Garden thread

mbaker566

I have a granny Smith dwarf and an Arkansas black that's short.
I'm going to get at least on cherry tree.
Apples and cherries are common in most of WI.
Not a tree but i haven't had luck with grapes.
I do have a nice elderberry bush.
Pears also grow in SE Wisconsin
My brother has a mulberry tree. I'm going to see if I can get a small one from him maybe.

kshama2001

mbaker566 wrote: »

I have a granny Smith dwarf and an Arkansas black that's short.
I'm going to get at least on cherry tree.
Apples and cherries are common in most of WI.
Not a tree but i haven't had luck with grapes.
I do have a nice elderberry bush.
Pears also grow in SE Wisconsin
My brother has a mulberry tree. I'm going to see if I can get a small one from him maybe.

My mom has several mulberry trees. The birds are good at making new trees around the property

I once found a "volunteer" mulberry tree on my property, dug it up carefully (long tap root IIRC), replanted it in a sunny spot, and it was producing berries in only a few years.

kshama2001

When does everyone start planting?

My mom's old Victory Garden book said you can do peas on St Patrick's Day (March 17), so that sticks in my mind. However, I've done peas then and @ two weeks later, April 1, and they are both ready the same time, so if I'm "two weeks late" that's actually just fine. Here near Boston it is crucial to do peas early as the suffer in consistently warm weather. I always do peas and beans by seed.

I wait for my garden center to have Swiss chard and kale seedlings. I'm not sure when that is exactly - early to mid April maybe? I call and harass them for when they'll get that it

Big box stores tend to rush the season too much. I always laugh when I see basil and tomato plants ridiculously early.

I do have a poly tunnel thing to keep seedlings warm so I can start them a little early. It's shorter than this, so only good in the spring when the plants are small: https://smile.amazon.com/Tierra-Garden-50-5000-Haxnicks-Tunnel/dp/B004ZQOZZ6/ref=sr_1_4

I have bigger fleece ones that I use during the season to try to keep the cabbage worms out of the kale, and at the end of the season I cover it with blankets on cold nights to try to extend the season a little longer.

I want to start spinach from seeds this year because I have a hard time finding seedlings in the garden center early enough, plus mom gave me some seeds. I'll have to make sure to start it early enough. I'd planned to start some for a fall crop last year and waited too long. Does anyone have recommendations for spinach less prone to going to seed as soon as it gets warm, aka bolting?

I've grown Malabar spinach, which does superbly in the heat, but I didn't like it in smoothies and my OH doesn't like it cooked. My mom and brother love it, however, and are psyched that I turned them on to it.

amtyrell

It depends on your zone. I am zone 7 and have started artichokes and hot peppers to go outside. Everything else I have started I expect to live mainly inside.

AnnPT77

kshama2001 wrote: »

When does everyone start planting?

My mom's old Victory Garden book said you can do peas on St Patrick's Day (March 17), so that sticks in my mind. However, I've done peas then and @ two weeks later, April 1, and they are both ready the same time, so if I'm "two weeks late" that's actually just fine. Here near Boston it is crucial to do peas early as the suffer in consistently warm weather. I always do peas and beans by seed.

I wait for my garden center to have Swiss chard and kale seedlings. I'm not sure when that is exactly - early to mid April maybe? I call and harass them for when they'll get that it

Big box stores tend to rush the season too much. I always laugh when I see basil and tomato plants ridiculously early.

I do have a poly tunnel thing to keep seedlings warm so I can start them a little early. It's shorter than this, so only good in the spring when the plants are small: https://smile.amazon.com/Tierra-Garden-50-5000-Haxnicks-Tunnel/dp/B004ZQOZZ6/ref=sr_1_4

I have bigger fleece ones that I use during the season to try to keep the cabbage worms out of the kale, and at the end of the season I cover it with blankets on cold nights to try to extend the season a little longer.

I want to start spinach from seeds this year because I have a hard time finding seedlings in the garden center early enough, plus mom gave me some seeds. I'll have to make sure to start it early enough. I'd planned to start some for a fall crop last year and waited too long. Does anyone have recommendations for spinach less prone to going to seed as soon as it gets warm, aka bolting?

I've grown Malabar spinach, which does superbly in the heat, but I didn't like it in smoothies and my OH doesn't like it cooked. My mom and brother love it, however, and are psyched that I turned them on to it.

Consider Johnny's Selected Seeds calculator, that asks you to input your average frost-free date, and estimates starting and plant-out dates for a bunch of different things:

https://www.johnnyseeds.com/growers-library/seed-planting-schedule-calculator.html

I don't work there, or invest or anything, but am a hyper-delighted long-time customer. They have more info, and it's more honest**, than any other seed company I've found. (They specialize in varieties for the North.)

**Within seed descriptions, they will tell you which are ealiest vs. tastiest vs. most bolt-resistant or various other things, among their varieties.

lemurcat2

AnnPT77 wrote: »

kshama2001 wrote: »

When does everyone start planting?

My mom's old Victory Garden book said you can do peas on St Patrick's Day (March 17), so that sticks in my mind. However, I've done peas then and @ two weeks later, April 1, and they are both ready the same time, so if I'm "two weeks late" that's actually just fine. Here near Boston it is crucial to do peas early as the suffer in consistently warm weather. I always do peas and beans by seed.

I wait for my garden center to have Swiss chard and kale seedlings. I'm not sure when that is exactly - early to mid April maybe? I call and harass them for when they'll get that it

Big box stores tend to rush the season too much. I always laugh when I see basil and tomato plants ridiculously early.

I do have a poly tunnel thing to keep seedlings warm so I can start them a little early. It's shorter than this, so only good in the spring when the plants are small: https://smile.amazon.com/Tierra-Garden-50-5000-Haxnicks-Tunnel/dp/B004ZQOZZ6/ref=sr_1_4

I have bigger fleece ones that I use during the season to try to keep the cabbage worms out of the kale, and at the end of the season I cover it with blankets on cold nights to try to extend the season a little longer.

I want to start spinach from seeds this year because I have a hard time finding seedlings in the garden center early enough, plus mom gave me some seeds. I'll have to make sure to start it early enough. I'd planned to start some for a fall crop last year and waited too long. Does anyone have recommendations for spinach less prone to going to seed as soon as it gets warm, aka bolting?

I've grown Malabar spinach, which does superbly in the heat, but I didn't like it in smoothies and my OH doesn't like it cooked. My mom and brother love it, however, and are psyched that I turned them on to it.

Consider Johnny's Selected Seeds calculator, that asks you to input your average frost-free date, and estimates starting and plant-out dates for a bunch of different things:

https://www.johnnyseeds.com/growers-library/seed-planting-schedule-calculator.html

I don't work there, or invest or anything, but am a hyper-delighted long-time customer. They have more info, and it's more honest**, than any other seed company I've found. (They specialize in varieties for the North.)

**Within seed descriptions, they will tell you which are ealiest vs. tastiest vs. most bolt-resistant or various other things, among their varieties.

Nice!

Based on that, and putting in May 10 as the "almost guaranteed to have no frost after this" date, my earliest days (vegetables only) to start seeds would be Feb 2 for onions, Feb 9 for parsley, Feb 16 for spinach and peas and leeks, and Feb 23 for celery/celeriac. Earliest date to put them out would be March 15 for peas (end of the range was until March 29). I didn't do peas last year, but I might this year.

AnnPT77

A little hope for Spring, here in the gloomy still-frozen North.

lemurcat2

This is a weird winter, I keep feeling like I'm waiting for it to fully come.

(This time last year I was dealing with burst pipes after the polar vortex.)

kshama2001

I'm in Zone 6b and have no bulbs emerging yet, and I have early ones like snow drops and winter aconite. No snow either (which is not actually a good thing, as snow is "poor man's fertilizer," plus I like to snow shoe, and have only been twice this year, way back in Dec.)

kimny72

Here in Central Virginia we've had a really mild winter, nothing lower than barely down into the 20s (F) overnight. One decent snow in Nov and one dusting recently. Following a hot and aggressively stormy summer BTW. I'm not sure if I should assume we're just not gonna get super cold this year, or if we should get ready for a bitter Feb/March! We've had plants and trees blooming (that shouldn't be) on and off all winter.

Safari_Gal_

I can’t wait for Spring! All my plants and trees keep looking out the window waiting to go back outside!

On the planting docket - (garden zone 7b)
Going to try some bucket lemon trees and fig trees.

In planters - going to try strawberries and rosemary! I feel like February is going to be a looong month.

Safari_Gal_

AnnPT77 wrote: »

A little hope for Spring, here in the gloomy still-frozen North.

Lovely photo!

ReenieHJ

Can't wait for planting season!!! I usually just plant a few basic things and probably will do the same this yr. but I always get cabin fever around this time and pre-planning what to plant is one way I deal with February.
To me, nothing tastes as good as picking cherry tomatoes right off the plant and popping them into your mouth.

AnnPT77

I'm surprised to hear that others aren't seeing these yet.

I'm in zone 5b, where it's been a somewhat normal Winter (I don't think we have such a thing as a "normal Winter", really). It's pretty common for a very few of the earliest Galanthus to bloom in the first half of February for me, and I don't believe this is the first time late January has happened. Without a disciplined record, I can only say that it seems like light on soil (so maybe soil temp?) is more material to bloom time than air temps, for these. I believe they're later in years with more consistent snow cover. If they've gotten a start, they will melt the snow around them, as this one seems to have done. (We had some long-ish stretches without snow cover recently).

Safari_Gal_ wrote: »

AnnPT77 wrote: »

A little hope for Spring, here in the gloomy still-frozen North.

Lovely photo!

Thanks! Just a cropped-down cell phone snap. This time of year, and for the next couple of months, I'm pretty much out in the yard searching desperately to see the very first blooms from the early bulbs. My spirits need them. This is the first one, this year. In the coming weeks, there'll be lots more of these, the Helleborus niger and near hybrids (not bulbs, of course), then some Iris "George", the Tommie Crocus (which have been naturalizing nicely), then on to the rest of the Spring goodness.

Safari_Gal_ wrote: »

I can’t wait for Spring! All my plants and trees keep looking out the window waiting to go back outside!
(snip)

Yup. My potted Passion Flower and Mandevilla vines literally start reaching out and trying to grab the outdoors as soon as the days start to lengthen. I keep having to cut them back from curtain rods and such.

lemurcat2

I'm apparently in 6a according to the new map, was 5b on the older map, and I haven't noticed anything blooming. Here it was much milder than usual in December and January -- some cold and snow in January, but nothing like I'm used to. It definitely could get really cold in February, though.

I've only had to shovel my sidewalk and front porch stairs once in 2020 -- every other time it's snowed it's warmed up to around 35 soon after, which has been enough to melt the snow on the sidewalk. There was snow on the grass but yesterday was high 30s and today in the 40s and expected to hit 50, so that's mostly gone now too.

Here's a bit of my (tiny, it's a city lot) back yard and garage showing the only snow left in back. There's a little more in front, but I bet it's gone by the end of the day.

kshama2001

lemurcat2 wrote: »

I'm apparently in 6a according to the new map, was 5b on the older map, and I haven't noticed anything blooming. Here it was much milder than usual in December and January -- some cold and snow in January, but nothing like I'm used to. It definitely could get really cold in February, though.

I've only had to shovel my sidewalk and front porch stairs once in 2020 -- every other time it's snowed it's warmed up to around 35 soon after, which has been enough to melt the snow on the sidewalk. There was snow on the grass but yesterday was high 30s and today in the 40s and expected to hit 50, so that's mostly gone now too.

Here's a bit of my (tiny, it's a city lot) back yard and garage showing the only snow left in back. There's a little more in front, but I bet it's gone by the end of the day.

Can't wait to see pictures of your garden box later in the year!

kshama2001

AnnPT77 wrote: »

I'm surprised to hear that others aren't seeing these yet.

I'm in zone 5b, where it's been a somewhat normal Winter (I don't think we have such a thing as a "normal Winter", really). It's pretty common for a very few of the earliest Galanthus to bloom in the first half of February for me, and I don't believe this is the first time late January has happened. Without a disciplined record, I can only say that it seems like light on soil (so maybe soil temp?) is more material to bloom time than air temps, for these. I believe they're later in years with more consistent snow cover. If they've gotten a start, they will melt the snow around them, as this one seems to have done. (We had some long-ish stretches without snow cover recently).

My neighbor was unaware that she had snowdrops in her woods. Last year, I transplanted a bunch of them into her garden beds and mine. I checked after I saw your photo, and there is no sign of them yet in the original spot or the two new ones.

I'm going to be keeping an eye out now!

My other neighbor lets me plant in their beds too, and I realized today I have very little memory of what bulbs I planted where, so it will be a nice surprise for us all when they start coming up

beachwalker99

This thread has me dreaming of Spring!

I'm in a coastal 7a region with unseasonably warm temps this winter. Nice for walking, but not so nice for many of the plants.

earlnabby

I am right on the line between 5a and 4b so our last frost is typically mid to late May. I start my seeds in March and start hardening off plants in early May.

Right now I am planning everything. The seed catalogs typically come right after Christmas so I can start dreaming then.

mbaker566

I'm solidly in 5b. We've had snow and rain. But not very cold so far

Nothing peaking out here