March 7, 2014
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Fruit for the robins, crocuses on the snow
The migrating robins are back and with the year round residents
they're mobbing the fruit trees and bushes with fruit including the
cranberry viburnum, burning bush and barberry. Good thing last year
was a record setting year, with apples and crabapples groaning
beneath the weight of their fruit. These birds' mainstays are
insects and worms at ground level or fruit such as tiny persistent
crabapples. Seed such as in our feeders is a last choice for them,
yet it's a 'no go' yet for ground level foraging -- these birds
aren't equipped to dig through snow.
Looks like we're finally getting a break to do some pruning, so
we'll be out this Sunday to trim the oaks. Prune oaks now or let
them be this year, as any cuts made during the growing season put
them at risk of oak wilt disease spread by beetles to open
wounds.
Perennials that are easy-to-grow from seed
A
beautifully illustrated list of 35 species, enough to fill a
garden's sunny and shady spots and just make you smile because you
grew them yourself.
Few things are such fun as sowing and growing seed...
...if it's simple seed. No tricks required such as scarification
(nicking, sanding or otherwise physically breaking a hard see coat)
or stratification (alternating periods of moist cold below 40F and
warmth over 70F).
Thinking to create an easy issue of What's Coming Up,
we asked professional growers to list such easy-from-seed perennial
species. The request netted us so many plants and so much great
information that we made that list and also launched our perennial
encyclopedia pages here on the site.
We hope you enjoy the list and try some seed sowing. Please do
read the very practical directions provided by Karen Bovio of
Specialty Growers in Growing perennials from seed).
Each plant name on the list is also a link to our new
encyclopedia pages. There, thanks to your Sponsorship, we're
compiling basic information for growing the plant plus jumping-off
points for even more detail and great uses.
Growing perennials from seed: Five easy species
A
complete and very practical guide for growing your own beautiful
perennials, by Specialty Growers' owner Karen Bovio. Karen uses
her five top picks for easy growing as examples.
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