Temptations

The seed catalogs are arriving, sometimes two or three from the same company. Smaller, duplicate editions are trying to get your online order, or so I suspect.

Mine are dogeared, pages marked, and folded. I'm not a seed starter, or I should clarify, I'm not an indoor seed starter. I know the beauty of greenhouse propagation with heat mats, copper trays (to divert slugs), soft mist watering, and bright light with high humidity. The only way I would be persuaded to sow indoors might be with a very good artificial light setup. 

In my early twenties, that was my garden. I lived in an apartment facing north with a very large maple tree at the window of my growing room.  A two bedroom apartment, I dedicated the extra room to growing tropical plants with artificial lights. Timers clicked on a off; the closet, multiple shelves and a floor display were all lit with fluorescent lights. A fish tank kept the humidity up, high enough to tint the window green. Small fans moved the air and the results were amazing. 

I have neither the space or the desire to try and replicate that in my current home. It would fail, I'm certain. 

But, direct sowing outside is a breeze. Lettuce, pumpkins, cucumbers, squash, watermelon - of course you just sow them outside. Sunflowers, cosmos, zinnias, and marigolds are just a few that are often better if seed is set directly into the garden. My temptations, the earmarked catalog pages are often the same from one to another. A new cosmos is called 'Cupcakes'. The petals curve upwards and there appear to be extra petals inside, a trait that occurs occasionally, or on a small percentage (so some catalogs warn). Of course there are stunning photographs of the few that do. 

Another temptation is a daylength neutral, yellow cosmos called 'Xanthos'. The petals are the softest, sulphur yellow. There were a couple of years when I grew the yellow hybrids but their trigger to flower were short days. Flowers would not arrive until October and last only a short time before freezing. I'm giving them another try.

Medium and large sunflowers are circled, so successful were my gigantic sunflowers last summer with stems over eleven feet tall. And I want to cut more (lots more)!  

Every gardener should have a bulletin board, a place to put torn out catalog pages. The White Flower Farm catalog has eleven pages dedicated to great container combinations. Happy thoughts come when I see various plants so artfully placed. This I want to revisit in spring.

 My seed orders will go in soon, even though we are three months away from summer sowing. If you wait too long, some are sold out. I have made that mistake plenty of times. The other mistake would be sowing too early with just a windowsill for light. Wait till the end of March, or even early April if that is what you intend to do. Winter has been long, the gardener wants to speed it along, but it's a common cause for failure. Seedlings also benefit from fieldtrips outside.  Days when temperatures rise above fifty-five degrees are good, but shelter them well, and shade them a lot. Any wind will dehydrate them within minutes, so be ready to check often and water frequently. When we hardened seedlings at the plant farm, a close eye watched, ready to re-hydrate. 

When it's finally time and the soil is warm enough, I direct sow in beds that are topped with sterile compost. A small furrow, literally made by dragging a stick is as fancy as it gets. I drop seeds like cosmos and zinnias six to eight inches apart. The gigantic sunflowers are fifteen to twenty-four inches apart.

One of the greatest joys for a gardener is seeing the little ones sprout and imagining them in bloom. Winter browsing of seed catalogs may be even better!

Comments

[Scott Sneddon]

My Dad used to plant and raise forests of giant tomato trees in the basement each Winter. Come Spring out they went and, voila, they produced edible tomatoes just about the same time as the tiny seedlings planted on May 24th. My tomatoes come from the local Farmer's Market downtown but he was happier I suppose.

[Gina]

You are such a wealth of knowledge :)
Can you recommend a couple reputable seed catalogs?

[Casa Mariposa]

I ordered loads of seeds and I start sowing tomorrow. I should have started in early Jan but that just didn't happen this year. I just bought whatever looked good and made me happy. :o)

[Karen Rexrode]

Gina, I have 4 I like, Johnny's Select Seed, Parks Seed, Stokes Seed, and Select Seed. Prices are good and seeds are great!

[Karen Rexrode]

Tammy,

It must be so exciting for you! A chance to work with sun and an open palette.