Friday Favorite: Blooms in Winter
I often cut branches of various things to force indoors when the weather is still dreary outside. Forced branches, whether they have leaves or flowers, can really help during this season when the snow is mostly gone and the world outside is still brown and drab. A little color indoors reminds us that spring is not far away, soon enough our gardens will be riotous with color. Forcing branches couldn’t be easier either, simply cut, put in water, and wait.
The sunny yellow of forsythia is especially lovely to me right now, I cut these branches last week.
I’m thinking about cutting branches for flowering almond next, then perhaps I’ll try a few apple branches. If I had a star magnolia I’d cut a few of those as well. I would force lilac, but I’m not a fan of the smell at all, so those will stay outdoors. You can force branches from all sorts of trees like: quince, pussy willow, lilac, dogwood, cherry, apple, honeysuckle, spirea, hawthorn, viburnum, cherry, plum, and so many more!
Do you force blooms from branches or bulbs?
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Planting in the Low Tunnel
This past Sunday we had a beautiful day, highs near fifty and sunny. Perfect for working in the garden, only the ground is still frozen. The soil in the low tunnel is thawed and workable, in fact the spinach in there is starting to grow new leaves. I have lettuce seedlings under the grow light that can be planted outside any day now, I’ve just been waiting for the weather to be above the single digits at night. I finally broke down and ordered a four pack of these probe thermometers, one will be put in the low tunnel so I can monitor the temperatures in there during the day and at night. I’ll use one under my grow lights too so I know the ambient temperature there as well.
I decided to take a few of each and plant in the low tunnel. We have a night that’s supposed to be 3 degrees, tomorrow evening – brrr. I decided it was worth planting a few seedlings out to see how they survive that kind of a night. That will give me a good idea of the weather inside the low tunnel. I’m thinking about giving them an additional layer of protection on that night, perhaps a milk jug or even another layer of frost blanket. I also seeded some arugula and cilantro in there.
I transplanted a few spinach seedlings as well, we’ll se how all this stuff does on that one frigid night. If it does well I’ll be filling the low tunnel with other lettuces and greens. We shouldn’t really have any more of those. Soon enough I’ll have enough garden chores to keep me busy on beautiful days, I can hardly wait!
What are you planting this week?
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I Spy…
On Sunday, I was checking the soil and spinach plants in the low tunnel and spotted a ‘Bowles Black’ violet blooming in there. What a wonderful sight it was!
I love having plants like Johnny’s jump ups and violets in my potager because they tell when I can do certain things. When I see them blooming I know that I can start planting and seeding spinach, arugula, cilantro, and other cold tolerant crops and they will germinate. The violets in the rest of the potager are nowhere to be seen, it will be a few weeks before they show their faces. Thanks to this beauty, I know it’s time to transplant some of the lettuce seedlings I have under grow lights into the low tunnel.
Do you have any plants that are signals for you?
