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The Danger of Free Time
Having the flu and having time off this time of the year means a certain danger of succumbing to on-line shopping. I’m not talking about clothes shopping, though some of my friends would probably assume otherwise, but seed and plant shopping. For the first time in a few years I’ve had time to read seed catalogues thoroughly and also time to browse some old favourite suppliers. I usually make some purchases together with my mother (my main garden influencer) and then I’ve participated in large co-orders that some gardening societies make. The Finnish Rhododendron Society usually orders from some large suppliers every year, I’ve participated a few times, though…
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I’m Hoping to Grow
From left to right, top row: Antirrhinum ‘Opus Plum Blossom’ (PoD), Thunbergia alata ‘African Sunset’ (PoD), Thunbergia alata ‘Blushing Susie’ (T&M), Thunbergia alata ‘African Sunset’ (T&M), Antirrhinum ‘Cinnamon Bronze’ (PoD). Middle, left to right: Maurandya ‘Bridal Bouquet’ (PW), Aquilegia ‘Green Apples’ (PW), Cobaea scandens var. alba (PoD), Digitalis lanata ‘Cafe Creme’ (PoD). Bottom row, from left to right: Aquilegia ‘Black Barlow’ (PW), Meconopsis wallichii (PW), Meconopsis betonicifolia ‘Alba’ (PW), Cosmos ‘Collarette White’ (PoD) and Asarina procumbens (PW). Pictures form the supplier’s pages. I was thinking of renewing my aquilegias a bit, I love them and they are easy to raise, but unfortunately they are quite short lived. I’m thinking of getting at…
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The Danger of Free Time
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Seed Catalogues 2011
I’m trying to keep my seed sowing within a reasonable range this year. I’ve made an inventory of old seeds that should still be viable, and I’m only ordering a sensible (in my mind) amount this year. I’m also trying to weed out (pun intended) the frugal and in the long run not so smart purchases, i.e. I’m going to buy plants or bulbs of certain plants that would be difficult and slow to raise from seed anyway. To keep things within limits this year, I’m only getting seeds from commercial sources as seed exchanges and seed lists from garden societies have the ability to make anyone go over the…
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The Danger of Free Time
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The First Thing to Sow
Even though some of the snow piles are more than 2 meter high, an optimistic gardener can still imagine what’s going to flower and grow during the coming summer. For most of us, me included this year, the first thing on the agenda are the globe artichokes. They aren’t hard to get to germinate; the only thing with them is then to repot them into fairly large, or at least deep, pots for further cultivation shortly after they’ve germinated. Globe artichokes have a pole root and need a deep pot with good compost in order to grow fast enough and large enough to produce crop the first year. This is…
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Waiting for the Growing Season
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What Would the Hardcore Enthusiast Do? Part 1
A seedling I raised, no points for autumn colour. Kasvattamani taimi, syysväri on hiukan laimea. En egen fröplanta, inte mycket till höstfärg. The gardening year starts early if you want to raise plants from seed. In case I had been planning to raise some woody plants I might have sown them in November and placed them somewhere cold for a cold period. A lot of woody plants need this in order to germinate. If I hadn’t done that in November, then just about now (and perhaps a few weeks onward) would be the right time to do it. I collected a lot of seeds from Magnolias and maples and some other…
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My Fitness Pergola
