Trying Something New

Despite the fact that I have numerous seed packets in cold storage (leftover from last year, and even the year before that), I still ordered a few more because I like to try new stuff every year, along with my tried-and-trues. The new seeds arrived yesterday. I’m excited to try these new varieties, including a tomato that is good for hanging baskets (‘Silvery Fir Tree’)! I don’t start tomato seedlings until March 1, and usually I start my peppers then, too.

But I recently read a book by Monty Don of Gardener’s World fame (a show on the BBC that we absolutely adore), in which he strongly suggests starting peppers in January, to give them plenty of time to germinate and grow, before they go in the ground in May. This requires a little extra fuss because they’ll probably need potting up twice before then, but because peppers are tricky to get started, this allows you earlier harvests when they do eventually get in the ground. To me this seemed sound advice. My peppers always set fruit later than I would like. Why not try it?

So, I got out my trusty seed table, single light set-up, heating mat, and seed blocker, and got to work planting up peppers. I seeded 50; I expect not all will germinate, but it would be lovely if they do. We always grow plenty of both hot and sweet peppers, as well as paprika peppers, in order to have lots for fresh eating and for preserving and making into spice mixes.

A bright sunny day (though chilly) encouraged us to get outside and get a lot done. The highlight was digging up a Douglas Iris clump that was about four feet in diameter (no small feat with our heavy clay!) and chopping it into about six pieces which then got distributed about the garden. You know it’s time to do this when the greenery forms a ring, with nothing in the center, telling you that the bulbs have increased so much that they have crowded out the middle. Winter is a great time to split native Douglas iris, as the roots are growing like mad and will not even notice that you’ve changed their position.

Crocosmia

Do you know the flower crocosmia? It's a South African native, a corm in the Iris family, and spreads so rapidly that it can be a bit of a bully in the garden.

This is not a photograph I took, but here is how it looks when it blooms.

It's  a lovely plant and the hummingbirds do like it. 

About 12 years ago, a friend gave me some corms and I planted them (unknowingly) in the wrong spot. I think they've bloomed twice in those twelve years, though the greenery comes up every year like clockwork. I thought it was time to dig them up and see what they looked like, and replant them in various other places in the garden to see if they'll do better somewhere else.

Corms are interesting because the 'mother' corm is at the bottom and is the oldest in the 'chain.' The 'daughter' corms are above the mother and continue to form new daughters as the years go by. Several of the corms I dug up had over 10 daughter corms. As the chain grows, the mother corm actually pulls herself down deeper into the soil in order to make room for the daughters.

It was fun to dig down deep and discover the chains of corms. Some were shriveled and used up, some were papery, some were red. Some had already sprouted.

Being South African, you'd think these plants would want full sun and dry conditions. But that's where I've had them all these years, and they haven't flowered much. So I replanted them in shadier conditions near the drip line. They'd probably like some looser, richer soil, but I'll see how they do without any amendments first. 

Do you grow crocosmia?

February Wreath

The last half of this week has been glorious, for instance today it has been 75 degrees and there is a warm wind. I'm not supposed to enjoy it - we've had hardly any rain, and this means the meager snowpack in the Sierra is melting early - but it's hard to feel glum about that when spring is bursting out all around you.

I made February's wreath with Acacia dealbata, or Silver Wattle, native to Australia, naturalized here. It's really beautiful but it's terribly weedy, and takes over the Oakland/Berkeley hills around this time of year. I don't find it growing out my way very much, but there is one enormous specimen on a trail near here, so that's where I went to take cuttings. The tree can easily support that; I in no way injured it or even slowed it down. Some people think this tree is a scourge and it's hard to disagree because it causes awful allergies, being loaded with pollen. And did I mention the weediness? 

Anyway, I have to say it makes a lovely, cheerful wreath.

rhubarb seedlings in the 'greenhouse'

This weekend, I intend to take out one bed of wheat, clover, and peas and put in my potato crop, as well as start sunflower seeds in the greenhouse. It's hard not to do more. I'll probably start my pepper seeds later on in February, since they require some extra germination time. But no tomatoes until March. 

Meanwhile, I'm enjoying all the spring bulbs coming up, as the narcissus are starting to enter senescence. 

Borage is nearly a year-round plant for us here, but it takes a break in December and January, reseeds itself, and comes out gangbusters again starting this month. The bees are clearly in the spring swing of things and soon we'll need to do a hive check.

I'm growing watercress in a 10-gallon container, and it's really starting to look delicious. I'm anticipating some lovely greens in sandwiches soon.

I bought four hellebores in December and I have them in pots on my front porch. Hellebores are not cheap, so this was a real investment, and they are starting to bloom which is fabulous. I have several different colors and I'm sure I'll be sharing more pictures as they open. I can't wait.