Plant Swapping

Gardeners are some of the most generous people in the world. Who else just loves to give their plants away? You know someone is an avid gardener when you visit their garden and they say, "let me give you some", and before you know it they have pulled out a trowel and pot and you are loaded with new things for the garden.

I recently visited the garden of a fellow blogger, Layanne from Ledge and Garden, (Layanne is one of the "Garden Guys" on 96.9FM on Sunday mornings). She had stopped by the store on a trip to Tower Hill Botanical Garden and invited me to visit her garden sometime if I was in Rhode Island. I never pass up a garden invitation, I love to look at other people's gardens! So after a plant pick up in Connecticut I swung by Rhode Island (I just love our little New England states) and not only saw Layanne's gardens but enjoyed tea, rhubarb cake and wonderful conversation and company.

And yes, I came home with plants. Here are the hellbores, astilbe and solomon seal Layanne generously shared.

So why are we all so generous with our plants? I think it's more than trying to thin out the garden. I know I hate to throw a plant away, and although my garden really doesn't need more lemon balm I know there is somebody out there who does (okay, well maybe not..) But giving our plants is like sharing a bit of ourselves with someone, a small piece of something we love that can grow on in someone else's garden. A spreading of the love maybe.

My garden club has a sale on Memorial Day every year where we all bring plants from our home gardens to sell. We often end up buying each others and my garden is filled with plants like "Carol's hydrangea" and "Carla's Rose of Sharon". The hawthorn in my garden center was a garden club leftover that 2 members dug from another member's house and potted up. When no one bought it, I did knowing that I would find someplace for it. The other fun thing about the sale is when customers ask about a plant, there is always someone chirping up "that's from my garden" and they go on to tell about how the plant grows, what they like (or don't) about it and share that little piece of themselves.

I do have to admit that I am sometimes particular about who I give a plant to and some friends liken me to Seinfeld's soup nazi, calling me the plant nazi. I won't give (or sell) a plant to what I think might be an undeserving home and have been known to refuse to sell a plant or share something from the garden if I don't think the energy is right. I think there is a certain plant etiquette, and I've had people come to the store garden and expect to be able to just dig up a part of something they've wanted. If they ask nicely I might agree, but on occasion I've flatly refused. Guess I should lighten up a bit about sharing!

But I've swapped hostas for iris and helped a friend move a garden and now Debbie's euphorbia brightens the border by the pool. And some if just recently went to my yoga instructor for her new border. I've donated goatsbeard to Paula's garden, comfrey to students and herbs and plants of all kinds to the garden club. And this past week, a customer dropped off a large piece of perennial sweet pea (Lathyrus latifolius)and Cathy of Bird of the Hand Farm, an organic farm in Sterling, dropped off samples of her plants for me. Next week I'm meeting up with a fellow herbalist to swap more plants, how much fun!

The plants in my garden have all kinds of stories and memories of people and places, a little collection of the journey of life.

Have any good swap stories? Share them here!

Seeds 101

I don't know how many people come into the store, look at the Seeds of Change seed rack and state that they can't start plants from seed. I tell them they can and they just shake their head, having given up after attempts and ending with non-germinated seed or seedlings that have died. So I'm on a mission this year to get those seeds going.

Last month I did a free seed starting demonstration at the store, which was well attended and everyone went home with a peat pot they had planted with calendula seed. I'm always amazed by calendula seed, it doesn't look like a seed at all, more like a dried up curled little worm. That this grows into a good size plant with those beautiful flowers is rather amazing. I also have some that I found when cleaning up the garden so planted them and hope to see some reseeding this year of the calendula. But back to seed starting...

While starting seeds isn't difficult, there are some things that ensure a good healthy seedling. The first thing I talked about was soil...a good soil starting mix is needed, not your soil from the garden or even a regular potting soil. I sometimes make my own mix with peat, but found a nice organic seed starting mix this year at my local organic garden supply store that seems to be working very well so far.

Second is light, seedlings need direct light and a lot of it. A good south facing sunny window is great. Since I don't have that, I use grow lights. There is all sort of discussion about types of light to use, but I've found a regular flourescent light works fine, for 12-14 hours a day.

Seedlings also need heat, and I keep mine protected against drafts. And although my grow stand is by a window, there is baseboard heat all along the wall, giving warmth from underneath.

One of the mistakes I find people often make is starting their seeds too early. Seed packets have a wealth of information, including how long it will take the plant to germinate and grow. I've learned not to start most of my seeds until March to avoid plants ready to go in the garden way before their planting time.

Then of course there is water. Seeds do not like to be dry, and are very unforgiving if not watered. I keep my seedlings consistently moist (not necessarily wet), watering several times a day if necessary. Yes this is a bit time consuming and needs to be paid attention, but I get so excited watching the seeds germinate and the seedlings grow that I check on them several times a day just for the fun of it anyways.

I fertilize with an weak strength organic seaweed and fish emulsion while their growing, which was also included in my soil mix along with some other natural nutrients.

Here are a few of my current seedlings, cucumbers on the left and zucchini just opening...











As the seedlings are nearing time to go into the garden, they need to gradually become acclimated to the weather outdoors, a process called "hardening off". There is nothing more discouraging than spending all that time growing a seedling and then having it die of shock when it is placed in the garden. I start by opening the window behind my plants for an hour a day and then gradually longer so they get used to the wind and small breezes. I then bring them outdoors to a protected area for more wind and then gradually into the sunlight acclimate to the sun. I do this over a week or two, not a long time but it really does help them become strong plants in the garden.

Or instead of doing all this, seeds can be directly planted in the garden and some prefer to be. Again, the seed package will tell which seeds start best in which manner but I find myself starting more plants directly in the garden every year. Make sure they are kept watered and I use HotKaps to protect the delicate seedlings from heavy rain or wind and also from insects.

So there's no excuse not to start plants from seed. It is economical and provides for a lot of choice in plants which may not be available otherwise. And just for the sheer awe that a small seed can become a plant to nourish our bodies and souls is reason itself. So happy seed starting!

Spring is Here!

I don't know where March went...I know I've been behind on my blogging, but when I saw my last post was in February I was rather surprised. So lets see if I can back on track here, there's so much to talk about!

After the rains and flooding that pounded our area, the sun is out and it is unseasonably warm causing the plants to burst into leaf and flower. It seemed like one day, it was suddenly mid-Spring, having missed totally the early Spring part. I hear we are supposed to get back to early Spring weather shortly, but the plants look like they are very happy with this warmth.

Since my new garden was just planted last year, this is the first I'm getting to see what survived the winter. I had never grown hellebores before, and put this one in last year. What a beauty, in full bloom, and now I want all different kinds of them. It is offset by a pink azelea behind it in full flower and daffodils, which in this shaded area haven't quite opened up. But the border of daffodils along the pool are glorious, the prettiest I've seen them in several years.

This nice weather also allowed me to get the cleanup done that should have been finished last Fall. But it was warm and everything was green one day, and then in typical New England fashion it snowed the next and the garden was covered until March (my missing month). And when the snow melted I saw how much did not get done in the Fall. It is all done now, cleaned up, perennials starting to come up and ready for the annual herbs and vegetables. Is there anything more exciting than the anticipation of the gardening season? All things seem possible, and of course, this will be the best garden ever.

Blotanical.com has me inspired to plot out my garden on the computer this year, and I have been trying different programs out. I need one that can easily make curves and other odd shapes, as none of my beds are rectangular. So maybe the graph paper is easier. I'm not giving up on the computer programs yet however.

It feels so good to work the earth, watch the plants popping up, see the trees in bud and see the flowers opening, what could be better?

Flower Show Time

Spring must be near, because the flower shows have started. I played hooky today and spent the day at the Rhode Island Spring Flower & Garden Show in Providence. It's the earliest one in the area and there is something wonderful about smelling dirt and seeing plants in bloom in February.

It always amazes me how whole buildings can be brought into a convention center and set up to look like they just belong there. The time and effort required is Hurculean I'm sure. This was
my favorite, a stone house with a moss roof and a stone heart shaped entrance framing the building. It can't be seen well in the picture (double click on it to enlarge the picture) but the top was all grapevines and had a birds nest sitting in the middle. And of course, it was surrounded by incredible plantings.

Here are some other pictures of displays and blooms that struck my fancy...



The lighting on this display gave an ethereal, other-worldly cast on a chapel-like stone building as if it was caught at sunset bathed in red and pink. Accenting the building was a pond in front, dramatic red dogwood branches, daffodils and flowering shrubs. On the side of this were a few fallen down tombstones, surrounded by crocus and primose. Like stepping into a fairyland.

Lady slippers and other orchids to the right. I've never been able to keep an orchid alive, never mind have these beautiful blooms, but I love admiring them.




And then there's the whimsy. This was a whole VW bus from 60's decorated in peace and love, parked in the middle of a man-made forrest. This was the back...unfortunately I dropped my camera and it decided it didn't want to work anymore so I couldn't get a picture of the front which was quite spectacular. Even had a couple hippies sitting in the front that looked like they were made of moss. Groovy!


I attended a fun demonstration on making herbal vinegars by Paul Split, a horticultural consultant who does demonstrations all over the place (http://www.paulsplit.com/). I make plenty of herbal vinegars but got some new ideas as well as a good source for bottles. Paul is a great presenter, and I appreciated his extolling the virtues of organic gardening to the crowd while making his vinegars.

I also attended a lecture by Julie Moir Messervey on the Home Outside: Creating the Landscape You Love based on her new book. Well organized, practical and inspiring, her slides were beautiful and I wanted to run home and start putting in new gardens all over the place.

I finished up the day going through the vendor area. I bought some heirloom seeds from the Hudson Valley Seed Library - a Dragon's Tongue bean and scarlet Flax - and a neat herb grinder. I usually always buy pussywillows at this show but couldn't find any so headed to the parking garage. In the elevator, wasn't there a woman with 2 bunches of pussywillows. I asked where she had found them and she told me those were the last 2. So no pussywillows this year from the show, but it was a wonderful day. How many days until Spring?

Seeds, Glorious Seeds

Sometimes I just love snowstorms. I started this blog a week ago, but have been too busy to sit down and finish it. But snow days make me stop running around, stay in and I finally have some time to get some things done. Like this blog! And I find the garden breathtaking in the snow. I leave some echinacea heads purposely for winter interest (and the birds) and the hawthorn tree, fence and woods all look lovely covered with snow. Sitting by the fire, gazing at the snow covered garden with the snow falling is very peaceful and calming.

But this blog was about seeds. I put in the store seed order last week, a bit late (I left all my order info at home by mistake when I went to Florida) but in plenty of time for starting indoors. It's always a dilema - what to buy, how many, and trying to predict what people will want to grow this year. On the upside, it's wonderful to be able to order freely not having to think about what will fit in my garden or how many seedlings can I fit under the grow lights. For the store, I can buy everything I want. On the downside, it's hard to know what will sell and to make sure not to have too many left at the end of the season (which become my personal stash for next year).

But there are limits to how much I can buy, so I have to make the tough decision such as what types of basil (there are so many) and why didn't people seem interested in purple basil last year? It's so beautiful in the garden, delicious and makes a great herb vinegar in a beautiful red color. I like to have different things along with the usual parsley, cilantro, etc. so I'm trying a purple throated mullein this year and a Hopi ceremonial tobacco. Will others think these sound as interesting to try in the garden as me? Sure hope so!

I started selling more vegetable seeds last year and they were very popular. I primarily stock the heirloom and rarer types. I get all my seeds from Seeds of Change they are certified organic, well packaged and I appreciate the company's efforts to preserve biodiversity and support sustainable organic agriculture. And if people don't buy all these great heirloom seeds, they won't keep offering them I'm sure so I see it as my little part in keeping these alive.

So what did I order this year? Several bush beans - Jacob's cattle, a traditional heirloom and Tendergreen, another heirloom with purple specks that is purported to be "a great mainstay for the home garden". The usual rainbow colored chards, a rare medicinal burdock, Takinogawa Gobo, and Shiraz Tall Top beets with great tops and roots. How to pick among so many cucumbers? When in doubt, I pick what I would like to have in my garden (and will have) and picked a Lemon cucumber, Satsuki Madori, a rare Asian variety with few seeds and Smart Pickle, an early maturing pickling cuke. Same with tomatoes, so many choices so I picked a few heirloom cherries and slicing tomatoes. I rounded it out with some pumpkins, spinach, squash, kale, peas, watermelon, peppers, chicory and eggplant. A good selection of greens with lettuces, arugula, komatsuna, mizuna and mesclun mix rounded out the veggies.

And then there's the flowers. I stick to the edibles pretty much with a good selection of nasturiums, including a new Peach Melba which looks so pretty in the picture, an edible sunflower and lemon and tangerine gem marigolds. Calendula and foxglove round out the flowers with one of my old fashioned favorites, Love Lies Bleeding.

So I'm anxiously waiting for them to arrive and get some started. I try not to start my seeds too early and am already feeling the itch to get some going. But I'm holding back and getting my supplies all set. How many times have I had seedings too large for their little pots ready to go in the garden in April? One too many so I have learned to wait and work on the garden layout for the year. Maybe the topic of the next blog!

January Dreaming

Ah, January. The holiday season is over, and some year I might find time to blog through it. A wonderful herbal time of year it is also so very busy. Every year I make a holiday potpourri and I think this year was my best. Beautiful and fragrant it included cedar pine tips, hemlock pine cones, cloves, allspice, cinnamon, rosehips, star flowers, curly pods, star anise and a bit of Christmas scented fragrance oil.

I'd add some pictures of the potpourri and garden, but I'm sitting in Florida enjoying some sunshine, not so warm weather but a chance to wind down after the holidays, recharge and get ready for the year ahead. There's something soothing about the ocean to me and I can walk the beach for hours. But I do miss my gardens and plants.

I just read a blog that was discussing propogating rosemary and realized how much my plants are like pets (or maybe even children) to me. I left my plants at home in the care of a good friend who will water them faithfully but just doesn't understand how plants have their own personalities. My large rosemary that I faithfully tended all summer is sitting in the sunroom right now and misses me I'm sure! I hope it is making it through the winter okay along with all the other tender perennials.

But almost as good as being in the garden is the dreams and fantasies of the wonderful gardening year ahead. I love to study the seed catalogs, research plants and plot out the garden design for the year. I try to keep a garden journal every year and this is when I go back and read it for ideas of what to do new and different this year.

My goals for my 2010 garden:

• Try some new vegetables that I don't receive (or receive enough) from my CSA
• Expand the medicinal herbs in the garden
• Find some new shade/part shade loving perennials for those parts of the garden including native varieties
• Make it beautiful

What are your goals for your garden this year? Feel free to post some of yours.

Garlic Time

Fall is the time to plant garlic and there is nothing better than fresh garlic from your garden. It tastes so good and is extremely pungent, much more so that what is typically found in the grocery store. Garlic is an important herb, and a powerful antibiotic. It helps prevent colds and flus, aids in cardiovascular health and regulating cholesterol and is a great antioxidant as well.

Garlic is easy to grow. It is a heavy feeder so needs lots of good compost and fertilization, but that's about it. The soil should be well draining, and have a ph in the 6.5 to 7.0 range. A good dusting of lime can boost the ph in the soil, but I have never had a problem growing garlic in a good compost.

I start with organic garlic heads from Johnny's Seeds in Maine and like their German Extra Hardy stiffneck garlic. Garlic is known as either stiffneck, which has a stiff stalk in the middle, or softneck, which is typically the type of garlic that is braided. There are many different varieties of garlic so you can try several or find your own favorite. I find the German Extra Hardy grows well and also keeps well throughout the winter.

The cloves are separated from the head of garlic, and planted individually. Each clove will become its own plant and develop a head of garlic. I take the papery wrapping off the garlic clove, but others don't so you can experiment with that. The cloves are planted pointed end up. Make sure to mark where you planted your garlic, and after the ground has frozen put a thick layer of mulch over the area and wait for Spring.



In the Spring, the shoots will appear and can use a good side dressing of compost or high nitrogen fertilizer. I like to fertilize through the season with a seaweed emulsion. And make sure to keep the area well weeded.

Here's my garlic growing from last summer. More next summer on how and when to harvest but get your garlic planted now.