All the Dirt on Gardening

Poppy seeds ready to plant in November You can provide cold stratification for seeds of annual flowers by putting them in the freezer or the refrigerator but I prefer to plant them Thanksgiving week so Mother Nature does the work for me. This is the time to plant Poppy seeds, Larkspur, wildflowers, swamp milkweed and many others. They seem to thrive with cold, moist, freeze and thaw stratification. The photo is our bag of the poppy seeds we collected and cleaned. This afternoon we are going to fill that gallon bag with soil-less potting soil that has been mixed with additional peat moss. Then, we are going to disturb the ground in various places on our 2 acres, sprinkle the mix on the disturbed soil and pat it down to discourage birds and squirrels. The peat, perlite and pressing the seeds in seems to really help reduce the eating. For more see http://www.hamiltonnativeoutpost.com/stratification.html Many many perennial seeds need cold stratification to germinate the...

Snapdragons are one of many plants that we have to start from seed in the fall. Their preferred germination temperature is 39-degrees though they will tolerate a warmer spot. I think that even with the 28 and 33 degree nights, the shed has only been as cold as 45 degrees. The seeds have sprouted and I've begun to divide and re pot them to individual pots to grow on. Their preferred growing temperature is 50-degrees F or 10 C. Tom Clothier's hort dot net has the old Thompson and Morgan seed starting chart that is reliable and easy to use though you have to have the Latin name. Snapdragon's Latin name is Antirrhinum. Use the link above to migrate to the chart. Home Town Seeds sent me some sample packs to try and they have all germinated very very successfully. The seedlings in the photos are their Giant Tetra Snapdragon. We know that larkspur and poppy seeds have to be planted by Thanksgiving to have flowers the following spring. Elizabeth Loveland wrote a piece on Fall Sow...

This is a wonderful day. Too cold and rainy to be outside much and just right for lining up the seeds that need cold stratification to bloom next year. Seeds to plant starting this month include most tree seeds , Annual Phlox, Poppy, Virginia Bluebells, Hellebore, Roses, Monkshood, etc. You can buy a generous amount of seed, mix it with vermiculite-sand and scatter it. Or, to reduce the amount of seed lost to birds and flood, you can plant the seeds in pots and flats and transplant them in the early spring. Seeds that need the constant cold and wet of winter will do better outside. Alchemy-Works has a thorough column on the topic. In addition to perennial shrubs, trees and flowers, many native plants need 60-days of moist cold. Prairie Moon Nursery has these plants listed separately in their online store. Click here to see their list . Then, of course there is the master list at Tom Clothier's site . Not to be missed for serious seed starters. And, for the same crowd, the Thompson...

Lurching Toward Spring, in my book, is this series of warm days that make plants optimistic and break ground, followed by 25-degree nights that shock them back into realilty. Jump back, it is not spring yet. Most days that go above 55-degrees you will find me outside doing something, though not always much. If you can get outside this week with the temperatures going up to 60-F on Thursday, here are a few things to do. Remove winter cover from shrubs, bulbs and beds. Plant dormant shrubs and trees. Divide and re-plant day lilies. Feed trees in 2-inch deep holes around the drip line. Mulch trees and shrubs with manure for spring growth. Fertilize shrubs and evergreens now. Use evergreen or azalea type food for evergreens. Water in dry fertilizers. Prune summer flowering shrubs now but not spring flowering ones. Remove the larger, center stems and branches, dead stuff, broken limbs, etc. Clean out small branches that prevent sun from reaching the roots. Prune back your honeysuckle, cro...