From The Gardens

Dreaming about the coming gardening season is what helps us Northeasters survive the winter. Looking through seed and garden catalogs is the best way to beat the winter blahs. With a little extra effort and some supplies we can actually start gardening in February. It’s too early to begin vegetables and annuals, but just the right time to start growing perennials. Many perennials will even flower the first summer, for example shasta daisy, delphinium, and lavender. .

To grow perennials successfully you must provide a warm place for germinating the seeds and a very bright cool place to grow the plants until it’s time to put them outside. The first requirement is fairly easy to achieve. I use the top of my refrigerator to germinate hundreds of varieties of herbs and perennials every year. The temperature (70 ) up there is just right for most seeds. Finding a very bright cool place is the difficult part. You need a greenhouse, a greenhouse window or a light set-up in your basement or spare bedroom. One friend used a closet with shelving, another very resourceful woman hung the lights under her bed. Elaborate light set-ups can be purchased, depending on how involved you wish to become and your financial resources. However all that is really needed are florescent tubes in an inexpensive fixture with cord or chain that is use to raise and lower the fixture as needed. Many sources recommend one cool and one warm bulb but that does not seem to be necessary. The lights must be kept a few inches above the tops of the plants and are kept on for 14-16 hours a day.

Plant the seed in small plastic pots (I use 3” pots) using a sterile seed starter mix that is very light and peaty. Do not use potting soil. It cakes and compacts so that root development is inhibited. Fill the pot with the mix and water thoroughly, sprinkle the seed on top and cover with milled sphagnum moss to prevent the fungus disease “damping off”. Cover the pot with plastic wrap or put the pot in a plastic bag and put it in the warm place. Check frequently to see if seeds have sprouted. As soon as the tiny plants have four leaves, prick out the individual plants and holding them gingerly by one of the leaves, plant in to divided plastic containers, usually with 6 or 12 compartments. The plants will stay in these containers until May when they can be planted outside. Place the containers, uncovered under lights in a cool place, less than 65. The seedlings will tolerate temperatures as low as 40 . Cool temperatures mean slower, more compact growth.

The following are seed companies that will send their catalog free upon request.

Thompson & Morgan
1-800-274-7333
PO Box 1308
Jackson, NJ 08527-0308

Stokes Seeds Inc.
1-800-263-7233
Box 548
Buffalo, NY 14240-0548

Harris Seeds
1-800-514-4441
PO Box 22960
Rochester, NY 14692-2960

W. Atlee Burpee & Co.
1-800-888-1447
Warminster, PA 18974

Park Seed Co.
1-864-223-7333
1 Parkton Ave.
Greenwood, SC 29647-0001