will recognize them, and many are mentioned in the text. And although some common names are used, most are identified by the scientific names with the genus, species and cultivar, which I find helpful when studying the plants and finding out if the plants are hardy in my zone.

 

So what makes Piet Oudolf one of the most famous garden designers ever? First, he is a highly accomplished plantsman. When he specifies plants for a garden, he knows what they need to do well. He started out with his wife, Anja, growing most of the plants he used in his designs, often growing and selecting plants for years before using them.

 

He knows each plant including its root system and its capability to fill in spaces by seeding in or spreading by rhizomes. He grew and used plants that were largely disease resistant. His gardens rarely need to be re-planted because the plants seldom fail. I should note that now he does not grow his own plants, he just specifies them and has others grow them for him, often from stock he perfected.

 

Piet Oudolf uses many tall grasses in his designs. He loves the way they provide structure and form to a design, and that they last well into winter. He is less interested in color than many designers. He loves the look of seed heads and stems after the (relatively short) bloom period is over. He is quoted in the book as saying, “A plant is only worth growing if it also looks good when it is dead.” Since he bred plants for toughness, I assume he means dormant, not dead.

 

Oudolf is a rule breaker. He tried things that others had not. He is quoted as saying in the book, “I discover beauty in things that on first sight are not beautiful. It is a journey in life to find out what real beauty is – and to notice that it is everywhere.|”

 

Early on in his career, Piet Oudolf used large blocks of a single species of a plant. But as he refined his designs, he started intermingling a few large, tall plants inside a block. He planted them repeatedly, as repetition adds a sense of unity and coherence to a garden. Unlike many designers, he actually lays out his gardens himself instead of drawing a plan and handing it off to gardeners. Oudolf is first and foremost a gardener. He loves plants, and knows them like his ever-present dogs.

 

What did I learn from this book? Given a large space to design, like Oudolf, I would use largely native plants. They are tough and if properly sited, will last well. I like his philosophy that plant diversity is good, but that too much diversity can overwhelm our ability to appreciate the whole.

 

I am, by temperament, a plant collector – I want to try lots of plants. But seeing the photos of Oudlof gardens, I recognize that buying – or growing – several plants instead of just three (my usual purchase), I can create a more powerful display.

 

Reading this book I made notes of plants I want to try. Among these is Eryngium giganteum, a sea holly that gets to be 3 to 4 feet tall with spiny egg-shaped blossoms and white bracts. Miss Willmott’s Ghost is readily available on line, though I have never seen it for sale in a nursery.

 

Another plant that looks great is Agastache nepetoides, yellow giant hyssop. It is deer resistant and big: it grows to six feet tall with flower spikes up to 16-inches long. In fall and winter the dry seed heads are fabulous, particularly in counterpoint to dry grasses.

 

I feel blessed that I was able to meet Piet Oudolf and interview him at his home in Hummelo, Holland in 2007. He was very generous with his time and his knowledge.

 

This wonderful book was produced by Monacelli Press (all photos are theirs), and is available in paperback for $40. To me, or any serious gardener or designer, it is a treasure. You might like to thumb through it before you decide if it is for you, especially if you are a beginning gardener. If you have big spaces to fill, you will get many ideas.

 

Henry is the author of 4 gardening books. Send questions to him at henry.homeyer@comcast.net or by mail at PO Box 364, Cornish Flat, NH 03746. Please include a SASE if you wish a response by USP mail.