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...because all the best garden advice is local

February 14, 2013
I It Getting Closer to Spring!
Greetings! 

     

Veronica on the porch This Valentine's Day, I'll profess my love for...gardening! Men may come and go, but my love for flowers and growing things never wavers. My gardening passion may not keep me warm at night, but it certainly has sustained me through happy times and sad rough patches; it's always fascinating; it's always enjoyable; and it never leaves the toilet seat up.

   I'll confess that, in fact, I do have a remarkable guy in my life right now, but he figured out long ago that bringing me flowers was pretty much the whole coals-to-Newcastle thing. I don't need a man to supply me with gorgeous blooms, scent, and color--that I can take care of myself with my abundant garden and frequent visits to the greenhouse.

   On the other hand, my dear, if you'd like to invest in some chocolate...

 

Yours in passionate gardening, 

Veronica Lorson Fowler

 
Pick Up a Pot 

 

On dreary winter days like these, I like to visit the greenhouse to pick up a flowering plant or two. I love cyclamen, azaleas, tulips, daffodils, lilies, miniature roses, and sometimes even succumb to buying an insanely expensive, hard-to-maintain gardenia. Such incredible scent!

   The thing to remember about these indoor flooring plants is that they are bred to be beautiful for just a few weeks.
Keep them at their best for the longest time possibly by watering diligently so that they're 
evenly moist--don't let them dry out or wilt--but don't keep the soil soggy 
pink cyclamen
either. Trim off spent blooms to keep them attractive and encourage longer flowers.
 But no matter how well you care for them, don't expect them to flower for more than a couple of weeks. When they're done flowering, in some cases you can keep them for a few months longer to enjoy the greenery only, but for the most part, they're done and should be discarded.  
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Raising the Garden


I looked out the window the other day and noticed that my fancy raised bed vegetable 
garden is starting to fall apart a bit. When the weather is warmer, I'll have to get out there and repair it. But I was amazed to calculate that I constructed it more than 22 years ago and it's had almost no maintenance since!   

Veronica's raised beds
    And I've loved having them. Raised beds are great for so many reasons. Their soil warms up earlier in the spring. You can put them on top of not-great soil and then fill them with excellent soil. The edging blocks out weeds. Raised beds are easier to work, too, since there's a little less stooping.  
   Want to build a raised bed or two of your own? Click here for more information.



daffodills20 Must-Have 
Perennials for Iowa

 

Check out our "must-have starter set of 20 sun and shade perennials to have in your garden for bloom from March through October! Start in early spring with daffodils and finish up the season in fall with mums.  Click here to view them all!



 

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Bachelor button

Garden Quote  

 

"Winter is the time for comfort; it is the time for home."  

 

-- English novelist Edith Sitwell

Issue: 76

February

 To-Do

 

Take advantage of the handful of balmy days that come our way to get out there and start yard cleanup. Pick up sticks and trash; cut back the tops of dormant perennials, and even get started pruning trees and shrubs. (Hold off on roses and any trees and shrubs that flower in the spring.)

 

Pore through catalogs, garden books, web sites, and magazines to plan for spring. Put your ideas into a garden notebook, made from a three-ring notebook, with pages for notes and photos, pocket folders for articles and notes and a zip pocket to hold spring receipts and plant labels.

 

 Make on-line and mail-order purchases early. Supplies of the most popular items tend to start running out in March or so, especially this year when vegetable gardening again promises to be hot.

 

 Take inventory. Look over your supplies, fertilizers, potting soil, soil amendments, and other garden materials and stockpile now. You'll be ready to go once the spring rush hits.

 

 Tidy up and organize your garden supplies. Wash up pots. Use hot soapy water and rinse so the pots are set for spring planting.

 Start seeds of parsley, onions, perennials, and other slow-growing plants. Don't start other seeds too early (follow label directions or read up on them on line). If you do, they'll languish indoors too long without the powerful natural sun and get leggy and diseased. The vast majority of seeds should be started 6 to 8 weeks before your region's last average frost date. For Iowa, that means starting seeds in March. 
   Click here for a month-by-month listing of what to plant when in Iowa.

 

 If houseplants are struggling, it's probably time to pitch them and replace. Otherwise, give them a good rinse, trim off brown or problem parts, and top off the soil with fresh potting soil.

  
 Avoid fertilizing houseplants this month. With less daylight, their need for food is less.
 

 If you've forced bulbs they're probably ready to take out into light and warmth now. Once the bulbs have sent up shoots a half to one inch high, take them out and put them in the sunniest, brightest spot possible.

 

 Force flowering branches in a couple of weeks. Once spring-blooming branches start to develop tiny buds, cut them and bring them indoors for forcing. These include forsythia, redbud, pussy willow, crabapple, and more. Just soak the branches in a tub of cold water for a few hours. Then arrange in a vase and watch them open over the next several days.

 

 Consider a cold frame. Build it now and you can start radishes, spinach, and lettuces in a few weeks.

 

 How's your mower? If you didn't get it tuned up last fall and the blade sharpened, do it yourself now or take it in before the spring rush.


 Same for any shears or other sharp cutting or slicing objects, including spades and hoes. If you haven't already, invest a few bucks in a sharpening stone. It makes all the difference. Click here to learn how. It's easy after you do it once or twice.

Editor's Choice 
Garden Events  
 
Saturday, February 23  
Simpson College, Indianola 
9:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. Join the Warren County Master Gardeners and the Indianola Parks and Recreation for a day that will give you a jump on spring. 
     Speakers include Dr. Denny Schrock, Iowa Master Gardener Coordinator at ISU;
Iowa Garden Coach Anne Larson; Dr. Ann Marie VanDerZanden, Melissa Peterson and Keegan Lare of Ted Lare Design Build and Garden Center. 
  The program is $45 (with lunch). Master Gardeners earn 4 CEU credits. Register by calling 515-961-9420 or by clicking here.