obelixx

March in your Garden

My garden today - http://s211.beta.photobucket.com/user/Obelixx_be/library/#/user/Obelixx_be/library/?&_suid=1363180705658010418952465097836

Even the new plants I have "safely" stashed in the garage got so cold last night they have all wilted.  -14C last night.

Far too cold in the greenhouse for babies so they're all indoors and the pots we epmptied out last weekend have been stashed in the barn or the garage again till this cold spell finishes.

veg suitable for shade.

Not many cope well with shade but salads don't lik eto be baked so I grow min in the shadiest bed although it does get full sun around the summer solstice.   Swiss chard does well there too so I expect spinach would cope well and herbs such as parsley, chervil and mint do well.    I have a patch of alpine strawberies quietly spreading in a shady area too, agian with full sun at the solstice.

WEATHER this week

We have a knee deep drift of snow by the front door and 6 to 10 inches in general depending on shelter from the wind.  It's been snowing since before I got up and doesn't look like stopping.   -14C expected tonight after yet another revision of the forecast.    Something comforting and spicy for dinner to cheer us up.

Gardeners World new season

We can't get scaffold boards here so when we renewed our raised beds recently we bought roofing beams which are good and solid and long enough to cut to the various lenths needed for our veggie patch.   I showed monty's double depth beds to Monty and said that was what i'd like to do when I creae a new, sunnier veg patch and he humphed.

March in your Garden

I have two daffy dogs so coffee tables are not an option for me.  However, one of the dog's sleeping cages is under the kitchen window sill and home to several seed trays and I have chilli seeds enjoying gentle bottom heat on a radiator cover.

Frozen seeds?

Some seeds actually need a frost, thaw, frost process to break dormancy and I have several small bags of seeds in damp compost out the back of the house to see if I can provoke them into germinating - Japanese maples, clematis, rowans....

Others will germinate given damp compost and normal temps.  Some like lettuces won't germinate when it's too warm while others require bottom heat to convince them it's safe to germinate.  It depends on the origins of the plant.

As for you seeds, you'll just have to wait and see.   Give them 10 to 14 days indoors on a window sill before you give up but be prepared to re-sow.

Frozen seeds?

Some seeds actually need a frost, thaw, frost process to break dormancy and I have several small bags of seeds in damp cmpost out the back of the house.

Others will germinate given damp compost and normal temps.  Some like lettuces won't germinate when it's too warm while others require bottom heat to convince them it's safe to germinate.

As for your seeds, you'll just have to wait and see.   Give them at least 10 to 14 days indoors on a window sill before you give up but be prepared to re-sow.

What's the weather like in your area?

The forecast is for us to get up to -3C today but I've no idea how cold it really is as I can't go out wearing my orthopedic boot in 8" of snow.  it has at least stopped snowing just a few minutes ago but there is drifting going on.   Possum ison bird feeding duty as there are no buses so she's at home today cos I can't driver yet.

Cosy enough on my window sills for babies and germination is going well.

March in your Garden

4" of snow here, still falling and drifting in the wind.   I'm having to top up th ebird food every couple of hours to keep them going.

Clearly no gardening being done but I do have babies on the window sills - tomatoes, chillies, PSB, Christmas basil, summer savoury, sweet peas, nemesias, hollyhocks, cream aconitum, echinacea alba and lupins.  No room to sow anything else until the greenhouse is warm enough.

Horseradish plant

I bought mine as a root in teh veggie section of a supermarket.

Please advise your friend to plant it in a pot or it will runaway with itself and invade her entire garden.

Encouraging bats in our gardens

Beechgrove this weekend

Weekend 22 March

Good Morning - 21 March

Choosing chillies

Hanging baskets and window boxes

New shed - any tips?