Colchicum in Spring

Last fall, I planted Colchicum (autumn crocus) for the first time, and was promptly rewarded with lovely leafless flowers, at least from 'Waterlily'. So it's been interesting to see the flowerless leaves popping up this spring to nourish the bulbs for next fall's display.

They look kinda like short tulip foliage to me.

I'm still not seeing anything from the 'Harlekijn'. I wonder if Wayside would ship us some more 'Waterlily' to replace the 'Harlekijn' that never did anything.

The Great Garlic Gambit

Having read so frequently about garlic's ability to repel critters (and maybe even reduce black spot), I decided to plant garlic among my daylilies and roses this year, hopeful that I'll lose fewer buds to hungry deer, and lose fewer rose bush leaves to disease. And even if the garlic doesn't help with those challenges, at least I'll have lots of garlic for use in the kitchen.

From what I've read in the catalogs, most garlic is planted in the fall, but John Scheepers Kitchen Garden Seeds did offer a variety that can be planted in the spring. It's called Early Italian Purple, and I was relieved to find out that the garlic cloves themselves are not purple, just the skins that enclose the cloves. And it's a softneck garlic, which means I can make garlic braids, and the heads will keep for longer.

I ordered a pound—about 10 heads, which I broke apart into individual cloves and planted even with the soil, as instructed. (I did consider just buying garlic heads at the store, but they're supposed to be treated with stuff that prevents sprouting—not that I haven't had my share of store-bought garlic sprout in the pantry anyway!)

Given that garlic is supposed to be a critter repellent, I was surprised to go out in the garden a few days later and see about five cloves lying on top of the ground!

Although we are going through a spring thaw, I'm skeptical that this would have been caused by the soil heaving. Could something have dug them up? We don't have squirrels, and I can't imagine a deer or rabbit doing it. Would raccoons? Moles? Mice? The only other possible culprit I can think of is birds. In past years, I've seen freshly planted seedlings torn out and left lying on the ground, and speculated that a bird thought the tiny plants were worms. Now I'm wondering if that little bit of green growth starting to pop from the garlic could have been mistaken for a caterpillar or other bird treat...

...except that the cloves that were pulled up had no green shoot.

I wish I could install cameras in the yard, like they have at intersections, so that I could catch any "moving violations" and take appropriate action to protect the rest of my garlic!

Bob, Bob, Bobbin' Along

When I first heard the rhythmic sound coming from the basement, I thought perhaps someone had left the faucet dripping in the bathroom. But no, it was one of the harbingers of spring, a robin, attacking one of the windows. Tap, tap, tap.

I'll give him credit for this: he certainly is fearless. I walked right up to the window to take his picture (with a flash!), and he still held his ground.

There have been other more pleasant harbingers of spring lately. The Iris reticulata 'Gordon' are blooming...

...as are the Vinca minor (periwinkle).

The buds on the Magnolia 'Jane' are swelling...

...the rose 'Blanc Doublet de Coubert' is leafing out...

...and I can see the buds on the lilac.

I also got all of the spring veggie garden planted. The Cabbage 'Gonzales' and Broccoli 'Small Miracle' are tucked away in their beds (and although you can't see them, there are Scallion 'Parade' seeds planted among the cabbage). I only planted nine of each instead of my usual 16, just to see if more space makes any difference in the size of the produce.

I also planted Spinach 'Renegade' and Peas 'Sugar Sprint', but decided that raised beds full of dirt were not photos worth sharing.

One surprise of the season has been the survival of the Brussels Sprouts 'Catskill' that I planted last August. When the weather got bad, I put a row cover on them and hoped for the best. They look a little beat up by the cold, but they did survive...

...and I do believe those are little sprouts forming at the base of the leaves!

A Good Day to Start More Seeds

The title of this post begs the question...is there a bad day to start seeds? I suppose I wouldn't want to be doing it in July, but on this particular day in March, with the rain forming a moat around the house, preventing me from leaving...

...it seems like a good day to go downstairs and start some more seeds under the grow lights.

Two weeks ago we started a couple trays that included Antirrhinum majus 'Twinny' (snapdragons), Calendula officinalis 'Citrus Smoothies', Consolida ajacis 'Sydney' (larkspur), Delphinium 'King Arthur' and 'Pacific Giant', Phlox drummondii '21st Century Rose Star', Primula vulgaris 'Giant Bouquet', Prunella 'Freelander', and Rosmarinus officinalis (rosemary), and so far at least one of everything has popped...

...even if some of them are itty bitty, like the rosemary:

Today we started Campanula 'Cup and Saucer' (Canterbury bells), Centratherum intermedium 'Button Beauty', Heliotrope 'Mini Marine', Melampodium paludosum 'Melanie', Osteospermum Asti, Ptilotus exaltatus 'Joey', Thymus vulgaris (thyme), Eggplant 'Park's Whopper', and Pepper 'Karma'. I only had room for 12 peppers, and want to start 16, so I'll start some more when I start the tomatoes in a couple weeks.

The Broccoli 'Small Miracle' and Cabbage 'Gonzales', which I started on February 9, are now out on the back porch, being hardened off. The cabbage (on the right) is considerably larger than the broccoli, but I'm confident the broccoli will catch up.

Next weekend, if the weather cooperates, I'll plant them out in the raised beds, and direct-sow the Spinach 'Renegade', Peas 'Sugar Sprint', and Scallion 'Parade'. It is so wonderful to be able to do these things again!

And we still haven't gotten ordering-mania out of our system. Since I'm going to rent space in the new community garden in my area, I had to get some seeds for that plot, and decided to try some things I've never grown before, like Fordhook bush lima beans, black beans, and garbanzo beans. (Actually, I planted lima beans once about 20 years ago, but the day I went out to the garden and saw nothing but stumps where lovely leaves had been was the day I decided that fencing a veggie garden is a very good idea.) This is also the first time I've ever ordered from Vermont Bean Seed Company, so I shall see how I like their stuff.

My husband was also seduced by the flowering potatoes from Gardener's Supply, which includes 'Red Cloud', 'Cranberry Red', 'Carola', 'All Blue', 'Onaway', and 'Butte', so we're going to try growing those in a container.

Ah, spring...are we there yet?

Color My World

After a winter that's been way, way too long, it's finally starting to feel like spring again!

The sky is blue instead of gray...

...the narcissus shoots are green...

...the white stuff is disappearing...

...and I'm tickled pink!