Spring is gearing up in the basement greenhouse.

It was time to get busy with my plants in the basement again.  Some of the stock plants were up to the lights and ready for cutting.  Others were pot bound and needed a bigger home for their roots. Others were ready for a good cleaning again.  A few of them needed some insect control (white flies on the Lantana again).  The bench was ready for a good shuffling around and cleaning out of all the trays.  Everything was swept up and taken out to the compost pile if it was no long attached to a plant.
The Canna rhizomes were hadn't been cleaned and potted yet and it is getting a little late in the winter if I want good sized plants to put in the garden in June.  I also put my favorite yellow begonia tuber in a pot for the umpteenth time.  I never have successfully gained more than one plant from year to year, but it is such a sunny spot in the shade.  Promises to myself to buy more each year go unfulfilled. 

I divided plants again as I had last year so my Mandevilla vine is up to four.  I have not propagated it by cuttings, just divided the original pot each year as the four cutting became bigger and stronger plants each season.  It was fun to pull them apart and see what is going on in the pot.  The roots reminded me of dividing asparagus ferns when I worked in the greenhouse with their swollen, watery root nodules.  I also divided my Pennisetum grass into four.  All the dividing and new seeding means it was time to set up more areas for plants.  Some of them are in a sunny south facing window on the second floor.  I have never set up a table here before, but it was handy and easy to set up.  The small room is cramped for space now, but it is so pleasant to sit and look at all those plants and think about spring.

I also had to add the power cord to my kitchen window light and add the boot trays for catching the water from the cuttings and seedlings.  I have my second round of coleus rooting in jars and have moved my seedlings under the light as well.  I left the micro-greens in the basement since their was still room for them yet.  It is a nice problem to have when the space is getting tight.  For me it means that spring is just around the corner.  My next round of seeding is the first weekend of April for some of the early crops and longer season varieties.  It was good to sit down and get it all in order so I can see at a glance what is coming up.  Knowing that seeding is close meant looking at my supply of clean plastic trays and inserts.  I was low on some and had to run a bucket of hot bleach water to sterilize pots today, so some inserts also went into the soaking bucket for 10 minutes of sanitation time.

With the wedding last fall I did not clean up pots with my fall clean up last year as I did in  2012.  As a result, I have a shelf full of dirty pots, trays, and liners in my garage that I will have to deal with soon.  It is nice to not have to think about cleaning pots every time I want to do some upgrading or pricking out of seedlings.  My store shelves are empty and will have to be replenished.  Unfortunately, my garden gnomes have not been much help in this area.  I found a warm spot on the south side of the house and got busy cleaning a small batch to get me started.  The snow has melted here, but you can see in the background that there is plenty of white on the yards yet.  I am still looking at getting that cold frame put together so I can use this nice, warm patch of ground for an early crop of lettuce.  Maybe next weekend.

Flower Garden Pictures

This garden has asters, Alysum, larkspur, and cone flowers that reseed themselves

I potted up all the flowering kale and assembled all for easy watering.  My husband commented that he liked it all together.

Three Mandevilla vines grow as one.  These I take in for the winter.  Cut back hard for easier storage.

Half of the Thunbergia vine in my garden is from gathered seeds. The Hydrangea is in glorious bloom even after taking off many for drying.

The wedding flower garden got a bit of a hair cut to make more light for the varieties I am trying to encourage more.  It is still beautiful and the hummingbirds don't seem to mind.

My grandmother's garden before I came along.  I love this picture of my older sisters.

Seeding, cutting back and general yard work

The pile of wood chips on the driveway is getting smaller each day.  I no longer do marathon hauling sessions, but rather like to chip away at jobs in smaller pieces.  The hardest areas have been done where I had to carry the chips in large buckets to fill the pathways of my garden (the wheel barrow does not fit through the gate).

Seedlings have been popping up like crazy, so I am spending a couple hours at a time pricking out little vegetables and flowers into larger cell packs.  As a result, more and more established plants have been added to the outdoor shelves and only moved into the garage to get them out of the cold.

Nature played a cruel trick on Wisconsin this year.  Last year we were two weeks ahead of spring's normal start.  Our friends in the northwest part of the state were dealing with up to 18" of new snow with the front that brought us cold rain.  Opening fishing season called for ice augers on some lakes as there was still 24" of ice on some of them.  Like they say, if you don't like the weather, just wait a few minutes!

I divided up my hanging basket of Mandevilla vine today.  I was just going to move it up a pot size when I noticed it had four individual stems from one pot.  It will be interesting to see how it handles the stress of dividing.  My jasmine has flowers on it already.  It amazes me that it can sit in the basement all winter and still put out a nice flush of early blooms.  Artificial light does not hinder this one.  I had done a drastic cut back on it last fall to make it easy to keep for the winter.  This also did not seems to set it back much either.

I think the tomatoes are ready for cell packs now.  I may have tried too many this year, but the seed catalogs were too tempting with the descriptions.  Only one tomatillo is going in this year though.  Four was too many.

There was some good bargains at the hardware store this morning for potting soil.  This is what made all the transplanting possible.  Mother's Day is next weekend so the stores are really gearing up for spring even if it doesn't always feel like it is here.  I also got 10-10-10 fertilizer for the asparagus bed.  Everything I read said to put 10-10-10 in the trench.  It was a pretty good day all-in-all. 

Container Gardening...continued

I didn't like container gardening  at one time.  To me they were like needy children always wanting attention.  They wanted watering daily, sometimes twice.  They begged for fertilizer constantly.  It was like having several teenagers hanging out in my yard and making gardening life a chore rather than a joy.  Then,  I figured out where I was going wrong.
I enjoy my containers now.  They hang around are propped up on blocks and stands. They are topiaries that I carry over from year to year.  They fit into the patio areas where it isn't easy or practical to have an in-ground bed.  I can place them under or hang them from my trees.  There are a few things I have learned which make them a pleasure to have around.

Size does matter.  I have chosen larger pots which let the plants seek deep roots.  I have gotten around the "too heavy" pot syndrome by flipping another plastic pot upside down inside the larger pot.  It reduces the amount of soil I use as well as add an air gap which makes the pot lighter.
Soil matters, also.  Spending a little more on some potting mixes that have moisture retention beads mixed in or adding them yourself really do help extend the moisture content.  Slow release fertilizers will also help reduce the amount of supplemental feeding you have to do during the season.  I mix several things together including sifted compost which adds some natural organic matter to aid in moisture retention as well as feed the plants.

Line your baskets when using the coconut liners with a bit of plastic.  Punch several holes to add drainage before adding the soil and plants.  This will really help retain moisture in these baskets.  I also chose plants that like it dry for hanging baskets.  This allows me the time to let them dry down before watering again.  I love my pink ivy geraniums with the agastache in the middle.  The humming birds also like this basket as much as I do.

I also have some plants that sit right in the water and never get any direct attention for the rest of the season.  The papyrus plants as well as elephant ear (Colocasia) will do nicely in this environment.  I place the pots with the plant inside another larger pot weighted with river stones for looks and to keep the plants standing tall.  This method has kept my plants from blowing onto their sides in the water.  It also keeps the water clean of soil.

I do several herbs in containers.  Some of my annual herbs are in with the flower pots for scent and interest.  My rosemary is in a pot to make the transition back into the house easier.  There are a few herbs in my garden which are in pots and dug into the ground.  This keeps those herbs (mint family) contained to a manageable size and from taking over everything in sight.  (I also cut flower heads off before they seed like crazy.)

I like plants that vine and flower.  Three of these in containers are jasmine, mandevilla vine, and thunbergia.  The jasmine is all on its own and comes indoors every fall.  The mandevilla is also treated the same way.  I bought a second one this year in a hanging basket.  The two plants have met up and are twining up the corner of the garage. Because I didn't fertilize last year's plant much it is just starting to flower.
The thunbergia is in a service pot and I have bamboo training it up towards the fence.  If you look at the planter on the left, you will see that this one has become my favorite combination of plants.  There is Diamond Frost euphobia, lantana, ibosa vine, and pineapple sage filling up this dish.  Plastic pots are also part of my container happiness. I love the look of terra cotta, but by nature it will wick moisture out of the soil inside.  Glazed pots help reduce this, but terra cotta is also much heavier.  I have some, but do try to keep them in a spot that does not ask to be moved as much.

Today, my husband did me a huge favor and re-purposed more of the old deck into a vertical garden.  Window boxes are another of my container garden favorites.  I have my alpine strawberries in window boxes and now have a vertical tower to hold them.  I have more window boxes and plan on doing my late season lettuce in this vertical structure.  I also will be able to start things outdoors early next year in the same.
Containers can add versatility to gardening.  Vegetables on a high rise balcony are possible because of container gardens.  You can move them for different looks or to add interest to a barren concrete jungle.  When frost threatens, they can be moved indoors until the warm days of fall return, extending your season by months sometimes.  They can also be moved closer to the water source when the situation calls for this.  Experiment and see what works for you.