Saturday, March 26, 2011

The Ice Storm, Big Gusts, and Me

Top of the dry stream garden, where I want to plant milkweed
Well, I swear that you came in the form of rain
That had frozen somewhere along it's way through the evening sky.  So the trees got tired and laid on the ground.  I swear you marched in like big gusts of wind.  Oh, cutting through our clothes.  Such an easy attempt to convince us
There is no reason we should be outside
--The Ice Storm, Big Gusts, and You:  Tilly and the Wall


The one, and only, literally, Cinderella

It's the first day of spring break.  I have a nasty cold, nasty, and we're supposed to get an ice storm tomorrow.  What's a gardener to do?  Evaluate, order, shop, and solicit help.  I have been convinced that there is no reason I should be outside for the next two days!


I've evaluated my milkweed, Asclepias Incarnata "Cinderella," and what I have is great, but I only have one actual plant that has survived all my poking and prodding.  I have several seedlings under the grow light.  I decided to just dump the rest of the packet into two peat pots and see what happened.  I am not very sophisticated.  Seems to me the more sophisticated I try to be the worse the results.  At any rate, the two peat pots have about six seedlings currently.  This is wonderful news.  However, it's not as wonderful as I need it to be. 


I need quite a few Cinderellas to fill the blank spot in the extended front garden area (this is the top of the dry stream bed garden).  So, this morning I decided to order more seeds, and low and behold, when I did I read something that I should have prior to my first attempt:  "Refrigerate 7-10 days - germinate very irregularly over a long period."  Oh!  Well that explains it!


I received some much needed information from outsidepride.com, and now I need some planting advice from fellow gardeners.  Last night, my husband and I bought four cherry saplings:  Nanking and Sand Cherry.  I want these for their fruit, but I also want them to look pretty in our yard.  I need suggestions and advice for planting and pruning.  If you have any advice please share! 

For sharing seed stories head to Dave's Seed Sowing Saturday http://www.growingthehomegarden.com/


2 comments:

  1. That Asclepias is a natural for winter sowing. Just throw it outside in a milk bottle, in the middle of your ice storm, and I bet it will sprout like gangbusters.

    A lot of seeds need the freeze/thaw cycle of being outside in winter.

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  2. Thanks, Alison. It's so good to get advice from fellow gardeners. Makes everything easier :)

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