The January Seed Itch

Have you got it too? Do you have a burning desire to sow seeds in potting mix and then revel in the exhilaration of small green things sprouting? Do you want to assemble a colorful mix of pansies in a shiny new ceramic pot? I'm trying to restrain myself, but the January Seed Itch has definitely taken hold.

The peppers, tomatoes, herbs, lemongrass and orchid shelf of the indoor basement-garden:


I just finished putting away the Christmas decorations and I resolve to replace them with something symbolic of an impending spring. Yes, I'm inviting spring to my home with centerpieces and pastel ribbons. I'll be searching out the Michael's craft store for a replacement for the silk poinsettia arrangement. RLM will find that pretty thrilling, I'm sure.

If you are looking for a wide variety of herbs, the Richters Seed Catalogue is pretty spectacular. It contains everything from Ephedra sinica (with small print reminding us that sale of purified ephedrine is illegal, but growing Ephedra is NOT) to our local native plant, the "ratroot" (Acorus calamus) which is touted for treatment of "flatulent colic" and fleas. I counted no less than 31 different mint varieties sold as seed or plants. This includes "Mojito Mint", apparently liberated from Cuba in 2006 by Toronto's "mojito enthusiast" Catherine Nasmith. Did anyone tell Fidel about this? Should the American public be drinking communist mint? Hmmm.

Here is an amaryllis plant given to me by a colleague at the office. Thanks, Jeff!
I've started a few annuals and perennial seeds in pots and enclosed them in ziploc baggies. I spray the planted pots with some "no damp" solution, to prevent the seedlings from rotting and dying.

If I am lucky, I won't end up with pots that look like this -- a fabulous example of lush moss with no seedlings to be found:

I hope you have luck in seed-starting. Just remember to avoid starting fast-growing or large plants too soon. I say that from frequent and apparently fruitless past personal "learning experiences".

Winter Gardening Indoors

It is that time of year a gardener takes an involuntary leave of the dirt in the yard and must resort to satisfying the gardening passion indoors. So far, I have reorganized the seed collection, adding computer labels, alphabetizing them, and dividing them into annuals, tropical/indoors/novelty, and perennials.

I got the handy seed binder with clear plastic zip-loc compartments from Lee Valley Tools. I had to buy a few extra pages for the now-bulging collection of seeds. Of course, the solution to the burgeoning seed population is to plant them next spring!

The orchid collection is getting a bit more attention now, with my efforts focused on making them bloom. This is a combination of a battle of wills, wishful thinking and some surfing on the internet for tips to get the finicky plants to bloom. As it turns out, neglect is often the answer -- an absence of water and fertilizer in the winter will do it for several kinds of orchids.


The one pictured in bloom right now is the Dendrobium spatulata, my least favourite but most vigorous grower and bloomer. It's green flowers to eventually turn yellow and just slightly more attractive. I bought this plant as a shriveled up discounted item from the back of Dutch Growers in Saskatoon. It had no blooms on it at the time, but I was determined to try growing it anyways.

One of the other indoor plants I am growing: a dwarf Musa acuminata "Cavendish", which grows only to a dwarfish 7-9 ft tall! This plant grows very fast, likes lots of water and fertilizer. My hope is to eat my own northern-SK-grown bananas in another 2-3 years!