No Winter Hibernation

I love the images portraying a gardener's life in the off season. Photos depict winters are filled with warm, cozy settings curled up by the fire skimming through seed catalogs, circling each "must have" like we did as kids with our Sears catalog before Christmas. In reality, winters are BUSY.

No Rest for the Weary

November has me busy foraging for greens and berries for commercial clients, greenhouse offerings and my own personal use. Commercial planters need to be filled far before the holiday arrives. My greenhouse is put to bed, which is always bittersweet. Holiday lights are hung, by the thousands, and preparing for Thanksgiving keeps me busy too. I'm a huge lover of all things Christmas so I'm in full decorating mode, topping my indoor tree count this year at 5.

Home for the Holidays

In December, not only am I still preparing for the holiday, but I am also flipping through seed catalogs and websites, creating my wish list, figuring out my garden plots, and trying to figure out where I will plant them, and how I will pay for them. Am I buying too many? Am I not buying enough? Popular varieties sell out fast. You snooze, you lose. This month we are starting seeds as well. If anyone has ever grown lisianthus, they know. It takes forever, not only to germinate but to grow.  First round of trays are under the lights by the end of the month. The seed starting season has already begun.

New Year, New Goals

Let the Floret Flower Scholarship Workshop begin! I felt like I was six years old all over again sitting at my computer waiting to login to Floret's workshop. Information overload! How will I squeeze this into my day for the next six weeks? Luckily it consumes you and if it means getting up an hour earlier, or staying up an hour later, it's worth it. See the 2024 Scholarship Winners here.

In January I was busy cleaning up our grow space for the season, and sanitizing used pots and trays. The dreaded task of cleaning, separating, and storing dahlia tubers looms over me until I get my last tuber is tucked away safely in its winter cocoon. The worry about storing them will last until spring.

As I'm putting my dahlias to bed, I'm waking up my ranunculus and anemones. The grow room is already busy. Corms are soaking, cool flowers like snap dragons, pansies, and violas are under the lights. Winter sowing is in full gear. Throw in a few workshops into the mix and start picking up the thousands of lights I hung outside for the holiday. Is it spring yet?

Ahhh February, you're my little Valentine.

February, this is when the grow room starts to get challenging. Rudbeckias, Figwort, Feverfew, Artichokes, Dusty Miller, Petunias, Impatiens, Coleus - oh my! Space or not, you have no choice whether or not you can start this next round. But those hundreds of corms you've got pre-sprouting need to potted up, two trays of corms will turn into 20 trays of 3 and 4" pots. It's starting to get claustrophobic in the grow room, and I've only just begun. Tables of overwintered geraniums need to be tidied up and shown some love as well. The temptation to heat the greenhouse for the rest of the winter is constantly on my mind but with the price of propane, I think I just need to stay focused and juggle what I've got.

There's no down time as a gardener. As the plants lay dormant outside, the gardener does not.

Thank you for visiting my blog. Check back for updates ~ Lauren