Garden thoughts, plans, and daydreams are captured here while sipping a cup of coffee and enjoying some type of food that is probably not good for me.
It must be Spring! There are plants on my kitchen counter. There are plants lined up on the kitchen window sill. I have plants on my stove top because there is a good light on the range hood. There are plants on the sideboard in the dining room, and plants covering the dining table. I barely have room for a cup of coffee. And of course, there are plants lining the window sill of both dining room windows. But wait, it doesn’t stop there. The windows in the two bedrooms face the south. So, most definitely, I’ve placed plants on the window sills in the bedrooms.
Let me be clear, this is not a complaint. I love it! And yes, some day I hope to have a plant room with shelving and grow lights but at this point in time, it is not a purchasing priority because all of that does not fit in my current budget. After a late hard freeze on April 20, it is finally time for many of these plants to be planted in the garden. This should be completed over the next two weeks. The peppers and eggplants will go out in about a month when the night temperatures are consistently over 50 degrees. After I finish my coffee today, I will be moving the majority of the plants into the back yard to continue their hardening off. (Done!)
I won’t say that I have a plant addiction. However, I will say that I find it difficult to walk into a store where plants are being sold, and not walk out without at least one plant. It is easy for me to make a justification for each plant purchase. For example, I made a trip to Lowe’s yesterday to check their clearance plants. I came home with a succulent and three herbs: English thyme, Rosemary and Italian Oregano. Only the succulent was on a clearance rack.
I am in the process of creating and filling a small succulent planter. It is expensive to buy all the succulents I need at regular prices . So, I am collecting them as I find them on sale (justification). I decided I didn’t want to wait to grow herbs from seeds. When available, I use them regularly in cooking (justification). Also, the large potted rosemary plant that I had cared for over 4 years succumbed to the -20 frigid cold that hit us back in February and didn’t come back when the weather warmed up (justification). That was my fault. I didn’t bring it inside. It had successfully lived outside without issue for three previous ‘normal’ winters. Negative temperatures are not a usual part of our winters. It didn’t occur to me to bring it in. Live and learn.
I discovered a new plant source yesterday. One of the employees at Lowe’s suggested I check out the Chicken Holler Lawn & Garden Center in nearby Farmington, AR. Isn’t that a great name? I bought two pepper plants, a poblano and a cayenne. I have had difficulty getting my poblano seeds to germinate (justification) and didn’t have cayenne seeds this season (justification). While at Chicken Holler, I noticed that they have Brown Turkey fig trees and I do not currently have one (justification) so I’ll be returning soon to pick one up to add to my collection. I am currently experiencing a fig tree obsession and desire to grow every type that will successfully grow in my area. I have not seen the Brown Turkey type in the big box stores so I need to pick one up before they are gone (justification). Note: I did return and purchase a Brown Turkey fig tree. It is healthy and in a pot next to the Petite Negra and Chicago Hardy Fig trees.
It’s not all spend, spend, spend… the mother of one of a close friends is a gardener. She sends word through her daughter asking whether I would like this plant, or seeds for this type of plant. And of course, my answer is always “Yes!’ I’m not going to say no to free plants or seeds. (justification). If I had said no, I would not have the free white tomato plant, butterfly bush, bee balm, St. John’s Wort, Borage, or Cilantro.
This is the current partial list of tasks I want to complete this coming week:
Build fourth raised bed for tomatoes. (Done)
Paint large plastic planters to look similar to terra cotta.(Done and Blog of this coming soon.)
Turn the compost pile.
Fertilize all plants on Friday. Monty Don calls this “Friday Feeding”. (Done.)
Plant my new Brown Turkey variety of fig after I have returned to Chicken Holler and bought it. (Done)
Did you have a plant obsession? How do you start your seedlings in the Spring? Do you buy at least one plant when you enter a store that sells them? I would love to hear about it, and I want to know some of your justifications for doing so. Please post a response in the reply box at the bottom of this blog. I read them all, even if added much later after blog has been posted.