Gardening in Cold Weather

As the cold weather settles in, and the day light eludes me when I return home from work, there is not much for me to do in the gardens in the afternoons.

So, my attention turns instead to what I can be doing in the spring time, which will be here before all of us know it.

And the best way to figure out just what I want to do come spring is to sit by the fire and lose myself in the endless seed and garden catalogs that come my way via mail order companies.
Seed catalogs offer the beginning and veteran gardener alike the opportunity to buy plants, vegetables, fruits, vines, bushes and all things garden that are not readily available in nearby garden stores.

Along with this, catalogs often sell hard to find flowers and seeds, along with all of the newest varieties, as well as old fashioned varieties your parents and grandparents used to grow.
Often times, these old time varieties of vegetable seeds are the hardiest and tastiest.

Garden catalogs usually offer plants a number of ways. Of course, there is the option of buying your plants via seeds, and indeed this option offers the largest amount to choose from. Simply put, garden mail order companies offer by far more plant varieties in seed form over those plants that are mature and are in seedling form or year old plants.

Yet, when ordering seeds, make sure you have the patience as well as the necessary “tools” to grow your new plants from seed.
Many mail order companies ship their plants in small one or two inch pots. These plants are sent to your home right around the time the ground warms, and are ready to be planted.

This makes it most convenient, as your new plants are ready at your doorstep, waiting for you to stick them in the ground.
Yet another option is the bare root method. Bare root plants are dormant (not actively growing) perennial plants that are dug up and stored without any soil around their roots.

Bare root plants often work best with young trees and bushes, as well as vines and some other perennials. When planting bare root plants, it is important to soak the roots in a pail of water for a few hours beforehand, as sometimes the roots become dry.

Often times, bare roots are the second cheapest form of purchasing plants through the mail, after seeds, of course.

Perhaps the easiest mail order plant is the bulb. Many companies offer daffodils, tulips, and other spring and summer flowers grown from bulb, all which are easy to plant and care for.

Seed catalogs offer one more advantage, one that many gardeners find most important. In one word, it is “pictures.”

Most garden catalogs are full of colorful pictures of the many plants they sell, giving the gardener a wonderful advantage.
Along with these pictures are descriptions of the plant’s growth habit, including sun vs. shade, height of plant, zone, and soil preference.

So, on these cold winter days, when it is simply too chilly to spend outside, instead curl up with a cup of hot chocolate and a seed catalog, and dream of spring. Enjoy!