Garden Stories
Garden.True.North is about gardening in Zone 4,
sharing thoughts, ideas and tips for all northern gardeners.
sharing thoughts, ideas and tips for all northern gardeners.
Early spring is the time to check out catalogs, place seed orders and start seeds. Learn about several seed starting techniques, how to decipher catalog and seed package jargon, and proper planting conditions in this program.
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Do you enjoy gardening or want to start gardening? Have you watched the TV show Escape to the Chateau? If you have, then you would recognize the term “potager garden”. Join us on how to Create a Potager Garden presented by Sue Reinardy, UW-Extension Master Gardener Volunteer, virtually on Zoom on Thursday, April 8, 2021 at 10 am to Noon as part of a celebration of National Library Week at the Sherman & Ruth Weiss Community Library. Attendees will have a chance to win a special Library T-shirt!
Potager is a French term for a kitchen garden. These gardens can include not only vegetables but herbs, fruit, berries and cutting flowers. During the presentation you will learn where to site your potager, what plants to include and how to maintain it through the growing season. For the first 15 people who sign up, we will offer them a Take ‘N Make Kit of a Potager Starter Garden. The kit consists of a container, donated by Marketplace Foods, and seeds and a planting medium donated by Sue Reinardy. You can register for the event by going to the following link – https://bit.ly/3rtyZq9 or by calling the library to register and to receive the link for the Zoom event. We suggest that if you don’t have the free Zoom app, download it before the program begins and go to the presentation at least 5 minutes before it starts. If you have any questions, please call the library at 715-634-2161 or email [email protected] Gardeners are getting their seed starting supplies put together and in early to mid-April will begin the process. I don't have the room or patience to start seeds indoors so I have embraced an outdoor seed starting method.
I originally became aware of this method reading about the Winter Sown method. But even that proved to be too much for me since I can never get around to putting my containers together until right about now, early March. Since those seeds sit around doing nothing until the temperature is about right - no need to rush into this method. How does it work?
Websites to learn how: http://wintersown.org/ http://getbusygardening.com/winter-sowing-seeds/ http://www.agardenforthehouse.com/2012/11/winter-sowing-101-6/ This arrangement includes: Nigella, Dahlia, Zinnia, and Borage. Every year I try to grow something new. This year's experiment included Nigella (Love-in-a-Mist) and Borage. Both have proven to be winners for putting in flower arrangements. I've also added a few new varieties of dahlias (“Park Princess”, Bush ‘Cancun’, and “Melody Dora”) that have been producing blooms since mid-July. All are represented in this bouquet.
Both of these flowers attract pollinators so they are good additions to a garden insectary. See this blog post from the North Country Master Gardener Volunteers on what is an insectary. For more information on Love-in-a-Mist; the University of Wisconsin has a Garden Fact Sheet.
I have left some of both of these plants to go to seed and am looking forward to seeing how readily they both self-seed. However, I'm not going to take a chance; both will be on next year's seed order.
Spring started this week which gets gardeners excited like kids anticipating Christmas. Except it is still way too early to start gardening. Even starting seeds is at most about 6 weeks before planting and we usually can not plant until late May. I’ve always thought the astrological seasons were off kilter; even meteorological seasons are too early for those in Zone 3. Yesterday we received about an inch of snow which is now melting on top of the foot of snowpack left from our winter that started before Thanksgiving (i.e. “fall”). What can a gardener rely on to determine the proper planting time? Late winter and early spring are the time to check out catalogs, place seed orders and start seeds. Learn more about several seed starting techniques from Sue Reinardy, UW-Extension Master Gardener Volunteer in an upcoming webinar. Sue has volunteered her time to create and deliver this webinar that will feature: deciphering catalog and seed package jargon, proper planting conditions and several techniques including the winter sown planted method that you can start now.
This webinar can be attended from any home computer or device with an internet connection, microphone and camera. Instructions to access the course will be provided a few days before the start of the class. Registration is required through WITC at courses.witc.edu Enter "Early Seed Starting" in the search box. The registration fee is $13.50, and for those 62+ it is $9.00 .
Read more to discover the Winter Sown method of seed starting. The pictures are of a milk jug seed container cut in half, then taped shut until the weather was warm enough to expose the seedlings to the elements.
“I want some pretty flowers”, I overheard the tall slim man with a small round container of succulents in his hand declare to the garden center clerk. Here’s a place where there is a smorgasbord of flowers in abundance. I wondered how she would guide this customer. I didn’t hear her answer but the man replied with “something like pansies”. Good choice I thought as pansies are usually my very first purchase of the year to start the garden season.
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