What to do in the winter
Lisa J Gehl
I'm not new to newsgroups but I am to this particular one. I'd like to
suggest some things we gardeners can do during the dreary winter months when
we are trapped inside our houses while the ground is frozen and the cold
keeps us inside. For starters, order as many free gardening catalogs as you
can. I ordered at least a dozen and I'm now flipping through them. Each one
takes a few days for me to decide what I'd like to try this coming spring or
just try at some future time. I am a new gardener, last year was my first
year, and I really enjoy the extra information I can find in the catalogs.
Many have tips on how to plan your garden or what goes great with what.
Also, what not to plant with another. Here is a link for you all to take a
look and pick through some wonderful catalogs.
http://www.gardenguides.com/catalogs/index.html
Another thing that I've done to keep me occupied and not so sad about not
planting outside is having houseplants. I've gotten the itch to buy a couple
at the store and I've done some experimenting and I'm growing some plants
from seed. I know, it's nothing close to being out in the warm sun digging
your hands in the dirt but it's the closest we'll get. :)
I've seen a few people here talk about seed trading and perhaps that's
something some of us might not want to do in light of the resent problems of
our mailing service. Though I like to keep that idea out in the open. I'm
always looking forward to trading new things with fellow gardeners.
I hope some of you will join in and share with everyone what you do during
the winter. Perhaps share some fun projects or what preparations you make or
what you grow indoors in advance to get ready for spring.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. :)
Have a wonderful holiday and a Happy New Year.
Lisa Gehl
--
Lisa Gehl
180A COMM101
lisa...@email.uophx.edu
Central Standard Time
Iris Cohen
months >>
basement with fluorescent lights. Between the orchids, bonsai, & a couple of
African violets, I can survive living in what is known as the cloudiest city of
its size in the country (Seattle has more rain & Buffalo has more snow, but
they are larger cities).
Iris,
Central NY, Zone 5a, Sunset Zone 40
"It is forbidden to live in a town which has no greenery." Jerusalem Talmud,
Kiddushin 4:12.
D
news:SexV7.7550$8L1.69061@rwcrnsc52...
> Hi everyone,
>
> I'm not new to newsgroups but I am to this particular one. I'd like to
> suggest some things we gardeners can do during the dreary winter months
when
> we are trapped inside our houses while the ground is frozen and the cold
> keeps us inside.
I'll add my 2 cents to this discussion. Purchase or make an indoor
hydroponic garden. One of the things that fascinates me about plants is how
they can be manipulated when you control 100% of their environment. A
hydroponic setup can be had commercially for about $500.00 (small hydro
reservoir, and HID light, nutes, etc.). With this you can greatly shorten
the bloom/harvest time for many plants by controlling temp and daylight
length. You can also work on cloning your favorite plants for next year
etc. A world of possibilities. You could even end up with a basket of vine
ripened tomatoes in the dead of winter although this is expensive to do
indoor since tomatoes require so much light and grow large. Of course you
could always trim the roots and keep the plants small and force them to
fruit whenever you wanted.
Be careful growing hydroponically though, it can be addictive. Some have
even installed rain gutters in troughs outside during the summer and grow
vegetable gardens this way, completely forgoing soil. You can then get away
with plants that normally won't grow in your area due to needing a longer
growing season.
Dave A
cadilla...@mediaone.net
wrote:
My 2 cents: Learn a LOT about a some particular plant--like
orchids--that you've always been curious about. (In the case of
orchids, this might take a while.) Alternatively, you can stretch your
creativity by painting clay pots. I seal them, paint them a base color,
and then paint butterflies, bees, flowers, designs, etc. If you don't
think you can draw, buy stencils to get started. Then you will, of
course, need to go to a nursery to buy plants to fill the pots...
Lisa J Gehl
Great idea with the clay pots. I've painted a few myself. Some of them look
great, others I would like to paint over. LOL
As for researching a plant instead of just diving in, that is a good idea.
When I initially started gardening I had no idea what the difference between
annuals and perennials and how important sun was to some. I found out with
one flower I planted that I was overwatering them. I had given up on them
and stopped watering them and a couple weeks later, there they were! :) I
like to get plenty of advice from fellow gardeners before I start planting
things. Though sometimes I say the heck with it and just go experiment with
a small amount of seeds. :) I just hate the waiting if they are going to
sprout or not.
Happy Holidays!
--
Lisa Gehl
180A COMM101
lisa...@email.uophx.edu
Central Standard Time
<cadilla...@mediaone.net> wrote in message
news:251220010856566978%cadilla...@mediaone.net...
Dianna Visek
perennials on the cold porch (kept at 40 degrees), and cuttings under
lights. Plus seedlings yet to come.
But the main purpose of winter, in my opinion, it to allow (or force)
me to do all the stuff I avoid during the active gardening season.
Like filing articles I've clipped. Or cleaning out closets. Or doing
taxes. Plus some fun stuff, like painting or collage or print-making,
which I forget about in good weather. For all things (even cleaning),
there is a season.
Regards, Dianna (taking a break before making Christmas dinner)
Lisa J Gehl
Oh, this is so true! :) We truly do need to clean up what has been neglected
during the gardening months. :)
--
Lisa Gehl
"Dianna Visek" <div...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:3c28ed8b...@news.shout.net...
Denise
DOUBLE BOGEY HOME PAGE Acoustic/Electric Rock and Blues
BOOTS'S PHOTO ALBUM Himalayan Cat
SEBASTIAN'S PHOTO ALBUM Persian Cat
A TRIBUTE TO MY COLLIE
PHOTOS OF MY FISH
KELSEY'S PHOTO ALBUM Border-Collie Mix
SAFE WALKERS Golf shoes wanted!!
Lisa J Gehl
--
Lisa
Hi Lisa,
Once my gardens are put to bed for the winter, my thoughts turn to
giving more attention to my house plants, especially misting them twice
a day since our oil heat is so drying. I also persue my other
hobbies...reading, listening to and making music (guitar, violin and
piano), painting in oils and acrylics, spending more time with pets
(dog, two cats and fish) and also skiing.
I just acquired a new hobby...building a dollhouse LOL. Fifty years old
and I had "Victorian farmhouse dollhouse" on my XMAS list. And Santa
delivered...I am going to have it up on platform (so I can landscape
around it) on a turntable. First thing I do once it's put together is
make a stone walkway up to the front porch steps!
Denise
Iris Cohen
And Santa delivered.. >>
why I grow bonsai.
JCMumsie
I got mine 2 years ago and love it -so useful. My sons thought I was nuts.
Joan
Denise
Denise
Denise
NAearthMOM
>Oh, this is so true! :) We truly do need to clean up what has been neglected
>during the gardening months. :)
>
>--
lol!
I actually attempt housework now!
Love caryn
"Come into my garden, my flowers want to meet you!"
C.E.R.
child I used top spend my summers in a small little town near there named
Florida, just east of Goshen. As I got older, and I thought infinitely more
cool, I would go there to escape my family and browse among the handcrafted
items and counter-culture marketers. Now, I'm told that it has developed a
following and it isn't so 'counter-culture' anymore. Thanks for rejuvenating
the memory.
PS. I understand that the 'Pottery Barn' in Florida is still an unusual
place to shop. And doesn't Goshen still have some interesting gardening
shops?
"Denise" <mtc...@webtv.net> wrote in message
news:26705-3C2...@storefull-612.iap.bryant.webtv.net...
Iris, I'm not a grandma yet! Not putting any pressure on almost 24 year
old son...
Would love to get into bonsai. I found a little shop in Sugar Loaf NY
that specializes in bonsai. Big $$$. I would buy a plant myself and try
to do it but I am afraid of what it might look like LOL.
Denise
Lisa J Gehl
--
Lisa
Lisa, I would LOVE to do some skiing out west in some deep powder. I
learned to ski while living up in Maine 1972-1983. It was that or fester
and die up there during those l-o-n-g winters!! Also used to go on some
moonlit X-country skiing treks with friends and neighbors. Even wore
snowshoes some days to get to my mailbox! Don't miss those Maine winters
at all...
Denise
Ann
><!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en">
><html>
>I much rather have the old ones, that's so cool. Do you use it or save
>it for future kids?
><p>Denise wrote:
><blockquote TYPE=CITE>
><pre WRAP>Marsha, I have an old Radio Flyer up in the attic that my husband had as
>a child and passed on to our son. They are the best!
Marsha, your Netscape is set for HTML, could you please change it to
plain text? Thanx!
--
Ann, Gardening in Zone 6a
Just south of Boston, MA
********************************
Marsha
Denise
Denise
Denise
Marsha
are rather heavy. I'd save it for the grand kids too. Looks like I won't
be using my wagon for awhile, it's 29 decree's out here in sunny
northern Florida. I hate to look outside to see what plants I lost over
night. :(
Denise wrote:
>
> Marsha, that old flyer is put away for future grandchildren to enjoy.
> I
> use a big old wheelbarrow when working in the gardens.
>
> Denise
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------
eri...@webtv.net
I also spend more time at library, checking out garden books & magazines
to catch up.
Besides closet cleaning, also every Jan. bring the family photo album up
to date from previous year.
Like to do something 'unusual' during long winter season. Last year we
went for my first sleigh-ride in Jan. in Galena, Illinois, a beautful
area. A bit cold but fun!!......Erin fun!!
zphysics
Marsha
Rollie
wrote:
>Where is it 70 today?
61F with light wind on S. side of house in winter vegetable garden.
Las Vegas NV....love those microclimates!
Marsha
of more days of this.
Denise
Lisa J Gehl
--
Lisa
"Denise" <mtc...@webtv.net> wrote in message news:12583-3C2...@storefull-618.iap.bryant.webtv.net...Lisa, I am upstate New York. Use link below to click on my homepage and
you can visit my gardens.
Denise
Atara
>Where is it 70 today?
Not here! The high today was 12 degrees F, with a brisk wind from the north. =)
--
Atara
"Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus."
http://www.50degreesnorth.com/garden/index.html
***What doesn't fit in my email addy? NADA.***
Marsha
NAearthMOM
>Like to do something 'unusual' during long winter season
A trip to the tropics would do me good now! :)
Oh well, reading, tending the houseplants, attempting work at the office a wee
bit, and gestating will have to suffice for now!
Love caryn
think pink!
paghat
reversed, doing most of their leaf-growing in the autumn & winter,
blooming winter & spring, & becoming dormant in the summer -- originally
from an area of South Africa that is deathly hot in summer & has its rain
season in winter & all the plantlife adjusting accordingly. The East India
Company began distributing these bulbs to flower lovers world-wide as
early as the mid-1600s, originally as Hyachinthus, but re-categorized in
1784 as Lachenalia, named after Swiss botanist Werner de la Chenal. There
are scores of varieties.
I planted only one in a sandy pot as if for a succulent, just
experimenting to see if they were easy or difficult or exciting or boring.
My choice was Lachenalia purpureo-caerulea or Sweet Violet Lachenalia. It
so far has developed three less-than-four-inch stubby-sword-shaped leaves
which are a dark purple & bumply. These are quite thick leaves & pretty on
their own account though skimpy on them, three leaves is regarded as a
lot. Too early for sign of the flower spike, but it'll have a doozy if all
goes as promised, & so far it seems an easy thing to care for. It likes a
sunny window, takes considrable watering in winter.
-paghat
--
Visit the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl:
http://www.angelfire.com/grrl/gardenhome.html#top
paghat
paghatSP...@netscape.net (paghat) wrote:
> Here's a wintery plant to play with: Lachenalia bulbs. Their season is
> reversed, doing most of their leaf-growing in the autumn & winter,
> blooming winter & spring, & becoming dormant in the summer -- originally
> from an area of South Africa that is deathly hot in summer & has its rain
> season in winter & all the plantlife adjusting accordingly. The East India
> Company began distributing these bulbs to flower lovers world-wide as
> early as the mid-1600s, originally as Hyachinthus, but re-categorized in
> 1784 as Lachenalia, named after Swiss botanist Werner de la Chenal. There
> are scores of varieties.
>
> I planted only one in a sandy pot as if for a succulent, just
> experimenting to see if they were easy or difficult or exciting or boring.
> My choice was Lachenalia purpureo-caerulea or Sweet Violet Lachenalia. It
> so far has developed three less-than-four-inch stubby-sword-shaped leaves
> which are a dark purple & bumply.
Yeech, I'm misremembering my own row of tiny pots of sundry minor things,
just ran back in the plant-window room to appreciate this little bugger
again & THIS one has bright green & bumply leaves -- that name purpureo
affected my memory of it between last night & this morning!
NAearthMOM
>blooming winter & spring, & becoming dormant in the summer -- originally
>from an area of South Africa
Are they related to the amaryllis by any chance?
Caryn
NAearthMOM
>Gestating? Are you gestating? How wonderful :)
can you say wooooooooooops
lol
So maybe I'll finally get ya to visit when you're here visiting!
I'll need all the help I can get this summer! :)
By then the house should be done, plenty of room, plus the beach is right down
the road!
Love Caryn
p.s. thanks for the good wishes, hope your new years is a happy one!
pps. also looking to get a corgi!
Marsha
victoria wrote:
>
> On 28 Dec 2001 15:10:05 GMT, naear...@aol.comgarden (NAearthMOM) wrote:
>
> > >
> >>Like to do something 'unusual' during long winter season
> >
> >A trip to the tropics would do me good now! :)
> >
> >Oh well, reading, tending the houseplants, attempting work at the office a wee
> >bit, and gestating will have to suffice for now!
> >Love caryn
> >think pink!
>
> Gestating? Are you gestating? How wonderful :)
>
Marsha
new baby, new dog :)
paghat
naear...@aol.comgarden (NAearthMOM) wrote:
> >winter,
> >blooming winter & spring, & becoming dormant in the summer -- originally
> >from an area of South Africa
>
> Are they related to the amaryllis by any chance?
> Caryn
I have only ever tried this one bulb & don't know a lot about them, but
they were long ago categorized as hyacinths & that is apparently
Lachenalia's closest relative.
-paggers
NAearthMOM
>Your just going to fill up those rooms as soon as you get them I see,
>new baby, new dog :)
>
lol!
Life's too short to waste any time! :)
Love caryn
Atara
<3C2BD7C9...@bellsouth.net>:
>That's cold.
>
>Atara wrote:
>>
>> mhuc...@bellsouth.net (Marsha) wrote in
>> <3C2B4FCF...@bellsouth.net>:
>>
>> >Where is it 70 today?
>>
>> Not here! The high today was 12 degrees F, with a brisk wind from the
>> north. =)
It's been an awfully warm winter. The average in January is about 0 degrees F.
Bah. We're going to have a plague of slugs next summer if this keeps up.
paghat
1) Doing a website about the garden.
2) There are bound to be a couple of weedy areas that have never been
planted which have died back greatly for winter. After a heavy rainfall
the remaining weeds pull loose with great ease & the soil is easily turned
over with some compost to get a headstart on spring.
3) Move portions of developing leafmold from areas where trees dropped a
bazillion leaves, to areas that didn't get many leaves naturally & can
benefit from leafmold.
4) Visit nurseries which cater to people with ponds & check out the bog &
aquatic plants. Sure it's the wrong season & there won't be much. But if
you are interested to find out what few pond & bog things are actually
evergreen, now's the time. This has given me a new respect for rushes.
5) Also visit nurseries with lots of shrubs & trees to assess winter
appearance of sundry plants. If you've been the sort who buys only in
spring or on the basis of fully leaved & flowering items, you may end up
with gardens not so interesting in winter with too many annuals that
vanished entirely, perennials that died to the ground, & brittle twiggy
shrubs that look puny & dull without their leaves. Assessing for shape of
limbs when leafless, for aesthetic quality of the barks, limb & twig
coloration, finding out more about plants that look deciduous but are
actually semi-evergreen or evergreen, & noting how some things like Pink
Dawn Verbanum or hardy cyclamens are in full bloom in the wintertime, is
worth knowing so that as you develop your gardens during the coming year
you'll be including things that make the garden a big thrill in winter
too. With knowledge of winter apperances fresh in mind, assess your own
primary gardening areas that are favorites in spring through fall, to
figure out what you can add or do that will make them favorites in winter
too.
6) Read. Research things you either already have but don't know enough
about, or which you think you might want in the future, or even research
to find out about the botanists for whom your favorite plants are named.
Just as stamp collectors are exposed to geography & history lessons by
what they've accumulated, so too can gardeners learn about the geography &
weather patterns of their favorite plants' original homelands & the
history of frequently adventuresome botanists who risked their lives in
the Himalyas or Darkest Africa or Pacific islands or Tasmania all for love
of flora.
7) Dig a compost trench.
8) Repair arbors & trellises while growth is minimal & plants won't be upset.
9) Organize shelving areas in front of windows to best display
houseplants. Get rid of ugly drapes that were never closed anyway & use
the rod for hanging baskets.
10) Place rocks in aesthetically strategic locations & move in soil behind
or between the rocks, or prep for raised beds, in preparation for new
planting come spring.
11) Get on ladder & tie back select limbs that had grown awfully in the
way of paths, so that they won't be in the way when leaves return in
spring. When in full leaf it's much harder to tell what can be bound back
to where, so now's the time.
12) Look at sky through naked limbs, very pretty.
13) Appreciate mosses & lichens on branches which are not visible when
trees & large bushes are fully leafed.
14) Visit pottery studios & nurseries on quest for a big fancy-ass "forest
bowl" that can be partially recessed into ground to create another bog
spot, in preparation to obtain skunk-cabbages or pitcher plants or other
semi-aquatics.
15) Dig up & compost plants that were huge mistakes either because butt
ugly or because they turned out to be invasive. It's kinder to kill them
in their sleep.
16) Some narrow or hillside areas are most of the year so densely leafed
with shrubs & trees that they can only be accessed & assessed after leaves
have fallen & even then it's a squeeze. Check for erosion areas, rock
placement to negate possibility of erosion, cart in dirt & humous if
needed, or remove excess accumulations of fallen leaves & needles & do
general clean-up, & figure out pruning schedule if any pruning is apt to
be needed.
17) Gaze longingly at the spot that is perfect for a greenhouse & whimper
that you don't have one.
18) Keep feeding the birds.
-paggers
Hal
wrote:
>It's been an awfully warm winter. The average in January is about 0 degrees F.
>Bah. We're going to have a plague of slugs next summer if this keeps up.
Look on the bright side. That's nice for toads! :)
paghat
<hrcl...@home.com> wrote:
I LOVE TOADS! Our sturdy native western toads peep like a baby chicks (the
males anyway) & are so sweet.
John Jones
"paghat" <paghatSP...@netscape.net> wrote in message
news:paghatSPAMMERSDIE...@soggy72.drizzle.com...
19) Talk too much. ;-)
Tom Jaszewski
<rdic...@midsouth.rr.comNOSPAM> wrote:
>19) Talk too much. ;-)
So why waste the bandwidth and repost the entire piece....
PLONK
John Jones
"Tom Jaszewski" <to...@xxxlvcm.com> wrote in message
news:mi6s2u48ni4e5d6sl...@4ax.com...
Presumably for the same reason you "waste the bandwidth"
demonstrating to everyone that you're *PLONK* ing me. ;-)
Hal
(paghat) wrote:
>I LOVE TOADS! Our sturdy native western toads peep like a baby chicks (the
>males anyway) & are so sweet.
Can't say I love them, but they are growing on me. Ours sound like a
giant cricket that can project sound well and during mating nights
when they call in chorus they lull me to sleep. I think the female
that tunneled her way into my meter box and ate all the slugs there is
really getting close to my heart. I'm even considering reducing the
numbers of fish just so I can raise more toads, and maybe some frogs.
A small bullfrog showed up in the late summer and I imagine he will
help some with my goldfish overpopulation problem.
Check out the chorus of American Toads. That is very close to what I
hear, if you turn the speakers up. :)
http://www.cmnh.org/research/vertzoo/frogs/americanus.html
Regards,
Hal
SandG1
got tired of always having to replace the cheap little garden tools that i had
been buying and started making my own. Last year i made a shovel out of heavy
stainless steel and bone for a handle. this year im making a three prong
cultivator. They look awesome and are much better made than the store bought
ones.
paghat
(SandG1) wrote:
Gadzooks, I wish I could come visit & look at your gardening tools!
GardenerTalk
garden. Between all the gardening books I get for Christmas and all the
seed catalogues that start arriving about now, I have plenty to keep me
reading. I keep a gardening journal each year, and during the winter I try
to review everything and see where I can make changes and improvements for
next year.
Sometimes the planning can be almost as much fun as the gardening.
Jim Shearon
www.GardenerTalk.com
webm...@gardenertalk.com
paghat
<webm...@gardenertalk.com> wrote:
When I was a kid I would draw maps for planned gardens. Alhough the
eventual gardens never ended up following any of those maps, the planning
drawing was in & of itself dreamy fun.
-paghat
eri...@webtv.net
lot less work!!..........Erin
GardenerTalk
Have you ever noticed that we tend to plan much more than we actually get
done? I have enough plans to keep a landscaping crew busy for a year, and I
try to do it all myself.
--
Jim Shearon
www.GardenerTalk.com
webm...@gardenertalk.com
<eri...@webtv.net> wrote in message
news:9113-3C3...@storefull-173.iap.bryant.webtv.net...
eri...@webtv.net
Yes.....our eyes are bigger than our garden space!!.........Erin
Tom Jaszewski
wrote:
>Hi everyone,
I wish I could stop gardening for the winter...:>)
(just mowed the lawn, adjusted the sprinklers, picked kale,fed the
pansies and pruned some herbs)
NAearthMOM
>Yes.....our eyes are bigger than our garden space!!.........Erin
>
Hence why there is less & less lawn in the back every year!
Dianna Visek
warm early winter here in zone 5 (central Illinois), which meant I was
out planting bulbs on Dec. 24 (my record!). Then we had the rush of
the holidays, with family over every night for several days. I'm now
concerned that the yucky weather won't last long enough for me to get
everything done before the mad rush of spring.
So for those of you with year-round gardening: Do you find that the
more steady pace is more comfortable than the mad-dash scrambles that
the rest of us experience? Spring and fall are really hectic here,
with a lull in mid-summer.
Regards, Dianna
On Mon, 31 Dec 2001 15:06:26 -0800, Tom Jaszewski <to...@xxxlvcm.com>
wrote:
>On Mon, 24 Dec 2001 03:25:38 GMT, "Lisa J Gehl" <li...@giftcrazy.net>
>wrote:
>I wish I could stop gardening for the winter...:>)
Tom Jaszewski
wrote:
> Spring and fall are really hectic here,
>with a lull in mid-summer.
Summers are brutal. Keeping grounds lush in the summer in 110F is
hectic. Two months of heat w/o rain. Whatever the price or complaint
I'd much rather garden than any other alternative. :>)