Spring Seed Starting

Finally, it is the first day of spring. Time for barbeque (while wearing a winter jacket) and shoveling the snow off the kids playground equipment. Of course, they still need to play outside while wearing snowsuits. Nevermind that I can't even get to my vegetable garden or raised beds due to a great deal of snow. I know that my crocuses haven't forgotten their spring duties.

Feeling the spirit of spring nonetheless, I pulled out the plastic trays, seed starting mix, and hundreds of little plastic pots. Actually, the project started with what looked more like a sewing project. I've used the moisture wicking fabric from Lee Valley for a few years now and really like how it makes watering the little seedlings quite easy. The stuff comes in large pieces so that you could cover big greenhouse benches with it, but I cut it to fit the black rectangular trays that I put under my grow lights.

Next, I reuse my plastic pots from previous years (washed out by Resident-LawnmowerMan last fall after he got tired of the heap of dirty pots that grew steadily in our garage). I fill these loosely with seed starting mix with an extra bag of perlite mixed in. If you can't find the finely-sieved seed starting mix, you can use potting soil, but it occasionally has big lumps and sticks and other aggravating debris.

I did plant some seeds today, though held myself back from planting the majority of them. I regularly plant the seeds far too early and end up with large plants that I have no room for, having expanded out of the basement to all available windowsills.
A few flower and herb seeds are sown and kept under the plastic humidity dome:

With the wicking mats below all the pots, I only need to water into the tray and don't need to water the pots from above. This has the dual benefit of avoiding dislodging the seeds and reducing the fungus problems that attack seedlings. Eventually, the fabric gets dirty and thins out, but it does last a few years before needing replacement. In warmer weather, it can also be hosed off and left to dry outside.

Basement Garden Growing Obsession

My basement light garden as "gone hog wild", as a garden friend has put it. Truly, my grow-op overfloweth. I decided to actually take stock of what I'm growing down there, noting that the much anticipated world food shortage hasn't had too much impact on the ratio of vegetables to flowers. I do point out to resident-lawnmower-man that several of the flowers are edible, however. With great insight, he pointed out that perhaps we wouldn't last long eating just edible flowers. Hmmm. That RLM is quite a wise man.

Here's what's growing in my basement (and on a table in my bedroom):

Vegetable and herbs:

• Rosemary
• Italian Flatleaf Parsley
• Thyme
• Lemon basil
• Spicy globe basil (I really like this one. It's compact and easy to grow indoors.)
  
• Purple ruffles basil
• Cilantro
• Cherry tomato - Sweet Gold and Red Robin
• Italian Sweet Pepper
• Hybrid Broccoli Captain
• Strawberry Pikan
  

Perennials:

• Primula denticulata
• Primula saxatilis

• Euphorbia myrsinites
• Euphoriba variegata - I hope planting this isn't a mistake? Anyone have some comments?
• Arabis Spring charm
• Silene saxifraga
• Aquilegia flabellata nana
• Pansy light strawberry sundae
• Scabiosa japonica pink diamond
• Papaver miyabeanum Pacino
  

Annuals:

• Helitrope Dwarf Marine
• Osteospermum Passion Mix
• Dimorphotheca African Sun
• Impatiens Super Elfin Mix

• Nasturtium Alaska Majus
• Nemophila Baby Blue Eyes
• Lavatera Silver Cup
• Nierembergia Purple Robe
• Lobelia white cascade
• Cleome violet queen
• Helichrysum Summer Solstice
• Marigold Doubloon
• Salvia farinacea Blue bedder
• Portulaca Sundial mix
• Phacelia Tropical surf
• Godetia amoena tall single mix
• Milady aster (C. chinensis)

So is there a theme to my plantings? Not really. I am growing all sort of things, learning from what I grow, and always being prepared for a landscaping emergency. That's what happens when there's an unsightly gap in one's flowerbed. Horrors.

First Basement Blooms

Okay, so it's actually just a solitary bloom. But my one of my impatiens "Super Elfin Mix" produced it's first flower. Poor plant is now going to have to wait 2 months to go outside. Currently, you can still drive your truck across the lake, snowmobiling is the top recreational activity, and a nearby community just had another ice fishing derby.

Other than that, I've been pinching off the tops of my other plants, making them more bushy, while delaying their flowers. This Gerbera daisy "Dwarf Pandora's Mix" is going to bloom soon. I know that you can buy Gerbera plants at Walmart, so owning a plant isn't anything unique. However, I grew this plant from seed, starting it last fall. I'm quite impressed that I got it to this point.

Here's one of the flats of seedlings under the grow lights. It contains Phacelia, Asters, Lemon basil, Purple basil, Lobelia, Scabiosa, Papaver miyabeanum, Godetia, and Portulacas.

Plants and Power Outages

Unlike the unlucky folks in the eastern half of our country, we received no awful storms up here this week. We did get a long power outage though. Furthermore, we're not even sure why. Either I'm not sufficiently connected to the gossip chain, or the media just ignores the northerners (I firmly believe this last point).

This last Tuesday, we had 8.5 hours of no electricity during the workday. This meant we also had no running water, as the town's water pumps were also not functioning. Imagine your workplace with no flushing toilets. The staff could not tolerate lack of coffee, however, and that essential appliance was plugged into a generator-run outlet (with water from the emergency supplies). They realized the error of their ways sometime later when full bladders met full toilets. We called the power company at 1:00 pm and the recording went something like this: "We're not sure what is causing this power outage. If you have any tips, please call us." Being (not) so reassured, I built a large fire in the fireplace at home and felt toasty warm until power was restored at 3 pm, when I could surf garden blogs yet again!

Osteospermum "Passion Mix": I just pinched the top off the largest one. I didn't do this the last time I grew these and they ended up sparse and gangly.

Fortunately, the weather wasn't severe during the power outage. There were even a few days above freezing this week, and a small patch of sloped flower bed was revealed. I'm hoping for green tips of plants poking out in a few weeks.

Yet another columbine (Aquilegia). I collect them like I collect shoes, only this obsession doesn't go noticed by RLM (and no teasing and harassment ensues).

No, this is not oak-leaf lettuce. This is my solitary Gerbera daisy, grown from seed because I heard that growing them was a challenge. Ha! Just watch me grow them in subarctic Canada!

Yes, it's still winter here

Others gardeners may have crocuses in bloom, but we heard our roof creaking and metal railings banging all night, with temperatures below -32 C. We took the dog out for some sledding on the lake this weekend, though.

Here is the landscape of the front yard, with the snow that drifted around in the weekend's harsh winds. Note the banana plants in the foreground - they're doing great.



Therefore, I am fiddling with dirt and seeds in the basement, where it is warm and the growing seedlings bring excitement and enthusiasm.

Lobelia seedlings are so tiny, you can hardly see them (but there ARE there):

Osteospermum "African Sun" seedlings are the biggest seedlings at the moment:

Impatiens and strawberry seedlings grow at vastly different rates in this tray. It's easy for the peat-based mix to dry out quickly in these little pots.

Seedlings and Exotic Cuttings

Here's a new garden challenge for me: growing a curry leaf tree. I know almost nothing about this tree, but was given cuttings by a colleague who hoped I could get them to grow with hopes of having a fresh source of leaves for cooking. This plant is a native of India and can be grown from seed or cuttings.

So far, the cuttings look healthy enough, especially considering that they travelled a great distance to get to northern Saskatchewan (lets just say that border services of several countries were duped and should not be reading this). I dipped them in rooting hormone and put them in a slurry of vermiculite and water. I've sprayed the tops with fungicide (No Damp solution). They are under bright lights in a humidity dome. If anyone has some tips, let me know.

Strawberry "Pikan" seedlings - the pink flowers and medium sized fruits sounded appealing:

Osteospermum sinuata "African Sun" germinated fast and furiously:

"Red Robin" dwarf tomato made an abundant-looking cluster of fruits:

A touch of local culture: a birch bark basket made by a local elderly Aboriginal woman who gave this to resident-lawnmower-man. I believe the lace-type parts are made out of spruce roots, which are dyed different colors. This is quite a pretty little basket.

Keeping warm inside with the plants

We've braved a week of bone-breaking cold and the car only failed to start once! I left it unplugged for just 20 minutes at -34 Celsius and it punished me for being so cruel. The coldest it got (not factoring in the windchill) was -34 Celsius. That's enough to persuade me to buy some heavy boots at the local trading post this week. My toes will thank me.

Resident-lawnmower-man shovels snow off the decks:

You have to live somewhere cold to understand why the Cree name for January is "Moon of the Tree Exploding Month". I haven't seen the trees explode myself, but I wouldn't doubt it if someone told me they saw an exploding tree in this severe cold. My own descriptive name for this month might be "Moon of the nostrils freezing together".

Here is my phalenopsis Brother Mirage "Brother" orchid in (almost) full bloom:
Seedlings in humidity dome:

I have limited myself to a few perennials for now, including Euphorbia myrsinites, whose seed packet made it sound like only sorcerers and advanced horticulturalists could make this seed germinate. It sounded like a good challenge for January, when I am over-eager to plant things. Strangely, they germinated easily in warm conditions. I also am growing some Gentiana acaulis and Arabis blepharophylla Spring Charm.

Plants in my Basement Abound

The inevitable urge to start growing more varieties of seeds has taken hold for yet another year. I know I am not alone. I have heard of other gardeners who have the same problem. Well, it's only a problem so much as one tends to run out of room to house the little plants.


At the moment I am germinating some Viola "Sorbet Violet Ice" seeds (don't they sound so delicious?) as well as Digitalis mertonensis (Strawberry Foxglove), and a rock garden dianthus mix. In the little pots, I have Zinnias, annual Salvia splendens ("Salsa light purple"), Matthiola incana (Ten Week Stocks Cinderella Mix), and Arabis caucasica. As of yet, there are no aphids or gnats hovering around my plants, but I have the soap spray on hand just in case.

Speaking of aphids, the indoor cannas seem to have them (pot on the right), but because of the large leaves, it is easy to crush most of them and spray the rest. The cannas seem to like the new sunlight and warm temperatures in the bedroom bay window. I potted another banana plant (dwarf Musa Cavendish) in the center pot. I have 3 banana plants now, and several more new ones growing at the bases of the plants, if anyone should want one.

This last picture is of a water droplet on a small banana plant. I find these plants interesting because the water droplets form spontaneously on the leaves. Sometimes they coalesce and run down the leaves and make little wet spots on the floor. I know it's water and not some kind of sap because I've tasted it! I'm not sure why it does this, but it's rather pretty.

Basement Grow-op

This is my basement grow-op for bedding plants, new perennials, and some of my orchids. Potentilla "Helen Jane", Primula "Festival bicolor", and Campanula persicifolia are some of the perennials growing right now. Annuals include Osteospermum "Passion mix", Nicotiana sylvestris, snapdragon "Frosty lavender", Salvia "Victoria", Dichondra "Emerald Falls". I am using a commercial shelving unit from Costco and shop lights from Canadian Tire.