In the Garden:Spring!
In the Garden:| In the March Garden: Sow seeds of cool season vegetables: beets, carrots, lettuce, salad greens, peas,* radishes, spinach, chard; Sow seeds of hardy annuals: annual phlox, bachelor buttons, calendula, California poppy, clarkia, larkspur, Shirley poppy, sweet alyssum;** Move dormant shrubs and roses; Prune fruit trees on a moderate day; Welcome back migrating birds with high protein snacks such as nuts. *Phenology, the study of cyclic and seasonal natural phenomena, especially in relation to plant and animal life, holds that peas (both floral sweet peas and edible peas) should be planted when the pussy willow trees flower. **Encourage sweet alyssum to reseed, especially near plants that have suffered from aphids in the past. The flowers attract hoverflies, whose larvae feed on aphids. Also, their early blooms draw bees to pollinate early blooming fruit trees. |
“All through the long winter, I dream of my garden. On the first day of spring, I dig my fingers deep into the soft earth. I can feel its energy, and my spirits soar.” – Helen Hayes
It is appropriate that I am writing my first garden column for the March issue. This is the month of the Vernal Equinox, occurring on March 20 this year. This date symbolizes to me the beginning of the gardening year.
A little background: My husband (“The Sailing Guy”) and I moved to Moscow almost two years ago. We are retired, originally from the Puget Sound area, and were snow birds for five years between Tucson and the Northwest (first Port Townsend, Washington, then Bayview, Idaho) before settling in Moscow for our year-round home. My interest in gardening was piqued more than 30 years ago, and I enrolled in the Horticulture Program at Edmonds Community College in Washington State. Gardening has, since then, been my favorite hobby wherever I have lived. I have planted several perennial gardens in homes I have lived in, and that is my primary interest. Last summer, though, The Sailing Guy built some raised beds to grow a few vegetables using the Square Foot Gardening System, so I will be learning how to do that. I am currently enrolled in the Master Gardeners’ program through the University of Idaho Latah County Extension Office. I feel the program will provide a good introduction to gardening in this area.
My plan for this column is to share with you my gardening thoughts and ideas and provide a brief mention of what's going on monthly in the garden, along with tasks to be done. For me, gardening is where I find my center, and I hope to convey the spiritual side of my passion to you. I also plan to introduce Co-op producers to you in hopes you will appreciate that for many this passion is also a way of life.
I'm happy to report that the die-hard gardener can get outside from time to time on the Palouse, even in the middle of winter. On the last day of January, I spent a few hours in the garden, cleaning up branches from the previous day's windstorm; adding manure to, and stirring up, a cold compost pile; raking leaves left over from fall cleanup; and searching for any life besides the slugs I found under an old door mat. I was pleased to see that a rosemary plant I put in last summer is still alive, Veronica 'Sunny Border Blue' has many bright-green shoots, snowdrops are blooming, as is a perennial I love, Knautia macedonica, a dependable workhorse that has two burgundy blossoms on it. My rhubarb plant is showing some fresh red growth, and it looks like two of my three Lavatera thuringiaca 'Barnsley' plants have made it this far. 'Barnsley' is one of my favorite shrubs and will probably not make it in this zone, but I always have to see for myself.
As I write this column, there are two inches of fresh snow on the ground. After shoveling the sidewalk this morning, I headed to my garden shed to find pots for bulb planting. I returned this week from the Olympic Peninsula, via the Skagit Valley, and am feeling a hunger for spring. Many early blooming plants were on display in gardens on the Peninsula and an 'open' nursery sign in the Skagit Valley beckoned to me. I purchased tulip bulbs, which have been outside all season and should have the proper amount of chilling and will hopefully have time to grow roots before bloom time is here. I planted them in potting soil and put them outside for the next rainfall. I expect they will come up this spring, but perhaps a little later than if they had been planted in the fall. I'll let you know.
Also in January, the cedar waxwings, robins and starlings all descended upon Moscow's berried trees and had a gorgefest. The waxwings moved on, but I'm pleased to see that the robins have stayed and are looking quite healthy with their plump stomachs. They seem to be finding enough to eat.
Holly Barnes is delighted to be the new Co-op newsletter gardening columnist. She is also counting the days until it will be warm enough to spend a whole day in the garden.
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