Salisbury, MD.    Most hellebores, more commonly known as Lenten Roses, are starting to come into their own this time of year.  These evergreen early bloomers are the darlings of late winter/early spring gardens.

The nickname Lenten Rose perhaps originated because the plants start to bloom during the religious period of Lent.  They are, however, definitely not a member of the rose family.  Growing but a foot or so tall, the Lenten Rose produces a wide variety of long lasting flowers with colors ranging from white to green to dark red and hundreds of shades in between.  While the older varieties (there are about 20 varieties) predominantly have flower heads that nod downward to the earth, breeders have been working to develop more types that face upward.  Depending on variety, flowers can be single or in clusters and the plants will bloom over a period of several months.  Some flowers are reported to be fragrant (the Gardening Grannies are not personally familiar with them) and some are definitely not fragrant (the Grannies are quite familiar with these).  If you want to use hellebores as cut flowers, Granny suggests that you sear the cut ends of the stems either by dipping in hot water or holding over a candle for a second or two before plunging into deep cold water.  Interestingly, petal drop does not occur with hellebores as with most flowers and the Grannies speculate that it probably has something to do with seed production. 

The leaves of the Lenten Rose can be as varied as its flowers, sometimes growing at the ends of longish stems and sometimes right from the ground.  Foliage can be chartreuse or very, very dark green and many shades in between.  With five leathery “fingers”, the deeply lobed leaves are decorative in their own rite.  This time of year as you begin your winter clean-up, carefully remove the tattered and torn leaves from last year’s growth, being careful not to cut new foliage or flowers.  As new growth becomes visible, it’s a good idea to sprinkle lightly with a balanced plant food.  

Hellebores thrive in soil with high organic content and regular moisture in a woodsy setting.  This is the atmosphere in which they are more likely to self sow.  Because of their indiscriminate cross-breeding habits, none of the new plants are likely to look like any of the parent plants.  Granny Griffith has an expression for that, but it’s not printable in a family blog.  You probably won’t see growth of this spring’s seeds until fall or perhaps even next spring.  At that time, you find them in the form of small plants growing close to the parent plant.  When you move the babies out, be sure to provide optimal growing conditions (regular moisture in particular) until they are well established.  At that time, you will find they are quite hardy and can survive in a wide variety of soil, moisture and sun conditions.

If you garden with kids (borrowed or your own), the Gardening Grannies caution you to keep in mind that all parts of the plant are poisonous if ingested.  Now, while most of us have kids who do not graze indiscriminately on unknown vegetation, there is always that one kid we have to look out for.

There are numerous legends surrounding the Lenten Rose.  One of the more interesting is that it sprouted in the snow, watered by the tears of a young girl who was so poor that she had no gift for the Christ child.  Some legends, despite the plant’s toxicity, claim that it has saved people from madness and others that it was used to poison entire cities.  Apparently, the legends are as varied as the types of this long-lived perennial.

Gardening Grannies, a group of avid and Master Gardeners, live, love and garden on the Delmarva Peninsula.  They can be reached at gardeninggrannies@wmdt.com

Salisbury, MD.  Forsythia, the reigning queen of the springtime garden, with her long graceful branches waving regally in the March winds, always delights homeowners and passers-by with her bright yellow blossoms.  Many of us, however, cannot wait for Mother Nature to take her course and the shrubs to bloom in Her time.

Cutting branches of spring bloomers is a years old practice of families longing for the cheeriness of an early spring.  When it comes to forsythia, you can do it the easy way or you can complicate the process.  Granny Griffith, for example, trudged out over a few snow drifts the third Saturday of February and cut five branches.  As she always does, she brought them into her kitchen, stuck them in a vase of water and set them in an out-of-the-way location.  One week and one day later, the tight little buds had begun to open and a few days later, entire branches were lined with bright yellow blossoms.  Cutting a few branches every weekend, ensures nearly a month of organic sunshine in your home.  That’s the easy way.

Then there’s the hard way.  The Old Farmer’s Almanac 2010 Gardening Calendar, for example, instructs you to “cut forsythia branches and plunge them into hot water, then cool water, to force them to bloom indoors.”  Granny Greenthumb’s tradition says that you cut the branches and lay them in a bathtub covered with warm water for an hour and then set them in a bucket in a cool, dark room.  Other Grannies suggest you “tent” the containers and branches with plastic and set them in a dim, warm room.  To all of this, Granny Griffith says, “Bull!”  Actually, that is cleaned up quite a bit from Granny’s initial reaction.  The point being, practical experience shows that all that extra stuff about hot water, tents and bathtub soaks isn’t really a necessary part of the process.  Cut the stems, arrange them in a vase and give it a week.  It’s really just that simple.

Forsythias are a fabulously easy plant to grow.  If you can “borrow” a few canes from a friend or neighbor, you may find that they actually root shortly after the bloom forcing process ends.  They will surely shoot out leaves after the flowers fade and, with a little luck, roots shortly thereafter.  Once a reasonable amount of roots have formed in the water (definition of “reasonable” is entirely a personal judgment), transfer them to potting soil and keep soil continuously moist until the initial wilt period is over and new growth begins.  It may help to cut back the branches by up to a half.  Early summer is an excellent time to move them into the garden. 

Once established outside, your forsythia will prove to be amazingly hardy.  The Grannies have never known one to suffer from any disease or insect attack.  Granny Greenthumb did have a couple nibbled off by some very hungry deer last year but, other than that, the Grannies know of no natural predators.  General care of established forsythias includes pruning of about 1/3 of the canes back to the ground following the natural blooming period plus some occasional light fertilizing or shaping of the plant.  Please, do not clip these beautiful, graceful canes into a constricted shape such as a hedge.  Such action costs the plant far too much of its natural beauty. 

If you don’t know who in your area has forsythia plants, just wait a few weeks until Mother Nature brings them to blossom.  Then, on a sunny weekend afternoon, stroll casually past the home of a particularly lovely plant and you may find the owner out working in the yard.  Introduce yourself and respectfully ask if he or she might be willing to share a forsythia “pup” with you.  You see, when a forsythia cane comes in contact with Mother Earth, the cane will root and form a new plant.  The Grannies refer to these new plants as “pups” and they must be removed in the general springtime cleanup to avoid developing a “jungle” of forsythias.  The vast majority of gardeners will be pleased that you asked and delighted to share.  The Grannies refer to these plants shared gardener-to-gardener as “friendship plants” and Granny Griffith has already promised eight pups for this spring.

On the chance that the owner of the forsythia you have targeted is not home or not in the garden, Plan B would be to bring along a pre-written note containing your request and contact information.  Slip it in the storm door and hope for the best.  Chances are, you’ll get a phone call in the relatively near future.

Some local gardening lore surrounding forsythias include the timing of garden chores.  The Grannies say that about when the forsythia petals fall, `timing is right to apply a pre-emergent to perennial beds and remove mulch from your roses. 

Gardening Grannies, a group of avid and Master Gardeners, live, love and garden on the Delmarva Peninsula.  You can reach us at gardeninggrannies@wmdt.com. 

Salisbury, MD.  Just like all of you, the Gardening Grannies’ to-do list often begins with a walk about the yard and gardens.  This year, in particular, there is a lot of damage to shrubs and trees from the violent storms and snow falls of February.  Yes, we will all certainly talk about the Blizzards of 2010 for a long time to come but, in March, we need to take a careful analysis of what needs to be done.

First of all, the shrubs and trees need careful evaluation.  The first step is to ask yourself, “Is it salvageable?”  Granny Griffith, for example, has a huge arborvitae that is quite prostate in the back yard.  Part of it is destined to become compost (the outer smaller branches and needles) and the rest trash (the larger branches and trunks).  If it were hardwood, Granny would surely have offered it to Ken for his wood burning fireplace.  Softwoods, however, leave way too much residue in chimneys and stoves so into the trash it goes.  There is, after all, a reasonable limit to recycling.

If the damaged vegetation is still upright with a healthy root system, the first thing to do is to cut out the damaged parts.  Then, step back and take a critical look at it.  With proper pruning, will it still look good in the garden?  Sometimes, very harsh pruning is required to bring it back into a desirable shape.  Sometimes it survives and sometimes it doesn’t.  Now, while it is still dormant, is the proper time to do it.   The Grannies do not recommend waiting until it leafs out to ‘see how it’s doing’.

If you haven’t pruned your roses, March is the month you want to get it done in.  Ditto for fruit trees or anything overgrown.

The second thing the Grannies recommend is “tipping” the forsythias and bringing branches inside to brighten things up a bit.  Last Saturday, Granny Griffith brought some forsythia tips and stuck them in a vase of water.  This weekend, the tight little buds have opened and the branches are covered with lovely yellow blossoms.  More about that tomorrow.

If you are practicing “gardening by the moon” (see blog from 22 February), here is what your March looks like:

March 1-3 = Barren days.  Do not plant; find other garden chores to do

March 4-12 = Optimum time to plant below ground plants and bulbs

March 13-17 = Barren Days.  Do not plant.  Find something to organize or repair

March 18-27 = Best time to plant above ground plants

March 28-31 = Barren Days.  Do not plant.  Granny advises, “Shop!”

This is the month to get out the left over seed packets from last year and see where or if they fit in this year’s plan.  How many annuals do you want to deal with?  What is your color scheme? How about those veggie seeds?  Did you like that particular type of kale?  What critters invaded your bounty and do you have a solution worked out for how to deal with them this year?  There are lots and lots of questions to ask yourself early in the season that can simplify your life later on.  Two final thoughts about left over seeds:  1) If the packets are over three years old, toss and re-order and 2) about that mystery pile of seeds that has fallen out of packets and collected at the bottom of your seed box…toss ‘em.  Don’t anguish over them, just toss ‘em!

The next step is to organize those seeds you want to start in order of planting.  If you are new to seed starting, you will get that information from the back of the seed packet.  You count back the appropriate number of weeks from the average date of last frost which, in the Salisbury area is around the 11^th of April.  You can start a bit earlier if you have space and lots of good light and wait a bit later if space is at a premium.

Off your rockers, Grannies, it’s time to get going!

Gardening Grannies, a group of avid and Master Gardeners, live, love and garden on the Delmarva Peninsula.  We can be reached at gardeninggrannies@wmdt.com and we look forward to hearing from you.  

Salisbury, MD.   Just about every living, breathing gardener wishes, at one time or another, that she had a greenhouse of her very own:  someplace where she can winter over a few choice plants and start seeds for the spring gardens.  We all occasionally lust for one of those commercially built glass and steel jobbies where, in addition to housing our plants on meticulous planting tables, there would be a decorative heat source, a comfy chair, reading lamp and huge stack of reading materials.

That, however, is simply not the reality with which most of us live.  So, what’s the answer?  How do you start your specialty seedlings and not have them take over the house?  More importantly, how do you do it and not break the bank?

Granny Griffith built two indoor greenhouses about five years ago.  After perusing every gardening supply catalog she could lay her hands on, and hyperventilating at the prices, Granny decided to custom build one to fit her specific needs.  The nice thing about her style (she says she “invented” it) is that it is flexible enough to fit almost anywhere.  After poking about the shed, the attic, the crawl space and the garage (enough to give one nightmares), she came to the conclusion that she absolutely nothing she could repurpose.

Then, she went upstairs.  Granny has a small room on the second floor, across from the main bathroom, that was once a nursery.  She immediately made the decision to repurpose the baby nursery into a plant nursery.  So far, so good.

She had a useable span of about nine feet along an outside wall with two windows and an interior wall space of about six feet.  An idea began to take shape and the first stop would be Michaels Craft Store.  After a bit of browsing, she purchased eight wooden crates (back of the store on the left) and a dozen wooden boxes.  Next stop was Lowe’s for five lengths of vinyl clad wire shelving, three long light fixtures (get the kind that don’t require wiring), stain for the wooden boxes, florescent bulbs and grow lights.  As the project developed, Granny realized that she actually did have some items that could be repurposed:  an old electric throw, four bricks, an extension cord and some black plastic.  Now, for the assembly process.

The first step was to stain the boxes and let them dry thoroughly.  A couple days after the staining process, Granny moved the last of the materials into the nursery.  The assembly part was simple.  Lay two of the crates on their sides about five feet apart where you want to build your indoor greenhouse.  Put one of the shelving sections on the crates.  Repeat for the next layer.  When the second set of shelves is in place, use “S” hooks to fasten the light fixture to the bottom of the second shelf.  Repeat for the next two shelves.  When the top shelf is in place and the light fixture attached, fold the throw to fit the space on top of the shelf.  Place the bricks at each end and use them (or similar material) to position the final shelf about a half inch above the throw.  You are now the proud owner of one of the most useful indoor greenhouses available:

·        The open crates at each end are perfect for storing magazines, seeds, gardening tools, journals and all sorts of related “stuff

·        The shelves are virtually indestructible and clean up easily

·        The boxes, when lined with black plastic, are perfect for seed starting or as drip pans for six-packs of seedlings

·        The electric throw works just fine as a low density heater that, when flats of newly sown seeds are set over it, serves to increase germination rate

·        The lights and throw can be placed on timers

·        It’s easy to dis-assemble and relocate.

The year after she built her first indoor greenhouse, Granny installed a smaller one in the six foot space on the inside wall.  For this one, she stood the boxes on end and bought shorter shelves and lights, making for higher shelf space for taller plants.

The Grannies would like to offer a few final thoughts on the subject of indoor greenhouses.  They are wonderful, fun and help keep the mess out of the rest of the house.  You want to practice electrical safety and be careful not to get water on the fixtures or the throw.  In addition, if you own toddlers who are prone to climbing or children who haven’t learned the meaning of “no”, you will have to make another decision.  You really have three choices:  1)  put a lock on the door to keep the kids out, 2) put the project off until the kids are better trained or 3) put the kids up for adoption.  We jest, you know.  The best news is that if you can ensure that they don’t have unsupervised access to your greenhouse, it a perfect way to introduce your kids….or grandkids…. or borrowed kids to the wonderful world of gardening.

OK, Grannies, off your rockers and into a gardening project!

Salisbury, MD.  Nothing cheers a Gardening Granny more than having blooms in the house in February and nothing gives a Granny a more self satisfied feeling than being able to walk out into the yard, knee deep in snow, and cut some for free.  “But, what flower fits the bill?” you are no doubt asking yourself.  It’s not a flower, my friends, it’s a small tree.

Let us introduce you to the wonderful world of witch hazels (botanical name:  hamamelis).  Witch hazels are lovely shrubs or smallish trees that mature at a height of 12’ – 15’, with an open, spreading growth habit.  Granny Griffith has a pair in her yard that is about ten years old and ten feet tall.  Once established, they are very low maintenance plants and generally disease free.  They do not particularly like pruning, so one should prune only to guide growth, remove suckers (wild growth that shoots straight up, generally from the base of the plants) or obtain flowering stems for bouquets.  They do well in full sun or partial shade and, once established do well even in relatively dry areas.  These perennials can serve as the backbone of your gardens for many, many years.

As you can see by the photographs, due to their natural open growth habit, witch hazels make lovely oriental style arrangements.  The upper picture is only three stems, one stem of the variety “Diane” (H. x intermedia), which is the dark coppery red flower, and two stems of an unknown yellow variety.  The flowers consist of a group of crumpled petals, have a light fragrance and bloom over a long period of time.  Granny’s witch hazels start blooming in February and last a month or more.  They are happiest in rich, organic soil but also do quite well in the normal sandy almost-soil we often find here on Delmarva.  It is suggested that, if you plant in relatively poor soil, you pay special attention to getting them off to a good start with regular watering, light fertilizing and annual mulching.  The dried up leaves of many varieties hang on all winter, attached near the source of the flowers.  These leaves are easily clipped off for a prettier arrangement.

When you clip off the lower branches and flowers of your stems that would be under water in your primary bouquet, don’t toss them in the trash can.  They serve as lovely compliment in small vases, tucked into corners where you would like to see a spot of color.  The smaller arrangement you see here, including the vase, is only 8” tall and fits nicely into alongside some antique boxes on the fireplace mantel in Granny Griffith’s office.

There are five sub-groups of witch hazels for you to choose from.  You, of course, will want to take into consideration the location, available colors and height at maturity before making your final choice.  If you cannot find your desired plant locally, you have several choices:

·        You can ask your local nursery owner to recommend and/or order one for you

·        You can start an internet search of your own

·        You can buy a gardening periodical and search its pages for suppliers.

The Gardening Grannies recommend you take the first option.  Keep in mind, the “box stores” to not  generally provide this service.  You need to pay a visit to your local independent garden center.

Your witch hazel choices include:

·        H. x intermedia:  these large hybrid shrubs are 10 – 15 feet tall and often grafted.  You should remove any suckers that spring up from the base of the plant.  They come in colors that range from bright yellow (Arnold Promise is a good choice), dark coppery orange (Diane) and pale yellow (Moonlight).  Some have brighter fall foliage than others and, if that is important to you, you will want to verify prior to ordering.

·        H. japonica:  These are referred to as Japanese Witch Hazels and of a more upright, tree-like growth habit, sometimes reaching a height of 20 feet.  They tent to produce smaller flowers than H. x intermedia.

·        H. vernalis, or Ozark witch hazel, is a smaller shrub native to the central and southern US, reaching a height of 6-8 feet

·        H. mollis (Chinese witch hazel), tends to be a little bigger than H. vernalis, reaching average heights of 8-10 feet.  It is reported to be an excellent cut flower.

·        H. virginiana (common witch hazel) is slow growing with an average height of 10-15 feet, sometimes more.  It’s bark is used in the production of the witch hazel that you find in the pharmacy area of your local stores.  H. virginiana’s colorful fall foliage out-performs its smallish flowers.

Bottom line is this.  Take the time to really think about what you want:  the size, the color, the purpose.  Get the answers firmly fixed in your mind then …. off your rockers and out there to find it!

The Gardening Grannies, a mature group of avid and Master Gardeners, live, love and garden on the Delmarva Peninsula.  We can be reached at gardeninggrannies@wmdt.com and we look forward to hearing from you

Salisbury, MD.  Gardening by moon phases is one of the more intriguing aspects of gardening lore.  Old timers swear by it and Gardening Grannies go by it….when it suits their schedules.  For most of us, it’s one of those endearing gardening legends that are fun to talk about, learn about and think about but, when it comes right down to it, the “Law of the Farm” kicks in.  The “Law of the Farm” is simply that you do what you should do, when you should do it, whether or not it is convenient.  Sometimes gardening by moon phases supports that and sometimes it doesn’t.  When it doesn’t, well, you just do what you gotta do!

Gardening by moon phases is an old one and is found far back in ancient Celtic societies.  The Roman historian, Pliny, even proffered advice on planting by moon phases.  Related theories exist today.  Although “refinements” often contradict the basic philosophy, it is a method that has been in existence for hundreds of years and is a delightful compliment to traditional organic methods.

Simply put, gardening by moon phases means that during an ascending moon, that period of time between the new moon (that tiny sliver of a moon) and the full moon (when the size of the moon is getting bigger), as the size of the moon goes up you plant crops that grow up and produce food above ground.  During the period of time while the full moon’s size is getting smaller (going down) until it again reaches the new moon stage, you plant crops that grow down and produce food crops below ground.  It’s really a very simple concept so, please, don’t complicate it.

If we’re a tiny bit superstitious, and we want to increase our chances of a bountiful crop, we’ll give a tad of consideration to planting in tandem with moon phases.  The Gardening Grannies believe that planting by moon phases makes more sense than buying a lottery ticket,  in the event you are wondering.  Or, you may prefer to look at it as a tiny part of an insurance policy for a more productive summer garden.  Whatever your sense about it, it’s a bit of knowledge theory all serious gardeners should understand.

Let’s start with our own Granny Calendar:

·        The last new moon (that smallest sliver of a moon) occurred on 13 February

·        The ascending phase (for grow “upwards” crops) lasts until the full moon on 28 February.  That means you should be starting seeds of above ground crops such as tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, broccoli, cauliflower and, later, vining crops

·        The descending moon phase begins on Monday, 1 March, when the size of the moon begins to shrink or go down.  This is when we start seeds or crops that produce product underground.  This would include potatoes, leeks (so, if you didn’t start your leeks in the last descending phase, this would be a good time), onions, turnips, beets and radishes

·        Often the last few days of any phase and the beginning three or four days of a new phase are described as “barren periods”, times when it would be more productive to spend your time on other gardening chores.

By the light of the moon, Grannies….off your rockers and into your potting sheds and (later) gardens with your moon phase calendars.

Gardening Grannies, a mature group of avid and Master Gardeners, live, love and garden on the Delmarva Peninsulas.  We can be reached at gardeninggrannies@wmdt.com and we look forward to hearing from you.

Salisbury, MD.  The Gardening Grannies took advantage of the beautiful Saturday afternoon by tramping about their respective yards in their “Wellies” searching for signed of springtime and surveying the damage from the storms of the last few weeks.  Both were readily apparent.

The snow in the Salisbury area has begun some serious melting.  Visible patches of dirt and grass are taking over the melting snow.  Gentle nudging of leaves reveals the first signs of spring bulbs bravely poking through the earth.  The witch hazels are blooming as if there is no tomorrow.  Granny Griffith has a yellow and a coppery-orange witch hazel planted near each other and the effect is stunning.  A quick check of the forsythia bushes reveals very tight flower buds.  A few brave flowers are open on the early azaleas, well before their normal time.

 As Granny refilled the bird feeder, she took note of the particularly raggedy looking butterfly bushes and immediately made two resolutions.  The first is to cut out significantly more of the old wood for younger, more vigorous bushes this summer.    The second resolution is to turn the immediate area around each of the bushes into a cafeteria for the butterfly larvae.  While it’s wonderful to plant flowers and shrubs to attract butterflies, it’s equally important to offer nourishment and habitat to the other stages of the butterfly’s life cycle. 

In the butterfly stage, as we all know, the little critters are attracted to bright nectar filled flowers.  From a butterfly’s perspective, one can never have too many flowers.  In particular, they are attracted to butterfly weed, asters, daisies, coreopsis, ageratum, impatiens, flowering herbs….just about anything that puts out a flower.  Assuming that you’ll plant some flowers to attract butterflies, it’s just good manners to offer them something to drink.  The easiest thing to do is to put out an earth-tone large plastic drip pan with flat river rocks in it.  Fill it with water just far enough that the butterflies can get to it, leaving plenty of rock surface for them to sit and sun.  Butterflies are often seen swarming around shallow puddles and the simple explanation is that they get sodium and other nutrients from the evaporating water.  When you put out your “water puddle”, avoid the urge to keep it too clean and your visitors will be much happier.

The larval stage of butterflies prefers an entirely different menu.  Just like people, different kinds of butterflies prefer different foods.  If you don’t already know who visits your garden, take a wild guess and plant parsley and dill near your flowers.  Then, when your visitors arrive, identify them and plant their preference.  When you do this, egg-laying females will deposit her charge on or near them and you will be on your way to developing a year-round butterfly habitat.  There is a significant number of books out there that can help you make this identification and determine what kinds of “baby food” to plant for the larval stage.  One of our favorite sources is Stokes Butterfly Book by Donald and Lillian Stokes and it is available in paperback. 

Two other basics to remember when you are planning your butterfly garden:  1) Do not use pesticides on the herbs or flowers.  Ever!  Herbs rarely need pesticides and pesticides will not be any better for your butterflies or their larvae than they are for unwelcome insects and 2) Neatness doesn’t count.  In the fall, when you are cleaning up your garden, allow the herbs, tall grasses and seed pods remain.  These often contain the egg cases which the female spreads over a variety of locations.

If you are considering starting a butterfly garden, these are just the bare basics to help you get started.  We encourage you to learn more about butterflies, their life cycles and their habitats.  As any of the Gardening Grannies will tell you, it’s a great project to do with kids.  If you don’t have one of your own, borrow one!  The planet and your neighborhood will be better for it.

Salisbury, MD.  The best news of the day came this morning at 7:58AM when meteorologist Marc Adamo announced on WMDT 47 that “There are no major storms anywhere around us”.  The fact that he went on to say that temps today were going to be in the 40’s and precipitation of yet-to-be-determined consistency was likely for Monday and Tuesday….well, they were simply lost as the words “no major storms anywhere around us” kept reverbing in our brains.  No major storms.  No major storms!  NO MAJOR STORMS!

It still looks like a long, cold and turbulent springtime but, trust us on this one, when summer gets here it’s going to arrive hot and stay hot.  Despite following what promises to be a wet spring, El Nino “lore” indicates this summer will be mostly hot and dry with periods of “significant turbulence”.

Some reminders of wonderful ways to treat yourself to an early taste of spring during the next couple of weeks:

·        Today through Sunday is the Maymont Flower Show in Richmond, VA

·        February 26-28 is the Better Living Expo at the Civic Center in Salisbury, MD

·        February 28 through March 7 is the Philadelphia Flower Show

·        March 4-7 is the Mid-Atlantic Flower show in York, PA

·        March 9 is a hands-on fruit tree (apples and peaches) pruning workshop at the fruit orchards in Pemberton Historic Park off Pemberton Drive, Salisbury, MD, 10-11AM, weather permitting.  Bring pruning tools and gloves; pray for warm weather.

March 20 is the first day of Spring and it’s still over a month away.  Between now and then, be good to yourself.  Treat yourself to one of these wonderful events, whether or not you have ever been to a flower show before.  This is the year to expand your horizons and treat your senses to the sights and fresh smells of an early springtime:  freshly turned dirt, spring bulbs, early flowering shrubs and green grass.  All the basics plus hundreds of vendors, specialists and avid gardeners who relish the opportunity to share their expertise and experiences with you.  Granny Griffith will be working at the Master Gardener booth at the Better Living Expo at the Civic Center in Salisbury Friday night, 26 February, from 4-8PM and Grannies Greenthumb and Griffith are planning to attend the Mid-Atlantic flower show in York, PA on that Saturday.  If you get to any of the other flower shows, shoot us an e-mail and let us know the highlights.  Include pictures if you have any.

So!  Off your rockers and into the flower shows of your choice. 

Gardening Grannies, a mature group of avid and Master Gardeners, live love and garden on the Delmarva Peninsula.  We can be reached at gardeninggrannies@wmdtd.com and we look forward to hearing from you.

Salisbury, MD.  And now, for the rest of the Granny Griffith planting story for Ash Wednesday.  Got a late check in from her and she let it be known that she got her tomato, pepper and eggplant seeds started “right on schedule”.  So far tonight she has started a half dozen of each of the following tomatoes:  German Pink, Black Pearl Hybrid, Green Sausage, Moonglow, Black Trifele, Italian Ice and Persimmon Orange.  Sounds to the rest of us like Granny Griffith’s will be the place to go for extra tomato seedlings in the spring (unless she plans to open a roadside stand) and colorful tomato salads this summer.  Actually, Granny had a gardening question for me tonight that absolutely stumped me.  She asked what happens to the viability of tomato seeds that have had a half glass of red wine spilled on them.  At first I thought she was kidding, but she assures me that the accident really did happen.  She says it was a partial packet that she had left over from last year and, since it was all she had of that particular variety (it was the Green Sausage, the only green variety she is planting this year), she planted them anyway.  Supposing that the brand of wine didn’t matter, I didn’t ask.  Any of you out there know what she should expect by way of germination rate?  All Grannies know that they can expect the germination rate to drop by about half for each year the seeds are past their first season.  But, what about the addition of a half glass of alcohol?  We’ll let you know in a few weeks.

Granny also started a dozen Long Purple eggplants and a dozen “Carnival Mix” of peppers that included Orange Sun, California Wonder, Golden California Wonder, Purple Beauty and Diamond.  Very strange about the peppers because Granny Griffith has never been known to start a packaged mix of seeds.  She always likes to know exactly what to expect out of a planting assuming, of course, that there has been no accidental addition of alcohol.

Just a further thought or two on seed starting that we haven’t mentioned:  When you’re trying to figure out when your harvest is due to come in, remember to count forward from the date you set your seedlings out.  For example, if you start your pepper seeds now, they will take two to three weeks to come up.  In another five or six weeks, you’ll do your transplanting probably somewhere around the week of April 12^th.  The packet will usually tell you how many days to harvest.  It is important to keep in mind that this is the number of days from setting your transplants out in the garden and not from the date you start the seeds.  In the case of sweet peppers, it will be about 70 days or around Father’s Day (20 June) when your harvest will start to come in. 

Gardening Grannies, a mature group of avid and Master Gardeners, live, love and garden on the Delmarva Peninsula.  We can be reached at gardeninggrannies@wmdt.com and we look forward to hearing from you.

Salisbury, MD.  If you have already started your leek seeds (see blog dated 25 January), they should now be about 4” tall.  They are also likely to be rather spindly if you are growing them in normal household temperatures.  Now is the time, if you have such an area, to move them into a sunny window in a semi-warm garage or barn with temperatures somewhere between 55 and 65.  This will allow the leeks to thicken up, develop a stronger root system and slow their upward growth somewhat.  All things considered, you will be developing healthier, stronger plants.  If you have no such place, not to worry.  We’ll provide tips on that in a later blog.

Today is just about 8 weeks from the average last frost date on the Delmarva Peninsula.  For some, it’s a little more, for some a little less.  Whatever, it is also an average date for starting seeds of tomatoes, peppers and eggplants.  You will want to check the back of your seed packets to see how many weeks prior to the last frost date they recommend.  Deciding upon the indoor planting dates is something like making soup.  Remember, once you’ve gathered the necessary ingredients and information, don’t sweat the variations.  Develop a gardening style that’s right for you.  Gardening, much like cooking, is a personal preference thing, sometimes depending upon when you have the time. 

Recommendations for the “best time” to start the same type of seed will vary from seed company to seed company.  If you purchased your seeds from Totally Tomatoes, Territorial Seed Company or Burpee’s, the back of your packet will most likely advise 6-8 weeks before the average last frost.  If you purchased from Cook’s Garden, they say 8-10 weeks.  Certainly, how much space and time you have to care for seedlings will influence your choice.

Granny Griffith plans on starting her eggplants, tomatoes and peppers tomorrow night after work.  She is impatiently awaiting her Tye Dye hybrid tomato seeds from Burpee’s which should arrive any day.  Granny Greenthumb has all her seeds but is going to wait “another week or so” to start hers.  Granny Nicholson is going to wait to be “gifted” extra seedlings from the other Gardening Grannies!

The next question to be answered is ‘what do you start your seedlings in?’  The Gardening Grannies, always careful with the purse strings, suggests you start with what you already have.  Granny Griffith saves and re-uses the little 6-packs that you can buy bedding plants in at your local nursery.  One of the grannies makes bio-degradable starter cups out of paper with one of those little forms you see available in some gardening catalogs and another uses the inexpensive medium size cups from Sam’s Club.  Granny punches holes in the bottom for drainage and sits them in disposable aluminum roaster pans.  She swears the reflect the light better and she gets healthier plants.  Other Grannies purchase the peat pots that can go right into the ground.  There is no right or wrong.  Different methods work better for different gardeners and the Grannies encourage you to experiment and decide what works best for you.

Now, what starting medium do you use?  If you are a reader of gardening tomes, you will find various exotic soil mixes and recommendations of all sorts.  Granny Griffith, well-known for her strong “survival of the fittest” attitude, swears by Miracle Grow Potting Mix because it contains a self fertilizer and retains moisture well.  Those gardeners who prefer a peat based product will shake their heads and say “never, never”.   Grannies’ general advice?  Keep it simple.  After all, it’s not brain surgery.  What is most important is that the medium drains well and is kept continuously moist through germination process and the development of the second set of leaves.  After that, the little rascals are a tad hardier and can stand an occasion period of neglect.  We’ll talk more about that later.

Once you have decided upon your container and soil, it’s time to round up the Gardening Gran’kids (or neighbor kids you might want to introduce to gardening).  Planting is the ‘funnest’ part for a lot of kids and all of them love to check daily to see what is sprouting.  Letting them take part in this magical process and chart their progress on a calendar appeals to even the smallest of gardeners. 

Now, for the planting.  Some Gardening Grannies like to scatter a pinch of seeds in an 8” x 8” square planter (in one case, it’s actually a cracked baking dish) and transplant them into individual containers after the second set of leaves appear.  Another perfectly good method is to start seeds directly into individual cell packs, using one or two seeds (always use multiple seeds if they come from last year’s crop) per cell.  Tomatoes, peppers and eggplants are pretty easy starters, so special care such as covering with plastic is not generally necessary.

All the Gardening Grannies are in agreement that warmth can serve to increase germination rate.  There are a variety of ways to accomplish this.  You can place your seedling trays on top of your dryer in the laundry room, on top of the refrigerator in the kitchen or near a low density (and waterproof) heater.  Be sure that you keep your containers far enough away that it is a “gentle warmth” and you don’t accidentally cook them before their time.  You can buy specially made ones from a gardening supply catalog or make your own.  Granny Griffith has a home made tray warmer that consists of two lengths of plastic coated wire shelving from the hardware store and a heated “throw”.  She places one shelf above the other in her plant nursery, separated by a drip pan at each end.  In between the shelving, she placed the old throw and plugs it into a timer that runs 12 (daylight hours) on and then 12 hours off until the seedlings sprout.  The day those little rascals poke through the soil, it’s time to place them in a source of bright light and congratulate yourself on a job well done!

So, now!  Off your rockers and on to your potting benches to get those seedlings started.  If you have an especially successful method of starting your seedlings that we haven’t mentioned, you can e-mail us at gardeninggrannies@wmdt.com.

Gardening Grannies, a mature group of avid and Master Gardeners, live love and garden on the Delmarva Peninsula.