7 Aug
Text and photos ©Nancy J. Ondra
Summer isn’t a time that most people associate with seeds: the prime spring sowing time is long past, and new seed catalogs won’t be arriving for another two months or so. But for seed fanatics, the fun continues all season long.
8 Jun
Text and photos ©Nancy J. Ondra
Wow, I can’t believe how fast the weeks are passing. So much for the days of blogging every day or two! Besides the usual busy-ness of this time of year in my own garden, I’ve been working every other day at a friend’s nursery/garden center for the past month, installing and maintaining some huge new gardens, so I’ve been gloriously immersed in extended hours of hands-on gardening every single day.
In many ways, it brings back the days when I used to be a professional gardener. I enjoyed it then, but I remember it being pretty tough physically. Getting back into it 20 years later, I find it’s actually easier now, maybe because I have a lot more experience, and a good selection of time-tested tools as well. Still, dealing with the intense heat we’re experiencing now in PA is tough at any age, so I’m grateful to be indoors for today. Continue reading »
11 Mar
Text and photos ©Nancy J. Ondra
It’s a funny thing about seeds: First you worry that they’re not going to sprout; then you worry how you’re going to deal with all of the seedlings. It’s so easy to sow a dozen pots, plunk them onto a heating mat, and fit them neatly onto a shelf under a single fluorescent light fixture. It may take a few days for the first leaflets to appear, but before you know it, the pots are filled with forests of study little seedlings. The next step is to transplant those seedlings into individual pots. And then, my friends, is when reality sets in.
14 Feb
Text and photos ©Nancy J. Ondra
February is one of my least favorite months, but it does have one thing going for it: the start of seed-sowing season. The fun actually starts right after Christmas, with glorious hours immersed in the current crop of seed catalogs and seed-exchange lists, followed by a frenzy of making my own lists, fine-tuning choices, and placing the orders.
30 Jan
Text and photos ©Nancy J. Ondra
It’s still winter outside, but spring is showing signs of returning – at least in my mailbox. The last two days have brought a bounty of seed orders: Pinetree Garden Seeds (42 packets) and Territorial Seed Company (11 packets) on Tuesday and Thompson & Morgan (13 packets) yesterday. So, 66 so far, and many more on the way! What was I thinking? I should have been thinking of how I’m going to manage all of this with four plant lights and one cold frame. Oh well, it’s worked out every other year, so I’m sure I’ll manage somehow. (As a side note, the rather ominous-looking bladed instrument in the photo is a machete from Pinetree. I’ve always wanted one, and I couldn’t resist it at $9.98.
Many of the seeds are repeats of last year’s favorite veggies and flowers, but I do have a few new things to try. One of the most intriguing so far is potato seeds – not seed potatoes, but actual potato seeds. They arrived from Territorial in this curious little container protected with a large tuft of cotton. Never having seen actual potato seeds, I didn’t know what to expect. I wish I’d been more careful when I pulled out the cotton, because I managed to lose a few of the seeds in the process. As you can see (those three white dots in front of the container), they’re pretty small!
One favorite that I haven’t had for a few years is Lysimachia atropurpurea. Not to be confused with the aggressive purple-leaved loosestrife (Lysimachia ciliata ‘Purpurea’) or the invasive purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria), this delicate beauty usually acts like a biennial here. The first year, its clumps of grayish green leaves are interesting but not especially showy. If they make it through the winter, though, the second-year show is fantastic, with spikes of blackberry-scented, violet-colored flowers in early summer. I’ve let them go to seed in past years but they’ve never self-sowed, so I’m thrilled to have a new batch of seed to try again.
