As I was locating photos for a project, it occurred to me that I have very few photos of me in the garden. My resolution this year is to take photos of everyday activities that are meaningful.

I have thousands of garden photos but the only photos with me in my own garden is with a fork digging garlic and of my hand with a pruner. Those certainly do not reflect the joys of gardening. The same is true for my crafting projects, just the item with no person in the frame. It’s as if these things materialize out of thin air. This must stop; I deserve to be recognized along with my creations.

I suggest placing yourself and your loved ones in the midst of your gardens. Show the joys by getting down where the flowers and vegetables grow.  Lean up against your favorite tree. Walk down that garden path.

Need some ideas? I did an internet search with “photos of yourself in garden” and back came hundreds of ideas. I wrote a blog about the uses for garden photos a few years ago: 3 Uses for Garden Photos  But it never occurred to me that photos should be more than practical when I wrote that article. 

​I suggest here that you forget about the practical and go for the memories with you and those you care about also in the frame. You’ll thank yourself on those cold winter days in the future when looking through your photo collection. 

When in a new location I like to search for a garden that will provide some respite from my travels. Earlier this month my husband and I traveled to Spain and Portugal, our first visit to those countries. We especially enjoyed the food and wine while touring Madrid, Lisbon, and the Duoro Valley. While in Madrid we paid a visit to the Royal Botanical Garden.
The garden was founded in 1755 with over 2,000 plants, collected by José Quer, a botanist and surgeon, during his numerous trips and through exchange with other European botanists. Now, 270 years later, it includes about 90,000 plants and flowers, and 1,500 trees. The collection is arranged by botanical name and includes plants from former colonies and neighbors of Spain. That’s a lot of places in the world.
I had fun looking at plants out their normal environment, guessing the common name that is more familiar to us. It also struck me that many of the plants were the wrong plant in the wrong place. For example, our familiar spruce trees were visibly struggling in Madrid’s Mediterranean climate. It was also interesting to see plants we consider annuals and struggle here, due to our climate, flourishing in their native locale.
And as gardeners, we speak the language no matter where we visit. Botanical Latin is still the only language other than English accepted for descriptions. 

​Late summer is the ideal time to plan for your early spring forcing.  Most of us are familiar with forcing springs bulbs such as paper whites, tulips, and daffodils.  But what about forcing rhubarb, foam flower, and forsythia?   Enjoy the joys of gardening before the snow melts next March…or April…or May!

​ Spring Bulbs    Most spring bulbs need a 12-15 week chilling period.  Try dwarf species or hybrids for the best results.  I plant mine in potting soil in nursery pots and put them in the vegetable crisper and covered with plastic to keep in the moisture.  Be sure to label with the date and species.  Paper whites are the exception needing no chilling period.  I keep those bulbs in the fridge unpotted.   When you are ready for some blooms, bring them out.  You can repot in an attractive container and water.  Don’t water again until growth begins.  I water with 7 parts water and 1 part alcohol (I use an old bottle of vodka) to keep them from flopping. 
 Rhubarb   You can freeze stems for use during the fall and winter.  But if you forgot and need to divide your rhubarb now is an excellent time to not only divide but get rhubarb next spring weeks before it is ready in the garden.    According to Rhubarb-Central.Com ( http://www.rhubarb-central.com/forcing-rhubarb.html)   “the cultivation methods for forcing rhubarb was developed as early as the 1800's. Commercial growers of rhubarb use special forcing sheds, or hot houses, but the home gardener can successfully force rhubarb in a home cellar, a garage, or another outbuilding.  Forcing rhubarb can also be done outdoors, in the garden.”  The process is a bit involved and I recommend that you do some research before proceeding. 

​Perennials   According to Tovah Martin in The Unexpected Houseplant,  “Foam flowers (Tiarella cordifolia)   are disarmingly easy to grow indoors.  They often blossom a month or more before their leaves begin to emerge outside and they stay in bloom for a long duration of fulfillment.”  Now is the time to dig up and pot some to bring indoors.  They like indirect light and just enough moisture so they don’t dry out.    Other perennials that make good winter houseplants are Coral Bells (Heuchera) and Sea thrift (Armeria maritime).   If you plan to travel south this winter, plan to stop at a nursery on your way home and pick up a perennial that you can enjoy in the house early and then plant in the garden later.  Try Bleeding heart (Dicentra Spectablis), and Lenten Rose (Helleborus) for a good-looking plant that blooms and makes a fine temporary houseplant.  
Trees and Shrubs    We are familiar with gathering pussy willows in the spring and watch them bloom.  You can do the same with a number of spring blooming shrubs and trees.  Many ornamental trees and shrubs set their flower buds during the previous growing season and need a period of dormancy of about six weeks.  The buds usually open about 2-3 weeks after being exposed to warmth and moisture.  If you are pruning in later winter, pick a day when the temperature is above freezing to help the branch make the transition to indoor temperatures.   If you force a branch without success, try again a few weeks later.  Forsythias, Witch hazels, cherries, lilacs, Rhododendron, Serviceberries, Birches, Red Maple, and Willows can all be forced.    

Just some quick notes from this growing season that I've been hearing from fellow gardeners: 

• Green Beans:  the bush beans are mostly finished and many gardeners have either no pole beans or they are very late blooming like mine.  In fact my are just blooming so by the end of the months I should have pole beans.
• Zinnias:  are looking good with this nice warm weather they are blooming well. Hope that continues to frost. 
• Lilacs:  Many gardeners are reporting that their lilacs are dropping leaves. What's going on? A response from the USDA about this provides an excellent analysis of the potential issues.( https://ask2.extension.org/kb/faq.php?id=881100 ) In their response they state: "It could be a blight caused by the bacterium Pseudomonas syringae. Among other things, it is characterized by leaf spots that can lead to leaf darkening, leaf wilting, and premature leaf dropping. Fortunately, this is largely a cosmetic condition and unless it occurs over several seasons, there are no adverse effects. It is associated with wet conditions, which certainly describes our current 2024 season. Because this is NOT a fungal pathogen, application of fungicides will do no good. It can be transmitted from one season to the next via leaf debris. To prevent transmission from one season to the next, thorough fall cleanup is essential. "

​GRANDMA MINNIE'S BOWL: Every year I bring out a wood bowl for the start of the garden season. Looks homemade with a tomato motif on the inside. It's off kilter and well worn. I love to pile up the seasonal garden treats in it. Now is at the absolute end of the season. I had my last BLT. The garden shed has been turned over and is now the snowmobile garage. So the bowl is officially put away until next season.

Here’s my timeline and results.

• April 16 – Potted the tubers that were stored overwinter under the stairwell wrapped in newspapers.  Overall they were in healthy conditions with a few sprouts emerging. 
• April 25-27 – All sprouts emerged after potting even one that was a bit sickly.
• Early May – Pinched off about 1/3 of the plant growth when about 12” tall to promote more stalks.
• May 18 – Planted in raised bed all except for one newly purchased tuber that went into the ground.  Soil temperature was 60°.   We had very warm weather last spring.
• May 26 – Newly purchased tubers sprouted that had been directly sown in raised bed
• May 26-29 – Very cool weather, covered all with a row cover to protect from cold air.  There was a freeze warning on 5/27, our temp was a low of 36.
• May 30- Tuber planted in ground (not raised bed) sprouted

 
Now waiting to see if these different methods yield flowers at different times.  That, after all was the whole point of this experiment.

• June 28 - Buds on 2 of 4 tubers started in April.
• June 29 – First blooms (three of them!) cut for the vase.
• July 20 – All 4 of the plants started in April are producing blooms.  No buds yet on the rest that were directly planted in either the raised beds or ground.
• July 25 – Buds on 4 planted in raised bed.
• July 30 – All plants except one are producing blooms.   That one never did bloom and I did not overwinter it for 2022 planting. 

Conclusion:  Yes, the Dahlias that were started in April inside produced blooms almost a full month before those directly planted later.  They continued to produce blooms until frost ended their season.   I conclude it is worth the effort to start these inside ahead of the season. 

This PDF file outlines the Dahlias that I grow along with growing notes.
​
A wonderful resource for growing Dahlias:  Discovering Dahlias by Erin Benzakein