Text and photos ©Nancy J. Ondra
Um…no, not that season, though you’d be justified in guessing that if you too have noticed the sudden onslaught of holiday carols on the radio. I’m thinking about seed seasons. You see, a year in the life of a seed geek includes four seasons, but they’re a little different than the usual calendar or meteorological ones: a time to sow, a time to reap, a time to share, and a time to acquire. (more…)
Text and photos ©Nancy J. Ondra
Summer isn’t a time that most people associate with seeds: the prime spring sowing time is long past, and new seed catalogs won’t be arriving for another two months or so. But for seed fanatics, the fun continues all season long. Early to midsummer is a great time for sowing another batch of annuals to provide fresh color in fall, and to start forget-me-nots (Myosotis), money plants (Lunaria annua), and other biennials. And any time during the summer can be a great time to sow the seeds of many perennials. Easy germinators such as black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia) sprout quickly and make garden-ready plants by early fall. Summer is also the time to sow hellebores, cyclamen, and other perennials and woody plants whose seeds need a period of warmth before being winter-chilled and then sprouting. But summer isn’t just about seed sowing; it’s also time for seed collecting. (more…)
Text and photos ©Nancy J. Ondra
Wow, I can’t believe how fast the weeks are passing. So much for the days of blogging every day or two! Besides the usual busy-ness of this time of year in my own garden, I’ve been working every other day at a friend’s nursery/garden center for the past month, installing and maintaining some huge new gardens, so I’ve been gloriously immersed in extended hours of hands-on gardening every single day.
In many ways, it brings back the days when I used to be a professional gardener. I enjoyed it then, but I remember it being pretty tough physically. Getting back into it 20 years later, I find it’s actually easier now, maybe because I have a lot more experience, and a good selection of time-tested tools as well. Still, dealing with the intense heat we’re experiencing now in PA is tough at any age, so I’m grateful to be indoors for today. (more…)
Text and photographs ©Nancy J. Ondra
It’s a funny thing about seeds: First you worry that they’re not going to sprout; then you worry how you’re going to deal with all of the seedlings. It’s so easy to sow a dozen pots, plunk them onto a heating mat, and fit them neatly onto a shelf under a single fluorescent light fixture. It may take a few days for the first leaflets to appear, but before you know it, the pots are filled with forests of study little seedlings. The next step is to transplant those seedlings into individual pots. And then, my friends, is when reality sets in. (more…)
Text and photos ©Nancy J. Ondra
February is one of my least favorite months, but it does have one thing going for it: the start of seed-sowing season. The fun actually starts right after Christmas, with glorious hours immersed in the current crop of seed catalogs and seed-exchange lists, followed by a frenzy of making my own lists, fine-tuning choices, and placing the orders. Then, there’s wait for the seeds to arrive. At the beginning of February, I can sit down with the big pile of colorful packets and sort them into two piles: those that must (or can) be sown immediately and set outdoors, and those that can wait a bit. At the top of this entry are a couple of flats of sown seeds awaiting watering, along with some echeverias and other succulents I’m in the process of rooting. The succulents, of course, need to stay indoors until there’s no danger of frost, but these seeds will stay outside. (more…)
