Organic gardener growing food and flowers, lovin' pollinators and birds.

Winter's last attempt

Winter tried to hold on Monday by dumping between 3 and 4 inches of snow in Connecticut. It was the second day of spring. Luckily, I didn't have to worry about the garden for long. By the afternoon, the temperatures had increased enough to melt away every last trace of the snow, as seen in the before and after photos below.

Monday morning the front garden looked like this.

But by Monday afternoon, the snow was gone.
Even though I was worried how the plants - my crocuses, daffodils and hellebores - would hold up to a random snowfall, since this was a relatively mild winter, I didn't need to worry. The hellebores bounced back up within a day, and the daffodils were already taking it in stride later that afternoon. But the snowfall was pretty, and inspired these last winter photos, as seen below.


The wisteria arbor and hydrangea covered in snow.

Daffodils among the blueberry bushes.

I really like this Tete-a-Tete daffodil photo.

More Tete-a-Tete daffodils under the snow.


Plum tree blossoms. Hopefully the snow won't ruin the blossom set.


Crocus.


By the late morning, a good amount of the snow had already melted away.

How is the weather in your area during this first week of spring?
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The Gardener's March Calendar - 2016



It's starting to feel like spring here in Connecticut, and we may even see temperatures in the 70s this Wednesday! Woot! I finished my pear tree pruning today, which means better airflow for this year's crop. I've also been busy cutting forsythia and Kwanzaa cherry tree branches to bring inside for forced flowers. This is my first year trying to force the Kwanzaa cherry tree, so we'll see how it goes! 

The floral display began with the hellebores, followed by the snowdrops in my garden (such as the beauties above). The crocuses are just starting to peek out of the ground in the back garden this week, and the salix is starting to show, too. I love this time of year when the garden awakens. 

Here are some tasks to keep in mind this month - with rapidly approaching spring! 

Seeds

  • It's time to start more flower seeds indoors and under lights! Think New Guinea impatiens (or impatiens if you are in an area not affected by the blight), salvias, ageratum, calendula, sweet Williams, coleus, snapdragons, some cosmos and portulaca. Sweet peas, grown just for their flowers, can also be started outdoors as soon as the ground can be worked since they enjoy cool weather. Perennials such as delphiniums, yarrow, foxgloves and carnations can still be started in mid-March as well. This year I'm trying to grow hollyhocks from seed. 
  • Vegetable seeds can also be started this month. During the last week of March I'll start my pepper, tomato and eggplant seeds under lights. Broccoli, leeks, cabbage, onions and celery can be started now if you haven't already done so. You can get a head start on lettuce by starting seeds indoors as well, but I usually wait until they can be seeded outside. Sow peas as soon as the ground can be worked; peas are less likely than other seeds to rot in cold, damp soil. It's also important to get them started early before the heat moves in. Peas produce in cool weather so to get the most yield, you need to beat the heat.
  • Herb seeds that take longer to grow, such as chamomile, thyme, parsley and sage, can be started now. (Parsley seeds can be soaked for a few hours to enhance germination.)
  • If you haven't sown your poppy seeds yet, do so quick! Sow bread poppy seeds in an area (where the snow has melted) where they will be undisturbed in early spring. Do not scatter on top of the snow. Wait until you can see the frozen ground. (I've accidentally pulled them out in the past because I didn't recognize what they looked like, so make sure you mark them.)
Salix in my back garden, taken this past
Sunday when the sky was so blue!

Pruning

  • Finish pruning fruit trees by mid-March. Make sure you don't leave stumps along the trunk where the branches are cut off, and aim for nice, clean cuts. This helps prevent infection in the tree. You can take your fruit tree prunings and put them in a vase of water to force flowers indoors. Or, you can dry pear and apple sticks, which make great rabbit treats (which is what I do). 
  • Pruning paniculata hydrangeas is a good garden chore for the first warm day of spring when gardeners need an excuse to be outside. "You take about a third of the plant off to increase branches in the growing season," said Chris Valley in a previous hydrangea talk. When pruning, make sure the cuts are uniform so the entire plant grows at the same rate. He also recommends that "after five years, to remove the main branches to reinvigorate the plant and spur new growth."
  • Wisteria can be pruned, but don't cut off the flower buds. I grow Amethyst Falls, which is a less invasive version of wisteria. If the shape of the plant is fine, you can leave it.
  • Remove older leaves of hellebores so new growth can fill in. This clean look helps hellebore blossoms to look their best when they bloom in your garden. They are already blooming outside in my back garden.
  • Roses can be pruned when the forsythia begins to bloom. (Speaking of forsythia, do you cut your branches and bring them inside to force flowers? It's very easy to do! Learn how here.

Cleanup

  • If there is no snow on the ground, you can start cutting back perennials so that new growth can emerge as the weather gets warmer. I usually hold off on doing this until the ground is safe to walk on: if it's too wet, you can compact and damage the soil. Also, if the dead plant material isn't bothersome, try to leave it up because hollow stems may be housing (sleeping) solitary bees.
  • Clean out old nests in birdhouses to encourage use this year.
  • Raspberries need thinning in order to grow well. If a stem had fruit last year, cut it out. If it's thinner than a pencil, cut that out as well. Raspberries produce fruit on new stems. Everything left can be shortened about 12 inches as well. This is also a good time to check that the supports for raspberries are in good shape. I plan to put in a more permanent support this year, like this model I found through Pinterest.
What garden chores are you hoping to accomplish this month? Let me know in the comment section below.

I live in Central Connecticut and garden in Zone 6b.
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Tea Talk: Rustic, whimsical and metallic accents for 2016 gardens


It's time for Tea Talk in the Garden, the new blog series that's a virtual letter exchange between myself and my friend Angie each month. I just finished making some wild berry tea, so grab a cup and join us in the comment section below!

To read Angie's last letter to me, click the postcard below.


My Reply ... 



Dear Angie,

So much has happened that I'm not sure where to begin! Since your last letter, I was able to visit three flower shows: the Connecticut Flower and Garden Show, the Rhode Island Spring Flower and Garden Show and the NYBG Orchid Show.  At the two retail shows (Connecticut and Rhode Island), there seemed to be a pattern in what people were buying, mainly products that emphasize metal work and rustic garden design. Kinetic spinners are really popular this year - people were carrying armfuls of them out of the Connecticut show! I found this awesome star from reclaimed wood, which also features metalwork (a win-win). I was hoping to hang it off my garage (in the peak) but my husband pointed out that it's too big for the spot. It might end up on the fence or on the side of the garage now. But I really like how the green compliments my holly out back.

This is the garden star I purchased from the Connecticut Flower and Garden Show.
Instruments make great whimsical accents!
I noticed in the demonstration gardens from both shows that there was a definite trend of reusing materials. At the Rhode Island show, milk crates were paired with grow bags to show how you can make a milk crate veggie garden. At the Connecticut show, anything was up for grabs for repurposing in the display gardens, including a bench with a seat made from moss and a piano used as water fountain. It's exciting to be gardening in a time where creativity is encouraged to run wild - how dull would it be if all the gardens were expected to be manicured and with a precise, formal flair? Of course, succulents are till maintaining their popularity, as well as air plants. I couldn't even get near the booth selling air plants at the Rhode Island show!

Whimsical garden accents is also a garden trend this year. It seems that the more unusual the pairing, the better the reaction from the crowd! One great example was the use of musical instruments in the garden, as highlighted at the Rhode Island show. I like how trumpets in particular were used as flower accents. I wonder if Pinterest has really influenced gardening, or if people are just using Pinterest as a tool for collecting unusual ideas. (Maybe it's both!) No matter what, I'm loving all the spontaneous items that garden designers are implementing and pairing with nature, and now Im trying to figure out how to feature whimsical accents in my garden, so it's not just about the plants anymore! (Even though I love the plants.)

There are so many bright colors
at the NYBG orchid show!
Then, for a completely opposite experience, the NYBG Orchid Show was overflowing with color and tropical beauty! (If you are in New York before April 17, you should really check it out!) There were thousands of orchids on display, especially in the final room of the conservatory. The show was filled with little vignettes created by staff members and several miniature orchids were on display, which was different than last year's show. To top it all off, the show designers created a man-made mountain - complete with a waterfall! I would have stayed all day and taken photos if I could!

As for my own garden, I hear the finches call to each other outside my window in the early morning, just as the sun begins to rise. The squirrels definitely have spring fever - they are busy chasing each other around the yard and through the trees.
And even though I've brought the forsythia inside to force into bloom, and the days are getting longer, and the sun is getting stronger, I must admit, part of me is really worried that all the bulbs I planted last fall will not come up this spring. Every day I check the front garden along the road to see if any of the crocuses I planted have started to come up. So far, not a leaf in sight. Every morning when I leave for work I pace back and forth, scrutinizing the soil. It isn't possible for voles to eat more than 200 bulbs ... right?

Hollyhock seedlings under my grow lights.
That's one of the tricky parts about spring, isn't it? You know it's coming and you need to hold on to that faith that the flowers will bloom again, even when it seems like it's impossible. I've also started a plant that is new for me to grow from seed this year: hollyhocks. I used to love them when I was a kid, and I'm hoping to get them established in my front garden. I've been using my Gardening by the Moon calendar to plant seeds, and it seems to be working because the hollyhocks sprouted so quickly! I decided to put them in peat pots and then place them inside a clear salad container I had saved. It makes a nifty little greenhouse! How are your seeds doing under your grow lights?

By the way, I laughed so hard when you described the chipmunks in your garden stealing tomatoes! The squirrels in my garden also take one bite and drop and leave it. It kills me when they pick the ripest, juiciest ones! This summer I'll need to find a new location for my tomatoes. Last year I had them in grow pots in the driveway, and even though they were were elevated on bricks, I think it was just too hot for them.

How is your winter garden holding up? I planted garlic in my cold frame this past fall since I accidentally broke the lid off last year. I haven't repaired it yet, so I didn't have a winter garden this year. I'm hoping I can get pea seeds in the ground soon as well as lettuce and spinach seeds.

I really like watching your shares on Instagram for Project 366. I can't believe we're 60+ days into 2016 already. How crazy!

I hope you have been well and I look forward to your reply!

Talk to you soon!
Jen

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NYBG offers delirious take on orchid obsession


Orchids of all sizes and colors are on display at this year's orchid show, titled 'Orchidelirium.'
BRONX, N.Y. - Upon entering the final room at this year's 14th annual New York Botanical Garden's Orchid Show, attendees will come face-to-face with a towering mountain, covered in - what else - but orchids. Thousands of them.

Based on an original Victorian-era rendering of a waterfall showcasing orchids displayed in a glass greenhouse, this man-made mountain is created not with stones. Its "bones" are made with four-by-four steel foot cubes and lots of chicken wire.

"It looks like the mountain in the picture, but on a grander scale," said Christian Primeau, the conservatory manager who designed the show. The original drawing was of a five to six foot mountain covered in ferns and orchids. This year's team worked 13 hour days for two weeks to create the ambitious design.

This year's show is "an homage to those people who gave up their lives so we could enjoy these plants," he said. "This is our centerpiece."

The stunning creation even has a waterfall. The orchids in the NYGB mountain are wrapped by hand in moss, and there's a secret access door to get inside the mountain to water them.

The "mountain" on display at this year's NYBG orchid show.
"When Victorians obtained these beautiful plants and these beautiful orchids, they would bring them into their greenhouses and try to stage them," he said. (To see more photos from this year's show, click here.)

Orchids as status symbols
"Orchidelirium," this year's theme of the orchid show, is based on the grandeur and popularity orchids had back in Victorian times (mid-1830s to early 1900s). This craze was the foundation of our modern fascination with the plant, according to Marc Hachadourian, curator of the orchid collection for The New York Botanical Garden. Orchid hunters (or collectors) would set out to explore uncharted terrain and bring back their findings to Victorian England, where collectors amassed massive collections of plants for display. In that time, living objects displayed in the home were a way to display a person's status and importance, said Hachadourian. "This status symbol drove the fever of the day," he said.

Native to Trinidad, the butterfly orchid - Psychopsis papilio - inspired the Duke of Devonshire's obsession with orchids that contributed to Orchidelirium in London. After receiving the plant as a gift, the Duke became so obsessed with orchids that he built his own personal greenhouse - over an acre under glass, similar to the conservatory at the NYBG - to display and collect his orchid collections. "It was probably one of the largest personal orchid collections that has ever been amassed," he said. (Victorians grew all sorts of elaborate plants in glass houses.)

Marc Hachadourian
"Once these people realized that there was a great horticultural wealth out there, they would literally send collectors to the edges of the earth to bring back the newest, and the rarest, and the most unusual plants, one for bragging rights, but two also because the beauty of the blooms themselves," said Hachadourian.

Orchid plants would sell for "tens of thousands" of dollars for a single plant in that time. The orchid hunters would often supply orchids to one of the two famous nurseries of the day: Sanders and Sons or Veitch Nursery, who were fiercely competitive with each other.

Orchid hunters would "spend months at sea, traveling through jungles where there are no paths, up and down mountains, trying to find what you didn't even know might be there," Hachadourian explained. But succeeding in finding rare orchids could bring the collector - and the people who sponsored the trips - fame and fortune.

One of the more successful orchid collectors was Benedikt Roezl. He survived several injuries and even lost his hand in his pursuit of finding the rarest and most beautiful orchid specimens. "His claim to fame was that he was the orchid collector with the iron hook," Hachadourian said. (To learn more about Roezl and other orchid hunters, read this story from Modern Farmer.)


Many orchid species were discovered in the wild, but it took over a hundred years to rediscover them in the wild, according to Hachadourian. This was because the hunters lied about where they originated in order to keep other collectors away. There were even cases where orchid collectors would torch the land after harvesting the plants so no one else could claim them.

While this technique is no longer viewed as ethical today, for the Victorian-era hunters, orchids were in such abundance that the plants' supply seemed limitless. "There are shipments that are recorded of over a million and a half plants collected ... orchids that weren't as pretty were used as packing material for the really expensive stuff. That's the types of quantity that they were collecting at the time, and that they used them like we use packing peanuts or newspaper because there were so many, you just didn't know what to do with them."

This orchid craze is different than the tulip mania that spread across Amsterdam in the 1600s."The tulip craze was driven by money," said Hachadourian. The tulip craze was a speculative market, which is still studied by economic students today. "The Victorian orchid craze was more about obsessive plant people trying to get as many [orchids] as they can. There was a definite competitive angle," he said.

Lady slipper orchids at the show.

Orchid's cultivation depicted in show
Orchidelirium tells the story of how the orchid made its way from the wilds into cultivation. The show begins upon entering the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory to view a large-scale display of orchids in man-made trees, to illustrate how orchids originated from the wild to cultivation over thousands of years.

Orchids are epiphytes and most grow on the branches of trees in the tropics. They can be found all over the world (except Antarctica), with 30,000 natural occurring species. (In the United States, Florida is the state with the largest number of native orchids, followed by Alaska, then New York and New Jersey.) There are over 150,000 man made hybrids.

"Orchids are the perfect group to talk about all the different things we do here at The New York Botanical Garden ... because they are such a very charismatic and popular group of plants," said Hachadourian. "They are the pandas of the plant world. Everyone kinda loves and enjoys them, we can bring people in and lure them with the beauty of flowers but then also teach them so much more about what we do here."

This year's show took two and half weeks to install, a process Mark refers to as "horticultural theater," which includes the creation, design and installation of the exhibition through the combined efforts from the horticultural, science, interpretative and library staff.

Christian Primeau
"The character of each one of my staff members is actually reflected in certain moments in the display," said Primeau. "I hope people will find the moments that appeal to them," he said. "Either through the intense colors or the delicate colors - I hope they find something that they can grab on to and .... find something that will spark that same passion in them as well."

Visitors can see how orchids grow in the wild, similar to how Victorian-era explorers first encountered them in their travels through the tropical habitats around the world. To create the exhibit, NYBG horticulturalists assembled thousands of orchids from their research collections (which totals over 7,000 plants) as well as growers from across the country, according to the NYBG.

"Orchid cultivation is nothing really new," said Hachadourian, citing evidence of orchid cultivation as far back as Confucius' time. Victorian-era orchid hunters would bring back fantastic tales from their journeys, which helped spur a huge renaissance in natural history during that time period, he said. "The Victorians really started the modern orchid craze - even still as it continues today."

To view pictures from this year's show, click here.

The "trees" on display in the reflecting pond of the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory 
depict how orchids grow in the tropics.

If you go

Orchidelirium runs through April 17, 2016 in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory at The New York Botanical Garden. To learn more about admission pricing and hours, click here.

Orchid Evenings pair nighttime cocktails with Orchidelirium. To learn more, click here.

Fun Fact

To learn more about Charles Darwin's orchid and the moth with the 30 cm tongue to pollinate it, click here.

Learn More

The orchid show began 14 years ago, highlighting the importance of plant biodiversity, the importance of plant conservation and to show off the beauty of the plants themselves. To read coverage of last year's NYBG Orchid Show, click here. View the photo slideshow here.

To read growing tips on orchids, click here.

To learn more about native orchids, click here.

The New York Botanical Garden is the first garden featured in Frau Zinnie's new series, Gardens to Visit in 2016. Look for more exciting suggestions coming soon!
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Photo Gallery from Orchidelirium

BRONX, N.Y. - Thousands of orchids will be on display at The New York Botanical Garden through April 17, 2016 during the 14th annual orchid show. This year's theme is Orchidelirium. Click here to read more about this year's exhibit, or continue to scroll down to see photos from this year's show.












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