We have all been waiting patiently for spring so we can get out into our gardens and remove some of the debris from the winter. The next couple of weeks should be prime time to do just that. Pruning of roses and other summer- and fall- blooming shrubs can be done now, but leave the spring bloomers alone until they after they are done flowering so you won’t remove any of the long anticipated blossoms.
One thing we can still do in February is to plan our gardens. Notice I said "plan" not "plant." February is much too soon to be planting. But if you are like me, you will have received lots and lots of seed and flower catalogs in the last six weeks. The tough part is deciding what to get and whether or not to order or purchase locally. I have done both with mixed results.
I told myself I wasn’t going to try anything more from seeds because I don’t have a.) the patience or b.) the space to put out trays with planted seedlings. In truth, I probably could find the space at just the right window if I didn’t have four cats who love to eat plants while roaming the house at all hours. It gets to be very discouraging to start a whole tray of seeds only to have the little darlings chomped off at the soil line by a hungry cat.
But there I was, pouring through the Territorial Seed Company catalog and they had some really unusual flowers that I wanted to try. One was Cosmos 'Xanthos' which is a shorter, annual cosmos in a color I would describe as pastel lemon. We are all used to seeing pink cosmos, but I thought it would be fun to try a yellow one instead. We’ll see. I may have to find a friend with a greenhouse to start these as they need to be sown in temps between 68 and 77 degrees. Same with the Cosmos ‘Apricotta’, another peach-colored cosmos that are edged in hot pink. But I also got a dark red Nasturtium ‘Black Velvet’ and a white sunflower called ‘Procut White Nite’ that can be planted directly into the garden in May. Hmmm. I see a definite trend toward new colors for me here.
I think I can safely say vegetable gardens have become more popular than flower gardens due to the Covid lockdowns. And with the trend toward eating food that is grown locally becoming more and more popular, home gardeners will be converting some of their flower beds to veggie gardens. I know I am planning to do that if I can find a spot where the bed will get at least 6-8 hours of sun in the summer. Not easy when I am surrounded by trees. But there are always patio containers, and the larger ones are great for vegetables as well as flowers. The lettuces and spinaches being bred now are pretty as well as tasty and nutritious so I may get creative and stick a mixture of lettuce and spinach seeds in with the flowering and foliage plants. A hanging basket is also a possibility for a few lettuce seeds. Harder for the slugs to get to as well.
When shopping for vegetable seeds, I try to stick with Territorial or Ed Hume seeds as they are Pacific Northwest seed companies and know best what will grow here. One spinach I want to try from Territorial is ‘Olympia’ which is slow to bolt but can be sown year-round. At an upright 10," this one is considered to display better eating quality than most. I always look for seeds that have a short span from planting to fruiting for best results in our cool climate.
I try to shop locally for vegetable starts like tomatoes, peppers and even zucchini, but will wait for several months before I buy starts. I heard a gardener say recently that anyone can grow zucchini on the coast. “Well,” I thought, “not everyone.” I have a really hard time with zuchs because we just don’t have enough hot, sunny days for them to set blossoms. The vines look great, but no blossoms mean no zucchini. This year I want to try a raised bed with a hoop cover to see if I can block the wind and retain some of the heat. We are fortunate to have some really good growers of edible plants in Tillamook County. These growers even sell their plants to the local nurseries so they are easy to find. I realize I am “cheating” by using starts rather than starting them myself from seed, but I will refer to the patience issue in a previous paragraph. And there is always the May 6th, 2023 Master Gardener Plant Sale for those tomato and other vegetable starts.
It’s really not too early to start thinking about what seeds or plants to add to the garden this year, even if we aren't planting anything yet. I just have to find enough patience to not plant until the ground gets warmer.
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